tml Partners recently hosted a roundtable bringing together Chief Marketing Officers and Marketing Directors from leading B2B firms to discuss purpose versus positioning.
Download the full report from this roundtable here.
Rosa Wilkinson, B2B lead at Clear, M&C Saatchi group’s global strategy consultancy, started the conversation with her thoughts on this topic.
Rosa began her presentation by looking at definitions of these two strategic focus areas.
Purpose is an articulation of an organisation’s ambition and beliefs: what it wants to become, achieve or create. It is for internal alignment and codifies culture and priorities. It should inform decision-making at every level.
Positioning on the other hand is an articulation of the unique promise the organisation offers to its customers in the marketplace. It relates to customer needs now and drives the go-to-market approach.
Rosa then outlined and expanded on her seven lessons from the frontline.
- Business is inherently emotional, so purpose and positioning matter more.
- Choose the right tools for the job, what do you need to do first – decide this by looking at what you’re trying to achieve.
- Purpose isn’t a marketing job, it’s much bigger than this. It’s organisation-wide, top to bottom.
- Purpose can fall flat if it’s expected to do the job of positioning on its own.
- What is there already, do you actually need a new purpose or position?
- Look at the risks of a purpose/ positioning project and mitigate these before starting.
- Be mindful of the power of a single organising idea.
The conversation then opened up around the table to a lively discussion which centred on five main themes.
- What should come first, purpose or positioning?
- Who owns purpose?
- What makes a compelling purpose?
- What impact does purpose have on a business?
- What is the role of the CMO?
