One of my favorite “caring” Brands is TOMS Shoes. Their tagline is, “Every Purchase Has A Purpose.”  TOMS donates shoes, sight and water to people in need. But does this benevolence matter?

According to Havas Meaningful Brands 2017, 75% of global Consumers “expect brands to contribute to our well-being and quality of life.” A Cone Communications CRS Study found that 70% of US consumers believe companies should take actions to improve issues outside of the everyday business operations.

Nielsen (2015) and the Global Strategy Group (2016) as reported by AdWeek found that people do care about company caring:

• 89% would be likely to switch to brands that associate with causes
• 80% would support issues by buying from social conscious online retails
• 88% would be more loyal to companies that support social or environmental causes
• 66% would pay more for products from socially responsible companies

What is noteworthy is that millennial consumers are more likely than Gen Z, Gen X or boomers to expect brands to Support Issues they believe in. 75% of millennials reported they would be willing to take a pay cut to work for a socially responsible company.

So what is your brand purpose and can you define it as clearly as Toms does on their website? Does doing business with your organization provide empathy and purpose for the future? 89% of Gen Z and 85% of millennial consumers would buy from a company supporting social and environmental issues over one that doesn’t. Purpose branding is now coming of age.