Social Purpose: Timeless Purpose Driven Brands

As we approach the holiday season, filled with heartwarming films and festive food, it's a perfect time to reflect on the positive impact brands can make. A powerful avenue for brands to communicate their social values to audiences is through Social Purpose Storytelling.

Social-purpose storytelling connects with team members, customers, and other stakeholders on both a mental and emotional level. Embracing a social purpose not only strengthens customer commitment but also boosts social capital and fosters innovation. “Only 7% of Fortune 500 CEOs believe their companies should primarily focus on profits, emphasizing the widespread importance of a brand's social purpose.

Social-purpose storytelling engages team members, customers, and other stakeholders mentally and emotionally. Having a social purpose reinforces customer commitment, increases social capital, and drives innovation.

Seeking inspiration for how your brand can articulate its social purpose story? Explore a few timeless purpose-driven brand stories below.

TOMS Shoes - In this video, TOMS highlights the philosophy of their one-for-one purchase model, which provides shoes, sight, and water to those in need. Over the years the campaign has expanded, but the story that TOMS showcased in the video has remained the same –to show how together we can create a better tomorrow by taking compassionate action today. 

Patagonia - Dedicated to environmental conservation and sustainability, Patagonia’s Buy Less, Demand More campaign is a series of videos displaying the company’s stance on climate change, a stance that has sustained strong growth and customer loyalty.

Ben & Jerry's - Ben and Jerry’s was founded with their social purpose at its core, and this has allowed them to have a long and storied history that reflects their values. They have released a series of videos stating their values, and have retained them after being acquired by Unilever, maintaining its quirky brand activism for various social causes. This honest activism has helped the company enjoy strong sales and wide popularity.

Dove - Dove’s "Real Beauty" campaigns like #ShowUs have challenged beauty stereotypes by featuring real women of all sizes and ages.  Their authentic, unscripted photography and videos reshaped the narrative around beauty standards. 

Always - The "Like A Girl" campaign employed a documentary filmmaking approach to thoughtfully tackle gender stereotypes and build self-confidence in young girls while making individuals examine the impacts of their words.  It garnered high engagement and recognition.

For more inspiration on telling purposeful stories, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and check out our recent blog posts here.