“Purpose is one of marketing’s trendiest buzzwords lately, and a new study from Kantar Consulting shows that it’s for good reason, with purpose-led brands growing at twice the rate of those without,” Sarah Mahoney writes in MediaPost’s Marketing Daily. “But Leslie Pascaud, Kantar’s executive vice president of purpose branding and sustainable innovation says the big surprise is that while ‘generally speaking, people think purpose is a great thing, they don’t really know what it is.’”

In an interview with Marketing Daily, Pascaud provides an update on the details of the research, based on more than 20,000 consumers and 100 interviews with executives at leading brands.

Asked about the source of the confusion among brands when it comes to purpose, Pascaud says: “They conflate purpose with mission, or else they think it sits in the corporate sustainability and responsibility silo. And even when they are relatively clear on what purpose is — a more aspirational, inspirational reason to be — they are struggling with how to make it meaningful.”

Pascaud adds: “About 76% of marketing leaders we interviewed say their organization has a defined purpose, but only 10% have a written statement backed by a meaningful activation plan.”

We encourage readers to click on the link above to MediaPost to read the full interview.