Navigating this new world of for-purpose consumers requires marketers to start thinking more like activists and less like marketers, says co-founder of Activista LA, Beto Fernandez.

Australia’s banks have not always enjoyed the strongest corporate reputations, consistently earning headlines that are best describe as bad news. So it takes a particularly bold perspective and a tonne of supporting proof points for a bank to muster the conviction that it deserves to be seen as a force for good.

As we wave goodbye to the year that was 2021, CMO presents our top 21 stories of the year across CMO Australia based on audience engagement.

“I’m a political campaigner, a political strategist and a justice reform activist,” says R/GA global CMO, Ashish Prashar.

In a recent study conducted by Indeed, 80 per cent of Australians surveyed expressed the desire to work for companies that promote diversity and inclusion (D&I).

​In addition to travel bans, the last two years have led to an awakening in people’s desire to engage with organisations that are purpose driven and deliver a net benefit to society and the planet. That’s particularly good news for Melbourne born travel company, Intrepid Travel.

Reckitt has been busy creating wide-ranging and ongoing corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects in the last few years with results for the community and for consumer perception that please Reckitt’s hygiene A/NZ’s director of marketing, Saurabh Jain.

Thankful, a social impact organisation devised by Australian marketing and advertising entrepreneurs, Kim McDonnell and Mike Chuter, is making its local debut as it works to encourage brands and organisations to help address the world’s biggest systemic challenges.

On June 1 2021, Credit Union Australia officially switched its branding over to Great Southern Bank and debuted a fresh purpose and new set of propositions targeting first-home buyers. As Great Southern Bank’s chief customer officer, Megan Keleher, put it to CMO, the task of transitioning the banking provider to a fresh brand and purpose was the biggest change the organisation has faced in its 70-plus year history. Which made it vital every person across the organisation was onside.

Cementing a differentiated position in the outdoors category globally while getting local consumers to reappraise and fall back in love with its brand lies at the heart of new brand positioning and vision work undertaken by Kathmandu.

When someone books a rideshare car there’s a good chance they are thinking more about when it will arrive and how long their trip will take than about the company itself and how it treats its drivers. But Rajesh Vuppala believes that if riders knew more about how the industry worked, they might choose a service they thought treated its drivers more fairly, especially if it gave back something to the local community.

A fresh brand identity, overhaul of social media tone of voice and a digital profile strategy are key ways the Australian Red Cross is hoping to connect to more diverse audiences and changing perceptions of charity.

A long-term commitment to environmental and social principles has led Vege Chips to forge a three-year partnership with the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital in its home location on Australia’s Gold Coast.

New purpose-driven brand, MOOD tea, has launched in a bid to help fight youth suicide. The purpose-driven tea brand, created by the Australian media, marketing and creative industry, is a first social enterprise product to raise funds for youth mental health programs.

In 2020 political division and instability shocked the world, and it came in a year with protests and a new movement for racial equality, all while the world grappled with the coronavirus pandemic. The events of last year have thrown the role of brands into sharp relief as many people looked to them for their support and leadership on these health, social, racial and progressive crises.

The circular economy is expected to be worth $4.5 trillion by 2030, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Transforming the old ‘take, make and waste’ cycle with one that is structured around re-use, recycle and re-design will provide a host of new challenges and opportunities.

Grapevines may be incredibly fickle plants, but as 2020 has shown, grape growers cannot afford to be so demanding.

A not-for-profit organisation focused on delivering Australia’s first truly sustainable and environmentally conscious funerals has debuted its brand identity and website as it works to secure funding needed to launch.

An ambition to attach meaning to money through brave and purposeful brand work is the key to making an impact for Future Super’s chief marketing officer, Grace Palos. Here, she shares 9 elements key to the way the business builds out its brand strategy.

It’s critical enterprises have a higher-level purpose which can be translated by the individual employees into their work to aid productivity and engagement, according to the founder and executive director of the Centre for the Future, ​​Dr Richard Hames.

More and more, consumers are looking for brands they can have an emotional connection with, says Kathmandu’s chief customer officer, Eva Barrett. And for the Australia and New Zealand-based outdoor apparel brand and retailer, credibility around sustainability will be key to achieving this as it works to build engagement locally and abroad.