Marketing Consultant I Visiting faculty at Ashoka University I Sr Advisor KPMG. I Ex Mkt Dir PepsiCo I BT 40 under 40
New D2C brand? Please do not look for ‘Purpose’. Hellmann’s mayo survived 110 years without a social purpose and got to $250mn in revenue. THE STORY OF HOW PURPOSE BECAME FASHIONABLE In 2019 Unilever CEO Alan Jope announced that brands without purpose will have no long term future at Unilever. His idea was that every brand at Unilever, from detergent to ice cream to fabric conditioner, should have a purposeful ‘why’. 🌭 🌭 🌭 Hellmann's is a brand that is over 110 years old but only recently discovered that it's true purpose is to reduce food waste by helping to use up leftover food in your fridge. This repositioning came in for scathing criticism from Unilever investor Terry Smith, who said, "a company which feels it has to define the purpose of Hellmann's mayo has in our view clearly lost the plot." HERE IS WHY PURPOSE IS NOTHING BUT HOGWASH 😡 Many brands start from an over claim. British Airways says it is the world's favorite airline. Carlsberg says the best lager in the world. Red Bull says we give you wings. Its one thing to exaggerate about your product; it's another thing to make an exaggerated moral or ethical claim. ALL PURPOSE ADS STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS 🏋♂️ 🏋♀️ 🏋♂️ Hellman's was able to spend a hell lot of money on making terrible ads with very big celebrities and then putting them on Super Bowl where they made news for all the wrong reasons. (The creative agency came up with the tagline MAKE TASTE NOT WASTE.) The only reason why Hellmann's was able to spend all of this money was because of decades of simple product based advertising that got them to be coming the world No. 1 mayonnaise. To that extent, all purpose ads stand on the shoulders of giants. 🔴 So if you are a new D2C brand - tell consumers why your product is great, what is your product, and get them to remember your brand name. Everything else is a load of BS. 🍒 🍑 CREDIT: fantastic book i'm reading by Nick Asbury - The Road to Hell. Have lifted excerpts as is. Its a brilliant book - very simple, logical, unpretentious and real. Byron Sharp recommends it wholeheartedly too. https://lnkd.in/g8prqyPs Nick Asbury #marketing #marketingwithvani #purposemarketing CherryPeachPlum Growth Partners Ehrenberg-Bass Institute
Hellmann's Mayonnaise "Ham and Brie" | Super Bowl 2023 LVII (57) Commercial
https://www.youtube.com/
Radhika Butala
7mo
Contrarian view which I partially agree with. Personally, I feel purpose isn't hogwash but it is majorly over hyped. It will not become the reason why people will buy from you. You still need a killer product that is priced well, and a brand that speaks emotionally to the target audience through engaging content and experiences. The purpose is a nice-to-have extra dimension of brand where the customer gets an additional reason to notice the brand, cosnider its offering and maybe even have a positive affinity towards the brand.
Siddhartha Dutt
7mo
Yes and no. Yes - I agree that not every brand, especially D2C brands in this short-consumer-attention-span age, needs a classical purpose. And if a product is great, has great retail visibility (distribution) and great packaging, it will surely help consumers to remember it and more importantly, buy it. But no, I do not agree that every brand does not need a 'why'. Especially consumer 'why's. Because at some level, a lofty, high-sounding purpose may translate into a basic (and deep) consumer connect/ 'why'. E g. Surf/ Omo's Dirt is Good brand philosophy (which may be linked to the brand purpose). This may connect to a mother's belief about her child learning some basic values of life despite getting his/ her clothes dirty. Yes, this 'lofty' thought may not move sales needle immediately but at the same time, it might make a deep connection with the mother (since it's speaking to something as fundamental as her values), which in turn may help her see, connect with and remember the brand/ product in a new light. After all, most of us know about the Product Characteristics ---> Consumer Needs/ Wants ---> Consumer Beliefs/ Values ladder. On that note, I also partly agree with what Karthik Srinivasan and Radhika Butala have said.
Ramkumar R S
7mo
We should not force fit a purpose to a brand. And yes the purpose need not always be a social purpose. It can be a purpose that is for the family or a purpose for one's own self. What differentiates a product from a brand is the emotional connect, fulfill an emotional need that has meaning beyond logic and rational reasoning. In our own case (milliGOLD) when we say "Save Gold for your Family" or "Wealth is much more than money" it has more meaning and emotional connect
Sanjay Shrotriya
7mo
Quite an interesting and insightful read indeed. Thanks for sharing 🙏 See the purpose etc are extremely internal things to the brands and corporations and what matters is how they are conducting themselves in public. A well documented purpose may serve as a guiding light to the brands, but even in its absence, the brand's conduct is what matters. It's like an individual who (whether having a life philosophy or purpose or not), if conducting oneself well, helping people and giving them reason to believe in him/her, will be perceived good/successful.
Aashi Bhatnagar
7mo
Quite a different perspective. I also recall the case where in the race for having a purpose, Redbull got into puffery and had to end up paying $13 million for the settlement.
Shan Jain
7mo
But the truth today is that D2C brands born in today’s time are small and touch a very sharp target audience of younger consumers. And generally speaking they tend to adopt brands that have a purpose. Though, I would agree for Hellmans it’s too late to talk purpose language….
Nick Asbury
7mo
Thanks for spreading the word
Shraddha Sriram
7mo
Every product and service exists to address a challenge, gap, or problem in society. Connecting to a purpose can be remarkable if companies can make a significant difference in their chosen area. However, if it's merely surface-level promotion, it doesn't add value to end consumers or the world.
Asif M Khatri
7mo
Defining purpose and living upto it, are two different things. Only a few brands actually are able to do it.
Communications strategy consultant. Connect with me for corporate workshops on personal branding. Ex-Ogilvy, ex-Flipkart, ex-Edelman. No paid posts - my words are not for sale.
7moVani Gupta Dandia "Hellmann’s mayo survived 110 years without a social purpose" — this is incorrect. Hellman's has been using the idea of avoiding food wastage since 2012. And the brand has consistently used the same "purpose" across Brazil, Canada, UK, Czech Republic, and elsewhere. In almost all these cases, sales of Hellmann’s grew. In fact, after the 2021 Superbowl campaign, Unilever announced double-digit growth of Hellmann’s: https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/05/03/Ben-Jerry-s-Magnum-and-Hellmann-s-lead-Unilever-food-sales-Foods-and-refreshments-did-have-a-very-good-quarter-says-CEO Unilever’s own internal research in 54 of the 75 markets says 72% of people said sustainability was the main reason they joined: https://www.marketingweek.com/unilever-top-talent-sustainability/ A Kantar report says that Unilever’s sustainable brands are growing 2x faster: https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/unilever-s-sustainable-brands-growing-2x-faster-than-other-brands-coo-121112501245_1.html Latest: Hellmann’s, Horlicks, Knorr and Magnum contribute to Unilever’s food sales growth https://www.nutritioninsight.com/news/hellmanns-horlicks-knorr-and-magnum-contribute-to-unilevers-food-sales-growth.html