Building Purpose Marketing into Your Brand | Marketing for the Future
Marketing for the Future
Building Purpose Marketing into Your Brand
For brands that don’t have an in-built purpose, it can feel like the world is their oyster when it comes to choosing which causes to support. But purpose marketing is nothing without systemic action and long-term commitment. Here’s one case study that makes it work.
We previously focused on how purpose driven companies with hard-hitting messages could excel at communicating that message, without tipping the scales into scare tactics or overwhelming narratives. Of course, it seems the foundations to produce hard-hitting, credible purpose marketing campaigns already exist when what you’re advertising is intrinsically tied to raising an issue such as environmental awareness. Not all brands have the same starting point and a David Attenborough endorsed offering; what if your origins are ‘pre-woke’, and your product untied to any purpose other than, for example, furnishing the homes of millions of millennials? Can you build up a strategy from a flat-pack of purpose marketing tools, screwing in social values and hammering home environmental goals? Today, we focus on a case study of a brand with a huge supply chain that built a gargantuan legacy providing a product. How can brands that have built an empire, or even that offer a product seemingly disconnected from purpose, incorporate purpose authentically and successfully? IKEA may have earned its reputation as the world’s favourite affordable furniture giant, but it is taking strides to become the sustainable retailer consumers demand, with their ultimate aim for 2030 to become a fully circular and climate positive business by 2030. It’s latest campaign reflects this green direction.
The ‘Fortune Favours the Frugal’ ad focuses on the small, doable steps people can take in their everyday life to be more frugal, providing a small but necessary antidote to the climate-doom that can cloud these kinds of campaigns. The messaging surrounding climate change can be overwhelming for many, especially at a time where crisis seems to follow crisis - so much so that WWF UK CEO Tanya Steele in a recent Festival of Marketing panel, suggested that brands need to “put some humour and discussion” into the conversation. This is exactly what the BBC and Ecover navigated well. Whilst not as urgent a message as these examples, “Fortune Favours the Frugal” opens up the discussion in a creative way. Additionally, IKEA is a key player who caters to the mainstream and has huge influence, so the advert itself is a sound piece of purpose marketing. It has taken IKEA more than just a cryptic instruction manual and an allen key to get them to a place where they can produce a campaign like this, and have it go down well.
The company has piloted some great initiatives to encourage a more circular economy, including their Buy Back scheme where customers can return their old furniture to IKEA, where it will be resold or recycled in exchange for a voucher. IKEA is putting in the work to ensure it’s textiles are as sustainable as possible. It is actually a founding member of the better cotton initiative along with WWF, with 77% of the entire cotton supply is ‘Better Cotton’, 17% recycled, and 6% ‘Towards Better Cotton’. There is space for improvement, but this already makes a huge difference when the company uses 1% of the entire global cotton supply chain. As well as 1% of the world’s cotton, IKEA uses 1% of the world’s wood - and in 2020 reached its target to ensure all of it’s wood, paper, and cardboard comes from recycled or FSC® certified sources. Closer inspection on their website reveals that their goal is considered fulfilled at 98%, as ‘Due to disruptions or new suppliers/business partners’ they cannot guarantee 100% at any given time. Given the scale of their production, this makes sense, and we commend the site for addressing this in plain view.
IKEA may attract criticism for it’s low-cost, high-volume business model, with some pointing out that it encourages mass-consumerism. This is a fair criticism, but as the company transitions to a more circular business model, it should be applauded for keeping its products in reach of the average consumer. The combination of functionality, low-prices, and quality are part of what the company labels ‘democratic design’ - by adding sustainability to the mix, they make eco-conscious lifestyle choices more attainable. Their advertising campaigns are bolstered by concrete actions and a clarity about where the company stands now, and where it needs to go. As a company with a huge supply chain, IKEA may not be fully there yet, but they deserve recognition for their efforts in stepping away from an unsustainable linear business model. This transformation is all the more notable as IKEA has the power to transform the entire retail space, and consumer behaviour along with it. Green marketing doesn’t have to be greenwashing. IKEA attests to that and offers a blue(green)-print for brands on how to get it right.
Brands’ green marketing is becoming more authentic as they match their messages to their actions, and there is a certain time of the year where it is more important than ever to stick to this course. Next week, we focus on a case study of a brand with a huge supply chain that built a gargantuan legacy providing a product.
Don’t miss the final article in our first season of purpose marketing series, which takes a closer look at the ramifications of the pandemic on purpose marketing.