What you need to know:

• Nature is now Bcorp accredited, scoring 92 points after a two-year process to prove its ESG credentials.
• Partners Chris Crook and Justin Connally said the firm was already walking the talk in terms of social and environmental commitments, but decided to prove its approach via certification.
• They think ESG credentials will become more prominent in marketing services procurement decisions – and have already asked specifically whether they are Bcorp certified within RFIs.

Nature has become the first market research agency to land Bcorp certification in Australia and New Zealand. While a Bcorp score of 92 validates the company’s approach to business ethics and corporate citizenship, the firm thinks audited ESG credentials will soon become table stakes in winning and retaining business.

Achieving Bcorp status – whereby global non-profit network B Lab assesses companies on their approach to people, community and the environment – has taken two years of measuring, managing and process/policy documentation.

While Nature had to invest in building controls around lighting and heating/cooling to reduce environmental footprint at its offices, Partner Justin Connally said the firm was otherwise largely “walking the walk”, with commitments to DE&I, staff development and progression while engaging in community and pro-bono work, “so why not formalise it?”

“As a business we were living it anyway. We do a lot of pro-bono work and have always been highly conscious of clients we chose to work with. Over the years we have refused many requests from tobacco companies,” said Connally.

Both upstream and downstream clients and suppliers have an impact on Bcorp scores. Certification does not preclude working with anyone, but certain sectors have a greater bearing on whether a company achieves accreditation.

Nature does work with alcohol companies such as CUB. But drinks businesses “are on a journey”, said Partner and founder Chris Crook. He pointed to active efforts by drinks businesses to reduce packaging and environmental impact while ramping up investment in no and low alcohol brands.

Likewise other businesses operate in “grey areas” – such as mining companies and fossil fuel firms. But the two point out that some of those with heavy environmental footprints are also making major investments in renewables and committing to long-term decarbonisation while keeping economic lights on and wheels turning.

Table stakes

Nature also works with the likes of Wesfarmers, NAB, Telstra, Samsung, Toyota, Coles, Bega, Bulla and Fonterra. Crook and Connally think ESG will become table stakes, with brands already seeking out accredited supply chain partners.

“When it comes to procurement of marketing research services – or anything adjacent to that – you would have to think that quite a few client organisations are going to take into account not just substantive part of proposals and what they cost, but also other aspects of the company’s credentials as well,” said Crook.

Connally said that shift is already underway.

“Last week, we had a client procurement request that directly asked whether we are Bcorp certified. That is the first time I’ve seen it … but I think we can reasonably expect that, as with things like data security, modern slavery… Bcorp will become the standard for that.”

Which is why robust third party accreditation is crucial.

Walk walk

“We feel great about how hard it was to achieve certification in terms of the process rigour,” said Connally. “You can’t just turn up and say ‘we’ve got great community, people and environmental policies’ and expect to be accredited. It is incredibly robust, which gives us faith that what we are doing is right and that only appropriate organisations will be certified.”

Hence their advice for firms considering Bcorp accreditation is simple: walk the walk.

“Be it before you try and get it,” said Connally. “Because that's genuine and authentic. But also it will also be easier to get the certification doing it that way around, as opposed to backfilling and gap filling.”

Equally, he urged brands to formalise and document the small things that they do as good corporate citizens “because all of those small things add up to positive impact”.

Talent, marketing

While Nature is not yet using its Bcorp status as an overt recruitment tool, Crook and Connally think accreditation will help attract and retain talent in an increasingly competitive market – and both underlined the role staff had played in driving the process, which is continual.

“People want to come to work, do good – and keep doing better,” said Crook. “Our people were instrumental.”

The firm is midway through a brand repositioning and will use Bcorp status within its communications, though not as a central aspect. Bcorp accreditation, however, is starting to become more visible in consumer marketing strategies. Nestle-owned Nespresso achieved Bcorp certification in April and now features the Bcorp logo on its latest out of home ads – heroing a QR code that tells consumers the nearest location for pod recycling.

Which underlines that the market is starting to move.

“I don’t think we’ll be having the ‘what’s a Bcorp’ conversation in two years time,” said Crook.