The Story of Purpose: The Path to Creating a Brighter Brand, a Greater Company, and a Lasting Legacy

8

Tactics

All You Need Is Love

Why settle for loyalty when you can have love.

—Joey Reiman, on stakeholder relationships

The Gulf Stream hits its temperature peak every July, meaning the water temperature is 86 degrees. One degree less, and you start shivering—and nothing gets you back once that happens. What 62-year-old world-famous swimmer Diana Nyad wanted for her 103-mile swim from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida, is what sailors call the doldrums: a three-day window when the sea looks like glass. During the doldrums, your only problems are woman-eating sharks and poisonous box jellyfish.

Her secret is fearlessness—and her deodorant is Secret. And this is how marketing will be done in the future. Nyad’s partnership is the result of purpose-powered branding from Procter & Gamble (P&G).

Love Is the Secret

Do you love your purpose? The answer to this question makes the difference between good marketing and great. When you fell in love with your soul mate, what did you tell him or her? “I love you.” Then what did you do? You told everyone else! The best marketing works the same way. And with digital being the new media vehicle we love, there is no predicting how fast a meaningful message will travel—unless you know the secret.

Secret is one of P&G’s billion-dollar brands—and purpose is a new brand-building initiative at P&G. Secret rolls out with a new purpose: “helping women of all ages become more fearless.” Until recently, P&G marketers—like most—banked on their brand’s point ...