JiaJia Smith on when purpose meets design episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 24, 2026 · 19 MIN

JiaJia Smith on when purpose meets design

from The MarketingKind podcast · host MarketingKind

​"Most purpose-driven brands make the same mistakes. They lead with themselves. It's what they believe, what they want to see, and what they stand for. It feels internal or inward facing. And they forgot this one thing that changes everything, which is 'what does the audience feel?'."In this episode ​Anna Mullenneaux and Paul Skinner, co-founders of MarketingKind explore with Jiajia Smith​, brand design expert​, what happens when purpose meets good design. ​This edit shares JiaJia's introduction to the session and part of the group discussion, but most of the discussion, where we all shared our own examples of good design and explored why they work​,​ was for live participants only.JiaJia kicks off the conversation by exploring the definition of design and saying:Purpose fails when it just stays internal.We need a process for how your purpose can connect hard with your audience.Purpose gives us direction.Then design translates that purpose into something the people can actually experience. Something they can see, touch, smell, move through.When people experience something well crafted, they feel it.That feeling, whatever it is whether it is connection, trust, inspiration, belonging, is what shifts behaviour.And that is how brands use good design to create change.​JiaJia shares visual design examples from:​- Black Lives Matter​- This Girl Can​- Extinction Rebellion- And the Fearless Girl, a bronze sculpture by Kristen Visbal facing the iconic Charging Bull in Manhattan’s Financial District.​We also discuss design elements from the websites of:​- Greenpeace​- Charity Water​- WWF​- And Patagonia​.​​And we explore how design helps brands build trust, clarity, emotional resonance and memorability.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 24, 2026

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