Mette Drakenberg’s Post

B Corp Month has begun, and I’ve just finished developing a campaign with my client L’OCCITANE Group that celebrates the brand joining the B Corp family. When I work with clients that have made the decision (and done the work) to become B Corp, I am really proud to be part of their ongoing journey and commitment to society, people, planet. I get to help my clients talk about their mission to uphold high standards of social and environmental performance, about transparency and accountability, but also about the rigorous assessment of their businesses impact that is actually required to attain, and maintain this accreditation. I relish all of it. To become B Corp requires a transformational mindset within a business and in my experience, it also requires many businesses to take on the role of a responsible educator, as well as being active listeners of their audience. This part of my work as a consultant, who is (and it's no secret) fascinated with human behaviour and behaviour change, is incredibly rewarding. It’s the sweet spot where I can help with the conversation between brand and citizen that moves everyone forward. If you’re working for a business that is interested in becoming B Corp, or one that wants help talking about their ambitions and ongoing progression with sustainability goals, get in touch. #Thiswayforward #bcorpmonth #esg

March is B Corp Month - and for those of you who may not know, this means we’ve chosen to meet an ambitious set of business standards that are better for people and the planet. At TREND, getting B Corp certified was a huge achievement. They really don’t make it easy! Getting certified isn’t the end of the road, it’s just the beginning. There is a global cultural shift to redefine “success” and B Corp companies are helping to pave the way through a more inclusive workplace, improved climate impact, and choosing to respond to the ever-changing issues in the world. #BCorpMonth is an invitation to join the journey to better business, and we won’t stop until we’ve changed the status quo in healthcare.

Join our LinkedIN Live TODAY 10 am GMT with Abena Fairweather from Legacy Events. Abena’s team take the pain out of organising sustainable events, by making it easier for event organisers to source reliable, high impact components for their events, and make decisions they can feel confident in. We’ll be talking about how so much of what they do involves behaviour change and what event managers can do to influence up and unlock budgets for sustainable events, at a time when cash is tight. #bcorpmonth

𝗕 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗽 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗴𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 Last week Ellie Doyle and TalentHub | Recruitment kindly invited me along to a webinar titled "Unlocking the B Corp Advantage" with excellent speakers Aisling Connaughton and Ed Murphy. I was first meaningfully exposed to B Corp as part of a project during my UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School MBA and personally am really bought into the idea. The frameworks cover a wide range of factors both to assess and guide companies that want to reach a high standard across Environment, Social and Governance and in doing so have the potential to provide consumers, employees and investors with a confident and consistent stamp of approval on their practices. In parallel, it has been great to see (or at least notice) a rise in certifications of Irish and international companies and for B Lab Ireland to launch since that time. My concern is around the general awareness of B Corp. When we looked into it 12 months ago the awareness for Irish consumers was very low. At that time my colleague Ken Healy suggested that a collaborative campaign to drive mass awareness might be beneficial to those companies that are undergoing significant effort to secure the certification. I think he hit the nail on the head but I haven't seen a meaningful push there since. The benefits of B Corp will only be truly realised when awareness increases and of course that awareness is likely to come from more companies getting certified, but if they are resource constrained is the payback high enough if the awareness remains low? Hence the chicken and the egg. Nonetheless, there is a positive momentum on topics of Sustainability and Employee diversity and wellbeing so I am hopeful the dots will join in the fullness of time. Or Gen Z voices will force them to! Shout out to Armada Hotel ( Frank Minogue) for being very early movers in this and the recently certified CarTrawler! #esg #bcorp #certification #consumer #diversity #environment #employee #climatechange #socialimpact #responsiblebusiness

After two action-packed days at the B Corp Festival, full of thought-provoking conversations and turning ideas into action, we posed the question to festival attendees: What are you going to do or change as a result of your learnings at Louder Than Words? After all, actions speak louder than words. Organising carbon literacy training for the team, collaborating with fellow #BCorp board members, revisiting hiring practices to embed inclusivity, and assessing how to reduce beauty purchasing and consumption habits were just a few of the commitments. We’d love to know what you vowed to do or change — if you couldn't join us in person, the question still stands. What one action do you think you could take to work towards making business a force for good? Share with us in the comments. 👇 #BCorpFestivalUK 

Christmas is over - now we're moving quickly into the New Year. Do I have good intentions? Always. Will I reach her? Let's see. 😍 Here they are - who's joining in? 💪 Encourage those around me to act more sustainably - do good and talk about it. Part of my job at cosnova is to communicate our sustainability goals. I want to reach more of my colleagues and would like to encourage them to integrate even more sustainability into product development, travel behavior and working methods. 🏅 Far too few people still take advantage of the two days of corporate volunteering that my employer offers. Doing good is part of our work, not an annoying extra! 💚 For various reasons, my heart's project TRASH2TREASURE operated at a lower level in 2023 - in the new year I would like to push harder to turn supposed garbage into something beautifully new. ❕ On a personal level, sustainability is often about having a lifestyle that meets one's needs, without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. I have been a vegetarian for many years but still consume milk. I want to reduce this further in 2024 and pay even more attention to what I buy. Shopping second hand has long been socially acceptable and anchored in my setup. What I don't have yet: borrowing instead of owning. My focus will be on sharing and reuse rather than buying new.

New Blog: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility into Your Event Planning Make your next event a beacon of sustainability and community impact with Corporate Social Responsibility! Dive into our latest blog for essential tips on how to integrate CSR into your event planning. Key Blog Contents: - Understanding CSR and Its Impact on Events - Benefits of Integrating CSR into Event Planning - Incorporating CSR Into Your Event Planning - Understanding Carbon Footprint Reduction Read our latest blog on integrating Corporate Social Responsibility into your events for practical insights and guidance. Read: https://bit.ly/3MTVbGv Need help finding a venue? Submit your event brief and let us help you. https://bit.ly/3XwnZcW

One of my most cherished takeaways from last week’s GPA Global Summit in Dublin was this pack of stroopwafels. Given to me by a vendor partner contact who I have grown to be very good friends with, his remembering and the simple act of bringing a small token meant a great deal (this is NOT a subtle nudge to be barraged with sugary snacks at ISE folks, my post-50 waistline will never survive). It really underscored what GPA is all about at its heart: friendship and empathy. You can have the best global business processes (we do), you can have unparallelled and deep multi-decade coverage across six continents (we have), you can be backed by the purchasing influence of a $1.6Bn+ group of companies (we are) - but all that counts for nothing if the individuals don’t feel they are part of something greater, something fulfilling, something that drives them to *want* to be engaged. What I heard loud and clear from everyone in Dublin was that they *want* to do more, go deeper, go faster, learn, meet, understand and grow. Many were there for the first time. I lost track of the times people came up to me and say “NOW I understand this GPA thing - I’m in”. People want to do business with people they like and have empathy - a deeply human connection - with. That’s what elevates us above transient transactions, in an industry awash with faster-brighter-louder-race-to-the-bottom-price-whatever 'value'. <takes a sip and a bite from the now-warm-and-soft gooey Dutch goodness> So in no particular order, because it’s impossible to rank by importance - Thankyou. Thankyou to the fabulous System Video team - GPA Ireland - for their hospitality and commitment to staging the best GPA Summit yet. David, Bryan and team - take a deep bow. Thankyou to our shareholding GPA teams from as far away as New Zealand, and to our new teams from LATAM and Spain - welcome. Your individual commitment to GPA as shareholding owners inspires all around you. Thankyou to our Partners and industry consultants - the critical 1/3 of the GPA-Customer-Partner value triangle. As you heard and saw, GPA wants to go so much further with you, together. And Thankyou to my rockstar colleagues, the growing team of GPA Corporate servant-leaders - without whose selfless dedication this ship could not sail. A special, final and deepest Thankyou to our departing CEO, friend and longest colleague in my decade-young GPA journey - Mr Byron Tarry. Thankyou Byron for your trust in me, for your vision, guidance, mentoring - and for giving me 'enough rope' more times than either of us can (or want to ) remember. Forever Green. See you all soon. James J Shanks Alejandra Gámez Ken Bayern Ellesse Fehlberg Joe Clarke Meche Vazquez Greg Holt Joanna Lockwood Absen Biamp Barco Crestron Electronics Evertz INFiLED kramer Jabra Lightware Visual Engineering Legrand Logitech Midwich LG Electronics Sony Microsoft BLUETOUCHPAPER CONSULTING LIMITED Sam (Samantha) Phenix

Let’s talk dates. March is here, bringing with it a fresh wave of opportunities and special events that your business can use to help fuel your marketing efforts 🌸🗓️ So, although February gifted us an extra day, let's make the most of March! 🌼 March 10, 2024 - Mother's Day (UK): Many businesses leverage this day for special deals to spoil Mums, Grandmas, and mother figures. Ensure to be sensitive and supportive if sending out marketing emails for Mother’s Day, offering opt-out options for customers who may not celebrate. 🍀 March 17, 2024 - St. Patrick's Day: Embrace the Irish spirit! Whether you're a bar hosting an event or a retail business stocking decorations, it's time to get ready for the celebrations. ♻️ March 18, 2024 - Global Recycling Day: Celebrate environmental consciousness! Showcase your business's green initiatives and your corporate social responsibility around sustainability. 🌿 And don't miss these essential dates: 👥 Employee Appreciation Day (US) - March 1st 🌷 Spring Equinox - March 20th 🕰️ British Summer Time begins - March 31st Save this post to remind yourself about upcoming holidays and plan your events in advance! 🎉 #BusinessTips #March2024 #BusinessPlanning #RetailPOS #HospitalityPOS

Absolutely blown away by the view here at ChangeNOW. It's hands down the best conference vista I've ever seen. And ChangeNow is like no other event I've been to. From the speakers to the exhibitors, it's just wall-to-wall inspiration. There's so much passion, ideas, investors, and positivity in this room, it's almost overwhelming. I’ve managed to distill down to 5 things that really stuck with me today: 1. Everything Paul Polman said was just spot on. And super interesting that the average age of board members is 65+. Getting diversity on boards really should be a priority for larger companies now. 2. Loved hearing about the sustainability changes happening at Accor, both the push up from the employees and the structure given by management, thanks to Brune Poirson. 3. Nancy Mahon from The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. was refreshingly honest about her team's learning journey - they're literally learning at the conference! (I could listen to her for hours) 4. The BBC presenter James Stewart share how important it is to acknowledge climate anxiety in kids aged 8-11. 5. Sherry Madera, the CEO of CDP, made a great point about data collection versus action. Companies need to be crystal clear on why and what they're collecting with data and how they're using it, because a dollar spent on collection, is a dollar not spent on action. What a fantastic second day in Paris. Can't believe there's more to come tomorrow! #sustainability #learning #CSO #sustainablehospitality