BUILDING A NEW ECONOMY at the 2019 B Corp Summit

This September, the BR-ND team joined the 2019 B Corp Summit in Amsterdam to connect, share, learn and find inspiration around building a new economy. The event brought together Certified B Corps, business leaders, change-makers, and companies from Europe and beyond, committed to using business as a force for good. Together, we delved into the challenges of our times, discovered business opportunities to do good, and strengthened the global movement for positive change.

What BR-ND brought to the B Corp Summit

Alexander Koene, Kim Cramer, Kiki Hartmann, Alice Muurlink, and Kim van der Brugge brought BR-ND’s tools to share the role of Emotive Branding through the two-day program. What we expected was to provide a table where fellow B Corp leaders could explore 23plusone in person. Surely, this was an engaging meeting for all, and we had worthwhile exchanges with like-minded leaders around the impact of Emotive Branding. 

What we had not prepared for was a winning vote. The B Corp Summit dedicated one block of the program to be collectively developed at the event. Every participant was invited to put forward ideas for this block, to use it to further explore meaningful content. Our team knew exactly what we could offer: “Emotive Branding: how to activate the B Corp spirit within the organisation”. Five minutes before the open block began, we heard the results that our workshop had won the most votes.

Kim and Alexander quickly improvised a workshop for 80 participants using the 23plusone cards to explore how an organisation can fully meet its B Corp commitments by creating a culture around its purpose. 

What BR-ND took away from the B Corp Summit

The biggest surprise at the B Corp Summit was what we would take away—that we would leave the Summit with a new excitement around adopting activist identities ourselves. 

It began with the plenary presentation by Jay Coen Gilbert, B Lab Co-Founder, who ignited a sense of urgency around changing the system. Never before at a B Corp event was it so clear that change is needed. It’s no longer enough to do good within the existing system. Now, B Corps have to mobilise to push for change to the system. He explained that, as a result of that, B Lab began working with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Jay also announced that, to the positive surprise of B Lab, B Corps have recently received serious interest from big corporations. To date, it had been smaller companies and organisations that were motivated to pursue a more meaningful path through our capitalist landscape. Yet recently, big stock-listed companies (e.g. Coca-Cola, Unilever) have turned to B Corp Certification as a possible path forward for their own brands. Of course, this is very positive news; more companies adopting a more sustainable ethos means a better world for all. Yet it also serves as a marker of a critical shift in our work. If the B Corp movement is so big as to attract larger corporations, then it is now time to turn up the volume on our activism.  

What’s next for BR-ND as a Certified B Corp

The BR-ND team examined what this activism might mean for our own practice. We are a small group with an office in Amsterdam, with over 50 licensed Friends in The Netherlands and abroad. What’s next? What are we able to change in the world, and how will we achieve it?

By going beyond purpose. We already offer programs to introduce and maximise the impact of Emotive Branding for our client organisations. We already help them define their purpose. Now, we’re set to create a new initiative to maximise their impact. To activate their purpose in a way that it contributes to the challenges our world faces. There is not yet an established methodology outlining a systematic approach for that. So, we build it.

As we learned at the Summit, the United Nations’ 17 SDGs are the perfect starting-point for dialogue on one’s action and purpose. In the weeks following the Summit, BR-ND has begun establishing a framework around the SDGs and, together with a client, developing a prototype module that will measure how we can approach our own actions as activists. 

Indeed, it is time for action. It’s time to unleash your purpose.