The 17 most ‘purposeful’ companies in Europe
European companies which are the most ‘fit for purpose’ have been revealed in new research for 2016.
Creative consultancy Radley Yeldar has launched the 2016 Fit for Purpose index, ranking the world’s most socially, environmentally and economically purposeful companies.
The Fit For Purpose Index assesses each company across four criteria: purpose and story, communication, performance, and behaviours.
The overall trend that surfaced in this year’s index was collaborative thinking; the top purposeful brands are collaborating with stakeholders and partners within and outside the company to embed purpose in authentic and meaningful ways.
The report is Europe’s only extensive review of brand purpose and measures how well brands are putting purpose into practice. Out of the top 100 companies ranked, 83 percent demonstrated some type of collaboration, with nearly half demonstrating robust collaboration overall and 70 percent of the top 20 engaging in a long-term partnership related to their purpose.
“The 2016 index proves that the brands that are most fit for purpose are aligning with the overall trend of increased collaboration in business,” said Paulina Lezama, Radley Yeldar’s Head of Brand Strategy.
“Whether brands are consulting different departments with the organisation when developing their purpose or they are partnering with companies from different industries to bring their promise to life, breaking down barriers to embrace collective thinking leads to stronger and more effective purpose work across the board.”
This year saw both new entrants and fast risers in the top 10, including British Land, Pfizer and Novo Nordisk. New entrant British Land came in at fourth place, partly due to their commitment to customer insights, having conducted 150,000 consumer surveys over the last four years. Pfizer rose an impressive 53 places since last year, to come in at ninth place, primarily due to its commitment to partnering with key stakeholders in order to increase its ability to deliver on its purpose. Novo Nordisk, climbed 33 places to number five, thanks to a purpose built on guiding principles to help defeat diabetes.
The Top 17 from the list of 100 Fit For Purpose rankers include:
- Unilever (89.3 percent)
- Lloyd’s Banking Group (87.7)
- Philips (85.9)
- British Land (79)
- Novo Nordisk (78.2)
- Pearson (77.8)
- Reckitt Benckiser (77.3)
- Nestlé (75.6)
- Pfizer (73.1)
- GSK (71.3)
- Syngenta (70.4)
- BT (70)
- AstraZeneca (69.6)
- GE (69.5)
- Marks and Spencer (69.4)
- BASF (69.3)
- Deloitte (68.3)
To help launch the index, Radley Yeldar has put together an expert panel across different industries to contribute to the growing body of collective thinking around purpose, including Unilever, Danone, TOMS, Pearson, London Business School, SAP, SKINS and The Science Museum.
"At Pearson we have a simple mission: to help people make progress in their lives through learning. Social impact is at the heart of our brand and that strong sense of purpose is a driving force for many of us that work here,” said Rebecca Sinclair, VP of Brand for Pearson.
“Meeting the global demand for education drives our commercial strategy and our success allows us to invest into improving education for everyone to create a fairer and better world for all of us to live in. We know that we can’t solve the big education challenges alone so we work as part of a global community of teachers, parents, students, governments, institutions and businesses to try to tackle them together."
The Fit For Purpose index is part of a series of purpose tools created by Radley Yeldar, which uses its expertise in branding, employee engagement, investor relations and sustainability to help companies embed their purpose across the board, engaging all key stakeholders from employees to consumers to investors.
“At Radley Yeldar, we believe that brands with true purpose should use their unique position, expertise and capabilities to deliver things that matter to individuals, society and the world,” said Lezama.
Read the full Fit For Purpose Index 2016 here
Read the September 2016 issue of Business Review Europe magazine.
Follow @BizReviewEurope
