LONDON — Three former directors of Finsbury and the Malala Fund have launched a specialist agency dedicated to helping brands and organisations communicate around social purpose.

The founders of Purpose Union are Daniela Flores, a former managing director at Finsbury; Lewis Iwu, a former director at Finsbury who has also worked at Brunswick and NGO the Fair Education Alliance; and Barry Johnston, who was the director of advocacy at international girls’ education non-profit, the Malala Fund and had the same role at Action Aid.

Purpose Union will offer clients services in four areas: social purpose; campaigns; social advocacy; and “Taking a Stand".

Flores told the Holmes Report: “We were working on social impact at Finsbury, and a lot of other big agencies are also doing a fantastic job around purpose, but we will be a niche agency bringing all our experience in the public sector, the private sector and the social and political sector to focus 100% on purpose. We don’t see it as a fad; for us, it’s a real structural shift in the world.”

The agency will help organisations to define their social purpose; build and deliver strategic campaigns around new or existing social purpose narratives; support leaders and spokespeople to communicate as a purposeful company; and advise on taking a public position on social issues.

The rationale for the business, according to the trio, is that “organisations across the public, private and social sectors becoming increasingly interlinked. We would like to work with companies to navigate this journey by bringing purpose to the core of their business, helping them to engage authentically with stakeholders, and reinforcing the idea that financial success can, and should, be aligned with a positive social impact.”

The team is currently made up of the three founders and a network of partners who will be brought in according to client need, including strategists, campaigners, pollsters, media consultants, digital specialists, creatives and marketers.