A Portfolio of Purpose: How Companies With Multiple Purpose Driven Brands Can Ladder Up To Corporate Purpose Statements, Strategies and Platforms

Group of business people joining together silver and golden colored gears on table at workplace top view | GETTY

One of the biggest challenges for companies like Unilever, PepsiCo, Mattel, Mondelez and many others with a portfolio of diverse brands is figuring out how to align them all around a centralized corporate purpose - and then manifest them in ways that ladder up to ESG Goals and Commitments. Each brand has a different consumer base, and a different brand purpose according to its lifestage, business opportunity and growth potential. But there are great benefits to having the entire portfolio aligned around a common purpose, in a measurable and impactful way.

Here are five principles for best practice in this area, drawn from experience at our purpose consultancy Conspiracy of Love.

CREATE AN ARMADA OF PURPOSE

The benefits of having individual Brand Purposes aligned around a common Corporate purpose are manifold. Think of the individual brands as an Armada, a fleet of ships, each individual and unique but heading in the same direction. There is common direction and purpose that comes from the Corporate Purpose, but each ship is treated as an individual entity.

Mattel's portfolio of brands then find their own way to ladder up to this overarching Purpose. | MATTEL

Mattel is a great example of a company where a Corporate Purpose statement intersects with individual Brand Purpose statements in a powerful and synergistic way. Mattel’s corporate Purpose statement (why they exist) is ‘We empower the next generation to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential’. Their Mission (their ‘How’, what they are dedicated to doing every day to bring the Purpose to life) is to ‘create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain and develop children through play.’

Their portfolio of brands then find their own way to ladder up to this overarching Purpose. Barbie's brand purpose is ‘to inspire the limitless potential in every girl’. By focusing on the ‘every’ part of that statement and creating a doll line that is staggering in its diversity and inclusivity, the brand has returned to being a billion-dollar plus brand after years of stagnation.

Fisher Price’s purpose is: “We believe in the potential of children and in the importance of a supportive environment in which they can grow, learn, and get the best possible start in life. Hugely befitting a brand that is synonymous with early childhood development.  And Hot Wheels wants to convey that life is full of challenges that build resilience and ‘champion the challenger spirit in every kid’. As such, it  has geared up to showcase how children can better learn educational concepts of Physics and Mathematics through practical application using Hot Wheels cars and track sets. All of these brands are now operating in a way that reinforces and enhances the corporate Purpose but in ways that are true and unique to them.

DESIGN FOR COLLABORATION NOT COMPETITION

Taking this holistic approach to a portfolio of purpose driven brands also ensures that there is clear whitespace differentiation between them, and not competition or conflict around the same social impact territory. Just like no two brands in a portfolio would use the same celebrity spokesperson, brands shouldn’t take on exactly the same cause and non-profit partner. However, there can be ways to design purpose strategies to create powerful synergies within a portfolio.

Ritz lunch goes on with Feeding America | MONDELEZ

For instance, in our work with Mondelēz, we worked with the Ritz brand to strategically focus them on the issue of childhood hunger in the classroom, partnering with Feeding America for a $1 million donation. For its sister brand Triscuit we crafted an approach focused on the issue of food deserts (places with no access to nutritious food) and funding social entrepreneurs solving the problem in cities across America via The Missing Ingredients Project, another $1 million commitment.

As food brands for a major CPG multinational, each found a way to play in a naturally intuitive space around food security and access to nutrition, but in completely different ways. And they all ladder up to the bigger Mondelēz International commitment to help deliver more than 1 billion servings of fresh foods to address hunger and obesity in America.

FOCUS ON COMMITMENTS NOT CAMPAIGNS 

This brings up another important principle - how companies can go beyond making campaigns into commitments. It enables brands to come together to act in a cumulative manner against the bigger corporate commitments around ESG themes, with each brand taking responsibility for its own targets around energy, waste, etc but everything being tracked in a way that ladders up to making significant impact at a corporate level.

Procter and Gamble’s Brand 2030 is the framework the company is using to ensure their leadership brands enable responsible consumption and have a positive impact on the world. | P&G

For instance, Procter and Gamble’s Brand 2030 is the framework the company is using to ensure their leadership brands enable responsible consumption and have a positive impact on the world. Focusing on the issues of environmental sustainability (which also ladder up to the company’s Ambition 2030 commitments), community impact, equality and inclusion and ethics and corporate responsibility, different brands like Always, Pampers, Charmin and others contribute towards meeting those common goals across areas from packaging and waste to tackling gender stereotypes. This is how the company delivers on its purpose of being ‘A force for good and a force for growth.’

(For a deeper dive into this topic, click here for my interview with P&G Chief Sustainability Officer Virginie Helias.)

BE TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE 

PepsiCo Positive Platform | PEPSICO

Another of our clients, PepsiCo, has the PepsiCo Positive platform, which focuses on the twin macro areas of Planet and People. It covers everything from where they source their ingredients to making their products healthier and more nutritious (again all backed up by transparent commitments). The company has announced transformational goals : from scaling regenerative agriculture to 7 million acres (which has massively positive implications for tackling the climate crisis) to  aiming to increase nutritious food access to 50 million people by 2030.

All of these commitments are displayed on their website and championed by their CEO in ways that keep the focus on them, both internally and externally.

REPORT ON PROGRESS REGULARLY 

Sunshine for All Progress Report  | DOLE PACKAGED FOODS

Finally, it’s important not only to have goals but report on them regularly. Particular praise should be given to Dole Packaged Foods, whose Purpose is  ‘To Make The World A Healthier Place’ by ‘educating, inspiring and empowering consumers to make healthier lifestyle choices and to find the fun in fresh fruits and vegetables.’

Their corporate commitment model is the Dole Promise platform which I had the pleasure of covering in this column previously in 2020. They followed it up with the first Sunshine for All Progress Report a year later, revealing how well they had matched their goals. Taking a rigorous approach to evaluating progress is essential for companies to show all of their stakeholders that they are acting with integrity.

As the field of progress matures and progresses, the ability for multinational companies with portfolios of brands to unlock the tremendous potential of synergistic purpose has powerful upsides not just for profitability - but also for the future of our planet and the benefit of humanity.