Storyscaping: Stop Creating Ads, Start Creating Worlds

CHAPTER 05

POWER OF WHY

Unlocking Your Organization’s Purpose for Increased Brand Value

What is the common denominator across the 50 brands showing the fastest growth, both in depth of customer relationships and financial value, between 2000 and 2010? That was a question posed by Karlene Lukovitz in a MediaPost article on January 18, 2012, referencing a study by Millward Brown and Jim Stengel.1 The answer? “All of them, regardless of size or category, have been built on an ideal of improving lives in some way.” That ideal is what we call Brand Purpose. It’s a cause or a belief that the organization subscribes to, believes in, and exemplifies. It’s the Purpose from which the brand should think, act, and share. This Purpose is the foundation under your entire enterprise, and it answers the question, “Why?” Why are you doing what you are doing? There is such a grand power behind why, and it has to be much greater, vaster, and wider scoped than merely earning profits. Remember, people’s Spidey sense throws up the red flag on that! Foundationally speaking, we cannot stress enough the power of why and being right with yourself and your organization first. Everything, and we mean everything, ripples out from there, even the unseen.

The most successful and most enduring companies convey one clear and simple story through every action they take, not solely through their marketing. These ...