Why Brand Purpose is Critical to Your Overall Marketing Strategy

Your brand is more than logos, colors and a name. It is the value that your customers perceive and what sets your medical device apart from the competition, and every successful brand strategy requires a brand purpose.

A brand purpose is the reason why the product exists. While this can be monetary (think of Hillrom’s “Uniting to Save and Sustain Lives”) it usually also includes social and environmental reasons. It enables you to be recognized for your product and the difference you want to create in the world.

A brand purpose is no longer an option with the competition in the medical device market today. It is a critical way companies can stand out and convince providers and patients to invest in their products above others.

Here is why you need to develop your brand purpose to improve your overall marketing strategy and some tips for creating a brand purpose.

Why Brand Purpose Matters

While brand purpose has enjoyed popularity in the retail sector with popular companies such as REI, Toms and Patagonia, it is just as essential in the healthcare space. Medical device companies that articulate a clear brand purpose enjoy many of the same benefits.

Create deeper connections

Shared values create powerful connections between people. Companies have leveraged these values to bond with and develop deeper relationships with customers. Brands that build and articulate a strong purpose make connections on an emotional level, leading to better customer loyalty.

Increase brand awareness

A global survey found that 82%[AB1]  of consumers share positive opinions about purpose-driven companies to encourage others to support them. Organizations with a strong sense of purpose create more awareness for their products because of the excitement that they create. Loyal customers happily become product evangelists, and leads will be more likely to engage.

Wider appeal

Companies with a strong brand purpose appeal to more customers because they feel like they are a part of the future. Your organizational message spreads further and wider with increased engagement, generating a larger audience. A brand purpose strongly appeals to your entire customer base, e.g., providers, patients and payers.

Tips for Crafting a Brand Purpose

Your brand purpose should relate directly to your product and how it improves the healthcare world. Here are some steps toward creating a compelling brand purpose that resonates with your customer base.

Work across your company

Your brand purpose should be inextricably linked to your company's reason for being. Your brand purpose will be described in various ways across your organization. Meeting together with public relations department, product managers and social media team will enable your company to craft a unifying message and pinpoint how different aspects of your business contribute to its purpose. 

Look back

Storytelling is a powerful vehicle for your brand purpose. Telling your company story will help buyers relate to your brand and mission. Dig into your company history and identify the inspiration and initial reasons for your company’s existence. How have your values driven the choices your organization made? Create impactful stories with these values to resonate with your brand purpose.

Incorporate with your marketing strategy

Once you have defined your brand purpose, merge it into your overall marketing strategy. Allow it to drive your content marketing objectives and ensure your customers can quickly identify your purpose. It can resonate with marketing materials outside the company and internal communications. Reinforce your brand purpose in product-specific blogs, investor relations and corporate-level presentations.

Create a Brand with Purpose

Incorporating your business purpose into your overall strategy is crucial in medical device marketing. Customers have come to expect that companies serve a higher purpose and will happily pay for products and convert others when it resonates with them.

Crafting the right brand purpose statement requires bringing together leaders and looking back through history to identify the impactful stories where your values guided your company. Incorporating it into your entire marketing strategy will ensure it resonates with all customer types: providers, patients and payers.

Article Written by Alex Brown