Armada of Purpose

Today's big corporations are in control of more brands than ever, and it can be difficult to align them all around a larger purpose. But consumers are more focused on what companies do than ever. Here are some tips Forbes is handing out for brands who want to meet their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals.

1. Armada of Purpose

 The article encourages thinking about diverse product lines as an armada of ships, each its own distinctive type but all headed in the same direction. What is a company's purpose, and how do the individual brands fulfill that purpose? For example, Mattel has a purpose of inspiring imagination with play, and each of their sub-brands, like Barbie, Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels, helps this purpose in different ways.

2. Design for Collaboration

 Brands should not stake out exact same causes and non-profit partnerships. Like having distinctive spokespeople, brands need to have their own niche, but they can work together. Mondelez gives their brands separate causes to support. For example, Ritz crackers take on hunger as sponsors of the Feeding America campaign, while the brand Triscuit has partnered with The Missing Ingredient project to bring fresh food to food deserts. Each can show an ethical commitment by Modelez in their own way.

3. Focus on commitments not campaigns

 Each brand can take responsibility for separate projects, but their cumulative work adds up to large corporate commitment to ESG goals. For example Proctor & Gamble have chosen to focus on sustainability, but brand like Always, Pampers and Charmin can also contribute to tackling issues like gender stereotypes.

4. Be transparent and accountable

 PepsiCo has developed the PepsiCo Positive Platform, a focus on Planet and People. By stating these goals, and having them displayed prominently on the their web site, they hope to reach ambitious targets like increasing access to nutritious foods and expanding regenerative agriculture.

5. Report on Progress Regularly

 The example in this case is Dole Packaged Foods, whose stated goal is to promote healthy choices by helping people "find the fun in fresh fruits and vegetables." They have followed up this commitment with regular Sunshine for Progress reports which show how well their efforts are paying off.

With programs like this, big companies can use their Brand Armadas to help promote the work they want to be known for - improving lives and helping the planet.