The Road to Hell: How purposeful business leads to bad marketing and a worse world And how human creativity is the way out

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, says the proverb. Never has that been truer than in the case of corporate purpose, the movement that took over the business and advertising world following the financial crisis of 2008. Guided by the mantra 'do well by doing good', businesses embraced a social purpose agenda that sought to align doing good for society with doing well in the marketplace. The result, according to author Nick Asbury, has been a wave of humourless and hubristic advertising, and a spiral of worse social outcomes, as businesses wade into issues beyond their remit, while neglecting their real ethical responsibilities. Diving into examples including Bud Light, Patagonia, Cadbury and Unilever, Nick Asbury builds a compelling case against purpose - covering what it is, where it came from, how it leads to worse marketing, and how it leads to worse social outcomes. As a positive alternative, he makes the case for creativity, cognitive empathy and valuing the human over the corporate. Amid the fierce and topical debate about purpose and corporate politics, The Road to Hell is a sharp and entertaining intervention, shedding light on how we got here - and where we go next.

Table of Contents:
Prologue;Introduction; 1. What is purpose?,Five pillars of purpose,Two kinds of purpose; 2. Where did purpose come from? Japan to Jerusalem, God and profit, Proto-purpose, Not-so-limited companies,Stakeholders and shareholder,The road to 2008, Rise of the p-word,The story of why,Hard, clean numbers ,The purpose decade;3. How purpose leads to bad marketing,Purpose leads to sameness, not difference,Purpose misunderstands how marketing works Purpose misunderstands people-especially young people,Purpose builds on a weak foundation,Purpose centres the brand, not the customer Purpose might work internally. But in whose interest?,Purposeful marketing is neither; 5. How purpose leads to a worse world Purpose leads to bad marketing Purpose is a pollutant,Purpose fuels social division,Purpose is tone deaf at social change,Purpose leads to noble cause corruption,Purpose undermines the public and not-for-profit sectors,Purpose is parasitical on creativity,Purpose distracts from climate action,Purpose is the trader in the temple; 5.What's the alternative? Patagonia goes purpose Newman goes human,The road away from hubris Humour is serious business Humility beats hubris,Humanity, unlimited,Turning the telescope around,Rediscovering cognitive empathy Reclaiming creativity; Epilogue

About the Author :
Nick Asbury has worked on the front line of branding, strategy and creativity for 25 years. He has been described in Creative Review as 'the designer's writer', won multiple industry awards in the area of writing for design, and is featured in The Copy Book: How some of the world's best advertising writers write their advertising (Taschen). As a commentator and creative writer, Nick has written for Creative Review, Design Week and The Guardian and been profiled in the New York Times, Irish Times and Sydney Morning Herald. He co-authored the latest edition of A Smile in the Mind: Witty thinking in graphic design (Phaidon). Other works include the humorous journal Perpetual Disappointments Diary (Pan Macmillan) and three-year poetry project Realtime Notes, described by critic John Self as 'the best chronicle of the 21st century'. Since writing about purpose for Creative Review in 2017, Nick has been an outspoken commentator on the ethics and politics of advertising, mainly through his Substack at nickasbury.substack.com