Authentic Marketing

CHAPTER 12Make a Plan

If you are ready to transform your organization around purpose, you need an actionable plan to get there. This chapter provides a high-level blueprint outlining key components that will help your organization identify, test, operationalize, communicate, and live its purpose.

1. Put the New Strategy Model into Play

Anchor your plan using the strategy model outlined in Chapter 3 to integrate your business, technology, and engagement strategies around your moral purpose.

Business Strategy

Start by articulating your business strategy. Most companies will already have this in place. For those that don’t, I’ll top line it. The business strategy highlights why your company exists (business mission), what it strives to become in the world (business objectives), and how it’s going to get there (strategies, tactics, and resources). This process involves a number of analyses (SWOT, competitive, customer segments, market dynamics, et al.), as well as developing a plan for profitability and differentiation. Once you do this the next step is to identify a moral purpose that aligns with it.

Identify Your Purpose

In most cases a company’s moral purpose is a truly intuitive extension of its business—something in the DNA of your organization that does good for the world. The steps outlined at the end of Chapter 1 guide you through this critical process. Make sure your purpose is aspirational and actionable. It should also be authentic and sustainable. Most importantly, ...