Corporate purpose is the buzzword of the day. Last August, the US Business Roundtable radically redefined its statement of the “purpose of a corporation” to include stakeholders, rather than just shareholders. Larry Fink, who leads the world’s largest asset management firm BlackRock, wrote in a 2018 letter to corporate CEOs: “Without a sense of purpose, no company, either public or private, can achieve its full potential.”
As the Global CMO of McDonald’s from 2002 to 2005 I had to find a way to get our brand back to relevance. This is the strategy that got us there.
Online shopping is generally a solitary activity – more about the purchase result than the experience. But is that all about to change?
As parts of the economy begin to open after COVID’s first wave, the term “restart” is often heard. But it is a fictional premise, given that much of the economy has irrevocably changed. Rather than restarting, we are rebooting. For many industries, this is a history-making Great Reboot for business realignment, and the updates taking place will lock in epochal change.
If the relationship between a company and its customers is based upon respect and regard, if it’s based upon truth, trust, and transparency, then an authentic “friendship” or even “love” can form.
