Building an authentic purpose-driven brand: A case study for Forestwise

Abstract

In recent years, a preference for purpose-driven brands, brands that display values and intentions beyond simply making profit, is increasing amongst consumers. However, this growing preference comes along with brands that use purpose as an opportunity for marketing purposes, creating skepticism in consumer’s mind about the authenticity of the brand. As a consquence, purpose-driven brands encounter an intention-behavior gap. Thus, there is a need for brand authenticity in brand development. This thesis draws links between purpose-driven, brand authenticity and brand development literature, of which a theoretical framework is developed and applied to a case study for Forestwise to build a beauty consumer brand. Forestwise is a Dutch social enterprise, located in Indonesia, offering harvested rainforest ingredients for the food, beauty and personal care industry (B2B market). The thesis resulted in designs for Forestwise that are a stepping stone for the new brand to inspire potential partners and use as a discussion tool to further develop the new brand. 1. Roadmap 2. A brand book 3. Brand narrative 4. Brand touchpoints examples. . This thesis suggests a new approach to purpose-driven development by regarding brand authenticity factors. However, the value and effectiveness to this approach remains uncertain. It is suggested to do further research regarding these topics.