There’s a lot of talk about organisational purpose and it can feel like a bandwagon many organisations have jumped on without much substance behind it.  In fact, early on, this book quotes some research that found that whilst 82% of executives believe purpose is important only 42% said their company’s stated purpose had much effect.

Activate Brand Purpose is written by Scott Goodson and Chip Walker, strategic leaders of StrawberryFrog, a brand consultancy, that specialises in activating brand purpose. The book is packed with a great mix of research and case studies exploring how brand purpose is created – and more importantly activated.  The case studies include some of the world’s most successful brands including Patagonia, Verizon, PepsiCo and REI.

The authors have developed a concept of Movement Thinking and provide practical advice and frameworks on how to incorporate this into your own organisation and make your purpose more than just a slogan.  They tackle how to use Movement Thinking to activate your brand both internally with your people and externally with your customers and stakeholders.  There are chapters dedicated to the role a CEO can play but also how a CHRO can use Movement Thinking to shape organisational culture.

They also provide empirical evidence on the business results and competitive advantage of purpose using research from their Purpose Power Index which draws on responses from 17.500 consumers.

This book was a great read packed with insights. I especially enjoyed the Framework for Movement Thinking which outlines the 5 building blocks for activating purpose.

Published by Kogan Page

Dani Bacon is an organisation development consultant, co-founder of Distinction Consulting and co-host of the Distinction podcast