Corporate Purpose & B2B Purpose Led Transformation

A purpose should not be changed regularly but can be considered or reviewed every 3-5 years or during major change, such as:

• Strategic redirection or transformation
• Leadership or ownership change
• Stakeholder or market shifts
• Mergers, acquisitions, or significant business model changes.

An effective corporate purpose is linked to the vision and forms the foundation for the organisation; it is the ‘why’ the organisation exists, beyond making money. A great purpose is:

• Meaningful and emotionally resonant
• Anchored in organisational strengths
• Distinct from vision or values
• Actionable across culture, brand, and operations
• Usable in decision-making and leadership conversations.

Ownership must sit with the CEO and C-Suite, and many progressive organisations now have a Chief Purpose Officer CPO to ensure it is well embedded across the organisation.

• CEO and Board: Sponsor and reinforce purpose in strategy
• Chief Purpose Officer (where relevant): Stewards purpose governance
• Brand, culture, and strategy leads: Embed purpose across systems
• Leaders and teams: Live purpose through daily actions and choices.

Purpose cannot be delegated to marketing or HR alone, it must be an executive priority.

Ideally, a purpose should be unearthed from within, as this helps to build ownership and authenticity:

• Involve staff through surveys, workshops
• Engage leadership and board early to ensure aligned to ambition and vision
• Co-create language and ideas from real insights
• Use open communication to share and validate direction.

The more people are involved in shaping purpose, the more likely they are to bring it to life.

Yes. Purpose-led organisations consistently outperform peers in:

• Customer loyalty and pricing power
• Staff engagement and retention
• Innovation outcomes and ESG leadership
• Long-term growth, valuation, and resilience.

A well-executed purpose is not just inspiring, it’s commercially focused.

Purpose anchors your strategy in meaning. It shapes what matters most and provides a consistent lens for evaluating decisions, investments, and innovation. It helps:

• Prioritise actions and opportunities
• Build cultural and brand alignment
• Guide leadership through complexity and change
• Align commercial goals with long-term value.

Purpose-led consultants ensure purpose becomes a lived, strategic force that drives culture, performance, and trust. Benefits include:

• Stronger alignment across executive and staff
• Higher innovation and adaptability
• Increased brand credibility and stakeholder engagement
• More sustainable transformation and impact delivery.

Purpose-led consulting ensures your purpose becomes a strategic driver, not just a communications statement. It includes:

• Robust engagement and research
• Translating purpose into behaviours, systems, and messages
• Connecting purpose to brand, EVP, transformation, and leadership
• Designing ways to Put Purpose into Practice™

The Brand Council approach has helped ASX companies, NFPs, and global brands embed purpose with measurable results.

Purpose consultants bring the structure, insight, and objectivity needed to guide discovery, alignment, and integration. They:

• Avoid “purpose-washing” and ensure authenticity and business alignment
• Engage staff, leaders, and stakeholders meaningfully
• Align purpose with strategy, and culture
• Help embed the purpose across operations and leadership
• Drive momentum, clarity, and internal engagement.

These two terms are foundational, but distinct:

• Purpose = Why you exist beyond profit (the enduring "why")
• Vision = Where you’re going (your aspirational future)

Purpose shapes our ‘why’ we exist, our behaviour, and is a key driver to work with the organisation, whilst Vision sets the long-term horizon and ambition that we are moving towards and aim to reach.

An effective corporate purpose is clear, emotionally resonant, and anchored in organisational strengths.

• Patagonia “We’re in business to save our home planet”
• Goodman Group “Making space for greatness”
• TWE “Boldly Cultivating value through our brands, wine, people and environment for enriched and joyful communities”
• Unilever “To make sustainable living commonplace”

These examples are effective because they use simple, clear language; are focused on business and societal benefit; are scalable and authentic across teams and geographies.

The development of purpose is a discovery process. It must reflect your DNA, ambition, and stakeholder expectations. Ideally it should be unearthed from within the organisation (within the context of ambition). Our recommended approach includes:

• Stakeholder engagement (internal and external)
• Leadership alignment and workshops
• Purpose co-creation based on insight and ambition
• Validation through staff engagement
• Integration with brand, strategy and culture.

At Brand Council, we specialise in guiding this process to ensure rigour, clarity, and impact.

Purpose is more than a brand statement. It’s a strategic and cultural foundation that:

• Builds trust and relevance across stakeholders
• Provides clarity during uncertainty and change
• Drives meaningful employee engagement and retention
• Enhances innovation, adaptability, and leadership alignment.

When purpose is embedded effectively:

• Strategy becomes more focused
• Culture becomes more cohesive
• Customers and employees become advocates
• The organisation becomes more resilient and future-fit.

Corporate purpose defines ‘why’ your organisation exists - beyond profit. It’s the enduring reason for being that guides decision-making, inspires culture, and aligns your brand and business strategy. A strong purpose:

• Anchors your organisation, brand and culture in shared meaning and intention
• Clarifies your contribution to stakeholders, society, customers, and employees
• Drives growth and relevancy
• Enhances long-term value for all stakeholders
• Drives innovation, trust, and resilience.

We believe purpose is best when unearthed from within to ensure it is authentic, inspiring, and actionable.

When culture is aligned with purpose, it drives meaning, motivation, and consistency across the organisation. A purpose-aligned culture:

• Helps employees understand the “why” behind their work
• Inspires consistent decision-making and behaviour
• Builds trust with internal and external stakeholders
• Encourages innovation, ownership, and resilience.

Culture becomes your greatest enabler, or your greatest risk, when navigating growth or transformation.

Purpose is the foundation of modern brand strategy. It defines why you exist, beyond commercial goals, and shapes how you show up in the world. Purpose:

• Creates meaning and emotional connection
• Builds trust with customers, employees, and stakeholders
• Guides behaviour, communication, and innovation
• Anchors your brand in something bigger than profit.

Purpose-led brands grow faster, engage better, are more innovative, and navigate complexity with confidence.

A shared purpose galvanises the organisation and connects legacy cultures into one united identity. Benefits include:

• Inspiring belief and confidence among employees
• Aligning leadership behaviours and decision-making
• Rebuilding trust with customers, clients, and regulators
• Driving strategy and innovation with authenticity.

This shared purpose must reflect both legacy DNA and future ambition.

Yes. A purpose is a powerful lens through which to guide integration. It can be important to include a review of the parent or holding company purpose during a significant M&A. It is essential to review purpose during and following a merger as the new combined organisation should have a strong and united purpose and vision for the future. Purpose:

• Clarifies the “why” behind the merger
• Inspires teams with a shared future identity
• Differentiates the merged organisation in the market
• Reinforces trust, transparency, and long-term value.

Brand Council’s approach ensures that purpose is not only discovered, but embedded in how the new organisation operates.