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

Foreword

A foreword should have a distinctive purpose, a reason for the reader to spend his or her time and hard-earned money for a book. That’s why I agreed to write this one for thought leader and purpose visionary Joey Reiman, whom I once referred to as the Moses of marketing.

As a professor of marketing at one of the most prestigious business schools in the world, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, I have seen marketing models come and go. This one is here to stay.

Beyond wealth creation and shareholder value is an unlimited resource to create a better world and a lasting legacy for businesspeople around the globe. It’s called purpose.

Although the concept of purpose is not new, Joey Reiman’s application and its promise for business are. No longer can pure profit be the sole reason for business creation. Capitalism needs a reset and purpose, or soulful excellence as Reiman calls it. Purpose is the catalyst that can reinvigorate and empower capitalism.

Marketing will benefit greatly as brands take stands in a world that will no longer stand for a glut of commoditized products and services without meaning.

This is not a warning for marketers but an opportunity. First there was the product benefit, then came the emotional benefit. Reiman and I, along with others, now herald in the societal benefit that organizations are capable of delivering when they believe they have a greater responsibility in the world.

These purposeful brands and companies will indeed ...