Since 1995, Clockwise Marketing has been helping brands grow.
But the world marketing operates in today looks very different from the one we started in.
For too long, our industry has carried a heavy reputation. It’s been seen as a machine designed to persuade people to buy things they don’t need, using clever tactics and shiny, hollow campaigns.
But we’ve never believed that’s what marketing should be. We’ve always believed marketing should be honest, responsible and genuinely useful, the kind of approach people now often describe as ethical marketing. It’s one of the reasons we became a B Corp marketing agency.
When we began our journey towards B Corp certification, alongside our sister agency 4Change Marketing, it wasn’t just about adding a badge to our website. We wanted to codify a belief that we’ve had for a long time; That marketing should be a force for good.
What is a B Corp Marketing Agency?
A B Corp marketing agency is a marketing business that has chosen to meet the standards of the B Corp movement, balancing profit with responsibility to people, communities and the environment. In practice, that means operating much like an ethical marketing agency, helping organisations grow in ways that are transparent, responsible and built for the long term.
Becoming a B Corp didn’t suddenly change who we were as a business. In many ways, it simply formalised the values that had already been guiding how we worked. It encouraged us to be clearer about the kind of organisations we want to support and the role marketing should play in helping them grow.
What It Means To Be a B Corp Marketing Agency
For our Founder and MD, Simon Ellis, the shift has also been personal.
“If I had to describe what it feels like to run a B Corp agency in one word, it would be ‘Tribe’. As the person leading business development, I now spend more time speaking to organisations whose values genuinely align with ours.”
That alignment has shaped the type of work we pursue.
“We’ve moved away from the idea of simply helping people sell more ‘stuff’ they don’t need. Now we focus on doing good marketing for good people. It’s not just about revenue, it’s about the impact that our work creates.”
For Johanna Andersson, Co-Founder of 4Change Marketing, the key word is “Purpose”.
“Traditional marketing has often relied on deception and that contradicts everything we believe about sustainability and ethical business. On the flip side, marketing is one of the most powerful tools we have to inspire change. That’s the belief I carry with me every day”.
How The B Corp Status Actually Impacts Our Work
It’s easy for certifications to become little more than a logo in an email signature or a slide in a sales deck. But for us, the value comes from letting it influence everyday decisions, from who we work with to how we deliver campaigns.
Becoming a B Corp didn’t just give us a framework. It gave us a new lens for decision making:
1. It Filters Our Decisions
Creative ideas and commercial results will always matter in marketing. But today we add a third question to the conversation, “Does this align with our values?”
By adding this to the mix, it makes our decision making far more intentional.
Whether it’s choosing a renewable energy powered hosting provider for a client website or reviewing our own travel and energy use, the B Corp framework gives us a structure that helps ensure growth does not come at the expense of responsibility.
2. It Defines Our Partnerships
We’ve become much more selective about the “Tribes” we build.
- Our Clients: We actively seek out “good marketing for good people.”
This means we are comfortable saying no to projects that promote unethical businesses, unsustainable consumption or rely on deceptive practices to get clicks. Find out more about the industries we don’t work with here. - Our Suppliers: We don’t just look at the price. We look at how our partners treat their own people. We prioritise sustainable suppliers and fellow B Corps whenever possible, ensuring our supply chain reflects our values. We’ve even created a Supplier Onboarding Survey to ensure compliance with our operational standards, ethical code, and legal requirements.
- Where we work: We work in B Corp offices in London, alongside fellow businesses driving purposeful change. Find out more here.
3. It Changes the “Marketing Output”
Being a B Corp agency means we are advocates for our clients’ audiences, and not just their bottom lines.
- Radical Honesty: We help brands find the truth in their story rather than polishing a facade.
- Anti-Greenwashing: With 4Change’s expertise, we ensure every environmental claim is backed by data. We believe your customers are intelligent, and that they deserve the truth, not just a marketing spin.
4. We Adopt a “People First” Approach
It impacts how we treat our own team. From flexible working that respects mental health to pro-bono hours for local community projects, quarterly well-being days and days off on birthdays, we recognise that we can’t market “goodness” to the world if we aren’t practicing it internally.
it’s about making sure we aren’t just “doing stuff for money,” but building a business we are actually proud to lead.
Progress Over Perfection
We’ll be honest, becoming a B Corp doesn’t mean you suddenly get everything right.
But what it does do, is give you a framework that holds you accountable. It forces you to ask better questions about the impact you’re having, not just on clients and revenue, but on people, communities and the environment too. For us, that accountability matters.
It moves the conversation beyond a few well meaning lines on an About page and turns it into something measurable. Something that shapes real decisions.
Certifying as a group alongside 4Change Marketing has also brought our two agencies even closer together.
Whether we’re developing a growth strategy for a brand or supporting a social enterprise with a sustainability campaign, the principle stays the same. The work should create value for the client, but it should also stand up to the question we keep coming back to.
Is this work something we’re proud to put our name to?
Why This Matters Now
Marketing has always had influence. It shapes what people pay attention to, what they value, and ultimately what they choose to support. For decades that influence has often been used simply to drive consumption.
But the world businesses operate in today is changing.
Customers are more informed, employees want to work for organisations they believe in and businesses are increasingly being asked to think about their impact beyond quarterly results.
That creates a different role for marketing.
Instead of simply persuading people to buy more, good ethical marketing should help organisations communicate honestly about the value they create. It should help responsible businesses grow, and challenge them to be clearer about the impact they are having.
For us, becoming a B Corp marketing agency was a way of committing to that idea publicly, because we believe marketing can play a positive role in shaping the kind of businesses that succeed.
And if marketing isn’t helping move things in that direction, it’s worth asking what it’s really for!
What’s next?
If these ideas resonate with you, and you’d like to grow your business without compromising your values, we’d love to talk.
Whether you’re looking to sharpen your messaging, avoid greenwashing risks, or simply explore how your marketing can better reflect the values behind your business, our team would be happy to help.