The battle for our souls rages on. Our industry continues to be in flux over what works for brands, but more interestingly, what works for us.

The recent research published by Peter Field and the IPA exploring the effectiveness of brand purpose marketing campaigns has come under scrutiny, as it appears to draw conclusions that many felt simply weren’t there. Indeed, the data actually seemed to conclude the opposite when analysed fairly.

I’ve already lost a lot of you and I haven’t even said anything yet.

That’s how strongly people in strategy feel about the words “brand purpose”. How the hell did we get here, and why are we still talking about this?

Well, I’m going to try and unpack what I think brand purpose is, what it isn’t, who can use it, and why the intentions behind it are still important and worth thinking about.