We created the Thompson Quarterly as a way of capturing some of the latest trends that are shaping brand and culture, and arranged them into a little read for you.

For this edition, we have focused on brand purpose and what this means for the future.

Here’s a taster of what will be included:

Alan Jope, Unilever’s new CEO was quoted saying that

“brands without a purpose would have no future at Unilever.”

Explaining that brands can no longer exist to simply shift product but are now expected to play a greater role in the world.

For businesses who’ve previously only thought about the sales of their products and services, this is a big shift. Among our own clients we’re seeing significant changes taking place as they reflect on their own place in the world and look to do the right thing.

Doing the right thing here at Thompson, started with addressing the amount of waste we create at Christmas. Instead of sending out cards and gifts that can end up in landfill we chose a different solution – read about it here.

There is no shortage of pressing issues where brands can exert a positive influence: climate change, poverty, inequality. You only have to watch the news, to see the issues that are having an impact throughout the world.

Brands old and new, now have the expectation from the next generation of consumers to prove their purpose within this world and to do so with complete honesty.

With the rise of more ‘woke’ brands, this has alerted a lot of consumers to the phenomenon of ‘woke-washing’ – businesses looking to cash in on a trend without taking any material action. And online, these consumers are not afraid to name and shame.

But trying to become a ‘woke’ brand and impacting real change can be difficult. As an agency we thought we could start by creating a more eco-conscious office – learn more here.

If you’re feeling inspired to input some change, then click here to get the full story, or let us know your thoughts and join the conversation via Twitter.

Happy reading!