Having a clearly defined purpose that goes beyond generating shareholder profits
is essential to thriving in today’s market. Consumers actively support brands
that share their beliefs. Plus, purpose provides an insightful compass to
navigate brand strategy and business decisions. Companies that lead with
purpose are better prepared for changing market conditions and build their brand
while distinguishing themselves from the competition.
An excellent example of a brand that leverages purpose to define corporate
strategy is VSP Global. The
optical health company’s vision is to “provide access to affordable,
high-quality eye care and eyewear to the world.” This purpose-driven goal guides
business development, branding, product innovation and other integral
operations.
Adherent to VSP Global’s mission, the doctor-governed organization is divided
into five businesses: ”eye care insurance, high-quality eyewear, lens and lens
enhancements, ophthalmic technology, and connected experiences to strengthen the
relationship between patients and their eye doctors.”
VSP Global also utilizes its expertise for charitable giving via its Eyes of
Hope charitable
platform, which has provided no-cost eyewear and eye care for individuals in
need by partnering with their network of eye doctors across the country. VSP
Global’s mission-based business decision-making offers valuable insights for
brands looking to lead with purpose. Here’s how VSP Global weaves purpose into
business strategy:
Marry purpose with business growth
One of VSP Global’s subsidiaries is VSP Vision Care,
the only national not-for-profit company that delivers value to its customers
through access to quality eye care and affordable eyewear. The social enterprise
reinvests profits into products, programs and services that increase the value
of vision benefits, extends access to care and strengthens the connection
between patients and their eye doctor.
In a recent development, VSP Vision Care augmented its VSP
EasyOptions feature, which will now be
available to smaller companies of
50
or more team members. VSP EasyOptions allows flexibility for members — and
their family members — to personalize their eye care coverage on the spot
after receiving a comprehensive exam from their eye care provider. By expanding
the offering, which was previously reserved for larger corporations, VSP will
now provide more personalized access to a larger number of people, advancing
both its mission and bottom line.
Ultimately, by using your purposeful mission to guide business goals you can
gain clarity, expand your network and grow your business.
Purposeful product innovation
VSP Global utilizes its mission to provide “high-quality eye care and eyewear to
the world” to inspire new products and services that meet consumer needs and
progress patient health.
A recent noteworthy product that combines technology with social impact is VSP
Global’s Level smart
glasses.
In these stylish frames, VSP Global has incorporated sensors that track physical
activity such as steps walked, calories burned and distance traveled. What’s
more, users are awarded points for meeting daily activity goals, which can be
used to trigger a charitable donation from VSP Global on their behalf.
Essentially, the eyewear company is incentivizing people to get more exercise by
motivating them with the possibility of making a positive contribution. By
putting consumers at the center of your social impact initiatives, you
strengthen emotional connections with your customer base.
Apply expertise to impact
Eye care and eyewear can be prohibitively expensive. VSP Global’s mission is to
ensure everyone in the world has the gift of clear eyesight, not only those who
can pay for it. Through Eyes of Hope, VSP Global is able to enrich the lives of
millions of people who wouldn’t be able to afford eye care.
In collaboration with 8,500 in-network doctors, as well as partner
organizations, Eyes of Hope has assisted over two million individuals in gaining
access to eye exams and glasses, and has recently committed to aiding one
million more people by 2020.
Eyes of Hope also helps those disadvantaged by income, distance or
disaster;
through mobile eye clinics, eyewear donations, gift certificates, scholarships
for aspiring optometrists and more.
In one initiative — the We See, A Child Eye Health
Project
in Soweto, South Africa — Eyes of Hope partnered with the Brien Holden
Vision Institute and local government agencies to create a program aimed to
integrate child eye health into the school health and education policies,
including the creation of an optical health clinic within the Nike Football
Training Centre. Over a three-year period, 95,000 local children received eye
screenings, nearly 2,500 prescription glasses were allocated yielding
transformative results and the program was successfully integrated into an
existing health care infrastructure run by the Gauteng Department of Health
— ensuring sustainability.
Ultimately, by leveraging your core capabilities to fulfill your social mission,
you can scale your impact, create partnerships, gain earned media and expand the
reach of your brand.
Strategic partnerships
Partnerships are critical to scaling your business, impact and staying ahead of
the curve. In 2017, VSP Global made a strategic
investment
in RightEye — an eye-tracking technology that uses game-based vision tests to
reveal details on visual speed and accuracy, processing depth perception and
even dry eye. For optometry, RightEye can then further strengthen the
relationship between patients and their eye doctors by underscoring the links
between vision and overall brain health and even sports performance. Ultimately,
VSP Global’s mission drives partnership decisions that can expand its capability
to provide stellar eye care to everyone in the world.
The key takeaway is that clarifying your purpose-driven mission will give you
clarity on all aspects of business decision making. In other words, be a mission
with a company, not a company with a mission. Not only will you expand
partnership opportunities, gain consumer goodwill and earned media, but you will
also increase your bottom line in the long run and be an integral part of
building a better world.
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Founder & CEO
Simon Mainwaring is the author of Lead With We, the Wall Street Journal bestseller that shows how companies address purpose, sustainability, and climate challenges in ways that build their business. He’s the founder and CEO of the award-winning strategic brand consultancy, We First, that’s a B Corp ‘Best For The World’ Honoree and a Real Leaders Top 50 keynote speaker in the World. He hosts the influential ‘Lead With We’ podcast, is a columnist for the CMO Network in Forbes, and wrote the New York Times bestseller, We First. He’s been a Featured Expert and Jury Member for the Sustainable Development Goals at the Cannes Lions Festival and U.S. One Show for Sustainable Development.
Published Feb 19, 2019 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET