What helps us agree on our brand purpose?

Make brand purpose a shared decision by bringing the relevant people together to address the business's most pressing challenges and opportunities. The B2B Reinvention framework starts by recasting those challenges as a question, then asks participants to imagine different answers and devise tests to inform the choice. Applied to purpose, the process gives people possible directions to consider rather than a single statement to approve. Keep the choices simple and clear: the value of strategy lies in helping people see their business differently and develop the conviction to pursue a new direction. Structured models and processes can make competing possibilities easier to understand and choose between.

Agreement on brand purpose needs to address business priorities, including activities the organisation may need to stop. A clear, consistent purpose can mean walking away from initiatives and decisions that made sense when they began. It can even mean closing or selling parts of a business. Discussing those implications makes purpose a choice about the business, rather than wording alone. Anthesis's 2025 purpose research found that 61% of respondents, drawn from employees, say their company's actions do not match its purpose statements. When considering a possible purpose, ask whether the business is prepared to shape its activities around it, including the difficult choices created by its existing commitments.