About Purpose is about your purpose.
Aim: Identify and articulate your purpose.
Arm: Shape yourself around your purpose.
Act: Achieve your purpose.
Marketing Flash!
Actions Speak Louder than Words
©2009 About Purpose, Inc.
I made a radical change in the way I do business this month (see Home Page) and it was the impetus for this month's article.
You’ve got a marketing plan. You’ve got a budget. You’re doing all the right marketing things, but the message you’re trying to send still isn’t taking hold. Could it be that you’re sending two different messages?
For decades Porsche has been a symbol of speed and superior engineering. And then Porsche decided to join the SUV frenzy.
A national politician promises to balance the budget, but continuously votes for big ticket programs.
A service company consistently prides itself on delivering high quality, but treats employees as cogs in the machine.
Marketing is not merely about writing good copy, creating attractive logos, and garnering good ink in the press. Marketing is the process of making a brand promise and consistently delivering on that promise. It doesn’t take a Harvard business professor to predict the outcome from the examples above. While such mistakes may not be fatal, they are certainly harmful.
Simply put, your corporate (or personal) purpose must be clearly articulated in everything you do – internal and external, with product and with service, with employees and with vendors, in print and in actions. You will be judged by your authenticity more than anything else.
Take a good, hard look at yourself. Do all your actions match your stated purpose? If not, you are wasting your money and squandering your time. Get your house in order. The world does not take well to phonies.