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First Published: 05 December, 2024
It was a ‘Can’t-Beat-Wellington’ morning, lifting bright into everyone's field of view. A welcome contrast for a city braving the effects of a clouded 12+ months of mass public sector restructures cascading into the private sector. Over 60 hungry-for-inspiration people filed into TWO/fiftySeven for a Brainy Breakfast that went on to deliver exceptional food for the mind, with a serving of inspiration on how to think and do ‘purpose’.
The topic was 'When Marketing Meets Purpose,' but the speakers and the discussions quickly turned that on its head and a more fitting title might well have been 'When Purpose Meets Marketing.'
Kiwibank on weawing brand, purpose and business together
The morning’s first speaker was Julia Jack from Kiwibank. Her title of Chief Purpose and Brand Officer shows just how committed Kiwibank are to Purpose. As Julia said, this is because Kiwibank was born with purpose. Making Kiwi better off is their Why, and because of that, they have to be credible for all New Zealanders.
“Purpose differentiates us externally and unites us internally”
Julia talked about building performance through purpose and outlined how that shows up for their people, their customers and for Aotearoa. “Purpose drives performance, it’s what makes Kiwibank different, what unites our people and that purpose needs to be a living thing. It’s easy to say, and harder to do”. Julia reinforced that it can’t be an addition to your day job, it has to be your day job.
Drawing an analogy to harakeke (flax), where individual strands gain strength when woven together, Julia underscored the importance of intertwining purpose, strategy, and culture. She described purpose as the 'golden thread' that seamlessly connects what the bank does, with who it is. This integration ensures that purpose is embedded into the daily thoughts of Kiwibank team members.
Julia took attendees through the three pillars of Kiwi Making Kiwi Better Off, about the bank’s mindset, how they have defined where to make an impact (Tamariki, Kiwi and Aotearoa), how that rolls into their long- and short-term goals, and how Kiwibank can then demonstrate their progress of delivery to purpose.
“You can’t make Kiwi better off if you’re not a sustainable commercial business’, so to deliver to its purpose Kiwibank keep an keen eye on the commercial. To do so they need to be a better bank and help make their customers better off, or as Julia put it “If they choose us, that makes us better off”.
Being a marketing crowd, Julia demonstrated how the thinking cascaded down to promotional campaigns and how those campaigns connected with Kiwibank’s purpose.
“It felt simple and effective, as things often do when you’re looking from a helicopter view”.
Julia reiterated the importance of thinking and planning vs showing up in action. While she elaborated on different campaigns focused on tamariki and parenthood, it was the business campaign that particularly resonated with me. Probably the result of my own personal focus on B2B. Kiwibank laboured a fundamental question in their thinking: "What do small businesses actually need?" This introspection led to the courageous launch of the "Action for Aotearoa", which acknowledged current market conditions as tough. Going out on a negative is often frowned upon, so this decision came with risk. Before taking the "Umbrella in the Rain" campaign to market Kiwibank tested the campaign's alignment asking ‘Does this fulfill our purpose? Are we offering a differentiated service? How are we challenging the whole market to be better”.
Julia wrapped up with advice for the attentive crowd. “It’s about understanding it is a journey, be prepared, do not get disheartened”. Not all businesses are born with as strong a purpose as Kiwibank, so find out what your organisation actually does for its customers. What’s great about that? What can you do to differentiate? Purpose should be what you do on a day-to-day basis.
Kow Tow Clothing – Telling the Sustainability Story Across All Touchpoints
“Lead with purpose then everything else just flows through that.”
Local Wellington brand, Kow Tow Clothing, is an exceptional example of that principal in motion. Head of Brand, Rachel Turner, took us through their kaupapa - "Commitment to generating positive change through the business of fashion”.
Kow Tow provides a beacon for other brands to follow. And they need to. As we learnt, fashion as an industry lands massive amounts of clothing waste into developing countries. There is no Greenwashing here, Kow Tow are all about transparency. Their circular economy story starts from the seeds that create the plants to the clothing, to the clothes’ end of life, post repairs, reuse, recycle or composting.
Founded in 2006 by Gosia Piatek, Kow Tow is about making conscious consumption possible. Thinking about the whole life of the garment, about fair trade, plastic free and removing as much waste as possible, about balancing ethics and design in equal measures. Customers come for the clothes first, and Rachel shared they work with incredible designers with fresh thinking.
Delivering to conscious consumption is their day job, but it’s involved, claimed Rachel. “We have goals on goals and focus on bringing our values to life in every customer action”.
It is the small but hard things that make for big wins for Kow Tow. E.g. it took years of innovation to change out cotton thread. This commitment down to the tiniest detail means Kow Tow can use authentic storytelling to promote their products. Walking the talk, Rachel shared with attendees that everything she was wearing can go back into the ground, including the buttons on her clothes.
This ‘storytelling’ is steeped in authenticity and affords the brand massive PR exposure, including a highlight when their Founder had seven uninterrupted minutes to tell the Kow Tow story on breakfast TV. Social media is also a massive channel for the fashion industry and Kow Tow’s Founder Gosia regularly films videos taking customers through the whole-of-life cycle of each element of their garments.
Inspiring us all, Kow Tow operate in the business world too. They run a commercially sound business, growing across Australia, and enjoying fresh and rapid wins - currently taking on New York.
Continuing the theme of purpose across everything they do, Rachel talked about how Kow Tow created a Handbook of their storytelling and in a huge statement, shared their IP to everyone at the recent Mindful Fashion event – even their competitors, recognising that they need other brands to change, as well, or risk being tainted by being part of an industry continuing to create landfill. Kow Tow are currently collaborating with other brands with shared vision - working on credentials for composting. Julia Jack from Kiwibank talked about a journey towards purpose, and Kow Tow has surely travelled a long distance!
When Brands take a stand – Examples and Advice from the Panel
The final inspiration for attendees at the Brainy Breakfast was a panel expertly facilitated by marketing legend and king of synthesising any marketing topic, Regan Savage of Southern Cross. The panel consisted of the marketing smart and articulate Rhys Musson from Meridian Energy, the sharp minded and big hearted Bethany (Bo) Omeri from Special and Wellington’s own godfather of Behaviour Change Nick Farland of Mark Etting.
On Walking the Talk:
Rhys highlighted the tension between the walk and the talk. Meridian Energy have a clear and strong purpose, they have significant market capital, a long legacy and are a sustainability led brand who do a lot of walking but have difficulty with the talk. Their actions are disparate, so the challenge is stitching together their actions with a cohesive narrative. Being a legacy brand in the electricity space they get pushback from the community and bear the brunt of criticism of the industry. Rhys felt Meridian genuinely do incredible things but do not tell enough stories about that. We hear you Rhys, so many stories worth telling and we all continue to navigate funding to bring those stories to market.
Purpose from a world view:
Bo noted that purpose is easier to do if you’re starting from there in the first place. She cautioned brands of talking about social issues, if purpose has nothing to do with what you do. Bo encouraged the audience to consider “are you being intentional or just letting it happen”, to help point us in the right direction. She acknowledged that we create value in different ways, suggesting we should ask ourselves, where does your business have the opportunity? “Your business exists to fill a need, think about how you can deliver in a way that delivers a broader purpose”.
When later asked what brands globally demonstrate great examples of leaning into purpose in a genuine way she referenced:
Cars for work, by Renault. Bo cited it as a great example of using what you already do and finding places to be useful. In areas where there is no access to cars and high unemployment, many people have to turn down jobs as they have no way of getting to work. Renault offer the use a car as a trial for people - which they can lease when they get a job.
Phillips - refurb better than new. While Phillips electronics are made to last, loads of them end up in landfill. So, Phillips set up eCommerce for refurbished goods at a slightly lower price, to create a full lifecycle for their products.
Where purpose sits in priorities:
Nick emphasised that purpose is the Why, an organisation’s way of differentiating and therefore should be a 100% priority. Drawing from his renowned 12 principles of behaviour change, he kindly shared five insightful questions to assess your organisation’s commitment to purpose that will show up as being front-of-mind and delivering an impact:
Who embodies the organisation’s purpose?
When considering internal engagement, it's essential to ask; who embodies the organisation's purpose? The panel agreed that purpose should be pervasive and embraced by everyone within the organisation. They emphasized the importance of identifying change agents to lead these discussions. Crafting internal storytelling from leaders will help capture people's attention, as success is more likely when the leadership team is deeply committed to continually developing and championing the organisation's purpose, building a culture open to constructive conversations. Scheduling routine evaluations ensures ongoing alignment with purpose.
Partnering up to advance purpose
The panel encouraged organisations to partner up to advance their Purpose. Who is standing with you, helping you with your purpose? Acknowledge other players of note. Look for mutual wins where you can share financial resources, networks and have third party endorsements. These partners can amplify your message and offer support during challenging times. In the public sector, partners can articulate messages that may be sensitive for you to convey, adding significant value to your efforts.
On the public service & reducing harm
The public sector faces judgment and has a relentless task of reducing harm, when there is a relentless stack of harm to try and solve. Bo commented that public servants should be celebrated: “When you think about purpose, they’re always trying to achieve better outcomes, to make fundamental difference. This is not an expectation of the private sector”.
Last words.
Such a rich diet was provided from this Brainy Breakfast, I found it hard to leave bites on the plate when summing up all the many lessons I learnt. If you’ve got this far, though, then you deserve a final soundbite worth sticking around for:
“When you get sick of saying something, that is probably when your audience is finally getting the message.” Now, let that sink in.
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