The importance of purpose-led communication in creating value for companies

Purpose-led communication basically means communicating with an identified purpose. If an organisation identifies the purpose, it will have an easier time developing targeted, effective messages and identifying the audience to which one should deliver those messages. Corporate communications and public relations professionals, by being associated with the purpose, will not only bring profits, but also create a large shareholder value for any organisation.

The 2^nd edition of IMAGEXX Summit & Awards 2022, the flagship event of Adgully for the Public Relations industry, held on June 16, 2022, saw a fireside chat on ‘Purpose-led communication’, wherein Kavita Doshi, Head - Corporate and Digital Communications, NASSCOM, engaged in a conversation with Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director-General & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs.

In this brainstorming session, Chatterjee gave some insightful perspective on purpose driven CSR activities, corporate working style, changing scenarios and more.

Commencing the conversation, Kavita Doshi asked, “How does one identify the purpose? Do we align our audience to the purpose or vice versa?”

Bhaskar Chatterjee replied, “If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion, for your passion will lead you right into your purpose. i love these words because anyone who sits in a boardroom, as I do in many boards, anyone who is the CXO or if it is a promoter-driven organisation, the promoter needs to find out what drives him or her from the inside and the purpose would come from that introspection of deep diving into yourself and saying our company was created because more than the profits we want to do this and then that becomes the purpose.”

He further said that while setting the purpose for one’s organisation, the leaders need to have in mind not just the board or the employees in the organisation, but the whole range of stakeholders from end to end. “These could be your supply chain, your customers, your investors – they could be anyone who is interested in your company. You need to drive that purpose across this entire rainbow because if people don’t see that you are purpose driven, they won’t see any value in your company,” he stressed.

These are edited excerpts. For the complete conversation, please watch below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffQ5s73fZMs