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After a year-long process, we are proud to announce that in March 2023, the former advertising agency, now Impact Agency Fabrik, has become the fourth Finnish company to receive the B Corporation certificate, which indicates that the company operates responsibly.

It is a valued and hard-earned international accolade, the key to earning it is comprehensive and verifiable accountability. Our own experience shows that, at its best, sustainability is a journey that reshapes an entire business.

Why B Corp?

Years ago, we realised the importance of aspirational and meaningful storytelling for companies. But credible communication needs to be backed up by real action. We believed that there was a desire for change in business, but that uncertainty about the most impactful changes was slowing it down.

As a result of our active search, we were introduced to the B Corp certification and impressed: finally a credible community and international standards for sustainability development. Amidst the promises of sustainability, B Corp focuses on real impact and is therefore a reliable basis for corporate sustainability work.

In practice, obtaining the certificate requires answering around 200 questions, in which the entire business of the company is examined against the five pillars of sustainability and a certain score is sought. All answers must be verifiable with documentation.

It is estimated that the use of the tool and the associated increase in knowledge and understanding will give participating companies a 5-10 year head start over their competitors, as the process will develop their own business in the direction that the legislation will guide them in the future.

What does holistic responsibility mean?

Our own transformation process started just over a year ago when our ownership changed – Fabrik is now owned by four employees and we have the freedom to develop our company in the direction we want. Along the way, the name also changed, as the word ‘advertising agency’ no longer describes our business.

Today, we also help others to make the same journey and the necessary changes – so that sustainability is truly at the heart of business. Our own strategy is based on, and our own success is now measured against, B Corp’s five pillars of sustainability: environment, community, customers, employees and governance.

As a concrete example, we have a new environmental programme, customer impact indicators, a skills development plan, a pro bono programme and a cultural handbook. Above all, it is about managing sustainability in a long-term, planned and measurable way – not by hunches.

We are already helping three partner companies to meet the requirements for B Corp certification. We are also working on sustainability reports, materiality analyses, designing and implementing external and internal sustainability communication and developing a responsible employer culture. Sustainability development work will ultimately translate into communication and communication efforts. These are Fabrik’s core competences, so there is no need to change partners along the way.

What matters most?

The scale of accountability work is often challenging, but also inspiring for us. So many companies, especially in the SME sector, wrestle with sustainability issues, wondering what is essential or where to start. B Corp helps you focus on the essentials and on a truly impactful and profitable business. However, the certification itself is not the most important goal, but the professional approaches, metrics and tools that the whole process brings to support continuous improvement.

As the leader of B Corp, I believe we must be the change we seek in the world. At Fabrik, we work with the understanding that we are all interdependent and therefore responsible for each other and future generations. All business must be conducted in a way that does not cause unnecessary harm and that allows the results of our activities to be used for the common good in a variety of ways. B Corp is a good way to bring about this kind of change. It is also easier to communicate real change without fear of greenwashing.

More information: CEO Perttu Kouvalainen, perttu@fabrik.fi, phone: 040 057 0270

What links the pioneers of responsible business, such as Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s and Tony’s Chocolonely?

The answer is B Corp – but what does “good business, good people & good ethics” actually mean in terms of business development? And what can the B Corp movement, which is rapidly expanding into the Nordic countries, offer your organisation?

Watch the recording of the webinar held on Monday 20.3.2023 below.

Guests at the webinar:

Henrika Peltola, Danone’s corporate responsibility expert, who will give a first-hand and concrete account of how B Corp is a great tool for companies’ overall responsibility management.
Dieuwertje Damen, Managing Director of the Rainbow Collection in Amsterdam, talks about the B Corp movement, the reasons behind its rapid popularity and the benefits of the network.

Programme

14 Why Fabrik has chosen B Corp as a strategic tool and why Finnish companies should also be interested in it / Perttu Kouvalainen, Impact Agency Fabrik

14.15 Tool – the free B Impact Assessment (BIA) takes a holistic look at a company’s business / Henrika Peltola, Danone

14.30 Community – what B Corp’s growth is based on, what it offers and how it is already having an impact on the Central European business scene / Dieuwertje Damen, Rainbow Collection

14.45 Q&A – can my company get a certificate? Where to start? Who can help?

Watch the webinar:

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At the end of 2022, we conducted a sustainability survey for businesses and public sector organisations. The aim was to get as good an idea as possible of the current situation of companies on issues such as:  

– What sustainability issues are currently on the agenda of the organisations?

– What help or information do they need for decision-making in 2023?

– Where is sustainability information being obtained, how is the available information perceived and where is there a particular need for more information?

Background information

We sent the survey to a total of 50 companies. The following sectors responded to the questionnaire:

Specialist and consultancy services
Trade and commerce
Industry
Circular economy
Culture and arts 

In the survey, we divided sustainability into four areas – people, environment, society and customers. This is a familiar pattern from the B Corp certificate, which Fabrik and many other companies around the world use in sustainability projects. Read more about B Corp and sustainability certification on our website.

Business vs Public Sector

It was a pleasure to see how many organisations have already started working on sustainability. As many as 83% of respondents said that sustainability is at the heart of their business.

There were a few differences of emphasis in the responses on the topics. 91% of companies responded that environmental issues were in the pipeline, with the same figure for human resources-related sustainability issues. On the other hand, the emphasis on social issues is lower at 75%.

We also asked what issues are particularly on the agenda at the moment in the different areas. Below are highlights of the responses:

What is the need for information and where is it sought?

  When we asked what the need for sustainability information will be in 2023, the most popular responses were on sustainability reporting and the CSRD (Social Resbonsibilty Directive: Directive on the promotion of sustainability in management systems and its reporting). The need for ESG information also emerged clearly in the responses.

We also found it particularly interesting to ask where sustainability information is currently being sought. Here are the top 10 of the information search:

Webinars 83 %  
Events and seminars 83 %  
Blog articles 67 % 
News sites 67 % 
Training/workshops 67%
LinkedIn 50 % 
Literature 50 % 
Newsletters 33%
Podcasts 25 % 
Websites 17 % 

It was also clear from the survey that people already know how to find information from credible sources; 100% of respondents considered the information available to them to be reliable. However, there is still room for improvement in the clarity of information, with 73% of respondents finding the available information clear.

Survey take-aways

1) Take a holistic view of corporate responsibility – it is worth considering how this is currently implemented in your organisation.

2) There is understandably a lot of interest in sustainability reporting. Through EU legislation, regulation of larger companies will increase in the coming years, but consumer and stakeholder demand for holistic accountability and transparency is a theme that SMEs and organisations should already be responding to.

3) Aim for clarity in your own sustainability communication – it benefits everyone from consumers to employees

Thank you for your interest! If you are interested in hearing more about this topic in the future, please join our newsletter list. We will also keep you informed about upcoming sustainability events, such as our webinars.

Read this article in Finnish

Last year ended on a high note for our B Corp journey, with Fabrik co-founding B Local Helsinki and our own application for certification moving forward. Before I tell you what this year has in store, a few words about B Corp.

Why B Corp?

B Corp is a non-profit organisation whose holistic corporate responsibility tool is used by over 500,000 companies around the world. It is not limited to a single product or a specific part of the supply chain, but cuts across the whole business (management, employees, community, environment and customers).

It is strongly business-driven: to harness the power of business for good, as B Corp’s core belief is, businesses need to grow and thrive. In the midst of sustainability promises, B Corp focuses on real impact and is therefore a credible base for corporate sustainability work.

Finland as a top priority

This year, Finland is the number one priority for the European B Corp movement. This means that companies that join will have a particularly fast turnaround time for their certification and will be able to capitalise on this, both in terms of their own reputation and the wider visibility of the movement in the Nordic countries.

Why is this? Because B Corp is widely used in Central Europe and the aim is to create the same wave in the Nordic countries. There are currently 77 B Corp certified companies in the Nordic countries and around 50 companies in the process of certification. By 2023, the number of companies is expected to grow to over 200. Globally, there are more than 6,000 certified companies and expectations for growth are high.

B Local Helsinki – get involved!

It has been a privilege to get to know the existing B Corp companies in Finland. We are in different industries, but the attitude is the same. As in other cities around the world, we decided to create our own local community in Helsinki.

This year will bring at least the following:

• Awareness and visibility for the B Corp movement
• A lot of new Finnish potential companies
• B Local Helsinki meetings (open to all)
• A lot of new contacts and new people who want to get involved in B Corp activities (March is B Corp Month – you’ll hear more soon)
• Hopefully one big seminar at the end of the year

We’d be very happy to tell you more for anyone interested. Fabrik already has one B Leader and soon another, as in a few days I will also start a B Corp training sprint of about 3 months in Stockholm. Have a great and impressive year – for all of us!

Written by Jonna Ekroos, Fabrik’s Communications Strategist and Partner

Lukusuositus: Nille Skalts on corporate responsibility and the future of business – ”This is not sustainability, this is core business.”

Read more about B Corp and our services. 

Read this article in Finnish >

Dear business leaders and decision-makers,

congratulations on the past year, you survived despite the turbulence of the world. Now it’s time to take a break – and reflect on your future choices. Wouldn’t it be great if, at the turn of the year, you made a promise and choices that will carry you through the years and ensure the success of your business? Decide that your business is here to do more good than harm?

We are talking, of course, about the responsibility of your company. No, don’t skip this message because you think you are already responsible or because it’s everywhere.

The reason is this: as a strategy, sustainability is the safest – and at the moment, the most inspiring.

What is happening in other companies?

But don’t worry if you’re not far along in your career. The good news is that now is the right time. But the right time for what?

According to our November 2022 survey, there are a wide range of relevant items on the sustainability to-do list of Finnish companies (pictured below). So, sustainability is increasingly being looked at holistically – and now is the right time:

1. Launch your sustainability work (if it’s still in your desk drawer)

2. Invest in impact (if you don’t yet know what’s most relevant

Corporate responsibility work right now:

• Staff: well-being at work, responsible management, inclusion, code of ethics
• Environment: carbon footprint calculation, carbon neutrality targets, product development, circular economy
• Society: social impact, green transition, human rights
• Customers: customer education, promotion of circular economy, transparency of operations 
• Other issues: supply chain sustainability, communication development, stakeholder consultation

How to manage your impact – 5 point checklist

At the end of the day, it’s about developing your business and making sure that your business will be around for the future. When you understand the impact of your business, focus on developing the most relevant ones, and communicate that to employees and customers, you’ve chosen a very safe – but also inspiring – strategy.

1 Think holistically

• It’s worth thinking about sustainability in a broader context. For example, the international B Corp community and its certification look at sustainability from the perspectives of management, employees, community, environment and customers. This also opens up wider opportunities for influence.

2 Make strategic choices

• Sustainability in your core business matters most. That’s why it pays to look for direction in your organisation’s impact. What will give you the greatest positive impact – and what will give you the greatest competitive advantage?

3 Break it down into objectives and measures

• Within the broad picture, it is worth separating short- and long-term objectives and the measures and indicators based on them. A well-designed action plan will ensure that work is not just talk, but is at the heart of day-to-day activities.  

4 Track success

• Shared responsibility does not work here either. The action plan should clearly define responsibilities and where and how they will be shared. Sustainability reporting is already on the work list of many smaller companies, as it meets consumer expectations and can be used to verify promises made.

5 Communicate and engage throughout the process

• Sustainability is not visible on the surface, which is why communication matters. Take care of the ‘hygiene’ first, for example internal communication and building a credible foundation. To get a competitive edge from the work you do, you also need emotive content and to get people involved.

An inspiring example – how did Patagonia do it?

When people talk about responsible companies, the US outdoor brand Patagonia often comes to mind. Founded in 1973, the company has been committed to sustainability and nature values throughout its existence.

Indeed, Patagonia has been a pioneer in the outdoor industry as a whole. Its focus on sustainability is on the products themselves and their continuous development. At the same time, it has also extended its sustainability work strongly into social responsibility as part of the B Corp community and certification since 2011. Good work has been reflected in Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Diversity and Best Companies to Work For lists.

In addition to Patagonia, inspiring grassroots efforts include Ben & Jerry’s, Danone and the Body Shop – all part of the B Corp community, which has the advantage of a business mindset. B Corp certification aims to develop a company holistically: and to harness the power of business for good, in line with the B Corp philosophy, companies need to grow and thrive. Therefore, in addition to social and environmental impact, the magnifying glass is equally focused on financial performance.

Patagonia is therefore a shining example of how it is possible to make your own business thrive in the quest to make the world a fairer, more equitable and more sustainable place. The results are not just below the line, but also in the following: your customers love you, the best people want to work for your company, and partners and investors committed to sustainability want to join your organisation.

Thank you for your time and for reading our annual newsletter, we wish you good luck and success in 2023!

Yours sincerely, Perttu and Fabrik

Read more about B Corp and services. 

Read this article in Finnish >

In late June, I promised in my B as Benefit article (https://fabrik.fi/vaikuttavuusarviointi/) to keep you updated on how our B Corp journey is progressing. As I mentioned in the same article, there is plenty of pent-up demand for social change leaders. As for the official B Corp certification, we are still patiently waiting for our assessment report.

But we have not stood idly by. The comprehensive battery of questions in the B Impact Assessment tool (BIA), the backbone of the certification, brought to our tables a number of areas for development that we have been actively pursuing over the summer and autumn. Personally, over the last couple of months, I have been immersed in the world of B Corp and above all in the BIA assessment tool I mentioned above in the B Leader Intensive Coaching. However, the motivation for attending the first possible course in Copenhagen was not the fancy-sounding title, but our desire to help others benefit from the opportunities offered by B Corp. In the future, there will be more than one B Leader in Fabrik.

So what is it about B Corp that interests companies?

In short: business orientation. B Corp certification is about developing a company as a whole, rather than a single product or a specific part of a supply chain, for example. To use the power of business for good, in line with the B Corp philosophy, companies need to grow and prosper. That is why, in addition to social and environmental performance, the magnifying glass is equally focused on economic performance, and the scoring system used for certification provides a particular incentive to develop a business model with a positive impact.

In my own experience, companies are well aware of the need for change and the will to change is high. The challenge ahead is not knowing how. In the big picture, as with individual sustainability issues, it is important to first understand what is at stake and what is relevant to you. For that, B Corp offers a great tool in the form of the B Impact Assessment.

A concrete tool for sustainability assessment and management

The assessment tool, which adapts to the sector, the size of the company and the responses given, is based on five pillars (governance, people, customers, environment, community) that really challenge you to develop your own activities to a more sustainable level and open your eyes to issues that might otherwise be overlooked. BIA also works well in the transition to impact management and continuous improvement. It includes the opportunity to set your own targets, compare your own performance with other companies and pick up best practices for your own company.

Best of all, the tool is freely available to everyone and is completely free to use to assess, develop and manage the impact of your business – even if certification is not something you are interested in right now. Of course, the language is English and the terms are challenging to say the least, but it’s worth a look: https://bcorporation.eu/become-a-b-corp/b-impact-assessment/

Author Timo Kupiainen, Fabrik’s Impact Strategist & B Leader

Read this article in Finnish >

We live in a time where people expect responsibility, transparency and solutions to problems affecting society as a whole from organizations and companies.

The corona crisis, the war in Russia and the crisis of the coming winter have shown on a large scale that two years ago, the next crisis communication plans with channel selections can help the freedmen – if companies or organizations had them.

At the crisis communication training day, THL’s communications manager Marko Lähteenmäki talked about his 2.5 years of experience in handling the corona crisis. Lähteenmäki is still responsible for THL’s campaigns, social media and brand, and below is his advice.

Guidelines for good crisis communication

1. Responsible persons
Based on the crisis, you should choose a working group for the organization’s responsibility, which includes crisis managers, spokespersons for media cooperation and people needed for communication.

2. Resources
Initially, more resources are always needed – where is it possible to detach additional people or an additional jet to implement communication?

3. External partners and stakeholders
It is important to know and engage not the parties who take your side in the public debate and are also ready to share constantly.

4. Common basic messages
Make sure everyone is telling the same story. Sometimes in the middle of a crisis, informing your own personnel can get stuck, but it ensures everything else, the useless trash radio starts spinning and brings extra rounds with it.

5. There is no information vacuum
If you don’t dare say anything yourself, someone else will. Again, there may be extra rounds ahead, unless you tell your own message the way it should be told.

6. Be on the channels where your audience is
The press release and website are not used. Audiences are dispersed, and multi-channel must be taken into account, especially in cry communication.

Management of crisis communication

A quick summary of the speech is that the biggest risk is to do nothing.

The smallest thing is to prepare for a crisis as well as you can (effective communication will help you avoid crises in the future). When you find yourself in the middle of a crisis, you should remember that in addition to management and the situational picture, communication is always important. If you are inspired to research the topic further, I recommend you to read the book Exceptional Communication (ProCom), which you can find in electronic version here.

Writer of the article: Jonna Ekroos, Fabrik’s communication strategist

Our blog guest
Petri Vuorio
Director of Entrepreneurship and Business Policy at EK

Read this article in Finnish >

In the midst of the global crises, the expectation for comprehensive corporate responsibility has not disappeared, but the pressure for concrete actions, changes and positive impacts has increased. Sustainability is increasingly a strategic choice for companies to ensure success. In addition, a number of legislative projects are in the pipeline at EU level to drive forward sustainability requirements.

Research shows that Finnish companies are pioneers in sustainability – but actual success stories, with sustainability at the heart of their growth and success, are still relatively rare.

If you’re still wondering whether it’s worth investing in sustainability now, Petri Vuorio, Director of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, sums up the answer in our guest blog.

1. Finance
“Sustainability regulation and reporting requirements in both the financial and corporate sectors will become more stringent. Sustainability criteria will therefore have an increasing impact on the price and availability of corporate finance in the future.”

2. Supply chains
“More than 70% of Finnish exports are intermediate goods. Through domestic and international supply chains, the sustainability requirements imposed on even large companies will be reflected on all actors, including SMEs. Self-regulation and differentiation from competitors are moving from self-regulation to mandatory regulation through a number of legislative projects in the pipeline.”

3. Skilled labour
“As the top employer brand, sustainability is a key success factor in companies’ competition to recruit the best people. A responsible approach increases an organisation’s ability to attract and retain the productive and happy employees it needs. Sustainability is therefore a way of providing solutions to one of the most important bottlenecks to SME growth: the shortage of skilled labour.”

4. Brand equity
“As purchasing behaviour changes, people expect brands to be responsible and want their choices to contribute to a sustainable future.”

5. Market value
“The sum of the above factors, together with the potential for companies to succeed in the future, have a significant impact on the market value of a company, both in terms of sales and purchases. The above points underline the point: sustainability is an essential part of a company’s success story.”

Interested in more on this topic? How to make sustainability a sustainable competitive advantage for your brand – check out our impact branding product.

Read this article in Finnish >

Corporate responsibility is no longer just talk – it’s a business imperative

The transformation of global conditions and consumption is happening now. And the results speak for the fastest movers: among the challenges, they are identifying new opportunities. Sustainability is then a competitive advantage, and the business benefits are quickly reflected in the results.

So what is sustainability as a competitive advantage in practice?

Sustainability is a shared choice. Consumers, investors and business leaders are all aware of what they want.  The level of demand and, fortunately, the supply of products is changing, for big and small. Even market leadership will not go far if you do not keep pace with developments.

Responsibility is about reacting quickly. The market cannot wait for politicians to fine-tune future policy. Competitive advantage is achieved when a company sets its own milestones. If you simply follow existing recommendations, you will fall behind in performance and development.

Responsibility is the key to determining the value of companies. If a company is not in touch with the transparency and shared obligations of its own business, its value will inevitably fall. It is difficult to imagine that in five years’ time there will still be significant acquisitions without a thorough assessment of the impact of the activity.

Responsibility is the safest strategy. Since the only certainty is change, preparing for it will bring the fewest operational surprises. When you understand the impacts of your business, focus on developing the most relevant ones and communicate this to your customers, you have chosen a very safe strategy.

Read more about our Impact branding program – welcome to the forefront!

Kirjoittaja: Perttu Kouvalainen, Fabrikin Toimitusjohtaja & liiketoiminnan strategi