Brands must be purpose-driven

From inception, business owners set well-defined and strong values for their business. Everything planned is about integrity, originality, authenticity, and bravery. They should align brands to cultural discourse and authentically communicating brand value.
Brand purpose links back to social good, but other brands choose to call it activism. From the look of things in 2019, brands that can give hope will win hearts, minds and custom.

Promoting social causes is crucial to the future of brands. However, in order for this to work effectively, it has to be closely aligned with the brand’s core values. It is recognising the value of customers, their importance to business and making them feel more valued that creates the emotional connection. Getting out there and carrying out activities alongside other things you are talking about, will have an impact.

For as long as brands are active beyond brand purpose, their actions must align activism with brand purpose to stay relevant. In a competitive market, customers want to feel that they are part of something more personal and really interact with brands today.

Professionals on the other hand, are shying away from satisfying their customers. Take pride in making and selling splendid products through a good, old-fashioned insight that in a changing communications world, the multiplier effect of earned media is core to efficiency of purpose/value-led activities that get greater engagement from customers.
Many brands want to be regarded as being customer-centric, but the reality is that many businesses and organisations still do not have consumer’s interest as their core agenda.

Simply employing a marketing and corporate affairs manager and hoping the rest do not matter will not cut it in 2019 as today’s consumers are awake. People aren’t foolish, it can’t be just about narrative change or your organisation’s big communications ad on radio and TV. It has to be about how you address systemic changes. Don’t’ be like one of those people who preach equality instead of equity

NGOs and other organisations need to be outward looking when planning. The idea of movement building is critical because these aligns with their strategy and with the goals of a wider movement. But when companies try to create social impact, they need to work with experts. It is about marketers looking out for consumer needs and not demanding their loyalty.

Brands are encouraged to take a stand on issues they care about in line with their corporate objectives be it education, health or human rights. Since our tax distribution system isn’t transparent, they can contribute to our knowledge or use their resources to develop solutions to improve the communities where they operate.
If brands truly want to meet consumers’ expectations, they need to get much closer to customers so they can not only react to but anticipate what they want.

Aggie Turwomwe,
Kampala