Who can resist a promise or a headliner like that? I couldn’t, and therefore in the beginning of April I was sent on a mission to Miami and Fuse 2016. Fuse unites designers, brand strategists, marketers, innovators and insights leaders across industries to discuss the power and impact of design.

At Mission, we aim to celebrate and demonstrate the power of infusing design across the entire organization. We use design, trends and culture to build great brands, tell meaningful stories and create iconic design that inspires unprecedented consumer love. The pressure to connect consumers and brands is more meaningful than ever before. Those who can make the connection are thriving and those who cannot are fading away.

Fuse is the only event focused on design as a strategic force and in Mission’s quest to build brands and businesses that connect the reason to travel all the way to Miami seemed obvious. Here is a little takeaway from this year event in Miami, I hope you’ll get inspired!

"A well-defined Purpose Statement provides strength and power to work holistically and think forward."

The main theme for this year's conference was branding with purpose.

In Norway, most B2B companies are founded on values, they are value-based. "We should be inclusive, inspiring and sustainable", they say, but we have heard it before, it is not particularly engaging and almost everyone can say the same. What the company's purpose is, is not known. 90% of Norwegian companies do not have a Purpose Statement, and surveys show that this is a relatively new concept in the Norwegian context, even though this has been a frequently and consciously used concept internationally for the last 20 years.

At the FUSE conference in Miami, the guest speakers were very interested in the opportunities and strengths that lie in a well-defined Purpose Statement: It gives strength and power to work holistically and think ahead. It tells the brand story of the product or service. It helps to develop and create a culture internally, in other words, a Purpose Statement defines the corporate culture of the company. It functions as the lighthouse in the company.

Brands with a clearly defined purpose often have the ability to speak to you as a consumer in a way that touches you.

This is because these brands have something they are trying to change. As customers and consumers, we want to be part of that change.

Good examples of brands with a clearly defined purpose are Virgin, PepsiCo and Apple, brands that speak to you on a personal level. And this is of course intentional.

The people behind the brands tell us what the world could be like. They bare their souls to us. These brands have a reason for existing beyond just selling products: they have a Purpose, or a purpose as it is often referred to in Norwegian.

In Mission, we admire the products they make, but the thing we love most about them is the change they are making, because they are purpose-driven brands. In Norway a better part of B2B companies are value driven, and Purpose thinking is looked upon as something new, when in fact in most parts of the world Purpose has been a buzz word for over 20 years.

Let me give you a great example: Origins

Launched in 1990 as the first department store wellness brand, Origins is sold in over 20 countries. Origins's mission is to create high-performance natural skin care products using potent plants, organic ingredients and 100% natural essential oils. Its products are manufactured using renewable resources, wind energy, and earth friendly practices.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Stephane de La Faverie, Global President of Estée Lauder at Fuse. We talked about Origins emphasise on authenticity and Purpose, and their communication strategy, but let’s start with the beginning:

“Origins brings a sense of wonder, wisdom and well-being to the way beauty is experienced.”
- Origins have a very strong Purpose

From sketchbook to launch

Origins is a great example of a brand that lives up to its Purpose and that brings its Purpose to everything it does: from its logo to its tagline “Powered by nature. Proven by Science” to its use of imagery. (They never use models; the products and nature are the heroes here.) I asked La Faverie about Origins’ emphasis on appearing authentic and sincere, especially in light of young people who are often very concerned about this when interacting with brands. Authenticity is actually 1 in 4 design trends we’re seeing these days. So it was natural that I wanted to find out if this had always been a central theme at Origins.

La Faverie said that when Origins made this choice 20 years ago, no one was talking about authenticity and sincerity. Our Purpose and our success are about why Origins never stops exploring. When we stop, well, we cease to exist.

The uniqueness lies in the difference

It’s by standing out that brands like Origins, Uber, and Apple have become so big. Origins never runs print ads. I find this a bit surprising, given how the beauty industry traditionally communicates with its target audience in this way. But La Faverie said this was a strategic choice for Origins:

"Marketing for Origins is about how you make a difference for your customers, how you differentiate yourself from your competitors. This is what contributes to success."
-Stephane de La Faverie, Global President of Estée Lauder

Estée Lauder, the parent company of Origins, has chosen an overall communication strategy that is not about striving for or being one step ahead of the competition, but rather focusing on developing and expanding its markets by being different, better and more visible. At Origins, they have defined digital and social channels as the most important communication channels, along with their own stores. "Marketing for Origins is about how you make a difference for your customers, how you differentiate yourself from your competitors. This is what contributes to success," says La Faverie.

I believe that the more authentic a brand appears, and the clearer the company's Purpose Statement, the further you can reach in brand communication. Origins will continue to differentiate itself from competitors by delivering a thoughtful and clear customer experience across channels.

- And this leads straight to another hot topic in Miami:

How to create engaging customer experiences across digital, social and physical channels

Below you will gain insight into a 5-step model that is central to creating personality for a consumer brand or service:

Tell us about what you're passionate about. We all want to hear a good story. Stories connect people and are suitable for all marketing channels. Find the great story behind the brand, the company and the people who work there.
Give employees the opportunity to tell the story . We humans remember stories best told by other people. Let the human encounter take center stage.
Make sure to engage customers and make them a part of your story. Get them to share the story with others and become part of the brand.
Be personal. Use marketing tools to communicate relevantly to your target audience.
Give of yourself. Bring out the personality your brand really wants to be, be aware of your brand's tone of voice . Too many companies talk like a government bureaucrat, making their message difficult to understand. People don't talk to each other like that, so why should brands? Ensure consistent communication across channels.

- and as the Americans would say: "have fun doing it".