What impact, values and purpose drives you and your business? And we don’t mean what car!

Is it time  to re-consider what your values are and what impact or purpose drives you? Because if  your network of connections is driven by purpose and share the same values, there's even more strength in the outcome and impact you can create together.

I spoke with Luke Faccini on my podcast late in 2022.

 Luke runs a branding agency called Sponge , proudly a Certified B Corp helping next generation business owners re brand with purpose. Sponge became a Certified B Corp in 2017 as a purpose-centered branding agency with a digital tilt. Their purpose is to help all brands be good for the world.

 You can listen our conversation in entirety but some may prefer to read and reflect on Luke’s answers to my questions in this extract from some of our conversation:

Why is brand purpose so important  

“ That's a big question. I think with the access to information and speed and transparency, people want you to stand for something. And if you don't, then you get compared as a commodity and no one wants to be price-matched. That just makes things difficult. So the way I see purpose is it is your authentic reason for being, as an organization, what it is that you stand for or your intent that transforms you or your organization, from the commodity to be price-matched to a crusade to fight for. When you become that, then it's something for your team to rally behind, something for your community, your clients to grab onto and support.”

 Have you always felt this way?  Tell us a bit about your backstory and how this became more evident to you? 

“ I started Sponge in 1999, and we were all about design and making money. ..very much a commercial profit-driven organization, and we were good at what we did. And we would help anyone that would pay us some money, to help them market, sell more of their stuff regardless of what it was or the damage it did to the planet. And that was fine for many years.

I was very consumer-focused about things, and I hadn't stopped to think about the true cost of things. I watched a  documentary called The True Cost. And it was a exposé on fast fashion. And it revealed to me the greed and the destruction and the Dhaka building collapses where there was 1250 that people died. I think it was over that, and over 2 1/2 thousand people were injured. And why? Because of ignorance, right?

 Shareholders are wanting short-term gain and blind to what they're actually forcing organizations to do, and it... I'd never seen supply chain like that. I was ignorant. And I was sitting there in tears, thinking, I'm a hypocrite. I'm like, what am I doing? And I made a commitment in that moment that I would no longer work for brands that were about profit at all cost. So that was what I call my purpose moment. It led to me firing a whole bunch of clients, imploding my business and being forced to start again. But starting again this time with the desire to understand what purpose and impact is.”

 How do you help a business now? 

“.. identify what their core values are. … there is a transformative effect when you get a shared context of a value, not just your token integrity or trust or those values by default, which we see many organizations have, is what is it really the value that embodies to your organization is on the best day, right? What, is it something that you hold high as an aspiration? What are the contexts, the contextual statement that sits under that that is the guiding principles or the guiding definition of that value so people know what that looks like?. “

“People have values and work, but we are limited by the experience that we've had. … how can we make these things catch fire within your organization to unleash the potential of your team and also to help those that shouldn't be in your team self-select out. It is so transformative for an organization when it is nothing but superstars that are aligned.”

 Are mission and purpose the same? 

“We've got a formula that we follow when we help people work through a purpose statement. Interestingly, when we overlay that formula for some organizations as their mission statement, for example, Patagonia is an example. We're in business to save our home planet. To me, that's a purpose statement, right? It might have the label mission. It's the interchangeable providing the structure, the inclusion within that statement is the same.”

Give me an example of a business that you've seen that has become on purpose and how that has increased customer engagement? 

“One… a real estate agency in Tasmania, multiple offices. He bought into the family business, it's multi-generational. They had 25 people, five people within that organization, shouldn't have been there. They didn't have a purpose statement. They were feeling disjointed and they came to us for a re-brand, which is what people do. They reach out but that's the symptom of there being a deeper issue, which is either culture or impact alignment. So we helped them get that stuff.

Five people left that organization voluntarily, including one of the new, the younger owners because they weren't aligned with what the team designed within the workshops that we did of what the expectation was to be part of that team, what the guiding principles were, the core values, what the purpose was, what the impact model was.

Now, oh my goodness, they've gone from number nine in their city to number two, and they've opened up multiple offices. They have nothing but people that are aligned. The energy is ridiculous. What we find is doing this work unleashes the creative and discretionary energy in individuals because there is that trust, there is that expectation that everybody is bringing their A game, regardless of the industry.

How do you determine your impact and initiatives ?

 “ Their purpose is to establish leaders in their local communities wherever they've got an office. Now, the statement is a little bit different, but that's the context of it. … that drives the impact initiatives that they have and drives the training that they do with their team.

Is their contribution to their community, the way they connect to create change? 

“Exactly. one of the things that they wanted do is they've seen an exodus of young talent from Tassie... because if you had any kind of potential, you went to the mainland. So part of creating that leadership and lifting the communities creates that opportunity for talented locals to actually thrive within the local community.”

“ One of our values is genius at play. … in essence, what it is about is us supporting that zone of genius within each of our team, within our families, and within our community, so that everyone is in that flow state, is performing with... At their greatest value. And so that for me, it's having these kind of conversations, inspiring organizations. It's working with people to help them have that aha moment of realizing this feels good. This is what we want, and the strategy behind that. So yeah, like when people are working in their zone of genius, it is energising, it's kind a like there's an infinite supply of that resource to do what you want to do.”

What do you hope to see in the future? 

 “My dream is that every business does something good for the world, every brand is good for the world. That's what our purpose is, help all brands be good for the world. So what that looks like is different for different organizations. .. if every business is doing something beneficial for the planet and the people in it, over and above providing an awesome product or service that's not enough today, that's not enough. Awesome is no longer enough. People want you to stand for something. So, I'm looking forward to seeing the tipping point where every business does something good for the world.”

Agreed. If every person made one difference, just one would be fantastic.

For me, Kerryn Powell, I knew that I wanted to support others who are thinking beyond themselves and yet others may not know they exist , but need their help. That is more than just one organization. There are so many that provide but also need support to create their desired impact. So part of my purpose and driver, is to amplify these stories so people can say, "Ah, that's something that I could do. That's something that lights me up." And that's part of my contribution. So Luke….

Could you share the top three things that anyone who's wanting to build purpose into their brand should do?  

“Consider what it is that problem that you wanna solve and make sure that's relevant for your business. If you need help with that, there's a framework to follow. The second thing is infusing that into your purpose statement and making that a rallying cry that sits above all of what it is that you do. So, it needs to sit nicely as an umbrella over your values, over your marketing strategy, over everything that you do, over how you deliver. It needs to really be authentic and sit above it.

Then the next third thing is storytelling that, communicating that, and really building a context for that. A purpose statement's a diving off point, right? So, the ideal one is people like, "Oh yeah, tell me more. How?" The how part, and that's where you get to introduce the initiatives or the way that you do it. But getting that storytelling process right, so that it's not just you telling that story, but inducing this succinct story that somebody that hears it can go, "That's cool," and they can retell it. It's not so much what you say, it's what's retold. So, same thing for your team. You need to master that story so that your team can tell the same story too.”

 In conclusion, never underestimate how important your story and meaningful conversations are with your audience. IT’s how how your brand values are shared. Remember you can listen to the full podcast on Spotify or itunes.

To kick start our thinking and conversation this year in the YTM Business Connect community, we offered a session on Unlocking Brand Values with Amey Lee, which further strengthened the importance of communicating your purpose .

 YTM FULL Members can access the recording of that session with Amey in the YTM Member Portal.

I would be keen to hear in the comments below, what drives your business, and what you look for in the organisations that you choose to work with.

Hello, I am Kerryn Powell, The Network Catalyst and founder of Your Time Matters and podcast host of Conversations and connections to amplify and inspire. I am a connection strategist, conversation starter and network catalyst who thrives on building communities and creating the right connections for those seeking strategic allies to make a positive impact through connection, contribution and community.

I draw on my diverse career portfolio, experience, skills and knowledge to encourage, support and empower business owners, professionals, teams and individuals to create true connection through authentic conversations that build real relationships, boost confidence and generate business and opportunities.

BOOK a discovery call TODAY, and let’s have a conversation to see how I can help you