Marketing With Purpose Kit: Building Your Brand Narrative Around Purpose

**SPEAKER_2** (0:04)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection, and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:17)
Well, come back to The Bliss Business Podcast series, Marketing With Purpose. These are our short-minute series shows where we explore how brands grow through meaning, connection, and integrity. I'm Stephen Sakach, joined by my co-hosts Tullio, Siragusa, and Mike Liwski. Hey, guys.

**Mike Liwski** (0:35)
Hey.

**Tullio Siragusa** (0:36)
Hey, Stephen Grant. Glad to be back.

**Mike Liwski** (0:38)
I can't believe we're in the middle of July already.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:43)
Time flies. So today's episode is about building your brand narrative around purpose. Because when you don't just say your purpose, but story it, people start to believe. So we're going to get into that a little bit here today.

**Tullio Siragusa** (1:01)
Precisely, Stephen. Yeah. So when we talk about purpose and branding, one of the biggest challenges is really making that felt internally and externally. It's not just this sort of statement or a state. That's really where storytelling comes in. And it's so important to us as humans to be able to relate to things. And so storytelling is key when it comes to making it felt.

**Mike Liwski** (1:32)
And it really, this narrative, this brand narrative is an arc of your company's journey. It connects your why to your struggles and your impact. And that's the key thing because most companies don't always reveal their struggles. But that's what makes the whole thing human. And so people see your purpose as a lived truth, not just a marketing slogan. And that's the key thing. We spoke in the last episode about REI, how they decided to close on Black Friday so that they can live their purpose. They can actually have the employees go out and do stuff outdoor instead of, you know, being stuck in indoor. So this narrative is what really connects people emotionally to your journey, including your struggles in fulfilling your journey and fulfilling your purpose.

**Stephen Sakach** (2:26)
Yeah, Mike, I like how you put that, Mike. You said it's not just a statement, it's a state. Is that what you said?

**Tullio Siragusa** (2:32)
Yeah, it's like your state of being. Yeah.

**Stephen Sakach** (2:34)
Yeah. No, I think that really summarizes it really well. I've never heard that put that way.
I'm going to have to steal that. Definitely. So yeah, purpose. It's kind of, in a lot of ways, the storytelling part of purpose, it's kind of like the hero's journey, but your company isn't the hero, it's your customer. So your purpose is what empowers them, supports them, transforms them. So your story becomes the bridge between their life and your values, and that's kind of what we want to get into a little bit today.

**Tullio Siragusa** (3:14)
Yeah. So really, let's just kind of like dive into it, right? So there are a few things that go into a purpose-driven narrative, right? Usually, the key elements are, one, you got to have a clear problem in the world that you're trying to solve. There needs to be a belief about how it should be different, right? Or how it should be solved. As well, the journey that your brand has taken, or that maybe it's already on, to make that belief start to become real. And then the last one, real-world proof that you're living it. Because that's probably, I'd say, without that last one, the first three just fall flat.

**Mike Liwski** (3:56)
And it's not so much about being polished as it is about being honest. So it's about honesty. And this theme of struggles is key. It's part of the story, and so is growth. So it's about being authentic. So that is always going to win over perfection every time, especially when you're marketing with purpose. And we see examples of this. Like on LinkedIn, you'll see CEOs posting their journey, their struggles in their journey. And you're like, what do I need to read about this? But it's actually them inviting their customers and their clients to see that they're living and they're struggling through their own journey. It makes it real. It makes it authentic and it humanizes the entire brand. So honesty plays a big role, just sharing everything. Your struggles and your wins is key.

**Stephen Sakach** (4:52)
Yeah. And I think in storytelling, we talk a lot about, you know, don't just tell it. You really got to show. You got to show it. So it means showing people. You know, not just your logos and products, but it's, you know, let your employees, your customers, your community, let them become the storytellers. I'm sure most companies out there, you know, you've got all those case studies and things like that. Well, bring them to life, not just according to, you know, the metrics that you're trying to show them, but just to how it really changed them, you know, according to your purpose, your higher purpose of what you're doing. So that, when you do that, that creates trust and traction and that authenticity that we're talking about.