Prioritising social purpose over company profit is becoming an important and worthwhile strategy for some of the world’s major sports brands. 

We’re seeing more teams and organisations change their tact, too. In response to consumer demand for more purposeful branding, initiatives that educate audiences on matters of social justice and public health are being increasingly incorporated into partnerships.

In 2010, Dale Vince’s Forest Green Rovers became one of the first football clubs in the English game to combat climate change. His renewable energy firm, Ecotricty – mentioned in last year’s Laureus Sports For Good Index - joined some of the planet’s biggest companies to leverage their sports investments for social and ecological change.

In response to the knife crime epidemic, which saw 30 youths killed on the streets of London in 2021, Premier League football club Arsenal and their official kit supplier Adidas also set new standards for the sports-brand partnership earlier this month. By launching the No More Red campaign for their third-round FA Cup fixture, the men’s first team swapped their traditional red jerseys for an all-white strip in order to bring attention to the needless bloodshed across the capital. 

Before kick-off, actor and campaign ambassador Idris Elba spoke passionately to ITV about the issue and championed the relationship between Arsenal and Adidas to put matters of gang violence under the microscope. 

“We can do something, football is watched by teenagers,” expressed Elba. “So, we’re using the innovation of the partnership to say, ‘hey guys, how can we make a stand against knife crime?’ 

“It’s not subtle, it’s not meant to be,” he continued, “I want kids to think about their future.”

Education is fundamental to a brand’s purpose

Once again, this goes to show the power of sport when it comes to highlighting the issues that are a scourge on our society, and the creative license that brands are able to exercise when their own platforms are used to raise awareness. 

It is this ability to educate through branding that appeals to our work at The Turmeric Co., with my focus firmly on promoting healthier living and better nutritional awareness across our partnership portfolio.

With this in mind, we regularly work with top-tier football clubs to deliver educational programmes that teach children in their local communities about the importance of healthy eating. While supplying men’s and women’s teams with our raw turmeric shots to improve athletic performance and recovery, our partnerships with elite football clubs across the country have all been built on the ambition to educate audiences. 

The aim is to encourage parents and children to think more carefully about the types of foods they consume, ultimately motivating them to cut down on fast foods and sugary drinks. By doing so, we are also building advocacy for the brand itself, allowing The Turmeric Co. to build bonds with our partners’ fans and communities.

Don’t be shy when speaking up

It’s unfortunate, but altruism is sometimes given a bad rap. It’s understandable, especially considering the issues of “greenwashing” amongst brands that talk about the environment without striving to reduce their own carbon footprint. The issue of “sportswashing” is also a real threat to brands that genuinely want to make a positive impact through their work; many industry peers and global rights holders invest in sport simply to boost their profile among audiences who associate their brand with favoured teams and athletes.

It’s a challenging environment to navigate, but the shift towards truly purposeful branding is gaining momentum. I’m delighted to see partnerships like Arsenal and Adidas putting the issues they care about before profit, this being reflected by the fact that the No More Red campaign’s all-white playing shirts weren’t available to purchase. Instead, they were purely symbolic in the capital’s fight against knife crime - this is a great example of how to leverage a brand’s popularity to encourage young people to think about their futures.

What this tells me is that brand marketing teams are more important than ever to the “purpose-before-profit” movement. I agree that companies must advertise and make sales to grow their revenues, but how else are they going to have an impact if they don’t grow advocacy for their business? If you want to build a successful company, you cannot be shy about communicating what your company stands for.

Without purpose, brands are redundant

How we develop that roadmap, however, requires more creativity and content that matters, and far more compassion for the problems that our audiences face in their daily lives. It also needs to hold those to account who don’t stand up to these basic values.

Whether it’s climate change, inner-city violence, or obesity, there is an array of important issues that sports organisations and the brands they invite into the boardroom can focus on to make purposeful, lasting and educational campaigns.

The power of the brand is only as relevant as its willingness to be bold. The brightest and boldest brands working in sport today are those who invest in inspiring content and bring to life thought-provoking ideas to pave the way for a safer and more equitable future. 

We need our brands to be bold in order to turn the world’s attention to the issues that matter. Without purpose, brands are redundant in my eyes. Therefore, when finding the role your company can play in society - whether local or global - I urge you to please grab hold of it and don’t let go.