How we made the most of B Corp month 2024 (and what we’d do differently next time)
Our speakers sharing their insights into becoming B Corp brands in the North West.
B Corp Month -from little ideas grows big impact.
March 2024 was our first B Corp month as a certified B Corp. Unsurprisingly, we decided to dive in head first with a couple of little ideas, with the help of over 30 B Corp brands we’d never previously met!
On reflection, it’s safe to say our experience this month has epitomised everything that B Corp stands for; community, collaboration, support and growth. And we’re eternally grateful to everyone who stepped up and said yes when we asked them if they’d like to help us turn our ideas into reality.
unwrapping some of the most frequently asked B Corp questions.
The first big idea arrived back at the beginning of January, when our founder Katie asked the simple question:
"What if we invited people from B Corp brands to answer some of the most frequently asked B Corp questions?”
A quick google search later and we had a list of 25 questions, a name for the series and all the skills, technology and enthusiasm we needed to begin.
“I suppose that’s the beauty of being a relatively small creative business, in that when we believe in something there’s often very little that gets in the way of us making it happen.” (Katie Nuttall, Chief Dreamer)
keeping everything as simple as possible
We recognised it was key to simplify - and automate - as much of the booking and recording as possible. By setting up an automated invitation and calendar booking system (thanks to google forms and calendly), all we needed to do was share the three page deck explaining our idea in the B Hive. One post later and we were soon oversubscribed with people from B Corp brands volunteering their time and expertise in this project.
Some of the many Unwrapped recordings we captured using Riverside Studio.
Using a standard script for all recordings, we only had to modify the participant and question details. This meant all the recordings followed the same flow and there weren’t any (or many) surprises in the edit!
In the latter half of February we carried out almost all of the recordings using our Riverside online recording studio, and from March 1st we we’d started publishing one video a day on our website and YouTube channel.
sharing insights from 25 B Corp brands
The final video we shared on March 31st (below) answers the question “What mistakes did you make in your B Corp certification journey?”. It features answers from all 25 brands that took part, representing the transparency and openness of this community so well. We’re thrilled to have been able to bring all of these people together in this final video.
Video 31: What we wish we knew BEFORE doing our B Corp certification
To say we were overwhelmed at the response to this digital activation is an understatement. Although in hindsight, we realise now that we shouldn’t have been surprised at the support and generosity we received from the B Corp community.
what we learnt from this digital B Corp activation.
Whilst the response this series received was good, there are definitely things we’d do differently next time to really amplify this work.
start sooner
First of all we’d aim to carry out all the recordings in January and to have everything edited by the end of February. That would allow us to concentrate more on sharing the content across our social channels throughout March rather than feeling like we were chasing our tails somewhat with all the time required to edit and publish 31 spotlight videos (and 60+ pieces of micro content).
amplify the engagement
Similarly, having all the videos prepared sooner would allow us to make all the micro content available to all participants right from the start. We definitely saw that those brands who’d helped us to promote their answers by sharing clips on their own channels saw more engagement in their videos.
That being said, these answers will remain relevant outside of B Corp month and already google seems to be delivering them in search results. So we’d like to believe that this series will remain a valuable resource for years to come as more and more people look for the answers to these B Corp questions.
the second big idea (as if one wasn’t enough).
In a moment of curiosity one Friday afternoon at the beginning of February - whilst perusing the supplied B Corp month resource pack that B Lab had made available to the community - we asked ourselves:
“What if we put on a B Corp month breakfast panel, to help more local businesses understand and connect with the B Corp community?”
Now, we’ve never ‘done’ events before so this was all completely new to us. And on reflection, I think that meant we were free from making assumptions or decisions based on ‘how it’s always been done’.
A few swift emails later and TMC Communications kindly agreed to let us use The_Space as our venue, and to support us with the event planning and setup.
assembling a panel of guest speakers from local B Corp brands
Fuelled by the eager response to our digital ‘Unwrapped’ activation, we felt naively confident that we’d manage to put together a well balanced panel of guest speakers from local B Corp brands. And almost everyone we asked was willing and able to take part - yet again a testament to the ethos of what it means to be a B Corp brand.
After a few emails, slack messages and phone calls, our panel was assembled, including Laura Keay from The Fine Bedding Company, Steph Woodhouse from Emma Bridgewater, Paul Hornby from Foilco and Joe Onions from Sherrington Associates.
how do we do an in-person event?
We soon realised that we had no idea how to set up an event, what a ‘good’ running order looked like, how to manage tickets and of course make sure we had bums on seats in the room.
Fortunately - with the kind help of Jessica Peake from TMC coupled with the advice from our wonderful guest speakers - we pretty much had our agenda and format set; a Graham Norton style B Corp ‘conversation’ only less boozy (and more cakey).
We contacted The Old Saw Mill community café and Wild and Wild to provide a range of cakes and cookies. We nipped to the supermarkets to put together a wonderful display of B Corp brands our audience might recognise. And a quick pre-event briefing zoom (and some custom printed prompt cards) later, we were set.
intimate and insightful
There was a huge range of people in our audience of 35; from those who had never heard of B Corp to those who had come from other B Corp brands and everything in between. Each person arrived with their own motivations whether that be to understand what B Corp is, how to navigate certification or simply to connect with and learn from other B Corp brands in the North West.
After playing the B Lab explainer video, we invited all our speakers to sit together and take part in a very informal question and answer format conversation. We’d agreed to concentrate on the journey towards certification in the first half hour, followed by the impact of becoming B Corp in the second half.
feedback from our event.
The feedback we got on the day and in our follow up survey has all been very positive.
“The format was good. The auditorium supported an immersive and engaging experience”
Watch some event highlights
the panel conversation format was a winner
Whilst the informal setup and approach was something new to a lot of people in the room, it worked incredibly well for us. Our audience told us that they felt engaged by and involved in the conversation, rather than being spoken ‘to’ - and we certainly saw this on the day with the volume and range of questions being asked.
squeezing too much into too little time
If we were to do this again we’d probably extend timings. We’d allowed about 30 minutes conversation plus 10 for Q&A in both halves. But this simply wasn’t enough, and in fact our audience told us they’d rather had longer to listen, ask more questions and to network.
connection that will last
One of the best things though to have come from this event was a feeling amongst all four speakers that we should do this again. That for us was the most incredible - and unexpected - outcome. That everyone enjoyed this event and the opportunity to connect with other local B Corps so much that they’ve volunteered to host the next one is something we’re incredibly proud of.
will we be doing something for B Corp month 2025?
Absolutely (we’ll just start planning it all much earlier next year!)
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We well and truly threw our small creative business into B Corp Month 2024. Here we share what we did, what we learnt, and what we’ll do differently next time…