According to a report from the Capgemini Research Institute, “A significant majority of consumers (79%) are changing purchase preferences based on sustainability.”
For over twenty years, MAYO has worked to understand customers in order to create marketing programs that build our clients’ businesses. For the last five years, our passion for using business as a force for good has grown. Inspired by the growing number of consumers demanding more of companies when it comes to environmental and social responsibility, we decided to join them.
In this blog series, we’ll share our successes and failures in balancing the needs of our business and the planet – including insights from our journey to achieve BCorp certification. But first, what’s a BCorp?
Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
Patagonia, Athleta and Etsy are just a few of the 4,000+ Certified B Corps who’ve made the ultimate commitment to use business as a force for good. Today there are a growing number of small companies like MAYO joining the movement to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
In that spirit, let’s get started with our first tip:
When it comes to sustainability and social responsibility there’s no such thing as
confidential information.
When we began the B Corp Certification process, one of the biggest surprises was the generosity of like-minded companies and their willingness to share. Although the business world is highly competitive, when it comes to this topic, typical rules don’t apply. We’ve had calls with leaders from Tom’s of Maine, Androscoggin Bank and Allagash Brewing who gave freely of both their time and insights to help start our journey.
We also learned there are a significant number of consumers not aware of the BCorp designation. This prompted us to commit to improving awareness about the importance and impact of BCorps and purchasing from environmental and socially responsible companies.
Although the government and nonprofits are working to solve society’s most challenging problems, they need businesses to help. And, with the growing number of consumers demanding that brands get involved, the time is now to make business a force for good!
