On the latest twist in the Purpose story – and why everyone ignored the most interesting thing about it.
Hello again. For anyone new here, I’m a writer of poetry, downbeat diaries, branding and advertising projects, articles for Creative Review and The Guardian, and books about design. Thoughts on Writing uses language as a way into wider cultural and political issues. This post is a gear change from the last one, to which I had a lovely response – thanks for all the comments.
1. I know, but keep reading
So first of all – yes, this is another post about ‘purpose’, the trend that has swept the corporate and advertising world over the past decade. What follows will make more sense in the context of two earlier posts: Purpose wins. Who loses? and (especially) The reality distortion field.
I wasn’t intending to return to this subject so soon, but it comes off the back of an adland story that is too good to resist, because it sums up so much of what is dysfunctional about this debate.
2. The research