In May 2022, the number of B Corp-certified companies around the world officially reached 5,000 with the total number of B Corps in the UK set to reach 1000 this year. While that remains a relatively small figure in the grand scheme of things, it is gaining traction. But why has it taken 15 years for the certificate to really make an impact? And more to the point, what actually is a B Corp?
What’s a B Corp, anyway?
The B Corp certificate was introduced in 2007 as a means of creating a more sustainable and diverse working world with a greater focus on employee wellbeing. Being a B Corp is effectively a badge of honour, particularly for creative agencies. It sets your company apart as a genuinely forward-thinking, inclusive, and sustainable enterprise that’s adding real tangible value to the world.
Run by international network B Lab, the certification is awarded to for-profit businesses that are meeting “high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.” Getting certified is also far from an overnight process.
Companies must take the B Impact Assessment (BIA) – a points-based test which scores a company for its work in issues like supply chains, carbon emissions and diversity initiatives. There are around 200 questions and most fail the first time. But it’s easy to simply “try again.” So, could applying for certification in and of itself be beneficial for agencies?
The journey or the destination?
For design agency Nice and Serious, the B Corp application process was eye-opening. While 80 points were required to pass, it first scored 50/100. But the agency admits the process revealed lots of blind spots they were able to address. Ultimately, they saw the difficulty of the process as a good thing as it forced them to engage so many different perspectives on how the business could be having a more positive impact.
In theory, it’s a useful measuring stick for filtering out agencies that are genuinely committed to positive change from the ones that are simply paying lip service. You must re-apply every three years too, so it’s impossible to become complacent if you want to keep that shiny badge of honour. With many agencies still seeing the practice of “doing good” as a box to tick, applying for B Corp status means they must see it as a more holistic thing that applies to all elements of the business.
Teaching an old dog new tricks
Of course, becoming B Corp certified is always going to be easier for relatively young agencies that have only come of age in recent years and began with the best intentions. B Corp is going to be a much more attractive – and easier – prospect for them than more established studios that might have spent years or even decades cultivating bad habits. It’s easier to redecorate than to tear everything back to the foundations and start from scratch, after all.
But for the right agencies, it could be a great way to carve a niche. For the legacy agencies, meanwhile, it could at very least encourage them to do even more things to change the way they work.
