I am going to say something that might get my strategist card revoked: I am tired of brand purpose.
Not the concept. The execution. The way every brief in 2021 starts with "what is our higher purpose" as if selling shampoo requires a philosophical framework. The way every brand now claims to be changing the world while their supply chain actively makes it worse. The way "purpose" has become a euphemism for "marketing message that makes us feel good about our margins."
The way every brief in 2021 starts with "what is our higher purpose" as if selling shampoo requires a philosophical framework.
We did this. The strategy community did this. We read Simon Sinek. We internalized Start With Why. And then we applied it so broadly and so thoughtlessly that purpose became meaningless. When a fast food chain, a cryptocurrency exchange, and a toilet paper brand all claim to be "making the world more connected," the word has lost all meaning.
Consumers feel it too. Research from this year shows that purpose-driven messaging is increasingly met with skepticism. Not because people do not want brands to do good, but because they have been burned too many times by brands that said one thing and did another. Purpose fatigue is real.
Here is my provocation: most brands would be better served by being genuinely useful than by being aspirationally purposeful.
What if instead of a purpose statement, you had a usefulness statement? Not "we exist to inspire human potential" but "we make shoes that last ten years so you don't have to think about shoes." Not "we believe in the power of connection" but "we help you find a restaurant your whole group will agree on."
Usefulness is humble. It is specific. It is verifiable. You either are useful or you are not. There is no room for the performative ambiguity that purpose allows.
I think about Trader Joe's a lot in this context. They have no stated higher purpose. They do not claim to be saving the world. They just make grocery shopping weirdly enjoyable and affordable. That is it. And people are fanatically loyal because the brand delivers on a clear, useful promise every single time.
The brands I admire most right now are the ones brave enough to be specific about what they actually do for people. Not what they believe. Not what they stand for. What they do. What tangible, measurable difference they make in their customer's day.
That is not a demotion from purpose. It is a promotion to relevance. And relevance, unlike purpose, cannot be faked.