Here, Mkt. Communications, client services and strategy director Erin Roy and founder and director Skye Tipler ask what it means to be a business concerned with ESG and even B Corp certified now that the movement is decidedly mainstream. Does it matter? Why should it still matter? And what does it mean when businesses profess to be good and then get caught out.
We have been both observers and participating characters in the story arc of the B Corporation (B Corp) movement. From a time when B Corps queried and strategised questions like: How do we grow this movement? How do we make businesses see the common sense in marrying purpose and profit? And how do we make consumers care to seek out B Corp businesses?
To today, where the evolution of the movement has people wondering (and news headlines tackling) if it’s possible to maintain these standards while certifying big business with big impact – who should be allowed in and who needs to be kicked out? And even bigger questions like ‘Do these standards hold up?’
Back in the early days (2014) of the movement in Australia, we shared our hopefulness for a ‘new economy’ and our business ethics with a cosy cohort of like-minded small to medium businesses. We met, shared and elevated each other with stories of a new way of doing business and the hopes we all had for a future where our mission to use business as a force for good was a mainstay.
Since then, more and more founders, CEOs and executive teams have made compelling business cases for B Corp Certification to their Boards and Shareholders. Armed with myriad research and insights, they showed that consumers cared and could be swayed by ethics at checkout. They also demonstrated that businesses investing in community and better governance could attract and retain star employees while turning a profit with new workplace norms.
In 2024, as we drive behind buses with the B Corp logo, see it on billboards and shop at grocery stores with ‘B Corp sections’, there is no denying that those early questions have been answered. Businesses that were once unaware, quiet or sceptical onlookers may now recognise it makes economic (not just ethical) sense to marry purpose and profit.
However, with this growth comes a natural tension – around both the companies that certify and around the certification itself. This tension is clear with the scrutiny evidenced when large companies are certified, with a reverberating sentiment of: ‘How do the big, bad guys authentically earn this certification?’ And now, as greenwashing accusations and other certifications become conflated ‘What is this certification even for, and is it really going to move the needle?’
But, whilst this might be seen as an uncomfortable moment for the movement, we see it as the beautiful tension we need. It is an obvious inflection point and it’s exactly where it needs to be.
With the growth of B Corps and for-purpose businesses, we’re seeing the dispelling of an old narrative; the narrative that our economy can be driven by endless growth, that it can be extractive and ruthless with business motivated by profit alone. And, as we let go of this old narrative, we must embrace a new one. But are we ready? Have we co-written the plot?
As we sit in this awkward yet beautiful space between stories; where the old stories are crumbling and only glimpses of a new narrative emerge (conjuring scenes from The Neverending Story when The Nothing starts to encroach on Fantasia), we must start to consider how we shape this new narrative? Who are the main characters? *Hint* It’s definitely not business alone. What is the hero’s journey? What is the climax we’re working toward? Are the protagonists’ motives clear, are they evolving and relatable?
As these new questions unfold, we have no doubt that more will lose their certification, just like Havas or Brewdog in the UK have. Some may choose to walk away, not recertify or even publicly take a position against certifying, despite their ‘best ESG’ efforts, if they disagree with the movement’s direction or the role of big business in the story.
But one thing we know to be true is that when things start to be challenged and people start to poke harder from all sides, this is the moment of real progress. Growth through discomfort – businesses are not immune to the same pathways as individuals. After all, aren’t businesses just collectives of individuals united by a common set of goals and maybe values?
So, the invitation? It all started with Once Upon A Time, a movement that sought to offer businesses an upgraded code of ethics and a vision to change the trajectory of our economic systems through a new way of operating: interdependence. Where are we now? What chapter are we in? How will the story end? We’re unsure. But we invite you to sit with us in the discomfort of this tension, it’s really quite beautiful here.
We choose to continue to navigate this time as a B Corp (soon to recertify for the fourth time) to be challenged in our processes and policies and inspired in our decision-making as a business.
As storytellers, we’ll work with brands and businesses to create meaningful differences in their organisations, shape narratives that have a positive impact, and gently but firmly poke at old systems and attitudes to drive change.
This is a time to put our heads together and co-create our way out of this beautiful but temporary tension and into a new world with a new story. Once upon a time…
