Think about the last time you brought on a new supplier.
You probably looked at price and capability, and maybe asked around for a recommendation.
But did you ask how they treat their people? Whether they pay their own suppliers on time? What they’d refuse to do for a client?
Many moons ago, before I moved into marketing, I spent a few years as an Operations Manager, and I picked a fair few suppliers in that time. Being completely honest, I’m fairly sure I never asked any of those questions.
For most businesses, they just don’t come up.
For a B Corp, they probably should.
When you certify, you make a public commitment to balance profit with people and planet. But a lot of what your business actually does happens outside your own four walls, through the partners you hire, the tools you pay for and the agencies that speak on your behalf.
So whether you’ve thought about it or not, your suppliers are part of your impact.
Your values don’t stop at your front door
The B Corp framework asks you to look beyond your own operations, and that includes who you spend money with.
Which, when you think about it, is fair enough.
Every invoice you pay backs a way of doing business. If a supplier cuts corners on wages, sustainability or honesty, some of that comes back to you, however good your own policies look on paper.
It’s a bit like a group project at school. You can do all the work you like, but if one person turns up with nothing, everyone gets the same mark.
We noticed this ourselves after certifying alongside our sister agency, 4Change Marketing. We started looking harder at how our partners treat their own people, not just what they charge.
We now choose sustainable suppliers and fellow B Corps wherever we can, and we built a Supplier Onboarding Survey to check new partners against our standards and ethical code. (It’s less of an interrogation than it sounds…)
We even work from B Corp offices in London. Small things, perhaps, but they add up.
Why your marketing partner matters more than most
Most suppliers work quietly in the background. Your marketing agency doesn’t.
They write the words your customers read, and they decide which claims end up in the ad, the landing page and the LinkedIn post. They’re one of the loudest voices your business has.
So if your values don’t line up, it shows.
An agency that doesn’t share them might push for the bolder claim, the vague “eco friendly” line (usually with a stock photo of a leaf), or the tactic that gets clicks but quietly chips away at trust. With green claims getting more scrutiny than ever, that’s a reputational risk as well as a values one.
An aligned agency asks “can we prove that?” before something goes out, rather than after someone else has asked.
Alignment saves you a lot of awkward conversations
Let’s park the moral high ground for a second. There’s a more selfish reason to work with like-minded suppliers.
It’s just easier.
When your partner shares your values, you spend a lot less time explaining yourself. You don’t have to justify why you won’t use fake urgency, why a campaign needs a proof point before it goes live, or why the more honest headline is the better one.
At Clockwise, we ask one extra question about every piece of work. Alongside “is it creative?” and “will it work?”, we ask: does this fit with our values?
If your agency is already asking that, you get to spend your time on the work itself, and a lot less time rewording emails so they sound polite.
It’s also more fun. Some of our favourite projects have been with clients who already knew exactly what they stood for, because half the thinking was done before the first meeting.
What alignment looks like in practice
Everyone’s like-minded in a pitch meeting. So here’s what it actually means for us, day to day:
- Honest claims. We make sure environmental claims are backed by data. We’d rather help a brand tell a true story than polish a facade.
- Clear boundaries. There are industries we don’t work with, including oil and gas, gambling and deceptive marketing. You’ll know where we stand from day one.
- Fair business. Fair pricing, fair wages and paying our suppliers on time.
- Small, sensible choices. Things like renewable-powered hosting for client websites and keeping an eye on our own travel and energy use.
- Looking after our team. Flexible working, quarterly wellbeing days, pro bono hours for local community projects and a day off on your birthday (nobody does their best work on their birthday anyway!).
A badge isn’t a shortcut
To be fair, B Corp certification isn’t perfect, and it isn’t the only sign of a good partner.
There are plenty of brilliant, ethical businesses that aren’t certified, and being a B Corp certainly doesn’t mean you get everything right.
It’s a bit like a gym membership. Having one says a lot about your intentions, but actually turning up is what counts.
What certification does give you is a common starting point. It tells you a business has opened itself up to scrutiny and agreed to be held to account.
So whoever you’re thinking of working with, B Corp or not, it’s worth asking:
- What would you say no to?
- How do you check the claims you write for clients?
- How do you choose your own suppliers?
A partner with aligned values will have answers ready, and they’ll probably enjoy being asked.
We certainly do, we made a whole survey about it.
Finding your tribe
Clockwise has been helping brands grow since 1995. We’ve always believed marketing should be honest and useful, and becoming a B Corp put that belief in writing.
When our Founder, Simon Ellis, was asked to sum up running a B Corp agency in one word, he chose “Tribe”.
I think that’s about right.
The best work we do tends to come from clients who care about the same things we do. The meetings are more fun, too.
If you’re a B Corp, you’ve already done the hard part and decided what kind of business you want to be. Now it’s about finding people who make that easier.
If that sounds like us, get in touch with our team here. We’d love to have a chat!