I am a true believer in the power of Organizational Purpose, the articulation and manifestation of the difference a brand makes in the world.  I have seen firsthand the ability of Purpose to inspire and engage an organization to deliver value to the market with passion and focus, and create sustainable competitive advantage.  It’s true, however, that to be effective (as with any Marketing), what you say must be clear, compelling, relevant and credible to your audiences. 

Credibility is a hard thing to earn and an easy thing to lose.  Since its founding, Walmart has experienced phenomenal growth anchored in its core purpose of saving people money so they can live better. Walmart’s purpose-based branding has never varied too far from this core idea; Walmart today promotes the brand promise of Saving Money and Living Better and it is reinforced across all internal and external audiences, across all touch points, with an almost fierce consistency.  Walmart has established a self-propagating credibility engine fueled by its Purpose.   

Southwest Airlines remains one of the most profitable airlines in an exceptionally challenging category.  It was founded around the idea of the democratization of the air; a core Purpose to give people the freedom to fly.  With the introduction of boarding classes on their planes and a focus more on freedom from fees, than freedom to fly, Southwest is subtly deviating from the core Purpose that made it great, eroding credibility with employees and customers along the way.      

When it comes to credibility, not many organizations can match Google for truly delivering against its Purpose of organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful.  Google has stayed true to its Purpose and refused to do business in main land China due to Internet censoring concerns that are contrary to its core Purpose.  Google is postponing aggressive business growth in the world’s largest Internet market, 400 million users (double the U.S.), to stay true to itself.  Recently in Egypt, Google executive Wael Ghonim became a de facto leader of government opposition groups in a country that had just shut down the Internet to quell revolt.  The best way to establish credibility with both internal and external audiences is through actions that unflinchingly and without compromise back your words.