Objective: To Create Agencies for Good

Agencies are drivers of change. They influence peoples thinking and communications they drive agendas. 

There is a huge groundswell of agencies being purpose driven, becoming BCorp accredited and generally having fully sustainable agencies. It is taking around 18 months to get BCorp accredited which just shows the demand and the desire to be seen to be purpose led. 

Getting this accreditation is commendable, however there are many other agencies that are using their business for good. Contributing in some way to the community, having a view on saving energy, recycling and even becoming carbon neutral. Often these are not spoken about or publicised. Whether it needs to be is a whole other debate.

Here at Agency Local for example, we have been part of B1G1 since conception in 2019. We raise money for local charities, we respect the environment and question our travel, paper and energy usage. We are also committed to being CSR-A accredited this year. There is so much more we can be doing and I know that there are other agency owners that want to do more but don’t know how. 

Creating Agencies for Good

This is why this month’s Learning Focus is on this subject. We will be 

• equipping agencies with the understanding of what can be done, 
• helping them develop a sustainable strategy for their agency and 
• assisting them to make this part of how they run their agency moving forward. 

We are delighted that this will be led by Richard Collins the creator and founder of CSR-A – (https://csr-accreditation.co.uk/) who help businesses to navigate the sustainable landscape and provide an Accreditation to demonstrate their commitment to developing a sustainable business.

Richard is an Agency founder and owner so understands our world. We also have one BCorp accredited member Martin Knowles and some other purpose driven members ABA Me and You who I know will be joining in to show their support and share their wisdom.

Time to make change 

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is today.

Now is the time to look at your agency and work out exactly what you can do to make a difference. This is really for everyone – small agencies, remote agencies, more established agencies with larger teams. Everyone has a role to play and now is the time. 

​​In the recent Benchpress Report 24% of owners of agencies under £1m said that building a business that has a positive impact on the world was their top priority.

We will be discussing the topic in detail at the Inspiration Circle and Inspiration Clinic gatherings. However it will be more than discussion – our aim is that everyone will go a away with an actionable plan to being a more ethical agency.
Key takeaways will be

• Understand about the UN sustainable goals and increase your knowledge as to how you can use your agency for wider good
• Audit where you are now on your Business for Good Journey
• Understand the relationship between profit and purpose
• Build a Sustainability strategy for your agency
• Create an action plan to use your agency to make a real contribution

This is so valuable in the development of any agency I really wish that this was not only for Agency Local members. If you are a non member and want to join in let me know.

Here is to us – marketing and creative agencies – creating a better future by developing Agencies for Good.