Brand strategy

Member lesson

Brand purpose and when it is nonsense

Lesson 13 of 20 in Brand strategy.

Michael Johnson on Brand Purpose and Greenwashing | D&AD Masterclass · D&AD - Creative Advertising, Design and Digital
Lesson

The purpose argument says a brand should stand for something beyond its product, and that doing so earns preference and loyalty. It became near-universal in agency strategy through the 2010s and has been under sustained attack since.

ideabenefitsattributespyramidonionthe same claim, drawn twicethe model is a way to argue, not a finding
The brand pyramid and the brand onion, two drawings of the same claim.
On the left a smoking factory carries a rooftop billboard of a smiling globe and leaf, and on the right a plain workshop worker stitches a patch on a torn jacket beside a pile of mended coats.
One factory paints a smiling globe on its roof while its chimneys smoke, and the workshop beside it quietly mends coats. Purpose shows in what a company does.
Member

The rest of this is for members.

You have read the opening of this lesson. The rest of it comes with a membership.

One membership covers all four courses and Brands.

  • All lessons in the four Learn courses
  • All brand breakdowns in the Brands section
  • All quizzes, flashcards and crosswords
  • An AI teacher on every lesson, for up to 60 questions a day
  • All course material published during the membership

Price

Membership is from $12 a month on the Yearly plan, which is charged at $144 once a year. Lifetime access is $59, paid once.Membership is from ₹200 a month on the Yearly plan, which is charged at ₹2,400 + GST once a year. Lifetime access is ₹3,999 + GST, paid once.

Check what stuck

Members only

You can't take this check yet.

Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A claimed social reason for the company to exist, beyond making money.”

    • Brand key
    • Brand onion
    • Brand purpose
    • Brand pyramid
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Claiming a cause the company's actual operations contradict.”

    • Essence
    • Brand key
    • Brand onion
    • Purpose-washing
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The environmental version. Increasingly regulated rather than merely criticised.”

    • Frame of reference
    • Salience
    • Category entry point
    • Greenwashing

Elsewhere in the library

Hear about new courses.

Leave an email and we will tell you when something new lands. We do not write often.