As of 2022, 3.96 billion people globally are estimated to be social media users, which is a 4.8 per cent increase on last year. Businesses and people depend on all things digital, from promoting products and services, to advocacy, and keeping in touch with friends and family across oceans. It’s no doubt that traversing the world wide web can be fraught with moral and ethical dilemmas, but do not fear, B Corps are here to set the standard and inspire all with innovative practices.
Image Source: Unsplash
Circul8, a newly Certified B Corporation, is a creative and innovation agency that builds brands, campaigns and digital products that aim to enrich people’s lives. They’ve been in the game since digital was just booting up, and have been working exclusively with forward-thinking, purpose-driven organisations from day one. Circul8 provides digital solutions to help organisations achieve their goals, gaining international recognition since their inception in 2007.
In celebration of their recent certification, we sat down with Circul8’s founder, Alana Stocks, to learn more about the agency and how they’re embedding inclusivity, equity and innovation into all of their business operations.
Image Source: Circul8 (Founder of Circul8, Alana Stocks)
What exactly does Circul8 do?
Our expertise centres around three core areas: strategy and research; marketing and communications; and digital products. We’re a proud pioneer in the digital communications space and offer a 360 service spanning strategy, conceptual ideation, creative campaign design, planning, technical delivery and reporting. We provide a one-stop-shop for our clients for strategic digital marketing communications and love to work as an extension of their internal teams.
Why did Circul8 want to certify as a B Corp?
We’ve always been a B Corp at heart. Becoming certified has made this official and allowed us to align ourselves with a bigger global movement where we can create greater widespread change.
In becoming a Certified B Corporation, we’re demonstrating by example how businesses can be a force for good. This framework holds us accountable to walk the talk and be the change.
As a digital agency focused on doing work for the forces of good, we have a strong conviction to not only help our communities, but to use innovative thinking and digital tools to do so. For example, during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia, we launched a service called ‘Local Pick Me Up’ to help local restaurants, cafes and suppliers who were getting hit hard by the pandemic. The service helped people, suppliers and food businesses to buy fresh and local produce, takeaway and products directly from local restaurants and suppliers. We devised this solution to help create a direct supply and demand chain between struggling restaurants and suppliers, and their community of shoppers.
Image Source: Canva
So, we are very proud to have joined the movement of 5,400+ B Corps around the world who are leading the way to shape a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable way of doing business that enriches people and the planet.
It’s amazing to see the solutions businesses can create to address issues in the community. What are some of the other areas where Circul8 has had a big impact? What makes your business unique?
We’re focused on creating campaigns and digital products that make a positive difference to people and the planet. We also aim to enrich individuals by being good to work with and a good place to work. We collaborate, we’re friendly and we deliver. We make working with us, and for us, an enriching experience too.
Our work with clients falls into four enrichment areas which align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: Health & Wellbeing; Community, Culture & Equality; Education & Technology; and Environment & Sustainability.
One aspect of our business that makes us immensely proud, is that our clients, like our team members, come from all over the world.
Due to this, we’re able to bring a cross-cultural lens to everything we do, from internal business operations to client-facing services. Our organisational pillar, ‘Community, Culture and Equality,’ is all about fostering an inclusive culture which embraces the uniqueness of diverse cultures and people. In the spirit of this, a fun activity we undertook within the team was exploring our ancestral roots through DNA testing.
Image Source: Circul8
Also, in the face of climate change, it’s essential to know which plants are the most resilient in our increasingly harsh environment. We worked with a project team of researchers, government agencies, industry partners and nursery growers to design and develop an online tool for horticulturalists, city planners and architects to design green spaces that last. The Which Plant Where project has been in operation for five years, where we assessed over 2,600 plan species against future climate scenarios across Australia. It resulted in the first comprehensive climate-ready plant selector tool in the world.
In the B Corp community we see a range of innovative practices unfolding every day. What business practice do you want to see become the norm in your industry or beyond?
Businesses switching to renewable energy.
Renewable energy is one of the best ways to reduce a company’s carbon footprint and not only does this boost renewables in your country, in our case Australia, it also gives governments a red hot signal that we’re serious about wanting our country to transition to renewable energy.
At Circul8 we’re lucky enough to be powered by GreenPower. We also provide services to GreenPower as they’re one of our clients, so it’s great to be part of a network of businesses who are as committed to doing good as we are.
Image Source: Canva
Were there any B Corps that you looked to for inspiration over the years, or during your certification?
We’ve been working with a few local Sydney B Corps for over a decade, such as Republic of Everyone and Benedictus Media. These guys were B Corps before it was cool and some of the first in Australia.
Finally, do you have any tips for aspiring B Corps about the certification process?
Our advice is to just jump right in and get started. The first step is to begin filling out the B Impact Assessment. This will help you get a good understanding of where you’re placed and what you’ll need to do to impact the core measurement areas of Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers to achieve at least 80 points required for certification.
Be as transparent as possible from the get-go so you can see which areas you’ll need to improve on.
In the process of complying, you’ll be improving your business practices. So, even if you struggle at first with the process, be patient and view becoming a B Corp as a long-term aspiration. It’s worth it.
Congratulations to Circul8 for certifying as a B Corp. If you’d like to keep up with what they’re doing, or get in touch, head over to their website: www.circul8.com.au
