Purpose

Purpose, the fourth pillar of fashion business school essentially takes into account the reasoning for a brand, and what it does, beyond the money making process (No Author, 2022). Essentially what is the brand’s purpose. Though all brand’s strive to be profitable, there are further reasonings as to why a brand came to be and the values it believes in. A brand’s corporate social responsibility is always explored when looking at purpose. Carroll, creator of the CSR pyramid describes corporate social responsibility something that “involves the conduct of a business so that it is economically profitable, law abiding, ethical and socially supportive” (No Author, 2022). These 4 sections Carroll explores: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic, can be seen as the different aspects in which a brand may define it’s purpose.

Brand philosophy takes into consideration mission, vision and values proposition. Mission is important to a brand as it allows knowledge for the direction in which a company views itself going and also for the way the fashion brand in itself approaches the business and fashion world. For example, Patagonia’s mission statement is “we’re in business to save our home planet” (Chouinard, 2022). They have proved this through the amount they’ve contributed to their planet but not only that, Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard gave away the company recently in order to fight the climate crises and now all the profits have gone to saving the planet. (McCormick, 2022). In this case, the brand’s purpose came above the business itself as Chouinard completed what it’s mission was. A brand’s vision allows it to understand which path to take itself in and where it may see itself in years to come. Finally the brand’s values proposition is essentially “ a commitment made specifically to a target audience” (Schmidt, 2021) this allows a strong consumer basis and therefore a successful brand as it is delivering to its segment of the market and continues to promise to do so. Brand philosophy then affects the way in which a business behaves and makes decisions in order to achieve both short term and long term goals, which therefore, allows brand growth. A brand’s purpose, beliefs and goals can also allow it to be more competitive. It can allow it to be perhaps more risk taking, Carol Dweck mentioned this as she mentions the way in which one speaks about something changes their mindset to it. Putting a grade as “not achieved” in replacement of “failed” allows children to work harder (StanfordAlumni, 2014) and similarly in a business, if a the brand philosophy and purpose is displayed in a motivating light, the employees will have a growth mindset resulting in risk taking.

Brands need to strive for action and deliver their beliefs and what they are doing in order to achieve their purpose in order to target Gen Z. A way in which they can especially communicate their purpose would be to strive for action in sectors that Gen Z are interested in. This may include aspects of diversity and sustainability which is something of great importance to Gen Z as 90% of Gen Z have said they have made changes in order to be more sustainable (Wightman-Stone, 2022). Therefore, if a brand communicates its purpose to be that of similar values, it will be better communicated to Gen Z. Methods in which brands may communicate their purpose to Gen Z may include social media in order to inform, especially platforms such as TikTok which has a great Gen Z consumer basis.

1. Author, N. (2022) What is brand purpose? 5 great examples, Don’t Panic London. Available at: https://www.dontpaniclondon.com/what-is-brand-purpose/ (Accessed: November 7, 2022).
2. Author, N. (2022) Teaching resources, AQA. Available at: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/business/as-and-a-level/business-7131-7132/teaching-resources (Accessed: November 7, 2022).
3. Chouinard, Y. (2022) Yvon Chouinard donates Patagonia to fight climate crisis, Patagonia Outdoor Clothing & Gear. Patagonia. Available at: https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/ownership/ (Accessed: November 7, 2022).
4. McCormick, E. (2022) Patagonia’s billionaire owner gives away company to fight climate crisis, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/14/patagonias-billionaire-owner-gives-away-company-to-fight-climate-crisis-yvon-chouinard (Accessed: November 7, 2022).
5. Schmidt, C. (2021) Break through barriers with a brand value proposition , Canto. Canto. Available at: https://www.canto.com/blog/brand-value-proposition/ (Accessed: November 7, 2022).
6. Developing a Growth Mindset (2014) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ (Accessed: November 7, 2022).
7. Wightman-Stone, D. (2022) Gen Z consumer inspired by sustainability and self-expression, FashionUnited. FashionUnited. Available at: https://fashionunited.uk/news/retail/gen-z-consumer-inspired-by-sustainability-and-self-expression/2021060155788 (Accessed: November 7, 2022).