"We won't be distracted by comparison if we are captivated with purpose." Bob Goff

During SXSW 2018, I attended "What is a purpose driven brand and why it matters. AJ Hassan of R/GA  and Todd Kaplan, VP of Pepsi Co's water division, LifeWtr discussed their recent projects and the approach to Purpose Driven Brand and Design. This talk was the most impactful experience for me during SXSW and give me the direction I need to drive this in my own consulting as well as my clients.

Face it, everyone wants to do the right thing, they just don't know how to start. I found that the approach is quite simple if you start with what is. Consider the following. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. Left side: What is the current state of your brand, your tactics, your results? Go crazy. Write it ALL down, positive, negative, etc. On the right side, what do you aspire to be, to do, to deliver. Go big. Write it ALL down, dreams, wishes, prayers. Then start to drawn lines from the left to the right. The changes and the purposes live inside the connectors. (That's where I can help by the way.) Now this is not AJ or Todd's approach but similar. They have massive budgets and a bevy of resources from which to work with. Again, it's now complicated, it's scale-able. Brands exist by their core beliefs. They are authentic, impactful and based on how people live.

I encourage you to watch the talk, link above. It was very powerful and full of images and video clips. A few takeaways:

• Whirlpool - Care Counts Discovered that kids were coming to school in dirty clothes because they lacked W/D at home or were homeless. They installed W/D in schools. The effect was taking the shame away from the kids in situations out of their control. In addition to clean clothes, a big dose of self-esteem.
• AB Water - During the devastating hurricanes last Fall, Budweiser stopped beer production and used the resources to provide canned water. Even when the US government turned a blind eye on Puerto Rico, this corporation and many others stepped in.
• Always - #likeagirl The video says it all. Always is walking the walk. Empowering young girls to grow into strong women. Not to be reduced by stereotypes and societal norms.
• Lifewtr - #bringartbacktoschools The marketing for launching this new premium water was based on the data about the art in schools and in galleries. The brand campaign was based on local events in public spaces that showcased women artwork based on the statistic that only 5% of art in galleries is by women. Time to change. Art ignites inspiration.

What are you doing on purpose? How does your brand drive your purpose? Be it. Do it. Say it. (did I mention I can help with that?)

How am I purpose driven? Stay tuned. I'll be applying to the Alice and Global Entrepreneurship Network Pitch With Purpose, a global pitch competition celebrating and rewarding diverse founders who have committed their companies to social good. Starts today and the deadline to submit July 31, 2018. Will you join me?