Marketing with a mission: Purpose, profit and accountability at the Blue Earth Summit

I’m going to try and answer a very difficult question:

Does the purpose-driven marketing we do at exceptional™ help companies have a positive impact on the world, or does it only inflate their apparent impact? 

Or, to look at the bigger picture:

Can marketing actually have a positive impact, or does its place in our economy merely demand that it help the highest bidder bulk up its ESG credentials? 

I wouldn’t be here at exceptional™ if I didn’t believe that marketing could, in fact, make a difference in the world. Those questions, however, are extremely valid. If I were to brush them aside with a pithy prepared line, I’d be doing exactly the kind of damaging, surface-level lip service we want to avoid.

To create a better world, we have to work with purpose-led companies, those with a mission that puts purpose first, rather than working with companies which prioritise profit and see any positive impact they have as an added bonus. But what does a truly purpose-led company actually look like? 

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the Blue Earth Summit, a conference which brings together leaders from across the economy to discuss the challenges of climate change. One talk, by Tony’s Chocolonely CEO Douglas Lamont, perfectly demonstrated what a purpose-led company should look like.

Looking for problems, not for profit

Tony’s Chocolonely wasn’t founded by self-identified entrepreneurs, it was founded by journalists. They were originally brought together not by a desire to make money – or even make chocolate – but by a far more fundamental question:

How can we end the mass exploitation that takes place in the cocoa industry? 

After much deliberation, they concluded that founding their own chocolate company, establishing a highly ethical supply chain, and then making that supply chain readily available for their competitors, was the best way to achieve that goal.

Everything they do comes back to that core question – how can we end the mass exploitation that takes place in the cocoa industry? It’s that question which led them to make their supply chain available to others, where a profit-driven team may have kept it – and all the positive impact marketing that comes with it – to themselves. 

They didn’t start their business because they smelled an opportunity. They started it because they saw a problem. 

I believe that this attitude exemplifies what a purpose-DRIVEN company should be. By working with truly purpose-driven companies like Tony’s, marketing can have a positive impact, helping them win more work and drive the change they want to see in the world.

I also believe that it’s immensely important for both purpose-driven companies – and the marketing agencies like exceptional™ that work with them – to earnestly address the most difficult questions we can. It is right to question our motives. It is right to hold us accountable and ensure that we don’t drift back to a purely profit-driven model, especially during harder times. In fact, when you’re truly purpose-driven, accountability can be an opportunity. 

Accountability as opportunity 

Looking back to the Blue Earth Summit, there was another moment that stuck out. I was watching a panel which included Nigel Pocklington, the CEO of Good Energy, and two of his peers/competitors in the industry.

At one point, three questions were asked by the audience. One of these questions was far more difficult than the others. 

One audience member pointed out that as developed countries push for more sustainable energy, the materials necessary to create that renewable energy infrastructure still rely upon the exploitation of the Global South. How does Good Energy address that?

It’s a bit of a gotcha – but that doesn’t mean it’s not a very fair question to ask.

The panellists were given the option of choosing which of the three questions they wanted to answer. Nigel, who went second, chose the hardest question. His response was earnest, it wasn’t dismissive, and it didn’t avoid discussing the challenges that come with creating a greener energy system.

To be a great leader, you can’t shy away from the toughest questions – even when you don’t have all the answers. If accountability makes you nervous, you may not be as purpose-driven as you thought. 

If you’re a truly purpose-driven enterprise, tackling those tough questions shouldn’t feel like a challenge. It should feel like an opportunity to ensure that you’re doing everything you can to take on the problem you want to solve. 

Let’s get back to that first question 

Does the purpose-driven marketing we do at exceptional™ help companies have a positive impact on the world, or does it only inflate their apparent impact? 

By working with companies that are truly driven by their purpose and don’t shy away from tough questions, I have no doubt that we really can help them to have a positive impact. That attitude doesn’t just impact our client vetting process – it also deeply shapes the way we work with those clients. 

Our job isn’t to equip our clients with prepared “lines” that they can use to talk about the good they’re doing and to deflect any criticism. It’s about equipping them with the tools to talk honestly about the good they’re doing in a way that helps them fulfil the purpose their business was set up to achieve. 

Any questions?

Feel free to reach out to me at g.mileham@exceptional.marketing