We Believe in Better
Purpose is having a moment in America.
On the heels of the COVID pandemic and the upturning of lives, evidence both anecdotal and scientific shows that people have stepped back to take stock of their lives and reassess what really matters. That examination extends, of course, to the business world. Employees and customers, both current and prospective, are increasingly taking a shared-values approach in determining where they want to work and who they want to partner with.
For B2B companies like Curious Plot, 86% embrace purpose as an important north star for their organization and growth driver, according to The B2B Purpose Paradox Report, a research initiative developed in partnership by the Association of National Advertisers, The Harris Poll and Carol Cone ON PURPOSE.
For employees, a company’s purpose has taken on a much greater importance post COVID.
“The intent to leave or stay in a job is only one of the things that people are questioning as part of the larger human story we are living,” says Caitlin Duffy, research director in the HR practice of the global firm Gartner. “You could call it the ‘Great Reflection.’ It’s critical to deliver value and purpose.”
Against this backdrop, Curious Plot saw an opportunity – an imperative, even – to articulate a much more compelling company purpose.
We believe in better.
After a process that included consideration of our values, our overall brand and the needs and expectations of our key stakeholders, we developed a new purpose, which we introduced to our internal team earlier this spring. That purpose is:
We believe in better.
Better marketing to advance brands, people, animals and our world.
This purpose telegraphs a central tenet of Curious Plot and how we act: that of relentlessly pursuing greatness, yet never being satisfied that we’ve reached the top of the mountain. It simultaneously inspires us and keeps us humble. It’s who we are.
We channel this ethos for ourselves and our clients. This same tenet was central to informing the agency name and brand we introduced in 2021, which embraces curiosity as a driver toward achieving better things.
No matter how great something is, there’s always a better way, a better output, a better process.
Operationalizing purpose.
It’s easy to characterize purpose as some sort of window dressing. The product of obligation. Set it and forget it, and maybe trot it out once in a while in a new business pitch.
We don’t think of it that way. We see our purpose as being about shared values and beliefs. It’s a clarion call to our team members about how we act, and it’s a promise to our clients about how we deliver.
We are leveraging our purpose to find a host of better things across the agency, from process improvements to team member development and career pathing, to continuous learning, to the launch of our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, and so much more.
In that sense, our purpose is a blueprint for our future. A commitment to better everything: stories, deliverables, processes, relationships, quality, balance, systems, individuals, teams and clients. All of which, in turn, leads to better days, weeks, years and lives.
In this era of seeking something more meaningful, indeed of seeking better, our purpose feels exactly right.
As the Chief Brand & Culture Officer at Curious Plot, Deron Johnson is responsible for the agency’s holistic brand perception and reputation in the markets and among the stakeholders the agency serves.