THoMer Kristien zooms in on the challenges our world is facing today and the sustainable answers businesses have come up with. How purpose-driven is your company?

1. Why “purpose” should be on every
organization’s priority list
Kristien Schrauwen

2. Society is facing many challenges today

3. People demand positive action, also from businesses
People, with the power of social media, force businesses to do more than simply sell products and pursue profits
Fulfilling these ambitions [, the global
goals for sustainable development]
will take an unprecedented effort by
all sectors in society — and business
has to play a very important role in
the process.
United Nations Global Compact
“
”
Journalists founded a slave free chocolate
brand: Tony’s Chocoloney
Consumer movements demanding
alternatives from businesses

4. Some companies show that making profit and doing good can be
fundamentally integrated
By creating fundamental value through their core business
Alpro brings innovative plant-based foods
to millions of consumers, tackling health
challenges of both people and the planet.
Providing shoes, sight, water, safe births and
bullying prevention to people in need is part of
how TOMS approaches doing business.
Patagonia, recognizing they are part of the
problem, focuses on specific things they can
do to reduce, neutralize, or even reverse the
root causes of climate change.
Click on the pictures if you want to read more

5. Others are following in their footsteps by launching new initiatives
Click on the items if you want to read more
In collaboration with recycling shop
Ateljee, IKEA Ghent launched a
collection created from fabric surpluses
through social employment
Janssen launched Dementia.com to provide people and family members with resources on
the causes, symptoms and treatments for dementia
“
”
Joker vacations are designed
with respect for people and
nature

6. This, again, impacts our collective expectations
As consumers, employees, and even shareholders
M
A
T
U
R
I
T
Y
1
2
3 Purpose-driven: focused on creating fundamental value for our society beyond
profits, e.g. creating a better world through your activities
Customer-centric: creating real value for consumers through value propositions and
throughout the entire customer journey
Value-driven: operating ethically and with respect for all involved stakeholders
We expect companies to work towards being purpose-driven:

7. Much like technology a few decades ago, purpose has now become a business
imperative. In today’s world, running an organization without an intentional
emphasis on purpose for employees and customers is like running an
organization in the early 1990s and failing to implement technology.
Aaron Hurst in ‘The Purpose Economy’
“
”

8. The first important step is to have a committed CEO
“Next to our moral obligations to
address the global challenges, it is
also an enormous business
opportunity. That's the equally
exciting part.“ – Paul Polman, CEO
Unilever (read the full interview
here)
“For Joker, profit is like health:
you need it, but it is not the
only thing you live for.” – Bob
Elsen, founder of Joker
Authentically committed CEOs build the right
context for sustainable initiatives
“We identify issues that are relevant to the
country and demonstrate how we can
contribute through our electrification,
automation, and digitalization portfolio,
through our healthcare technologies and
through our corporate social responsibility
activities. We call this approach “Business to
Society” (B2S).” – Joe Kaeser, CEO Siemens
(skim through the interesting sustainability
report here)

9. How can you support your CEO?
The Embedding Project* identified a set of tactics that have worked for others:
Read the full guide on how to support your CEO here
*The Embedding Project is a global public-benefit research project that helps companies to embed social and
environmental factors across their operations and decision-making processes
1) Help your CEO create a strong business case
2) Create opportunities for your CEO to experience the issues first-hand
3) Help your CEO learn from influential peers
4) Help your CEO let the business “fail small”
5) Leverage the interests of key customers
6) Help board members be better sustainability advocates
7) Create opportunities for your CEO to make public commitments
8) Create opportunities for your CEO to receive recognition for this work

10. Purpose-driven companies benefit in many different ways
They all contribute to economic sustainability
Revenue growth
• From improved reputation and a stronger brand
• From sustainable innovation meeting unmet needs
Financial performance
• Savings (energy, water, materials, waste …)
• Reduced risks of inaction (reputation, compliance)
• More investor interest
Marketing effectiveness
• Competitive advantage / differentiation
• Decreased costs (earned advertising, word of mouth)
HR effectiveness
• Employee ambassadorship
• Employee engagement through meaning
• Reduced costs for hiring and retaining top talent

11. Let’s discover together how other companies and marketing departments approach
purpose
Fill out our 3 minute survey
…and stay tuned!
CLICK HERE