Canadian Marketing Company Achieves Recognition of Public Benefit
Enrollment Resources Inc. Awarded Global B Corporation Status
Enrollment Resources Inc. (ER), a Marketing company in Victoria, B.C., has been awarded Global B Corporation Status by B Lab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.
Enrollment Resources Co-founder and CEO, Gregg Meiklejohn, indicated there was no compelling reason to go through the rigorous certification process except it is the right thing to do. “Anyone can make a profit. The art of business is in making a profit while leaving your surroundings and those around you in better shape along the way. Some business owners complain about excessive taxes, yet are not willing to step up and do their part. B Corporations make a statement about a company’s intention about how it wants to fit in the world.”
According to the B Lab website, a B Corporation (B Corp) is an organization that meets rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. B Corps have been assessed and certified as ‘triple bottom line’ organizations. B Corps are required to maintain and improve on established standards regarding worker conditions, the environment and social causes.
Triple bottom line organization seems almost counter-intuitive to the conventional marketing model; traditional marketing companies are more often associated with unbridled consumerism than with social conscience.
Enrollment Resources is the first Direct Response Marketing Company globally that has been certified with the B Corporation designation. “Marketing as a practice is a neutral function, it can be used for good or for….not so good,” says Meiklejohn, “We focus on advocating for clients who are dedicated to improving the lives of those in vulnerable positions.”
Examples of Enrollment Resources clients include Career Schools and Wellness Clinics. “Both of these kinds of organizations help folks get a leg up in life,” Meiklejohn adds. “You know, there’s no strategic reason to go down this path. In some ways it makes it harder to run a business. All I can say is my partner Shane Sparks and I just sat with this B Corp thing and realized, at a gut level, it was the right thing to do. It’s kind of like the business version of volunteering to be a blood donor.”
Enrollment Resources plans to work within the B Corp mandate to look for ways to advocate for those who want to succeed by doing good. While many companies of this kind are on an airplane many days within a year, ER utilizes modern technology like webcams and online boardrooms as an alternative. As a direct response marketing firm, ER works with clients to improve the quality of their offering and customer retention strategies; the logic of this strategy is to wean clients off the need for relentless and manipulative advertising techniques.
For more information on B Corporations go to http://www.bcorporation.net/