We’re firm believers in the power of digital to not just change the world, but to make it a better place. That’s why we couldn’t be prouder to be a Certified B Corp™ . DEPT® became a Certified B Corp in October 2021 and in our first year of achieving the certification, we were recognised as one of the Best for the World™ B Corps of 2022 in Governance. This puts us in the top 5% of B Corps in our size group around the world.
Becoming a B Corp was confirmation that, together, we are building an agency that has a positive impact on our people, our clients, the planet and society at large.
As a B Corp, DEPT® has joined a community of 5,000+ businesses across the world – and across all industries – seeking to use their business as a force for good, dedicated to balancing purpose and profit. This collective includes Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Rituals and Allbirds, to name a few of our favourites.
Becoming (and staying) a B Corp is not easy
Our B Corp Certification keeps us accountable to our #goodcompany goals. We are asked to assess our performance every three years across five key areas of impact: workers; clients; governance; community; the environment.
We are also legally committed to consider the impact of our business across those five areas and we pass a questionnaire of negative risks.
DEPT® is proud of our score of 89.2 points on our initial certification, and we’re excited to work on increasing that score over time.
Our B Corp Certification and the B Impact Assessment provide us with a framework to communicate, assess and improve our impact. It helps us to build a roadmap for positive impact, from our employees to our office waste, our supply chain to our clients.
So, what prompted us to invest so much in this certification?
In short, our Depsters. Our B Corp journey began as one colleague’s suggestion. That sparked a company-wide mission motivated by the combination of creating great work for clients and making a positive impact on the world. This mission was 100% driven by a team of more than forty Depsters, who took on the hefty responsibility of measuring those dozens of factors in addition to taking care of their regular day-to-day.
Now, we’re working hard to ensure that our #goodcompany goals and ambitions are integrated into our day-to-day work. You can read more about all of our initiatives and progress in our Impact Reports:
Download our 2022 Impact Report
Download our 2021 Impact Report
Download our 2020 Impact Report
What does it mean for DEPT®?
When we first set off on this company-wide mission, we thought we were in pretty good shape. We had just become a Climate Neutral company. We had also worked on a number of impact projects with clients who we were extra proud to support in their missions to better the world, including creating a branded commerce experience rooted in sustainability for Patagonia, reinventing the agricultural life cycle with Indigo Ag, using the power of technology to do good with JustDiggit and creating a conversation around mental health with Ireland’s HSE. For these reasons, we thought we were already a good company. But — plot twist! — turns out that we could be a lot better.
We are just getting started
Becoming a B Corp™ forced us to think about how to make our Impact Strategy more effective and take a 360-degree view to be a good company. It also showed us that, although we had already made some significant strides, truly being a good company requires dedication towards an ongoing mission to improve DEPT® from the inside out. We continue to be guided by our Impact Strategy, developed in 2020 to focus across three main pillars: Climate; Clients; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I).
Here’s what we have in store.
01. We will fulfil our human responsibility to protect the climate. The bedrock of our climate strategy is focused in the areas in which we have the greatest impact on the environment: our offices and energy usage and our emissions from commuting and business travel. If we want to be a leading business in the 21st century, we know that we need to have a sophisticated, well managed and specific climate strategy, particularly as we grow.
02. We want to ensure that we’re creating impact through our clients and for our communities. As of 2022, nearly 9 of DEPT®’s revenue came from client projects with a positive social or environmental impact. By 2023, that portfolio of impactful work will expand to represent 15% of our total revenue. And we won’t stop there. We also pledge to donate 1% of our total profits to support purpose-driven organisations via pro bono work, direct donations, and during DEPT® Cares Day, our annual global day of volunteering.
03. We will fulfil our responsibility to create a company that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. By 2023, our workforce will be a solid representation of society at large and more than 40% of our leadership team and managers will be female or nonbinary. We’re also committed to undergo a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategic planning process that respects and adjusts for the local realities for the places in which we operate. This strategic planning process will result in localised and relevant targets and initiatives for our teams on topics such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, neurodiversity and more.
All told, this is just the beginning. In our journey to become a better good company and also on a much larger scale. We believe that digital marketing and technology can create a better future. By promoting a fairer, more equitable society and solving global issues like climate change.
And, as a company of digital thinkers and makers, that’s a future we can’t wait to get started on.
Questions?
Global Head of Impact
