Ten years of B Corp: Are we doing enough to back our words with evidence?

Opinion

Real commitment or just empty pledges? Little Dot Studios’ sustainability lead asks, ‘Is the marketing industry being held to account on sustainability?’

The marketing industry has always been great at making promises. We’re the storytellers who hold the key to culture and consumption, selling dreams, shaping ambition, influencing what we eat, drive, watch, and wear. The stories that shape our understanding of the world and the ability to spin a great tale are on display every second of the day to billions of eyes. Articles, images, films, content and campaigns that turn words into belief, and on occasion, in favour of the social and environmental issues that face us and our planet. 

But that’s the thing, we’ve passed the point where belief is enough. 

In 2022, the World Economic Forum reported that digital marketing and the data centres powering content and campaigns produce more carbon emissions than aviation. Roughly 2.5% of global CO₂e, surpassing aviation’s 2.1%. And that was before the mass adoption of open-source AI and its huge energy demands.

Yet, despite a growing number of bold sustainability claims, seemingly very few companies in our sector actually measure, track, or report on their indirect impact.

IAB Europe’s 2024 ‘Sustainability in Digital Advertising Survey’ found that while nearly 70% of respondents had stated efforts to reduce emissions, only 24% had made any significant progress, the same number who even had a framework to measure these emissions.

What we need now, what the planet needs, is proof, and that is where many of those who shout the loudest fall short, and frustratingly so, with very little accountability.

We’ve mastered the art of talking about purpose, commitments and pledges to put ourselves on the right side of science and history, but is enough being done to live it?

A decade on from B Corp certification arriving in the UK —a framework built to measure what companies actually do —the question is whether the marketing industry truly understands its impact and the significant role it plays. Is it evolving enough to tackle the challenges facing us, or has it just found smarter ways to talk about doing so? 

Promises vs. proof

Working across digital and broadcast content, both behind and in front of the camera, I’ve seen the best and worst of it.

The intent is often real, and genuine pioneers are pushing for greener and more ethical practices. But too often, commitment fades over time and falls short of the internal change required to back up the claims.

A 2025 study published in Nature Climate Change highlighted a systemic problem: visibility and accountability do not match. Announcements and pledges attract attention; outcomes, or the lack of them, often don’t. Environmental and social credentials are still too often based on statements rather than action.

Being publicly “good” and producing purpose-driven content for purpose-led clients is important, but it’s only one side of the coin. The other side, what happens behind the scenes, is far less glamorous but equally crucial.

Deepening our understanding of our operations and making the right changes to reduce or avoid their negative impact. Doing right by our employees and communities, and working with clients that support and embellish the statements and credentials made by us under the flag of sustainability.  

But the reality is that powerful-sounding pledges and attention-grabbing purpose statements are easy to make; proving them and backing them up with measurable, transparent action is where the real work and commitment lie.

The ‘c’ word 

A point I often make when working with teams across Little Dot Studios is that sustainable choices rarely align with convenience.

Until tighter regulation and broader adoption make responsible business second nature, progress will feel uncomfortable. Real change usually does. It takes more time, more thought, and more initial investment (I’m really selling it to you, I know), and it doesn’t always translate into instant results, whether that’s profit, growth, or views. But the long-term rewards —cultural, environmental, and moral —are well worth it.

That’s why the arrival of B Corp felt like a turning point. For the first time, businesses could prove their social and environmental claims through a transparent, evidence-based framework that measures everything from employee wellbeing to supply-chain ethics and environmental impact.

Having gone through that process and recently achieved certification with Little Dot Studios, I can confirm it doesn’t hand out its gold stars lightly.

Ten years later, only around 2,500 UK businesses (about 10,000 globally) have achieved certification. Out of millions, that’s a tiny fraction, but perhaps that’s the point. Real accountability takes work: months (years) of data gathering, policy changes, and tough conversations about how we actually operate—and proof of action taken, not just ambition.

At Little Dot Studios, where I lead on sustainability, the process went far beyond box-ticking. It forced us to look inward at how we hire, who we work with, how we produce and amplify content and how decisions can ripple through culture.

The outcome wasn’t just a badge; it was a new baseline that echoes the entire global culture of Little Dot. On an even wider level, being a certified B Corp turns sustainability from a marketing veneer into a functioning system and model, enhancing a business’s ability to work for good, not just profit. For a company born in digital storytelling, it’s been powerful to see how that same creativity can drive measurable impact, not just campaigns. 

Crossroads moment

As both an industry professional and a sustainability advocate, I believe we’re at a crossroads, and that, even without any form of certification, the direction of travel is clear.

The world has seen and knows enough that accountability is no longer a moral preference; it’s a social and market demand.

Employees want to work for companies that live their values, not just sell them. Consumers can spot greenwashing a mile away. Clients expect their agencies to align with their own sustainability targets, and regulators are tightening the rules, with ASA and CMA both clamping down on misleading environmental claims.

In other words, the industry doesn’t get to mark its own homework anymore. The audience has read the brief.

Creativity with conscience

This isn’t a story of doom or guilt. It’s an opportunity. Marketing has the power to lead because storytelling shapes culture, and culture drives behaviour. The same tools that sell products can be used to inspire better business and collective action.

Look at brands that combine creativity with integrity: Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign, Ben & Jerry’s climate activism, or the growing number of B Corps that measure their footprint as carefully as their reach. 

On the production side, change is already happening: climate and socially supportive editorial, carbon-tracked shoots, remote broadcasts, renewable-powered studios and offices. Small shifts, but when adopted industry-wide, they add up.

Ten years on: What next?

So where does that leave us, a decade after B Corp first challenged us to back our words with evidence?

The truth is, progress is real but uneven—often slow and requiring significant investment (both time and otherwise). Some agencies are walking the walk while others are still rehearsing their lines. What’s clear is that the next ten years will reward those who prove, not those who promise.

Pledges and frameworks are valuable; they set direction, tone and brand culture. But without a detailed understanding and measurement, transparency, client/audience alignment, and accountability, commitments risk becoming increasingly noticeable lip service. Marketing needs to redirect its flair for storytelling inwardly. To tell the story of what we’re actually doing and why it matters. 

Sustainability ambitions shouldn’t just be about winning clients and building decks but truly understanding and acting on impact and contributing to a shared movement for genuine change. 

So is it time to shift our approach? As a collective, we should spend more time celebrating the real action, reductions, and change taking place, rather than just the idea of them.  If marketing is the art of persuasion, maybe it’s time we start persuading ourselves.

Saunders Carmichael-Brown is a producer, presenter and Little Dot Studios’ sustainability lead.