Developing Impact Branding for Positive Social Change

"Do something great." on Neon Sign

Social purpose is on the rise. And thanks to technology, our lives have gone easier, giving us more capacity and time to focus on growth, purpose, and positive social change.

Today's population is more conscious than ever and aligns themselves with brands that truly reflect their values. As a result, we've noticed a shift in consumer spending to sustainable and purpose-driven brands that put social impact at the forefront of their organization.

So more brands are now leveraging their understanding of these values to disrupt industries, and more established brands are rushing to adapt in this competitive landscape.

Let's talk about branding for good and how to develop the right plan to incite positive social change.

Why Purpose? Here's Why Doing Good Works

Purpose is powerful. It can help brands gain publicity, engage employees and customers, boost sales, and elevate their value when done right.

Branding For Good: Individuals

Everyone is constantly searching for a sense of purpose. Individuals care about taking part in something bigger than themselves. And because many of our daily tasks are automated, we spend less time on basic tasks and more looking for happiness. As tech continues to evolve and dominate many industries, we've seen a stronger need for emotional connection.

By integrating social impact into your branding, customers and employees can fulfill their need for purpose more easily. For example, instead of simply buying a product they need, most consumers would prefer to buy it from a brand that uses a portion of their money for positive social change. And for employees, many prefer spending their time at a company to emphasize not only generating profits but doing good.

Branding For Good: Organizations

Inspired employees and ones that feel like they are making a difference are much more satisfied than people working for a solely profit-driven organization. When brands integrate social impact into their business model, they create opportunities for their daily operations and employees to have more meaning and make a positive social change.

In addition, when employees are motivated by their tasks and not by external rewards, they are more productive and have improved problem-solving abilities. Collaboration within teams and between organizations gets better as people start to fulfill purposes beyond profits.

Branding For Good: Brands

Friends as a whole can see tremendous benefits one organizations begin expressing their internal values to employees, customers, and stakeholders. An organization's involvement in its community shows its true emotional and personal character. It's easy to forget that it's real people standing behind a brand, weakening customers' emotional connection. Branding for good and social impact can help.

Most people gravitate to socially impactful opportunities, and brands can see an increase in sales when they prioritize doing good. It's a connection that also drives talkability. Social impact resonates highly with people, particularly millennials and Gen Z. Branding for positive social change is one of the best ways to drive word-of-mouth marketing.

"Look for good" Scrabble tiles

How to Develop Impact Branding to Facilitate Positive Social Change

Now, let's talk about some business strategies to create brand purpose and drive social impact for positive change.

Creating a Brand Purpose

When your organization has a clear brand purpose, it helps connect with customers, employees, and investors. For example, if your organization is expanding a product line, the brand should ensure it aligns well with its purpose. The question to ask when identifying your brand purpose is "why?".

That means defining your brand mission (what you do) and why it's important.

Using Your Brand Purpose to Achieve Positive Social Change

Once you understand the purpose and mission of your brand, you can use social impact to accentuate it. How will your organization give back to the community?

Whatever your answer, it should connect directly with your brand purpose and its messaging.

Authenticity is the key to successful social impact. Your social impact also needs to have a business impact, but it must stay authentic to your brand, values, and purpose. When businesses take a stand on hot topics, it's hard to tell what's real and what's a marketing or PR stunt.

Let's look at a three-step framework for positive social change:

1. Address the Needs of Others

Campaigns and initiatives that are solely for marketing purposes aren't as effective as ones with a positive social impact. However, even if a brand has no real interest in supporting their cause, and they write a check to a non-profit organization, that donation still likely drives a positive impact.

We see this a lot—brands donating two causes irrelevant to their organization. It's still impactful, though, even if it's inauthentic. Obviously addressing the needs of others in an authentic manner is better, but positive social change is still positive social change.

2. Spend Time & Put in Effort

We mentioned writing a check to a non-profit—yes, that's a great start, but it's not enough. Many businesses think that by donating to a random non-profit, they are making a positive social change. However, we don't necessarily agree with this approach.

When branding for good, it's crucial to take a real interest in your cause and find ways that your campaign can make a real impact. That means finding the right problem to solve, vetting your partners, and identifying the strategy that best serves the needs of others.

As consumers, it's important to demand more from brands that are trying to do good—impact on the surface is not always true social impact for a positive change.

"A smile can change someone's day."

3. Garner Internal Buy-Ins

The people working on a positive social change initiative must genuinely believe in it. Other than keeping the campaign authentic, a powerful employee engagement strategy lies in garnering internal buy-ins.

It starts with your brand purpose. So revisit your why and identify causes that closely match your purpose. If you want to grow interest in your organization's cause, the best way to do it is for your team to see it with their own eyes.

That means getting your whole team involved in the social impact program and proving that you are genuinely invested in the cause. Volunteering is an effective strategy to Garner internal buy-ins, and all organizations should do so before they put money into specific charities.