At a client meeting recently, we presented a fairly fresh “social movement generating” idea for a brand. We’d thought it through reasonably well – the biz and the buzz both seemed to have been covered. When we got into explaining how the idea would become a monetization engine for the brand, the CEO politely reminded us that since this was a truly BIG idea, we shouldn’t dilute it with stating monetary commitments/expectations upfront.
Cut to second presentation, this time to the sales heads of the same brand. Same idea, same presentation, yet completely different reactions. This time, we were reminded that the idea is just one that’ll bring fame to the brand but not any profits. We’d rather spend the media money on something more direct, something that drives immediate profit, blah, blah, blah and blah.
That, in today’s day, seems to be the core issue. While most companies want to embrace a truly large social cause, they still tend to look at the initiative through two different lenses, purpose and profit. We’ll either do it for the money or for the fame, not for both. To most clients, embracing a social cause almost always means having to sacrifice profit for the purpose.
The issue is that our consumers don’t think so.
Was recently speaking to a guy that passed out of IIM A last year and started his own version of an NGO. Yes, he was driven by the desire to make a change; yes, he knew he had to do it on his own and yes, he also expected to make a healthy living out of his profession. He did really believe that he could marry his purpose without having to compromise on the profit. Today’s youth are purposeful but not sages, they believe in making a difference but not at the cost of the quality of their lives.
A look at the “Bunty Syndrome” research numbers shows that. Close to 90% of youth in Tier I & II cities believe they can make a valuable difference to society and close to 86% believe that they will also be very successful in life. To today’s consumers, purpose and profit go hand in hand.
And the biggest one is that they don’t expect companies to look at the two in isolation too.
The Euro RSCG Corporate Study 2009 indicates that 77% of consumers would like to align with companies that are willing to drive a positive change to the world. Close to 80% also believe that there is nothing wrong with companies making healthy profits.
It’s time companies realized and embraced the fact that purpose can drive profit and profit can make a purpose seem more meaningful to everyone within the organization. Because in today’s business world, both are equally important.
Unfortunately, our consumers understand this but most companies don’t.
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