Telling the story of the company in a different way
Purpose as a tool to reconcile morals and interests
Tell the story of the company through the brand, or rather through the purpose, the deep sense of what is done, achieved and communicated. This is not just the new frontier of corporate communications, but a different way of understanding the stories that can be told about production organisations.
It is around the idea of purpose that Alberto De Martini thinks — and writes — with his just published “Purpose narrative strategy. Un noi più grande” (A Greater Us). The book is based on the observation that, until a few years ago, brands were intent on building their own narrative identity. Today, says De Martini, these same brands cannot help but question themselves on a new level: their purpose, or the brands’ own stated purpose, of improving the world as a human and natural ecosystem. Not only a narrative of the product and the company, but also, in a sense, a story about the company’s relationship with the outside world and its commitment to improving it.
In other words, those who deal with companies and brands must create the conditions for behaviour that is both responsible and convenient for the company, thanks to the convergence of customer, consumer and investor preferences and government incentives. The Brand Purpose therefore seems natural. It is the result of two forces, morality and interest, which were previously seen as opposites. A kind of free benefit offered to the external environment and to the people who inhabit it, a benefit made up of the same values that underpin the company’s business and from the same kind of empathy that links the brand to its “commercial” target market.
This set of ideas is developed from a story of about 150 pages, which begins by clarifying a number of concepts: from myth to values (including business values), from empathy to change, to the tools that can be used and the processes that can be activated. In a second part, the book links the brand’s narrative strategy to its purpose, including some case studies.
Alberto De Martini’s latest book is not always easy to read, but it is always stimulating, especially for those who, from different positions, have to describe the company and the product, and consider the meaning of both.
Purpose narrative strategy. Un noi più grande
Alberto De Martini
Franco Angeli, 2024
Purpose as a tool to reconcile morals and interests
Tell the story of the company through the brand, or rather through the purpose, the deep sense of what is done, achieved and communicated. This is not just the new frontier of corporate communications, but a different way of understanding the stories that can be told about production organisations.
It is around the idea of purpose that Alberto De Martini thinks — and writes — with his just published “Purpose narrative strategy. Un noi più grande” (A Greater Us). The book is based on the observation that, until a few years ago, brands were intent on building their own narrative identity. Today, says De Martini, these same brands cannot help but question themselves on a new level: their purpose, or the brands’ own stated purpose, of improving the world as a human and natural ecosystem. Not only a narrative of the product and the company, but also, in a sense, a story about the company’s relationship with the outside world and its commitment to improving it.
In other words, those who deal with companies and brands must create the conditions for behaviour that is both responsible and convenient for the company, thanks to the convergence of customer, consumer and investor preferences and government incentives. The Brand Purpose therefore seems natural. It is the result of two forces, morality and interest, which were previously seen as opposites. A kind of free benefit offered to the external environment and to the people who inhabit it, a benefit made up of the same values that underpin the company’s business and from the same kind of empathy that links the brand to its “commercial” target market.
This set of ideas is developed from a story of about 150 pages, which begins by clarifying a number of concepts: from myth to values (including business values), from empathy to change, to the tools that can be used and the processes that can be activated. In a second part, the book links the brand’s narrative strategy to its purpose, including some case studies.
Alberto De Martini’s latest book is not always easy to read, but it is always stimulating, especially for those who, from different positions, have to describe the company and the product, and consider the meaning of both.
Purpose narrative strategy. Un noi più grande
Alberto De Martini
Franco Angeli, 2024