WIN WITH PURPOSE
The Hidden Marketing Law #3
Marketing is not more complicated, but more complex than quantum physics. That is why there are no laws, just a few “law like” rules available in Marketing. With Causal AI we can match complexity of marketing and find causal mechanisms that have not been discovered yet. Over 15 years of practical research we found five law-like patterns that you can use to your favor.
This is law #3.
When T-Mobile USA repositioned in 2013 to be the “uncarrier” they implemented innovative plan features. But this was neither the core of communication nor the driver of growth. Thru Causal AI analysis they understood that establishing the brand as the robin hood of the industry they could align with customers core values and identification points of “don’t be a victim of AT&T and Verizon”. The brand continued to invent features that was reasoning this identification and values, not features that necessarily were in demand. The strategy resulted in 4x revenue - switching $7 billion losses into $8 billion profits.
Unilever was running consumer research to revitalized the brand DOVE. Women in surveys kept saying things like “I don’t feel beautiful” or “Those ads aren’t for people like me.”. They did something uncommon and did not position on a problem that the product can solve or a feature. It was aligning with customers values to become a relatable brand consumer could identify with. The rest is history. The “Real beauty” strategy increased the brand value in the coming years by 20x.
European Soccer clubs recruit fans nearly entirely from the region they are based in because this is how fans can easily identify with the brand. But such an identification point has natural growth limits. An intensive research project of the DFB and SURPA found that the key reason to become a fan is “the club stands for something I support”. It showed double impact compared to sportive success. The Bundesliga Club “St. Pauli” for instance position itself as an antifascist club and as such attracts fans in whole Germany.
It turns out that soccer clubs’ brands are an interesting blueprint for the potential that “purpose marketing” has. A brand can position itself as a crystallization point of a movement. For club fans, the match, the club or players are secondary. The game and the club are vehicles to connect with like-minded people, the family and friends.
The Law #3: Establishing a brand purpose that aligns with customers values and creates identification is a strategy to win in saturated categories. It requires an authentic alignment to a non-trivial, affective value system. It typically works better for brands that do not dominate a category as this strategy is not attracting the total market.
Don’t be confused by literature. There are many different understandings of Purpose Marketing. Ehrenberg-Bass recently “found” that it does not work. But their research approach is not only flawed but the understanding of Purpose Marketing they studied are not in line with the defined above.
A brand can be a mirror – not showing what it sells, but reflecting what its customers believe about themselves. A brand can be a flag – raised high enough, it lets people rally around what they already carry in their hearts. Purpose marketing can be a magnet – it doesn’t pull everyone, but those who come, come to stay.
In the end, growth comes when a brand dares to stand for something greater than itself. When people feel seen, connected, and part of a bigger story.
That’s when consumers turn into fans, and markets into movements.
That is the power of Law #3.
And this is how you 10x impact.