421 Charlie Syme: Marketing for Good and Building Brands That Actually Matter

About this episode

Charlie Syme discusses the intersection of marketing, creativity, and social impact, advocating for purpose-driven marketing.

My guest this week is Charlie Syme — a marketing strategist, founder of Pigface Marketing, and chair of the Common Ground Project, working at the intersection of marketing, creativity, and social impact. Charlie’s work is grounded in a simple but powerful idea: marketing should be a force for good. Through Pigface Marketing, they partner with purpose-driven organisations, B Corps, and social enterprises to help them connect with the right audiences through authentic storytelling and clear strategy. Charlie is also deeply involved in the Common Ground Project — a regenerative farming social enterprise that grows, cooks, and shares food while creating pathways into hospitality for migrant women and building connection within the community. In this episode of Humans of Purpose, we explore what marketing looks like when it’s driven by purpose rather than growth for growth’s sake. Charlie challenges the idea of perpetual growth and instead advocates for finding your audience, building relationships, and using storytelling as a genuine tool for connection. We also discuss: why authenticity and conviction are essential in a content-saturated world how leaders can build trust and cut…

People in this episode

Guest: Charlie Syme

Topics covered

• marketing for good
• social impact
• authentic storytelling
• B Corps
• stakeholder primacy
• community building

Keywords

• purpose-driven organizations
• regenerative farming
• hospitality pathways
• trust building
• thought leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Pigface Marketing, Common Ground Project

Books & works: Growing Your Business and Impact

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