Ever wonder what makes certain brands truly stand out? The ones that go beyond just selling a product or service?
In this episode of The Brilliant Brand Podcast, I’m diving into the core elements of brand purpose—the foundation behind your business, beyond just making money.
This isn’t about lofty ideals.
It’s about getting clear on why your brand exists, what it stands for, and how it connects with the right people.
I’ll show you how:
- Values act as your North Star
- Purpose keeps you on course
- Vision gives you a destination
- Mission helps you get there
Tune in now:
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“When you lead with your core Why, you have a better chance at sharing a unique perspective and a unique reason for existing. This will automatically pull you out of the pack for the exact right customer. It’s great for positioning!”
Episode 2 Transcription
Hello, Brilliant Business Owner and Marketer!
I’m sorry for leaving you out in the first episode greeting. I realized after it was produced that there are a lot of you out there listening. CMOs, VP of Marketing, Marketing Directors, etc.
About half our business at FreshSparks is working directly with marketing leaders, who are usually tasked with the massive undertaking of rebranding – or a brand refresh.
And I KNOW that your goals and KPIs depend on a sophisticated strategy, a cohesive identity, plus killer messaging that converts.
So welcome to the brilliant marketers alongside the brilliant business owners listening to this episode. And thank you for your time again today.
This is the second episode! Let’s cheers to that, please. Raise your coffee or tea with me – or your water bottle if you’re working out right now. We are celebrating all the little wins over here.
I covered a lot in the first episode from purpose all the way to promotion. Check it out for the overview of what makes a brilliant brand in seven pillars to stand on AND stand out with.
Today, I’m staying on the foundation elements that make up your brand purpose – the substance behind your brand – the reasons you’re in business beyond making money.
This is Iceberg material.
The things underneath the surface that you may not see, but you can definitely feel it and experience it in the brands that you know and love.
So let’s make sure that happens for your brand, too.
Now, sometimes when you hear the word purpose, your mind might go towards thinking you need to save the world or humankind.
As if it’s this existential power. And that can feel elusive to some people. It does to me sometimes, in the context of business.
And look:
It doesn’t hurt if you’re tying in some kind of social purpose or higher purpose to your branding. That’s a plus. But a brand doesn’t always have to be in that realm of philanthropic or nonprofit or cause-based to make a difference or have an impact.
As I said in the first episode, if your business is solving a problem with intention, that makes a world of difference to the end consumer.
Your business brand can make an impact by relieving pain points for people, but also by connecting with emotion about why it exists and what it stands for. And what it stands against, which is also important to communicate. These are the things that attract the ideal customer. And there are things that also repel the ones that aren’t right for your brand. Those people most likely won’t purchase, or even stay loyal to your business. We don’t want those people hanging around.
Accenture did a study that shows people are making decisions based on what a brand says, does, and stands for.
They found that 52 % of consumers, over half, say they are more attracted to buy from certain brands over others if these brands stand for something bigger than just the products and services it sells – something that aligns with their personal values.
And if you think that you, as a business leader, or your senior team and employees, are the only stakeholders of your brand, I want you to remember that the biggest stakeholders are actually the consumers.
They define your brand. Their perception of who you are needs to be shaped intentionally and in a meaningful way.
This starts with purpose.
Because people will actually support businesses whose brand purpose aligns with their beliefs because that’s what matters to them.
That’s all people care about, is themselves, and what’s in it for them.
Or, how does their identity align with who they do business with?
So then your question likely becomes, well, what do they believe?
But the bigger and better question is, what do you believe?
How can you use your beliefs and purpose to really stand out and connect with the right people who feel the same way?
I’ll tell you, many entrepreneurs and established companies are challenged with putting their finger on this for years. It just gets sidelined.
We had a client that had been in business for over 10 years and going through the motions without understanding why. This kept his growth very stifled and the business became stagnant. He felt that.
There was no compass for strategic decision-making. He was just “doing things” instead of “being purposeful”.
This might be you and your team. And purpose is something that really needs to be discovered in many cases. It exists. It’s there, down deep. It just hasn’t been extracted and articulated clearly.
So if you’ve had difficulty understanding what your purpose is, you’re not alone.
But just know, that you have the ability to put purpose at the core of everything your business does, from operations to hiring, marketing to customer experience, literally everything.
The best part is that your brand purpose can help you stand out.
If you think about it –
When there’s multiple businesses out there providing a similar product or similar service, similar process, features, any of that, this differentiator of purpose can be one of your competitive advantages.
The reason is, that when you lead with your core Why, you have a better chance at sharing a unique perspective and a unique reason for existing.
This will automatically pull you out of the pack for the exact right customer. It’s great for positioning!
Brand purpose narrows down the playing field.
It’s going to eliminate all those companies that get stuck presenting their value with just their surface level product or service. These guys are staying at the tip of the iceberg. They’re not going any deeper than the surface. Most of the time, they struggle with staying on a strategic course and they struggle with being able to navigate in the right direction.
So, I’m going to break down the fundamental elements of your brand substance, the purpose essentially, by aligning them with four ways to navigate in the real world.
And side note, I love being outside, but I am terrible at navigating in the real world. I have no sense of direction when I’m driving…or hiking. I can’t even find my car when I park…every single time. I don’t know what that’s about. Is anyone else like that? Please DM me at FreshSparks and tell me you are.
I totally went off topic, so let’s get back into it.
We’re going to start celestial with your Values.
Do you have any guess about what this is?
It’s the North Star.
Big and bright, constantly up there guiding you. It’s very far away, but that’s because it always exists. It is part of your universe to its core. It’s not going away. It’s not burning out. It’s not breaking.
Your values, in fact, should ensure that other outside forces cannot break you.
Values are what you fundamentally believe in and stand for, personally and in business.
If you’re a founder, your values should be infused into the entire brand.
They’re at the heart of who your company is. Values help you frame your brand story in a way that resonates with your target consumers. It’s a reminder to them that behind your business is a human being.
People want to do business with people. How many times have you heard that?
You want to develop three to five core brand values that are purposeful.
They’ll be actual words, or phrases, or statements that communicate a principle or belief internally and externally. And then you have to embody them. I’ll go into this more in a future episode with a little how to. So look out for that.
But values are the highest beliefs that guide your actions. And because of that, they are your North Star.
Let’s get into the second element.
This is literally purpose, and it is your compass.
If values are the North Star, purpose is the compass in your hand. A compass always points North. It keeps you on course, and it helps you make choices while navigating. It keeps you aligned with your values.
In the last episode, I mentioned Simon Sinek’s TED Talk.
And he says, I quote –
“People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody that needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”
Pretty inspirational, right?
Purpose is why you exist beyond making money.
Aside from being an integral part of the ethos of your company, this concept of purpose needs to be a concise, carefully crafted statement.
And typically there’s two components of a purpose statement, the contribution and the impact.
I am planning to explain this further with more examples in a future episode to give you more actionable ideas.
But there are a lot of insightful questions that need to be answered to develop this concept and statement. Don’t worry, I got you.
Element number three is your brand Vision.
If we’ve got the North Star above us and a compass in our hand, we need a destination.
Where are you going with your business?
Vision is that mountain that you see in the distance, that destination.
Conceptually, it’s the ideal future you want to help create. You’re essentially imagining something as if it were to be true at some undefined moment in time, as if you are going to get there.
But we’re not talking 25 years out. Vision has to be aspirational, but also attainable. You want your efforts to be fruitful. You want to contribute to something achievable so that people can rally around it. They understand it.
So start by thinking five to 10 years out from now.
Dream about the future that your brand can help create for consumers, for your industry, for the community.
And let me tell you what your brand vision is not.
It’s not to be “the best XYZ company in the world”.
Please, no. Just like with Purpose, you need to dig deeper and answer tough questions.
We have a great article about brand vision statement on our blog. I’ll link to it in the show notes. If you want to find it right now because you’re eager, go to freshsparks.com/vision.
The last element of your overall brand substance or purpose is your Mission.
Mission is confused with vision all the time.
But if vision is the destination, the mountain, then mission is your roadmap.
It’s how you create the future that you envisioned, how you get there.
Your brand mission is not the future. It’s now and every day. It’s an action-oriented commitment to accomplishing your vision.
Mission, like a roadmap, shows you the path you need to take. It’s very practical and unlike purpose, which focuses solely on the why, your mission involves what you do and how you do it. It influences things like daily operations, daily decisions, and sometimes even company culture. Your vision is that big picture goals and strategic direction.
Both of them have their place, both of them are essential. In fact, all four of these elements are essential when you’re building and growing your brand. I will tackle each of them in future episodes. I hope you’ll be there to listen.
And let’s recap.
We talked about four areas within the substance of your brand that make up its overall purpose in a defined way.
There is the North Star. These are your Values – what you believe in and stand for.
We have the Compass. Your Purpose – why you exist beyond making money.
Then there’s the destination that we’re trying to get to. That’s your Vision. What future do you want to help create?
And the roadmap that you’re looking at is your Mission. How you create that future you envision.
As you can see, all of these are different, but all of them are a strategic foundation for your brand. They’re going to align internal efforts and shape that perception you want everyone to have of your business.
Next time, I’m going even deeper into the concept of purpose.
You may be wondering, how does something so high-level and almost grandiose in a way help you make legitimate business decisions that can grow your brand? How do you even figure this out?
I’m going to give you seven powerful questions in the next episode and how this can play out in the real world. You don’t want to miss it.
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I will talk to you next time, and stay brilliant. ⚡
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR BRAND IN 2026
Use our step-by-step workbook with tips, templates and guidance to start building a brand for your business! Develop your purpose, define your ideal audience, research competitors…and much more.
