Purpose-based marketing isn’t new. Whether companies are working to improve their diversity or boost their eco-initiatives, for years, brands have aimed to create a personality that cares. However, socially conscious campaigns have started to wane in effectiveness in recent years with younger generations seeing these initiatives as the bare minimum – an expectation rather than an impressive benefit.
This begs the question, where does purpose-based advertising go from here – does it rise to the occasion or fade away? Do purpose-led business practices still make impactful marketing material for 2025?
Purpose-based marketing still has the power to reach audiences with ample purchase power, but it needs to be meaningful. The key to successful, purpose-based marketing for 2025 is as simple as genuine, effective action. Initiatives should be made up of real, in-depth change and socially conscious business practices.
Customers care about the social impact of their purchases
Customers are more engaged now than ever. Communicating with buyers directly about initiatives and using feedback to build better business practices can have a major impact on your purpose-based marketing. Companies that respond to customer engagement with action and authentic, value-based practices are more likely to take socially-conscious and engaged customers with them through the marketing funnel.
The key part of reaching socially-aware customers is authenticity. Values need to be followed by action or else purpose-based campaigns fall flat. With engaged customers come informed audiences and increased expectations. This leads to higher standards for success and a greater need for transparency. To create an effective purpose-based marketing campaign organizations should go beyond words and create intentional, tangible, measurable change.
Eco-conscious marketing initiatives need to be genuine for 2025
Most businesses going into 2025 have some form of eco-initiative in the works or put into practice. But what truly sets a business apart from its purpose-based marketing is impactful action.
According to a Google Cloud survey, 80% of executives scored their company above average when rating its sustainability efforts; 86% also believed that their business’s efforts were making a difference.
While these numbers are high, they aren’t reflective of reality. In the same survey, only 36% of people agreed that their company had effective measurement tools to properly qualify their impact. An even lower 17% said that the tools they did have were being used to optimize efforts.
This lack of meaningful effort is transparent to consumers, even when information is withheld from them. No longer can a clever eco-label do the trick, younger generations expect a level of earth-friendly behavior from brands. They look for tangible initiatives like sustainable ingredient sourcing, re-fillable packaging, and plastic-free products. Setting yourself apart from the competition means taking it a step further and putting words into action by measuring and reducing environmental impact.
Another important aspect of sustainability initiatives is transparency. While many consumers will see right through flippant efforts, businesses can go a long way in improving their purpose-based marketing initiatives by communicating successes and failures openly with stakeholders and potential customers.
In that same Google Cloud survey, 87% of respondents agreed that honesty from business leaders regarding issues and barriers to sustainability made it possible to make more meaningful progress. And meaningful progress on sustainability means a more impactful purpose-based marketing campaign.
Purpose-based marketing still very much has a place in 2025, but it needs to evolve past green-washing and saying the right thing. Where words once had an impact, action is now needed. Younger generations are keen to make an impact on the world and by creating actionable purpose-based marketing initiatives brands can grab the attention and engagement of this driven target audience.
Examples of purpose-based marketing ad excellence
Google – Environmental Insights Explorer
This ad from Google for its Environmental Insights Explorer platform presents a tangible solution for companies to measure and report on their sustainability initiatives. This purpose-based marketing, in of itself, is an authentic effort at improving environmental efforts with measurable action.
Univelver – Growing Roots
Unilever’s Growing Roots campaign shares the story of Tracy Shepard-Rashkin, whose Growing Roots snack brand gives 50% of profits to urban farms in the US, helping to reduce hunger in grocery deserts across the country.
Dove – Self Esteem Project
Dove is no stranger to creating emotionally charged, impactful purpose-based marketing campaigns surrounding self-esteem and the impact of the beauty industry. The beauty giant’s self-esteem project aims to create measurable change for young girls by teaching their parent’s how to discuss social media with them.
To learn more about another great example of an effective purpose-based ad, check out our piece on Gillette’s “The Best A Man Can Be” ad. To see more from illumin, be sure to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn!
