Brand purpose, on its own, does not sell more shampoo. The product benefit sells the shampoo. Purpose only moves sales when it is baked into a genuinely better product, not bolted on as a slogan. That is what the data actually shows, once you separate what people say from what they buy. The famous “purpose sells” numbers are mostly correlation and survey answers. The shopping trolley tells a harder story.
This is a reality check, not a takedown of doing good. Purpose can absolutely help a brand. But the marketing world has turned “find your why” into gospel, and the evidence is messier than the LinkedIn posts suggest. Let us look at the numbers on both sides.
One note up front. This is independent analysis and opinion. Company figures below are drawn from each company’s own public reporting and from named third-party research, all cited.
The say-do gap that kills purpose marketing
People and sustainable choices, % (Kantar 2025)
The gap between the survey and the shopping trolley is where most purpose marketing dies. Source: Kantar Sustainability Sector Index, 2025.
What is the “purpose sells” argument, in numbers?
There is real data behind the believers, so give it a fair hearing first.
The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business runs an annual Sustainable Market Share Index. Its 2024 report found that products marketed as sustainable grew 2.3 times faster than conventional ones and carried an average price premium of about 26.6%. Over five years, sustainable products grew at a 12.4% compound rate against 5.4% for the rest. On paper, that looks like purpose printing money.
Kantar’s BrandZ data points the same way. Over a 12-year window, brands seen as having a positive impact grew their brand value faster than brands with low perceived impact. Kantar also reports a strong 0.7 correlation between sustainability and purchase intent.
So the pro-purpose case is not fluff. Done right, it tracks with growth. Hold onto that phrase: done right.
They say they will pay more for purpose. Then they reach for the cheaper bottle, or the one that smells nicer. Purpose loses to price, performance and habit at the only moment that pays the bills.
So why doesn’t brand purpose actually sell more shampoo?
Because of one stubborn problem. People lie to surveys, mostly to themselves.
Kantar’s own 2025 Sustainability Sector Index found that 85% of people say they want to make more sustainable choices. Only about 29% are actually changing their behaviour. That is the say-do gap, and it is enormous. More than half the people who tell you they care are not acting on it at the till.
This is the trap in every “consumers will pay more for purpose” headline. They say they will. Then they reach for the cheaper bottle, or the one that smells nicer, or the one their mum used. Purpose loses to price, performance and habit at the moment of purchase, which is the only moment that pays the bills.
That correlation between sustainability and growth? It runs heavily through products that are genuinely better, more premium, or aimed at people who already had the money to spend. The purpose did not create the sale on its own. A better, pricier product, bought by people who could afford it, did a lot of the lifting.
What did Unilever’s purpose experiment really prove?
Unilever is the most-quoted case, and the full story is more useful than the slogan.
For years Unilever reported that its Sustainable Living Brands, names like Dove and Hellmann’s, grew 69% faster than the rest of the business between 2010 and 2020 and drove 75% of the company’s growth by 2019. Marketers cite that 69% everywhere as proof that purpose pays.
Then it got complicated. In 2022, major Unilever investor Terry Smith of Fundsmith publicly said the company had “lost the plot,” mocking the idea of defining a purpose for Hellmann’s mayonnaise. His point was blunt. People have known what mayonnaise is for since 1913. By 2024 and 2025, new CEO Hein Schumacher had refocused the strategy, pulling back from the most aspirational purpose goals and tying sustainability to specific products where it actually fits.
Read the arc honestly. Purpose helped Unilever’s better products. It became a liability when it was stretched over products that did not need it. That is the real lesson, not “purpose always wins.”
What does winning brand purpose actually look like?
It looks like a product benefit first, with the purpose as a quiet bonus.
Look at how Unilever now sells Persil Wonder Wash. The ad has Usain Bolt and the line “Fast just got better.” It promises clean clothes in 15 minutes. The word sustainability does not appear. The product happens to save water and power because it is quick. The customer benefit is the pitch. The environmental win is a consequence, not the headline.
That is the model that works. Make the better choice the easier, cheaper or more pleasant choice, and people pick it for selfish reasons while doing some good by accident. Kantar’s data backs this. Most shoppers say they want greener options but need brands to make the green choice the easy choice on cost and availability.
Compare that to the brands we picked apart in why every Indian D2C brand sounds the same. A wall of identical “we are on a mission” copy, no product reason to choose one over the next. That is purpose as decoration. It does not sell.
Is brand purpose just a marketing myth then?
No. It is a real tool that the industry has badly oversold.
The honest summary is this. Purpose tied to a genuinely better product is an asset. It deepens loyalty and can support a premium. Purpose bolted onto an ordinary product as a slogan is a cost. It buys nice survey scores and very little extra sales.
There is also a downside risk people skip. Kantar found a 0.9 correlation between perceived greenwashing and consumers dropping a brand. So getting purpose wrong is not neutral. It actively repels people. Claim a halo you have not earned, and the punishment is worse than saying nothing.
This is the same pattern we flagged in influencer marketing myths for 2026. A real tactic gets turned into a magic formula, the nuance gets stripped out, and brands spend money on the slogan instead of the substance.
So does brand purpose sell more shampoo? Only if the shampoo is genuinely better and the purpose is true. Otherwise you are paying for a feeling that does not follow shoppers to the shelf.
FAQ
Does brand purpose actually increase sales?
Only when it is tied to a genuinely better or more sustainable product. NYU Stern’s 2024 Sustainable Market Share Index found sustainability-marketed products grew 2.3 times faster than conventional ones with a 26.6% price premium, but that growth runs largely through products that are actually better and buyers who can afford them. Purpose as a standalone slogan, with no product benefit, shows little real sales lift.
What is the say-do gap in sustainability?
It is the gap between what people claim and what they do. Kantar’s 2025 Sustainability Sector Index found 85% of people say they want to make more sustainable choices, but only about 29% are actually changing their behaviour. Most stated intent never reaches the checkout, which is why “consumers will pay more for purpose” claims often fail in practice.
What was Unilever’s 69% figure?
Unilever reported that its Sustainable Living Brands grew 69% faster than the rest of the business between 2010 and 2020 and drove about 75% of company growth by 2019. It is the most-cited “purpose pays” statistic. However, investor Terry Smith later criticised the strategy as overstretched, and by 2024 and 2025 Unilever’s new leadership had refocused, tying sustainability to specific products rather than every brand.
Why does purpose marketing often fail?
Because at the moment of purchase, price, performance and habit usually beat values. The say-do gap means stated intent does not translate to sales. Purpose works best when the sustainable or ethical choice is also the easier, cheaper or better-performing one, so people choose it for self-interested reasons and do good by consequence.
Can brand purpose backfire?
Yes. Kantar found a 0.9 correlation between perceived greenwashing and consumers dropping a brand. Claiming a purpose or sustainability halo you have not genuinely earned can repel customers more than staying quiet would. Getting purpose wrong is an active risk, not a neutral one.
The Catch
Purpose tied to a genuinely better product is an asset. Purpose bolted onto an ordinary product as a slogan is a cost. It buys nice survey scores and very little extra sales. And get it wrong, and Kantar finds a 0.9 correlation between perceived greenwashing and people dropping the brand entirely.
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Sources: Sustainable products grew 2.3x faster, 26.6% price premium, 12.4% vs 5.4% 5-yr CAGR: NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, Sustainable Market Share Index 2024. Say-do gap (85% want, ~29% act), shoppers need the green choice made easy, and the 0.7 purchase-intent / 0.9 greenwashing correlations: Kantar Sustainability Sector Index 2025 and Kantar BrandZ. Unilever Sustainable Living Brands grew 69% faster (2010-2020) and drove 75% of growth by 2019, and CEO Hein Schumacher’s 2024-25 refocus: Unilever Sustainable Living Plan 10-year summary and Marketing Week. Terry Smith “lost the plot” / Hellmann’s mayonnaise and the Persil Wonder Wash “Fast just got better” example: Marketing Week and Management Today.
By Amisha, The Brand Crush. This post is independent analysis and opinion, not a statement of fact about any specific company’s conduct. Figures are drawn from each company’s own public reporting and from named research by NYU Stern, Kantar and reporting in Marketing Week, all cited below. It names no sponsor and was not paid for.
