When Mangrove gained B Corp certification in September 2022, a few of us mentioned it proudly to friends & family and were surprised when the news was largely met by blank faces. We wonder if this were repeated today – the first day of B Corp month – whether the reaction would be any different?
Beyond sustainability professionals and employees of B Corp certified companies, it feels like the movement has only engaged a relatively small consumer cohort of Guardian-reading oat latte drinkers – confirmed by a recent social media listening study. This is a shame, because there’s much to admire about B Corp’s aim to transform the Global economy – more here.
In order for B Corp to reach a tipping point and accelerate its impact, it feels like there are 3 lessons to be learned from other ‘assurance marks’ such as Red Tractor – the UK’s largest food and farm standards scheme.
Get famous – driving awareness is key to going mainstream. B Corp still feels like a word of mouth discovery for most ordinary folk. Red Tractor on the other hand spend 50% of their budget on consumer marketing.
Be interesting – there are lots of mainly small brands within the B Corp movement all with interesting people behind them and engaging stories to tell. Who knew?? Telling stories is what Red Tractor does well – giving an insight into the farmers or producers behind the labels in order to bring a human face to the Red Tractor story.
Be accessible – the more mainstream brands joining the B Corp movement the better and the bigger the impact on people and planet. If it remains the preserve of niche premium brands it will never reach that critical tipping point. It may have taken Red Tractor 20+ years, but a third of UK farmers are members and the logo can be found on £14billion of food drink products.
So keep an eye out over the next month for B Corp bunting in your local Whole Foods, and more importantly, see if it hits the radar of any ordinary folk that you may know!
