Foreword Reviews, Clarion Rating: 4 out of 5
The Purpose-Driven Marketing Handbook raises awareness about the importance of integrating sustainability issues into an organization’s core mission and messages.
Paul Pierroz’s The Purpose-Driven Marketing Handbook is a useful business guide that shows how sustainability impacts sales and stakeholders’ investments.
In neat order across five sections, the book covers topics including the advantageous use of disruptive forces and the process of linking business benefits with a social mission. The overarching focus is on sustainability contributions, which are used to protect the planet and determine an organization’s fate. Basic definitions of the book’s terms are also provided, along with thoughtful explanations about pressing climate change issues.
The book’s professional but conversational tone creates a direct connection to the audience. Pierroz expresses urgency when it comes to enterprises’ awareness about rising temperatures, carbon dioxide emissions, and more. Multiple references to successful leaders also identify effective sustainability approaches, including a backlog of ideas for raising capital, awareness of status-quo dangers, the ability to take advantage of the next growth wave, and refusal to give up while elevating performance.
The book draws interesting sports comparisons, as of business competitiveness to martial arts, to bolster its points, and it uses sports anecdotes, as of an annual duathlon and teamwork during an employee cycling event, to further push its concepts about conserving energy. Statistical information from credible sources, including the US Energy Protection Agency, is an additional benefit, while digestible lists help to focus and reinforce the book’s actionable suggestions, and well-labeled and conceptualized figures and charts are present to crystallize its concepts.
Pierroz’s approach is practical. His work moves beyond discussions of organizations’ need to respond to climate change problems to make smart suggestions for becoming a top investment pick, including quantifying market opportunities and presenting them in terms of their ecosystem impacts. Concrete recommendations for differentiating a business through climate change reporting, like discussing an organization’s approach to leadership, innovation, and long-term viability, offer multiple options for advancement.
Pierroz’s astute observations, as of watching the faster pace of workers leaving buildings, inform this insightful work. Along with the important reminder that great ideas may come from the quietest person in the room, his sharp points focus on ways to take control of an organization’s direction. His critical questions about a business’s contributions to the well-being of society and the planet are equally valuable.
A brief point about all types of businesses needing to discover their impact in products and services touches on sustainable applications, regardless of a company’s physical output. Although this possibility is not fully developed for e-commerce companies, plentiful examples are provided of the sustainability efforts of global companies in industries ranging from tools and accessories to specialty lumber and wood production. For convenient referral and refreshers, there’s a detailed organization listing at the end of the book.
The Purpose-Driven Marketing Handbook raises awareness about the importance of integrating sustainability issues into an organization’s core mission and messages.
Reviewed by Andrea Hammer October 5, 2021