Using Brand Purpose to Create Brand Promise

A B2B brand is much more than a tagline, logo, or color palette. It’s an ethos built on multiple higher-concept ideas—with the business’s purpose chief among them. 

But while a clear statement of why the company exists is appealing internally and externally, it needs to come to life to create enduring value. Employees, prospects, customers, and investors need reasons to believe in the business—and a compelling, aligned experience that builds their trust and drives their loyalty. 

As core elements of B2B brand strategy, purpose and promise work hand in hand to ensure the company meets deeper audience needs at every moment that matters along their journey. Each has its own strengths—and its own distinct role to play. 

Brand Purpose vs. Brand Promise: What’s the Difference?

What is brand purpose?

A brand purpose is a company’s “Why”: the reason it exists. 

While it used to be closely associated with corporate social responsibility goals, this is no longer the case. Today, purpose drives everything the company does, serving as a guidepost for decision making and strategy.

At heart, purpose conveys the business’s value to any external audience, whether customers, the marketplace, our society, or the world. Consider tech giant Cisco and its bold stated purpose “to power an inclusive future for all.” 

What is brand promise?

A brand promise is a point of value that audiences can expect to gain and experience in every interaction with the brand.  

One example is Slack, whose promise is to “Make work life simpler, more pleasant and more productive.”  The statement encapsulates Slack’s commitment to enhancing workplace communication and efficiency, resonating with leaders and teams seeking seamless collaboration tools. 

Promise makes even an aspirational purpose feel achievable and, most importantly, tangible. Each interaction conveys the company’s authenticity and understanding of audience needs and priorities. 

When to Focus on Purpose vs. Promise

When brand building, purpose and promise serve different strategic functions, each becoming crucial at specific points in a company’s evolution. Understanding when to focus on each element can help B2B leaders build stronger brand strategies and allocate resources appropriately. 

For its value as a North Star, leaders typically focus on defining a company purpose when: 

• Rebranding 
• Working to enhance corporate culture 
• Developing long-term business strategy 
• Seeking to differentiate in a crowded market 

Promise, distinct for its tangibility, is usually associated with: 

• Customer journey mapping 
• Brand experience design 
• Service delivery strategy 
• Customer touchpoint planning 

Articulating an Effective, Externally-focused Purpose

Before brand purpose can be used to create brand promise, it must be strategically crafted. So, to start, ensure your purpose is authentic, compelling, and succinct.  

An ideal purpose expresses a goal that is specific enough to be differentiating but broad enough to be dynamic and flexible. It should represent a goal greater (and more inspiring) than profitability, something that may even elevate the business above its category.  

Importantly, your purpose must be externally-focused, aimed at meeting the needs of audiences outside the organization. 

Examples of a strong vs. weak brand purpose

Consider the brand purposes of two hypothetical financial institutions: 

Weak purpose: “To be the best and most respected financial institution in the world.” 

Why is this purpose weak? It focuses entirely inward on the company’s own reputation and status. It doesn’t explain how the institution creates value for customers, contributes to society, or makes any meaningful difference in the world.  

Internally-focused statements are far less likely to inspire employees or resonate deeply with external audiences. 

Strong purpose: “To level the investment playing field, giving everyone an equal chance at success.” 

This purpose is strong because it’s externally focused on customer impact and making a difference. It articulates how the institution aims to transform its industry and whom it intends to benefit.  

This type of “Why” statement can attract customers looking for more inclusive financial services and inspire employees to deliver on a mission that matters. 

How to Build Promise from Purpose

A concise, authentic, externally-focused brand purpose lends itself to being translated into promise.  

Consider the examples of a weak and strong promise above. It’s hard to imagine how to define experiences that could communicate that an institution is “the best and most respected.” But it’s intuitively easy to generate ideas for building a journey that “levels the playing field.” 

The purpose “to level the investment playing field” might translate into a brand promise along the lines of: 

“Affordability, Ease, and Transparency—at every step of the investment journey.” 

This brand promise could then be activated through: 

• Welcoming, accessible app design 
• Low and transparent fee structures 
• Educational resources for new investors 
• Thought leadership about accessible investment opportunities 

Using purpose to create a category of one

A recent DeSantis Breindel partnership demonstrates how purpose can drive brand transformation.  

A leader in pharmaceutical commercialization engaged us with a bold vision: to establish the world’s only one-stop solution for the entire drug commercialization lifecycle—creating an entirely new category.   

A particularly fascinating strategic insight emerged during our collaboration. In an industry where competitors all claimed to offer “market access,” we discovered an opportunity to fundamentally reframe what “access” could mean.

By expanding the concept of access beyond market entry to encompass data, processes, and people, the business established a compelling new purpose: “Empowering access to life-changing medicine for all.” 

This purpose informed a comprehensive rebrand including a new name, visual identity, and digital presence. Critically, it also provided a unifying concept that helped bring together employees from previously separate organizations. 

The new brand positioned our client as a true category of one. By establishing a brand built on purpose rather than capabilities or services, they established a distinctive market position. 

This example demonstrates that—when strategically articulated and activated—purpose can do more than merely inspire. It can fundamentally redefine how a company is perceived in the marketplace. 

Using Purpose as a Compass

To harness the motivating and compelling power of a purpose and promise for your own organization, think of your brand purpose as a guiding force, lending you a clear sense of direction as you define every customer interaction and brand experience.  

When your purpose is authentic, externally-focused, and actionable, it will naturally lead to a brand promise that resonates with the people who matter most to your business. 

It may help to think of it this way: a well-crafted purpose inspires; a well-executed promise delivers.  

Together, they ensure every moment that matters in the customer journey aligns with the company’s “Why”—building the strong relationships that create enduring value. 

Thinking about refreshing your brand’s purpose and promise? Let’s talk.

Originally published December 5, 2020.