Our Perspective
What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.
The Growth Gap
Markets aren’t just crowded; they’re noisy. When everything looks interchangeable, clarity becomes a hard advantage. Purpose creates that clarity, not as a slogan, but as the logic behind what you prioritise, price, design, and decline. It’s also commercially material. According to Kantar’s Purpose 2020 report, brands anchored in a clear purpose tend to grow at roughly twice the rate of those without one. The point isn’t virtue; it’s velocity. Purpose shortens the distance between decision and action because it narrows options to the ones that fit. That’s where momentum starts to compound.
Purpose As System
Think of purpose as a decision system. It explains the trade‑offs that make you distinctive. It determines which customer problems you’ll own, which features you’ll retire, and where you’ll spend in brand, product, and service. It elevates value by aligning what you promise with what you consistently deliver, so price reflects relevance rather than volume tactics.
In our experience with leadership teams, purpose only moves the needle when it’s wired into governance: targets, capital allocation, and the narrative the board uses to judge progress. When that happens, brand isn’t a campaign; it’s the operating model in plain language.
Where It Shows
You can see a lived purpose in a few tell‑tale places:
- Priorities become faster to sequence, because everyone knows what matters next and what doesn’t.
- Pricing holds its nerve, backed by clear outcomes customers recognise and are willing to pay for.
- Experiences feel coherent across sales, product, and service because teams make the same choices for the same reasons.
- Talent gravitates to the mission, and partners align their bets accordingly.
Leadership Moves
A purposeful brand accelerates when leaders make a few non‑negotiables explicit:
- Name the attractive initiatives you’ll stop because they dilute your position, and say why.
- Hard‑wire purpose into scorecards, board packs, and investment criteria so trade‑offs are visible.
- Translate purpose into proofs: choices, behaviours, and signals in market that others can point to.
- Stress‑test growth bets against the purpose: if it wins, double down; if it conflicts, redesign.
When purpose is treated as the rulebook for choices, it becomes a flywheel: decisions get clearer, the organisation builds trust faster, and growth becomes more predictable as markets shift.
Sources:
Kantar Purpose 2020 Report