B Corp Month: Certified B Corp Meaning, Ethics, and Marketing
March is B Corp Month, and 2021’s B Corp Month theme is Better Business. A certified B Corp must prove that they use the power of business to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. They meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
How MagicLinks Lives Into Our B Corp Status: It’s In the Way That We Move
Long before MagicLinks applied to be a certified B Corp, sustainability and diversity were at the core of the Magic 9ine Commandments. Regardless of our B Corp status, diversity means that different views and experiences are just as important as those we already hold. We, then, take radical ownership of the things we affect, both as people and as a company.
Because we all have inherited ways of doing things which may be destructive or biased, change is innately difficult. The world, however, isn’t waiting for us to be ready to change. Everyone deserves a seat at the table, so, we’re building a longer table – not a higher fence.
MagicLinks committed to the following B corp level diversity measures in 2020 (but we’re not done yet):
- Ensuring every brand campaign has a minimum of 30% BIPOC creators casted.
- Revamped recruitment & hiring practices to attract a wider range of ethnicities, genders, religions, and orientations.
- Our work environment should be one that challenges and changes our world view.
- Matching, dollar for dollar, employee donations to charities.
- Recruiting more Asian, Hispanic, and disabled influencers to our network.
- Targeting BIPOC-owned businesses for new campaigns.
- Instituted Tea Time, an Instagram Live series focused on BIPOC creators, brands, and advocates.
MagicLinks’ sustainability initiatives include:
- The Responsible Impact podcast, where we interview scientists, designers, and business leaders who are changing the world for the better.
- A series of in-depth Responsible Impact blog posts about hot-button issues such as Zero Impact and air pollution.
- Our Venice, CA headquarters was recently remodeled according to high sustainability standards, including compost & recycling areas in the kitchen, reclaimed materials, an in-line water filter to reduce plastic waste, and more.
- Sustainability Ratings for each of our 3,500+ brand partners. These ratings encourage eco-minded influencers to promote brands that share their values. It’s also so that we can work with our brand partners to guide them towards more sustainable business models.
- Donating 1% of our profits to 1% For the Planet.
How to Market B Corp Status: Papa, Don’t Preach
No one likes being told they’re wrong. It’s just the way our brains are wired. Therefore, when companies that are B Corps market their B Corp status, we focus on the positives. B Corps are for better business: Better wages, better ethics, better integrity, better ecological impact.
We focus on the good our choices make, and lead by example. When doing good is our standard, being good becomes a prerequisite for doing business with us. Marketing certified B Corp status is as simple as living it, each and every day, in every interaction with employees, brand partners, and influencers.
Goodness is its own reward, and we’re aiming for progress – not perfection.
But… What About Greenwashing?
Part of the B Corp certification process means opening your company’s full books to B Corp. From P&Ls to utility bills, it’s all submitted to certified B Corp analysts who are pros at detecting greenwashing.
What’s greenwashing? When a company falsely conveys information or impressions of how their products or practices are environmentally sound. It’s like covering up a tattoo with makeup – eventually, the glamour wears off and the reality shows.
Greenwashing is frequently used to attract consumers with false claims of organic, non-GMO, sustainably produced products and services. Thousands of products labeled “green” are anything but, and consumers are catching on. Social listening has brands realizing that consumers want true commitments to sustainable practices from the brands they purchase from.
Key Takeaways
In other words? You can’t afford NOT to live into change. We encourage our fellow businesses to join us on the journey to living B Corp values, even if you have no plans to apply for B Corp certification.
