When Wieden+Kennedy became a Certified B Corporation in April, it was the culmination of a process CEO Neal Arthur called a “labor of love.” 

After the agency's Amsterdam office won certification in 2021, thanks to a group of what Arthur called progressive and environmentally-minded “hand raisers,” the idea soon spread through the rest of Wieden's eight locations. 

“Once Amsterdam got certified, everyone wanted that,” Arthur said. “It was the positive side to mob mentality with shared enthusiasm for the chance to show where we stand and where we can get better.” 

The B Corp movement was started by B Lab, a nonprofit organization created to encourage publicly listed corporations to prioritize people, communities and the planet in addition to profit. B Lab was established in 2006 and gave out its first 82 certifications the following year. It grew to prominence in recent years as a gold standard to hold businesses accountable for their overall social and environmental performance, and now more than 6,500 companies are certified B Corps. 

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But like other sustainability and governance movements before it, the B Corp movement is under scrutiny for how effective it truly is at holding companies to a higher standard—and not just using the certification as a way to draw clients and top talent. 

Wieden’s agency network is just the latest in the advertising industry to join the initiative. Havas New York obtained its B Corp certification in October 2021; McCann Dublin obtained its certification in August 2022; and Stagwell’s Colle McVoy was certified in May.

“Advertising people love to talk about creating movements and rarely is it true or does it happen, but the B Corp movement is a movement,” said David Baldwin, CEO of Raleigh, North Carolina-based agency Baldwin&, which has been certified since September 2012. “It really is as much a demonstration or receipt of behavior as much as it is putting forward a narrative that business can be a course for good.” 

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How to get B Corp certified 

Getting certified involves a company taking the B Impact Assessment, which is a packet of 200 questions about how it operates in regards to its stakeholders, including customers, workers, suppliers, communities, investors and the environment. For example, questions include “What portion of your management is evaluated in writing on their performance with regard to corporate, social, and environmental targets?” and “What percentage of the company is owned by full-time workers (excluding founders/executives)?”

Companies also have to amend their governing documents to commit to considering all stakeholders in decision making, not just shareholders, and must pay a certification fee, which starts at $2,000 per assessment and scales with revenue. To pass, a company must achieve at least 80 out of a possible 200 total points on the assessment, and each individual office needs to pass its own assessment. 

Considering the time needed to adjust business practices and company policies, fill out the assessment and undergo an audit, it can take up to a year to become certified. The agencies Ad Age spoke to said the certification has gained in popularity so much that the wait time has lengthened compared to before the pandemic, when it typically took a few months. Companies then need to recertify every three years, often with the assessment changing to keep pace with updated environmental and workplace standards.

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As with all trends leading corporations to adapt environmental solutions, critics of the B Corp movement recognize the certification for what it is—a business framework—and what it is not—a moral compass, according to Jonathan Trimble, co-founder and CEO of And Rising, which was certified in 2016.   

"The concept of [B Corp] is really good, but as ever, the way in which it's being used is a whole lot of new business hocus pocus," Trimble said. "B Corporation is amoral, it's just a framework." 

What does it mean to have B Corp certification? 

Having a B Corp certification doesn’t mean a company needs to make decisions that benefit the planet, its customers or its employees, just that it has the option in favor of focusing solely on profit, said Trimble.

“It doesn’t really change anything on the day-to-day level because whether we make a decision and take into account those five constituents [customers, workers, suppliers, communities, investors and the environment] or not, you can still decide, well in this case we’re going to fall in favor of the profit motive,” Trimble said. 

B Corp certifications are not legally binding in the U.S. A company would also have to register as a public benefit corporation, a designation that protects executives from their fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders when choosing pricier sustainability and employee policies.

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With a passing grade set at just 80 out of 200, it also leaves a lot of wiggle room for companies to get B Corp certification without reaching the full potential of being what’s considered a good business. This flaw is something Jessica Thomas, director of the Business Sustainability Collaborative at North Carolina State University, discusses with her graduate students in the B Corp Clinic she holds every semester. 

“Right now, companies can take any path to 80 and become certified,” Thomas said. “They could theoretically focus on three areas of the assessment, say workers, customers and the community and really be doing nothing when it comes to the environment.” 

Some agencies see these areas of the assessment as a way to gauge where they need to improve for the future. When Wieden+Kennedy first went through the process for its Amsterdam office, one of its lowest-scoring areas was the environment section. But by the time the network was certified globally, it was the strongest. 

“It's a good example of how you can learn from the process and improve—we did so and that spurred our partnerships with companies Klimate and Zevero, to help us measure and reduce our emissions,” said Wieden+Kennedy Chief Marketing Officer Rebecca Groff, referring to climate action platforms. “Thanks to that global emissions program, [and] our efforts working with building landlords to improve our facilities, we ended up scoring highly in the environment section.” 

To better address some of these concerns, the B Corp Impact Assessment is changing in 2024 to identify 10 impact areas such as fighting climate change, taking action on issues related to paying a living wage or building a circular economy into their business model. Starting next year, a company can't be certified without making demonstrable progress in each of the 10 areas. 

“These new revisions to the assessment provide a great platform to demonstrate that B Lab itself continues to evolve and continues to seek for the process to become more rigorous and more relevant with each iteration of the assessment,” Thomas said. 

Benefits of B Corp 

Even with such a laborious process, the benefits still outweigh the stress, said Lindsey Bagg, senior director of talent and social impact at Havas New York. 

“Everyone should be doing it,” Bagg said. “Job seekers are demanding it. Clients are requesting our CSR commitments. It’s a good business strategy to have, and it's something you need to do to succeed moving forward.” 

It is still unclear if having the certification truly makes a difference to clients. Avi Dan, founder and CEO of Avidan Strategies, said that clients he’s seen have shied away from asking about sustainability in an RFP—often because some were engaged in greenwashing themselves. 

But Greg Paull, co-founder and principal at consultancy R3, said that at least two-thirds of the pitches from his clients call out ESG and DE&I initiatives to be considered during a pitch. When Patagonia—a certified B Corp since 2011—began a review of its EMEA performance marketing business in May, it said it was prioritizing partners who shared its values as a responsible company such as B Corp certification.

“The best agencies that are taking this seriously will have a significant advantage,” Paull said, whether they are B Corp certified or just good corporate citizens. 

Steve Pearce, managing director at British design and advertising firm LOVE, has found that his agency’s B Corp status is simply a way to get a foot in the door. The Manchester, U.K.-based agency has been certified since November 2022. 

“What I’ve found so far is that it’s a really good conversation starter, because a lot of clients know about it and they know it’s quite difficult to get,” Pearce said. “But I don’t think that it closes the deal.” 

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Agencies have also seen interest from potential talent intrigued by employers with B Corp certifications. B Corp-certified companies often have better employee benefits and policies such as paid parental leave, free healthcare and healthy workplace cultures. Patagonia, a poster child for B Corp companies, even provides bail for employees who are arrested when protesting.

BLVR, a California-based branding agency that was certified in August 2020, has had employees join because of the company culture associated with B Corp certification.

“When people reach out to us or we’re interviewing, it's definitely one of the things that stands out from other agencies they’re talking to,” said Scott Hancock, partner and CEO at BLVR. “They want to work at BLVR because we give back, and we’re a B Corp.”