Do businesses really need social purpose? Look around

Artists walking out of tours. Calls for an AI slowdown. A summer of droughts. Those questioning the need to engage in issues of purpose should look around, writes our director Patrick Steen.

I’m celebrating four years at Purpose Union. And I’d argue that the work we do with our clients today is more vital now than it ever was.

There might have been political headwinds moving against diversity and climate action over the past few years. But the death knell on corporate purpose is exaggerated.

News cycles show that it’s more important than ever for organisations to find clarity about what they stand for. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because ignoring this would risk their own future.

The point isn’t that every business needs a position on every issue. It’s that they increasingly operate in a world where social and environmental questions are being asked more openly. As can be seen by the following stories.

Pop culture speaks out

Earlier this year, I wrote about the growing cultural pushback against the retreat from speaking out on social issues, with a growing number of artists and athletes using their platforms to speak out. Lewis Iwu also predicted in 2025 that pop culture would become a more visible arena for social and environmental debates.

This is no more obvious this week, with Macklemore being removed from Ed Sheeran’s US tour after making ‘free Palestinian’ comments onstage. Every other supporting artist has now pulled themselves from the tour. That is a pretty striking example of how questions about values can suddenly move from culture into commercial decisions. Businesses shouldn’t think that these questions won’t reach them too.

Ethical AI reaches the mainstream

The sprint in AI development has now hit the reality of ethical questions from those who are developing the tools themselves. Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic with warnings about the risks of the race to develop increasingly powerful AI, having previously put a percentage estimate on AI causing human extinction. 

Dario Amodei, the head of Anthropic, followed with a call for AI development to slow down so that safety measures have time to catch up. Others have followed suit.

All companies will need to seriously confront these questions as they implement AI into their work. I’ve written more about this in my latest article on the AI slowdown.

A summer of climate whiplash

Hottest. Driest. Wild fires. All words that could reasonably describe the summer we’ve had. Summer 2026 was the UK’s hottest on record. England and Wales had their driest July on record, while southern England had its driest month of any kind in records going back to 1836.

Then there have been wildfires across Europe and the UK, with my New Forest home facing over a 100 acres decimated. At the other extreme, flash floods in Nepal have devastated communities.

Extreme weather is a clear sign of a changing climate. But again, businesses taking action on this is about more than doing the right thing for the future of our planet. Extreme weather also affects infrastructure, supply chains, and the products they sell. It’s why ‘resilience’ was such a resounding topic at London Climate Action Week, as written about by Barry Johnston, because we’re seeing the effects of a changing climate now.

Brands taking stands on social media

There are not many companies that can run purpose-led campaigns that have little direct connection to their product. Ben & Jerry’s is one. Lush is another, building on its decision to pull out of major social media channels with its Safer Socials campaign.

This is an issue that I strongly relate to after spending two decades building digital communities across owned websites and social media channels, including a consumer forum for Which?.

Many forums and owned communities have been replaced by Facebook and other social channels. But with that shift also went much of the ability of brands to control the environment in which their communities are formed. We’ve seen how risky that can be with the changed ownership of X (nee Twitter). And if my own Facebook feed is anything to go by, brands might soon be asking the same questions about their presence on this platform too.

Lush’s campaign is focused on building safer spaces online and supporting organisations working to change how social media operates. To me, that is the definition of backing up your principles with action, and it provides them with a meaningful brand building story that is more interesting than simply sweet smelling soap.

Corporate purpose is about power

Corporate purpose may have become associated with strong statements and companies telling us how much they cared. But purpose at its most useful is much more fundamental. It’s about understanding the power a business has, the consequences of how it uses that power, and what should guide it when there is a genuine position to take.

Because businesses do not sit outside society. In fact they have the power to shape it. And the more influence they have over the world around them, the less credible it becomes to argue that their social role is optional.