Marketing With Purpose Kit: Purpose as a Strategic Filter

**SPEAKER_1** (0:03)
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)
Welcome back to The Bliss Business Podcast series, Marketing with Purpose, our series where we explore how brands can use purpose to drive meaningful growth and deeper connection. I'm Stephen Sakach, joined by my co-hosts Tullio Siragusa and Mike Liwski. Hey guys.

**Tullio Siragusa** (0:35)
Let's do it.

**Mike Liwski** (0:35)
Good to see you, Stephen.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:37)
Good seeing you again. So today's episode is called Purpose as a Strategic Filter. So if your brand has ever struggled with saying no to shiny distractions, I've worked for companies that have, or if they've felt the pressure to follow trends that don't align with your core, we've seen that in various ad campaigns sometimes and that falls very flat. So this episode is definitely for you if those things ring a bell.

**Mike Liwski** (1:10)
That's the big exhalation. I agree. We've definitely seen those brands that have done that. So let's just jump in, I think, as far as what do we really mean around that strategic filter, right? So let's define it up front. So when we say purpose as a filter, what we really mean is using your core purpose to evaluate opportunities, campaigns, even hires, or what products you're going to pursue or product ideas. Really, it helps you filter everything through that purpose.

**Tullio Siragusa** (1:46)
And it's very easy to say yes to every growth opportunity that comes along. This is especially true when there's money on the table for startups or even well-established companies where maybe there's some goal or some plan that you're trying to accomplish and there's an opportunity that doesn't exactly align, but it's like, I want to go grab it, right? So, but if it doesn't align with your purpose, then even though it's very tempting, it can pull your brand off course. And that's when the trust begins to erode both internally and externally. Everyone's wondering what's going on. Is this a thing of the future to come? So that's what happens if you don't stay on purpose. It can start to erode the trust you've created over time for your brand.

**Stephen Sakach** (2:39)
Yeah, I think of purpose as a compass. I remember we had a guest on, Lin Christian, I think that was the guest, who said, put it this way, it helps you with your hell yes and your hell no, once you have that really defined. So when it's used as a filter, it helps you say no to the things that dilute you. And that allows you to say yes to the bigger, bolder things that just truly align. So I like the concept of the hell yes and the hell no. When you've got it down, Pat, you kind of know when something's really aligned.

**Mike Liwski** (3:15)
Well said, for sure. That's a good summary there in terms of our filtering. So, but saying no, it's not always the easiest thing. It can be very hard, especially in a fast-paced environment. Maybe you've got a poorly defined purpose or even with aggressive growth goals, as Tullio mentioned. But here's really the truth about it, is having a purpose-aligned brand will build long-term equity. Not just going for the short-term wins where you're here one minute and there another. It's really about that long-term equity that you're building.

**Tullio Siragusa** (3:54)
You have to be okay with the dirty looks.
Because often, you'll be like, no, we're not doing that, right? And people are like, why not? Because one of the strategic things you want to do as a founder, as a marketer, is protect the integrity of the brand. So staying on purpose is maintaining the integrity of the brand. And that means saying no to things like campaigns that sound good, but they feel hollow or partnerships that bring reach, but no resonance. Messages that might convert, but don't connect to your values. So it's important to have that strong, no, we're not going in that direction, because you're trying to protect the brand, even if sometimes the team might give you a dirty look.

**Stephen Sakach** (4:42)
Yeah, you know, and we had another recent guest that I'm just thinking of now. She was at this pivotal point in her company's growth, right? Where she had this association that could send her a lot of business, and they had all this task that you have to do. And she was like, okay, but we're going to do it our way. And she said that was the biggest decision she made in her company, establishing that kind of purpose-focused thing. So she didn't kind of say no totally, but she said no to doing it the ordinary way, I would say, okay, put it so. You know, when you say no for the right reasons too, I think your team will also trust you more, your whole organization. So your modeling alignment, not just for your base, you know, that's your customers and all that, but also for the various stakeholders of your business, the other stakeholders, your employees, even your partners and your community.