One of the speakers at the upcoming BrandFest 2024, Kelly Weber is the head of communications at Aquila Clean Energy APAC, where she leads external and internal corporate communications across the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to this role, she led her own branding and communications consultancy, Refiine, where she worked with diverse clients in defining, refining, and growing their brands. She shared with The Himalayan Times her perspectives on effectively integrating purpose into brand strategies, addressing authenticity, overcoming challenges, and ensuring long-term impact.

With your background in communications and branding, how have your experiences shaped your understanding of effective purpose-driven branding? Can you share specific insights or examples?

It's actually my non-comms and branding background that's shaped my outlook on purpose-driven branding the most. For over a decade I worked in sales and that's where I learnt first-hand what customers are really looking for and where the discrepancy between a brand promise and a lived brand experience can differ, and how important it is to integrate it across all touchpoints and across the whole value chain of a business. Salespeople are like first responders in business; if there is any nonsense in any messaging anywhere, they will have to deal with it. Now that I'm on the other side of the business so to speak, I want to make sure that the people I serve in my company cannot just stand by our brand, but that it genuinely resonates when they're out speaking with our partners and representing us.

What are some common challenges brands face when trying to implement a purpose-driven approach, and how can they overcome these obstacles?

Inauthenticity, jumping on the bandwagon of a trend, not delivering on purpose when times get tough and doing purpose-driven branding superficially can all trip up a company. By delivering an authentic brand that's integrated across the entire business, brands can avoid these obstacles.

You mentioned that inauthenticity is a challenge. Could you give a specific example of a brand that managed to align its purpose authentically with its?

Patagonia's purpose is 'to protect our home planet'. This is infused in many aspects of their business from the opportunity to have any of the gear you've purchased from them repaired at any time free of charge, to their pledge to use recyclable materials or ensure their products are recyclable to their self-imposed 'earth tax' where they dedicate 1% of sales to supporting environmental initiatives that help people and the planet. Knowing how important sustainability is to consumers today, many other brands have tried to lean into this and executed it to differing degrees.

What are some key lessons and best practices for successfully integrating purpose into a brand's strategy?

First, make everyone in the business accountable for it so they understand their role and responsibilities. Second, communicate the same about it internally as you do externally - and across all channels. Third, make sure the aspirational element of it is within reach and not just marketing. Fourth, set goals and track progress - what gets measured gets done.

As social and political issues evolve, how can brands adjust their purpose-driven strategies to stay relevant while maintaining their core values? Can you provide an example of a brand that successfully navigated such changes?

Companies need to be cognisant of the shifting political and social environment around them but they should not shift their mission or purpose or weigh in on every issue and upheaval. Otherwise, that can make them appear fickle and reactionary to stakeholders if that common thread does not continue in their business practices when the issue is no longer top of mind to the public. It's essential to evaluate if 'staying relevant' on this cause or specific political issue aligns with your core values, business and culture. Nike did a great job of this with their 2018 'Dream Crazy' campaign with Colin Kaepernick. Despite facing backlash from some consumers on taking on this hot button social justice issue, Nike held fast, showed its commitment to social justice and equality and reinforced its brand identity around courage and empowerment. You will not be everyone's cup of tea and as a business you need the nerves to be steadfast in this kind of situation, especially when negative sentiment picks up.

What criteria do you use to assess whether a brand's purpose will resonate with its audience? How can brands test their purpose before fully committing to it?

There are the traditional routes such as focus groups, surveys and research, but these can be costly if you're just starting out and can also be misleading if you're looking only at the numbers and not the qualitative input. In my talk I propose a quick litmus test based on a few easy questions you can ask yourself to ascertain if it will hold or not. If a purpose is fully integrated in a business and its culture, though, and stands for something that consumers or partners care about, it has a high chance of working. I also think it's valuable for a brand to evolve over time as it grows and matures. You can't always know exactly who you want to be in year-one of business. Some aspects of branding just take time and that's okay. It's part of the process.

How do you see the landscape of purpose-driven branding evolving in the next few years? What trends should brands be aware of?

Consumers are looking for brands to take a larger stance on social impact issues. The key here will be for brands to engage meaningfully on the issues that they genuinely can move the dial on, but to not fall into the pitfall of trying to have a stance on all. Some brands may have selected the 'wrong' issues in the eyes of their consumers when the political or social tide turns, but not every brand is made for everyone, so brands need to stay steadfast in their beliefs as this gets called into question, especially as media gets more divisive and stakeholders more polarised.

In line with this year's theme, 'Branding with Purpose', how can brands ensure their purpose is both meaningful and impactful in driving long-term success?

As much of a fan as I am of measurement and tracking progress, I think brands need to give themselves a long enough runway to see their impact make a change. Consistency over time is so important to achieving anything in branding and that impact may not be visible in the first six to 12 months. Building a brand is a long-term project. Stick to your values and why you're doing what you're doing and let that build up in the consciousness of your consumers, partners and stakeholders over time. For example, at the outset of developing a brand purpose may not be the best time to promote it extensively - most likely you'll have to tweak it as you go. Let the change you're driving and what you deliver tell the story externally while you remain steadfastly focused on it internally. Look at the long-term versus the short-term performative marketing wins and be open to evolving the concept as you go.