Never have we had to consider so many fundamental questions as individuals and as business leaders:

What now? – What do people really want and need from us? What do our employees, customers and partners truly value in this strange new world?

Where now? – Where is the marketplace heading and where are we aiming for as we look ahead?

How now? – How can our products and services respond to these changing dynamics? How can we add greater value?

Who now? – Who are the people that we want to support and grow our organisation around? Who can help us on this journey?

Why now? – How has our core strategy changed and how can we focus everyone on a new, Positive Purpose as we emerge from lockdown?

So much of what we thought we knew has been challenged and we’ve all been changed by this experience, but by how much? Different people are in very different places and there is some very real confusion as we all try to decide what the new normal should be. My view may be very different from yours of what should be normal now!

This is where reengaging and listening to your employees, customers and partners is important. It’s what we help our clients do every time we undertake a brand review. It’s important to ensure people have had the opportunity to have their say and to hear the different perspectives of others. The only way to reach consensus is to understand and debate all the options and define a clear plan for the future. Together.

It feels like time for a reevaluation, a refocus and a reset in order to discover a new Positive Purpose.

Right now many businesses won’t be interested in a full scale rebrand. But they will want to listen carefully and create a plan for the future that reflects this new reality. If we can all emerge from Spring 2020 with a new sense of direction for our businesses and our brands that builds upon the expectations and ambitions of our people, then the recent turmoil may translate into significant opportunity as we head into 2021.

How can we help you to do this?

Our Discover services are geared to developing the essential insights that business and brands need to truly engage with their key audiences: employees, customers and partners.

Hosting a series of independent and confidential 1:1 or group conversations is the perfect way to understand how people are feeling and how they expect the future to unfold.

Drawing out the key insights from these interactions will help to shape future business and brand strategy. Facilitating the open conversations within the business that can resolve strategic, operational and cultural challenges is central to what we do.

During these interviews and groups workshops we explore key topics:

Vision – our overall strategy and direction
How has the marketplace changed?
What are the big issues and drivers shaping the future?
What is our role in that future?
What are our goals and ambitions now?

Offer – our product and service offer
Who are our customers and are these changing?
How have their needs and wants evolved?
What therefore do we have to offer that addresses these needs?
Where can we innovate to add value?
Why should they choose us above others?

Interaction – how we engage with employees, customers and partners
Does they way we interact need to change too?
What we do we look like?
How do we sound?
What’s our service personality?
Do we need to communicate differently, using different channels?

Culture – what are the values, behaviours and attitudes that will enable us to succeed?
What is the shared spirit that enabled us to deal with recent upheavals?
What are the essential values that will enable us to succeed in the future?
What qualities do we admire in each other?
What behaviours should we expect from each other?

Essence
What is the Positive Purpose that inspires us?

Positive Purpose in Action

We recently held just such conversations with one of our clients the Active Care Group and they have emerged in June 2020 with a bold new brand and a clear articulation of their Positive Purpose: where better quality of care leads to better quality of life.

Built from the ground up following conversations with their expert team, we’ve united 40 different businesses behind a simple, unifying philosophy of active care that helps people to live their best life. Using digital film we’ve been able to celebrate the care and commitment of their amazing team and increase applications for current job vacancies by over 450%, solving a long standing recruitment crisis within a few short months.

Equally Commonwealth Sport expresses their Positive Purpose through the central idea that Sport is just the beginning.

This short film that we made on behalf of the global sports movement perfectly explains the transformational role of sport towards a fairer, more equal society.

Just two examples of how we’ve helped to transform the perception of two very different but equally complex organisations through discovering their Positive Purpose.

If we can help your business discover its Positive Purpose in a changed world, please reach out directly to our MD Rebecca Battman or our Head of Brand, Steph Beesly.

More information on our approach to Positive Purpose:

The strategist’s view:
What are the big trends driving change and how should brands respond? Read more

The creative’s view: Why we’ve evolved our brand – and why you might also need to. Read more

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