Accenture Strategy’s most recent global survey of nearly 30,000 consumers in 35 countries—including more than 2,000 consumers in the United States—found that 62 percent of them want companies to take a stand on current and broadly relevant issues such as sustainability, transparency and fair employment practices.

Companies that don’t align with customer beliefs pay the price.

Consumers’ expectations of brands aligning with their personal values is a challenge for companies. But these expectations also present an opportunity for companies to demonstrate competitive agility by building more authentic and profitable relationships with customers.

To better understand the importance of brand purpose to US companies' competitiveness, Accenture Strategy examined the beliefs and expectations of 5,000+ urban consumers in 11 US cities.

Until recently, a brand belonged to the company that invested in shaping, growing and monetizing it. This is no longer the case. Brands are now community property belonging to shareholders and employees, as well as customers who now demand experiences on their terms, influence others to buy (or not), co-develop products and services, and even act as sales channel partners.

While business leaders, investors and employees all bring essential perspectives and capabilities to a brand’s identity, customers provide insights through their words and actions that enable purpose-driven companies to hone their competitive agility.

Consumers are highly valuable stakeholders who insist on transparency at the corporate level and expect meaningful products, services and promises. They act as champions of brands they believe in—and foils to those they don’t.

Price, product quality and customer experience are important attributes, but companies looking to build their competitive agility need to find new ways to stand out.

Brand purpose provides the differentiation that many seek. It is the foundation of every experience, the underlying essence that makes a brand relevant and necessary. Importantly, a brand’s purpose must be as unique as the brand itself. SunTrust, the seventh-largest bank in the United States, clearly understands this. It has the financial clout of a multinational bank, but much of its success can be attributed to its purpose-driven reputation as a reliable local bank focused on developing personal relationships and helping customers gain financial confidence.

While brand purpose must be carefully honed and aligned to the values of customers, certain dimensions outshine others. In the United States, such dimensions include brand quality, culture and transparency.

Accenture Strategy’s research identified factors that influence the form a brand purpose might take and how it will affect competitiveness:

Three guiding principles set purpose-driven brands apart in the United States.

US companies that stand for something bigger than what they sell, tune into customers’ beliefs and take decisive action on social issues are more likely to recast their customer relationships and connect with consumers on a deeper level.

Activating the purpose-led brand puts the traditional view of “customer as buyer” to bed forever. Instead, US companies have the opportunity to create a community of loyal, engaged and valuable brand stakeholders—all working together to usher in the next era of engagement and competitiveness.

Reach out to our authors to learn more about the purpose-led brand.