What Is Brand Purpose? Tips and Real-World Brand Examples

Simply put, your brand’s purpose is the reason it exists beyond just making money. Aside from generating a profit, why is it important or necessary for your brand to be in this world? It’s an easy question to ask but can be a very difficult one to answer. However, brands that can clearly and confidently articulate their “why” have a better chance of attracting like-minded consumers to their business. In fact, “purpose-driven brands” put their purpose front and center in their messaging for that exact reason.

Sometimes, a company that had a well-defined brand purpose when it started will lose its way over time. Maybe the founder steps aside and those making decisions don’t have the same vision. Or maybe a founder is unable to accept and adjust to the reality that what worked in the past won’t work in the face of changing consumer preferences and cultural norms. Regardless, having a clearly defined purpose and leaders who wholeheartedly carry the torch enables a brand to find its way.

Starting a business is no easy feat, and being personally invested in a mission can make the early, scrappy days feel a lot more rewarding. Learn how to clearly define your brand’s purpose so you can share that sense of meaning with the world.

What is brand purpose?

Brand purpose is the idea that a brand should have a reason for operating beyond just making a profit. For a clearly defined brand purpose, look to Ben & Jerry’s website, where the copy reads, “We love making ice cream, but using our business to make the world a better place gives our work its meaning.” It’s what your brand stands for that creates the foundation for articulating your brand vision, i.e., the future state you want to create in the course of running your business.

That said, not every brand needs to have a big, powerful cause. In fact, it may come off as disingenuous if your brand wants to be seen as doing something meaningful (like accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy) when the founder’s actions or the business model run counter to that (like rubbing elbows with big oil). Point being, purpose-driven brands should shout their reason for being from the rooftops, but there’s no sense in forcing a purpose if you can’t walk the walk.

Brand purpose vs. mission vs. values: What’s the difference?

Your brand purpose, mission, and values all play important roles, but there are subtle differences between the concepts:

• Brand purpose. Your purpose is the reason you keep your business going beyond just wanting to make money. For example, an organic t-shirt brand’s purpose may be to champion ethical consumption. Thus, the company’s products (organic t-shirts) and practices (sustainable sourcing, paying its farmers in India an equitable wage, and working with women farmers) are informed by the belief that the world needs alternatives to mindless consumerism.

• Brand mission. Your mission is the specific goal your company strives for every day to achieve your vision, a future state you have in mind, or an achievement you’d like to accomplish in running your business. The same t-shirt company’s mission may be to empower its employees to advocate for fair practices and find new ways every day to reduce waste.

• Brand values. Your brand values guide how you pursue your purpose and achieve your mission. What standards do you insist on maintaining? The values guiding the t-shirt company may include equity, sustainability, and female empowerment.

How to showcase your brand purpose

• Align with like-minded partners
• Use storytelling to communicate your message
• Get your customers involved

Having a strong brand purpose statement isn’t enough—you have to live your values. Your brand purpose can guide the products you make, your leadership model, and your messaging. The latter is crucial in helping your audience understand your brand purpose, too. To do this, you can:

Align with like-minded partners

Creating meaningful partnerships can be mutually beneficial and reaffirm your brand purpose. Choose suppliers and shipping firms who live your values to create a pipeline that supports your mission. You can also partner with nonprofit organizations that have grassroots expertise with your stated purpose and can help channel your funding and provide guidance.

Use storytelling to communicate your message

Your brand purpose statement may be a few sentences long and designed for internal stakeholders, but you can share your ethos across your website, social media, and packaging. Tell customers the why behind your brand—what motivated you to start your company and what keeps you going. You can use an Our Story page on your website to expand on your journey and share honest takes on social media or in email newsletters.

You can also share stories about your partners—the artisans who create your product, the farmers who grow your ingredients, or the designers and office workers behind the scenes. This long-form content allows customers to understand who you are and what you stand for in a way that a pithy one-liner may not communicate.

Get your customers involved

If your customers choose your brand because your brand purpose aligns with their values, they may want to get involved in ways that go beyond buying your products. You can ask them to support a charitable cause of your choice by using a donation app to collect funds or suggest partner nonprofits in their area for volunteering opportunities. You can also recommend that customers reuse and recycle your products to promote sustainability. You can make this as easy as possible by having drop-off centers or easy mailing for products that have reached the end of their life, offering free repairs, or incentivizing exchanges (so you can safely dispose of old goods).

3 brand purpose examples

• Patagonia
• The Cleanest Lab
• Who Gives a Crap

These brands are great examples of companies with strong brand purpose: 

Patagonia

Patagonia is a textbook example of a brand that leads and lives by its purpose. When Yvon Chouinard started the company, he was a passionate climber who wanted to stop damaging rock surfaces with his equipment. His purpose—with his life and business—was to explore wild places. As the business grew and the discourse around environmentalism and sustainability evolved, so did the brand’s purpose—from exploring wild places to protecting them. While the company’s original purpose statement spoke of harm reduction and environmental solutions, it now is a clear statement of its unwavering purpose: “Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.”

In 2022 Yvon Chouinard transferred ownership of the company to a trust and nonprofit, ensuring that all future profits go toward fighting climate change. In addition, the company has pledged 1% of sales to environmental causes, pioneered the use of recycled materials, and has a repair and resale program to extend the life of its products.

The Cleanest Lab

Samantha Kent had years of experience in beauty product manufacturing, thanks to her role as chief growth officer at the family-run LaDove. However, it wasn’t until her sister was diagnosed with Leukemia that Samantha became aware of the challenges facing people with extremely sensitive skin. “A lot of preservatives get a bad rep. However, it’s more dangerous to somebody with a disease to have a potential exposure to a bacteria than an exposure to that preservative,” she says on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast.

In starting The Cleanest Lab, her company’s brand purpose was to create high-quality, irritant-free products backed by science. That purpose is loud and clear on its Our Story page, where the copy reads, “The Cleanest Lab was created out of Pureness. Pure love, pure performance, and pure intent.” You can also see this brand purpose in play when you look at the products; to be transparent about what it uses, The Cleanest Lab lists all fragrance allergens so customers know exactly what to expect.

Samantha says there’s an added benefit to making products with a clear purpose: It can help land crucial partnerships. “It takes just as much effort to create something that you’ll produce once as it does to create something that will be around for years to come,” Samantha says. Reputable manufacturers are more likely to want to work with you if you believe in what you’re making and that it’ll solve a real need in the market.

Who Gives a Crap

Who Gives a Crap is a sustainable toilet paper company that produces eco-friendly, bamboo toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels. Beyond sustainability, the brand’s core purpose is to improve global sanitation, and it donates 50% of its profits to organizations building toilets in underserved communities worldwide. As you can tell from the brand name, though, this company isn’t afraid to let loose in the name of environmentalism. Who Gives a Crap blends purpose with an irreverent, wry tone and a colorful, playful brand identity.

The brand’s purpose is evident across its website, starting with the homepage banner that reads “Good for the planet.” You can see this sentiment displayed all over the branding and marketing—even in corporate communications. It also guides the brand’s growth and expansion efforts.

When Shopify talked to cofounder Jehan Ratnatunga about Who Gives a Crap’s market expansion, he said, “If our mission is to give people access to clean water and sanitation, which is a huge problem, we need more bums to wipe than just in Australia. We always knew we couldn’t do this with just one market. It’s been in our thinking from Day One.” The fun, irreverent tone helps keep the brand on message without sounding overly lofty for what the product is—a product you use on your bum.