Appearing recently at Cannes In Cairns, Andy Ridley, founding CEO of Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef and Earth Hour and Jen Chin, founder of Uncommon Kind, took to the stage in an illuminating panel unpacking the importance of corporate responsibility in the fight for a more sustainable future and how brands must rigorously challenge their choices around purpose and profit and adapt to purpose-led growth.
Hosting the panel, former TV journalist and head of content and PR Sunday Gravy Sean Sowerby opened with a simple question: what is purpose?
Chin, known for her candid approach, expressed her hatred for the buzzword, calling the concept a “complete shit show” that is just one part of the solution. “The way I define purpose is that it’s basically a lens, it’s a mindset, and it’s an operating model to deliver outcomes that people, society and the environment actually need based on your core competency”.
Ridley echoed this sentiment, drawing from his extensive background in environmental conservation. For him, purpose is practical; it’s about leveraging organisational assets—be it technology, human resources, or financial capabilities—to effect positive change in the world. He highlighted the shift towards outcome-driven approaches, emphasising the need to align business strategies with real-world impacts.
“Particularly for the environment, the scale of issues we’re dealing with requires a really different way of thinking about how you achieve scale of purpose. There is a change afoot. Things like AI are revolutionising how you can mobilise people. We can unite globally behind a common purpose if we can get our shit together”.
Chin delved into the nuances between activism and advocacy within the context of purpose. She stressed the complementary nature of both: while activism may raise awareness and initiate change, advocacy is crucial in driving systemic, long-term impact through policy and institutional change. This distinction, she argued, is essential for businesses aiming to authentically integrate purpose into their operations, cautioning against superficial approaches that exploit social issues for marketing gains.
“If you look at the Colin Kaepernick example, where he took a knee during that NFL game to protest, I think it was police brutality; he was the activist in that instance. The advocates would have been the police departments, the council or the government. So you can see that both are as important as each other; they are actually two sides of the same coin. And you can’t just have activism without advocacy to drive purposeful outcomes”.
So, what works?
Chin highlighted brands that excel in purpose-driven initiatives, citing Ariel’s “Share the Load” campaign, which was developed to encourage men to share in the load of household work. The campaign has now evolved into in-school training on sharing household chores and clothing labels that remind all household members to be involved. It first aired in 2014 and is still going, with new iterations this year.
“They picked product truth and a social issue that they could credibly talk to. Then, every year, they’ve iterated the storytelling into another aspect about how there’s an uneven distribution of gender roles in their culture,” Chin explained. “It wasn’t just this one-hit-wonder PR moment in time where they champion the hot cause for the year. They actually stuck with it, and they actually want to see this through to the end”.
What doesn’t work?
Conversely, without naming and shaming, the discussion didn’t shy away from critiquing brands that engage in tokenism or opportunistic activism. Chin condemned practices where brands exploit trending social issues for short-term gain, only to abandon them once the spotlight fades—an approach she deemed harmful and insincere to genuine purpose-driven efforts.
“I think that one of the things you should think about is how about is if you couldn’t promote it? If you couldn’t be seen to be associated with or benefiting that outcome? Would you do it anyway? Because if the answer is no, then you’re being woke, and you should really step down and do it properly or not do it at all,” Chin explained.
Where do we go from here?
Looking ahead, Chin and Ridley envisioned a future where purpose transcends individual brands and becomes a collaborative effort. Chin emphasised the importance of partnerships between businesses and impact organisations, leveraging each other’s strengths for collective benefit. “Brands and businesses have enormous resources, skills both human, technological and financial,” Chin explained. “The issue we’ve got at the moment is that no one’s speaking the same language, but they’re getting better at it,” Chin said.
Ridley echoed this sentiment, calling for a rethink of the charity model with a more balanced and collaborative effort. “If you’re running a charity, having people who work in the charity sector, and people who work in a commercial sector working together is a much better mix than just charity sector, or just green movement, or just scientists”.
Overall, the panel was a provocative dialogue that challenged conventional wisdom and set a course for a more purposeful future—one where corporate responsibility isn’t just a buzzword but a guiding principle for meaningful change.
