 Now, I believe that purpose-driven marketing is where companies like yours need to be. Welcome to the We Are Slam Show where you'll learn marketing agency insights, best practices, and ideas to help your business grow. Today, we're coming to you with an all-new format and I'm really excited about this. Of course, if you're listening to me on a podcast network, first of all, thank you. But here's the thing, you can't see what's happening right now. You know, typically I'm at my desk. I'm talking into the mic. Today, I'm standing up. I'm at the whiteboard and I'm ready to visualize and really help you to kind of see some of the concepts that we share week in and week out. So I'm really excited about this. So if you get an opportunity, check us out on IGTV at We Are Slam or YouTube, or just visit us at slamhc.com and look for the show notes because the video will be there as well. So the first topic that I want to share with you in this new format is this. It's purpose-driven marketing. What is purpose-driven marketing? Now, I believe that purpose-driven marketing is where companies like yours need to be if you're going to continue to remain successful five years from now, 10 years from now. And here's why. Over 65% of consumers say that they would rather purchase products and services from purpose-driven brands. Even more than that, over 70% say that they're more likely to refer a company if they support a cause that they also support. And here's the deal. This is not just for major brands like Kindbars or Tom Shoes or Patagonia. Here's the thing. It's for local businesses too. And that's why a show like this is so important because you have to understand these concepts. And if you're not doing it already, then you need to search your heart and begin to apply these so that you can remain relevant five years from now, 10 years from now. Now, why do I say that? Because purpose-driven marketing allows you to align with your customers and their beliefs. And this is important. Anyone that's studied marketing like I know you have knows that when you align yourself with your customer's beliefs that there's magic there. And so that's what we're going to talk about today. First of all, I want to share with you the benefits of purpose-driven marketing. Here they are. Okay, so the first big benefit is it provides a deeper heart-level connection with your customers. I'm going to dig into that a little bit in just a second. Number two, it provides greater brand loyalty. In other words, raving fans. It gives you the ability to create raving fans, people that actually support the work that your company is doing. And as we know, supporters beat customers every time. The third thing is it's more difficult for competitors to copy what you're doing. And it's less likely that they will because then they'll just be seen as a copy. And number four, it provides a more sustainable advantage to your business, meaning that if you get this right, if you get this right, what's going to happen is you're going to be able to reap the benefits for a longer amount of time because you have that built-in support and you're differentiating yourself on a much deeper level. Now, what are the challenges that you need to consider before you make this decision to go all in with purpose-driven marketing? Well, here they are. Check it out. Number one, I want you to realize that is a long-term strategy. This is not necessarily a marketing strategy that is going to change the direction of your company overnight. If you do this just because it's a way to make money or a way to gain new customers, then you're doing it for the wrong reasons and you're going to be found out. And that brings me to my number two challenge here is that you will be tested. As a matter of fact, your authenticity will be tested. Consumers, you have to realize this, consumers are savvier today than ever before and they're often keenly aware of being manipulated by advertising. And number three along the same line is you have to be able to put your money where your mouth is. You can't just say you support a cause. You have to make sure that your business model that baked into that business model is support for that cause and to really show that you're making a difference in that area. Now, when we're talking about purpose-driven marketing, you know, this really all starts with your brand promise. What is your brand promise? Your brand promise is the promise that you make and can keep with your customers. Now, as I've said many times, you don't have to be all things to all people. But for that customer, for the customer that you have promised a certain thing, you need to be able to not only make that promise, but be able to keep it. So what is a brand promise? Well, in traditional marketing world, if you went to college and studied marketing, then you probably came across these two circles, concentric circles, these two items that overlap to create a brand promise. What are they? Well, number one, it's the value proposition. It's that list of benefits and results that your company or your product or your service provides to your customer. And where those benefits overlap with this idea of relevant differentiation, which is this idea that among your competitive set, you are differentiated. So, in other words, what is my competition not providing? Okay? And where that value proposition and that relevant differentiation, where it overlaps, that is traditionally where you're able to make your brand promise. But here's the thing, when it comes to purpose driven marketing, you have to take this to another level and you have to add another concentric circle and that represents your organizational purpose, where your value proposition overlaps relevant differentiation, which overlaps organizational purpose. At that confluence, what do you have? You have the ideal brand promise. And here at SLAM, we say that you have a very strong brand when you're able to take these three areas and figure out where the similarities, where the commonalities are. Okay? Organizational purpose, value proposition, relevant differentiation, key. Key, and I wanted to show it to you on the whiteboard so that you can actually see what it looks like because this is key to developing a brand promise that will power your purpose driven brand. Now, I don't want you to think that this is just a mission statement because it's not. As a matter of fact, you know, the traditional, we strive to be the market leader in all these areas for all these people, the vague mission statement, it's just, it's not relevant here. It's not relevant to purpose driven small businesses, purpose driven brands. It just, it doesn't compute. And here's why. The organizational purpose of your company should reflect the values of your market, of your ideal customer. So the brand promise is this, is this articulation of the relevant differentiated benefit that you provide to a certain customer. It's that promise that you make to that customer. And then, you know, the icing on the cake is that that promise that you're making to this customer is in line or aligns with the way that they see the world, with what's important to them, with their beliefs. So you're aligning your purpose, your vision, your mission with their personal purpose, vision, and mission. And this is where it just gets powerful. This is where all these benefits that I talk about really start to accelerate. This is purpose driven marketing. Take for example, Blake Mikowski over at Tom's Shoes. He founded a business, a for profit business on this idea of giving. And he has said multiple times that it's not a shoe business. It's not an eyewear business. It's a giving business. And the business model itself is a business model that thrives on giving back to the communities in which they serve. And the products that they sell are just tools that help them to achieve their organizational purpose. And why is this so powerful? Well, you know, as we have known in marketing and the advertising world for decades, people make decisions based on feelings. And so when you align with their beliefs, then you're really connecting with this part of them, which is what I say is the heart level. Okay, you're connecting with them on a heart level. And you know, this is no secret to the marketing world. As a matter of fact, Dale Carnegie, probably like almost 100 years ago or however long it's been, I mean, the guy's a legend, he wrote the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. And he knew long, long ago that when dealing with people, and this is a quote, when dealing with people, remember that you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion. And then we have Dr. Antonio Demasio, a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California. He discovered scientifically that when people who are missing this part of their brain that generates emotions, when they're not able to generate emotions, then it is physically literally impossible for them to make decisions and even simple decisions. As a matter of fact, he discovered this in the lunch line, in that lunch line, he found that they weren't able to make a simple decision over whether it was a ham or a turkey sandwich for lunch that day. Although they were able to articulate all the benefits, all the logical reasons why they should pick one over the other, they weren't actually able to make that decision. So he pivoted, he studied, you know, why is this? Of course, everyone in that study had one thing in common and it was that they were missing that part of their brain that produced emotions. And so he was able to scientifically prove that without emotions, you are literally incapable of making decisions. And we've known this in marketing and advertising for a long time. Dale Carnegie knew it, but here's the thing. It's scientifically proven. And then we have Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why. And he introduced us to the Golden Circle, famous TED Talk, Golden Circle. Right here, you can see it on the whiteboard. And what he showed is that, you know, in his book, Start With Why and in his talk, Start With Why. And let me go ahead and grab a marker because he says, when you start with why, in other words, when you communicate from the inside out, you are connecting with people in that visceral place, in that part of their brain, which produces emotions. And that's how they're able to really rally behind you as a purpose-driven brand, get behind you and support you and become a supporter, become a raving fan, so much so that you see the benefits that we're talking about here. And so here it is again, you know, the way that we communicate, the way that we process information, the way that we make decisions. Remember, Antonio Demasio showed this and proved this scientifically that we make decisions here in the limbic system. The limbic system is responsible for all of our feelings. It's responsible for the feeling of love that we feel for another person. You know, I think Simon said in this TED Talk that when I ask you, why did you fall in love with your spouse? The why. The why. It's very difficult for you to articulate that, at least in the moment or on the spot. And the reason why is because the limbic system, although it's responsible for producing feelings and emotions, it's not responsible for language. As a matter of fact, the neocortex, that outer part of the brain, which was developed much later in our human evolution, that is the part of the brain, which is responsible for language. And so what Simon Sinek says is that when you start with why, with that feeling, that purpose, that organizational vision and mission that aligns with your customers, then at that point, you're able to connect with them on a heart level. And this is purpose driven marketing. So if this is something you've been thinking about and you're interested in it, then let me share this with you. These are the next steps. You need to ask yourself, why do you exist as an organization? Why do you exist? Why do you need to exist? What contribution are you looking to make? And on top of that, why is the world better because you are here as an organization? You answer these questions and you are well on your way to trying to figure out, what is this organizational purpose? And I don't want you to default to an existing mission statement or a vision statement. I want you to think through this and think through it like Simon Sinek would teach you to think through it. What is your why? Why are you here? Why should I care? Why should anyone care? Why does it matter? If you're able to answer that, if you're able to articulate the difference that you're trying to make in the world, then guess what? You're going to be well on your way to determining a brand promise that aligns with your customers in a way that creates raving fans, that builds a sustainable advantage and really sets you up for future long-term success. So if you've enjoyed this show, do me a favor and let me know in the comments wherever you're watching, whether it be on IGTV or YouTube. If you're listening on a podcast network, be sure to come to SlamHC.com, look at the show notes so that you can see what it is I'm talking about. And if this is your first time tuning in, do me a favor, subscribe, rate and review. I would greatly appreciate that. Thank you for tuning in to week one on the whiteboard and I'll see you next week. Thanks for watching. If you like what you saw, subscribe and hit that bell. You'll be the first to be notified when new content goes live. After that, you can watch more videos from Slam Agency. We picked something we think you'll love.