#10—Making Purpose a Strategic Advantage

Mar 11, 2025

Claudio Ludovisi, strategy and marketing academic and former Disney ABC strategy lead. David Zapata, corporate strategy leader in Latin American banking who built Bancolombia’s purpose. They explore making purpose a real strategic lever. Conversations cover how purpose should drive decisions, create competitive advantage, personalize via AI, and be measured with simple KPIs.

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INSIGHT

Purpose Is The Employee Why

Purpose should answer why employees wake up and feel proud to go to work.
David Zapata used the test: what would an employee tell family when asked what they do, not just transactional tasks.

INSIGHT

Perceived Purpose Drives Trust And Data Access

Perceived purpose has three external components: inspiration, contribution to the world, and authenticity.
Claudio Ludovisi's research links high perceived purpose to customer engagement, trust, and willingness to share personal data for personalization.

INSIGHT

AI Scales Personalized Purpose

AI enables scalable personalization of purpose, increasing relevance across customer life stages.
Claudio points to use cases where AI tailors purpose messaging for students, retirees, or new parents to boost engagement efficiently.

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Welcome to another episode of The Chief Strategy Officer Podcast! Today, we’re tackling a topic that sits at the heart of every successful organization: purpose.

For years, the question of what purpose an organization should hold has typically sat outside the auspices of the strategy office. It was the remit of the CEO or board, maybe corporate communications or the HR. But it is increasingly becoming a central strategic lever, especially as the success of strategy depends on activating ecosystem partners, employees, communities … and it is one we need to better understand.

How can companies define a purpose that isn’t just a slogan but a real driver of strategic decisions? How does purpose impact employee motivation, customer engagement, and long-term competitive advantage? And most importantly, how can CSOs play a role in shaping and embedding purpose in a way that creates measurable business impact?

To explore these questions, we’re joined by David Zapata, Corporate Head of Strategy at Grupo Bancolombia, and Claudia Ludovisi, former head of strategy at Disney ABC, assistant Dean of Marketing and Strategy at Pepperdine Business School, who has done interest research into the role of purpose in strategy. Together, they share firsthand experiences and research-driven insights on how organizations can make purpose actionable, sustainable, and truly transformative.

In this episode, we explore:

Why purpose isn’t just about branding—it should drive real business decisions.
The biggest mistake companies make when defining their purpose.
How to measure whether purpose is actually working inside your organization.
The evolving role of AI in shaping personalized and scalable purpose-driven strategies.
Insights and a step-by-step approach for crafting a purpose that aligns with strategy and capabilities for your organization.

Whether you’re refining your company’s purpose or just starting to explore its role in strategy, this episode is packed with insights to help you take a more structured and impactful approach.

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Learn more about Outthinker's community of chief strategy officers - https://outthinker.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/outthinker-networks