Preview: The Brand Purpose Pivot w/Samuel Monnie

In this 3 minute version episode 8 of Opinion Party, hosts Laura Jones and Jason Gaikowski explore the concept of brand purpose and its significance in modern marketing. They discuss the evolution of purpose-driven businesses, the challenges faced by legacy brands, and the importance of measuring purpose effectively. Guest Samuel Monnie shares insights on how to implement purpose in organizations and the economic benefits of empathy in business. The conversation emphasizes the need for a balance between purpose and profitability, encouraging marketers to embrace a more human-centered approach.

Episode Transcript

Laura Jones (00:01):
We're gonna get right into it. What's your
purpose, man?

Jason Gaikowski (00:04):
What's my purpose?

Laura Jones (00:05):
Yeah.

Jason Gaikowski (00:06):
Well, I mean, just jumped on my LinkedIn, and
you're gonna find that mypurpose is to rehumanize the
business of business. Oh. Prettypretty abstract, but

Laura Jones (00:15):
Wordy word words. I love it. What what does that
mean?

Jason Gaikowski (00:17):
Wordy word words.

Samuel Monnie (00:19):
So I'm as I say, I'm a purpose warrior, and I'm
gonna argue an inconvenienttruth. And now yeah. So you
return to work policy. You knowwhat? Give me purpose.
I'll come back to the office.There is no evidence to support
the return to office. There isno proof of extra productivity.
In fact, there's more there'smore evidence saying you can be
more productive not doing that.And your your your reason is
because I said so.

(00:39):
There's literally no evidence tomandate a five day return to
office. I'm thinking, darn it.Why does purpose have to prove
everything when a CEO can justsay you gotta be back five days
with no evidence? And are wefine with that? So I think
everything should be held to thesame standards.
If you're gonna demand the thehighest bar for purpose, I'm
gonna demand the highest bar foryour return to office policy and
mandate.

Laura Jones (00:59):
Why should the case for things that we know actually
already have so many positivemetrics? We should apply that
standard to everything. And thereal question here is can
capitalism grow a conscience?Right? It grew one pretty
quickly, it sounded like, duringCOVID.
Right. It's a business case. Ifthere's data, if there's great

(01:20):
storytelling around it, let'snot accept anything anything
less than that.

Samuel Monnie (01:25):
We have more empathy in how we communicate
about these things, then wedon't just say, oh, we got this
this product. It's we'rethinking about the community.
We're thinking about where we'regetting our palm oil from. We're
thinking about the supply chain.We're thinking about the workers
in the factory and safety andall.
We're thinking about ethics inwhen we're doing these things.
So I think the language of ofbusiness and marketing requires

(01:46):
more empathy.

Laura Jones (01:46):
And I think we've coined another phrase here,
Jason. Empathy. Economic empathysounds

Jason Gaikowski (01:52):
of empathy. And the there's there's there's so
much evidence in the world thatthe economics of empathy can be
very, very profitable. Right? Imean, Magic Johnson's fortune is
far more the result of opening,Starbucks and AMC theaters in,
disadvantaged urban environmentsthan from a hall of fame

(02:12):
basketball career. Right?
The evidence is everywhere ifonly we have the willingness to
look.

Laura Jones (02:18):
Right. Samuel any last final words about purpose
Purpose Hive? Where can peoplefind you?

Samuel Monnie (02:25):
They can find me everywhere on the Internet. You
search Samuel Mon, you'll findme at hive.com. You can find me
on LinkedIn. If you're notalready following me, you
should. It's about real businessand knowing that you can have a
positive impact and beprofitable.

Laura Jones (02:38):
Thank you so much for joining us. See you again
soon.

Samuel Monnie (02:41):
I'll be back. If the people want it, I'll be
back.