The question of what a for-profit company’s purpose is might seem straightforward. It’s...for profit. But brands are beginning to recognize that earning said profit depends on more than churning out products and services, as people are increasingly considering a company’s impact on things like the environment and its workers before making a purchase.

Lucky for them, companies that don’t fashion themselves entirely as profit-hungry, soulless types can try to prove their virtues through the burgeoning B Corp movement.

• Created by the nonprofit organization B Lab in 2006, “B Corp” is a status a company can apply for to certify that, in addition to turning a profit, it prioritizes making a positive impact on the world through things like environmental action, community engagement, and labor practices.
  
• To date, B Lab says it has certified more than 4,000 companies in more than 70 countries. They include brands like Patagonia, Allbirds, Amy’s Kitchen, and Ben & Jerry’s.

TCHO, a company that sells organic and fair-trade chocolate, earned its B Corp status in September. It says that central to its application were its efforts to responsibly source cacao beans and labor. For instance, the company set up “Flavor Labs” around the world as part of its TCHO Source program to allow farmers to make and taste the chocolate from the beans they produce, something many farmers don’t actually get to do.

“We’ve always been proud of the steps we’ve taken to maintain sustainability efforts through our TCHO Source Program, and B Corps standards were aligned with what we have already been doing,” Laura Sweitzer, Source program director at TCHO, told Marketing Brew.

Checking boxes

Onlookers might dismiss the B Corp movement as a marketing ploy—a way for companies to put on a fancy sticker to show the world that they care about more than just profit. But B Lab and the companies it certifies argue it’s not an easy label to earn or maintain.

• “The process was extremely time-consuming. It took time to compile all the necessary documentation that they require,” Sweitzer told us. “The biggest challenge that we faced was compiling over 10 years of TCHO’s sourcing and sustainability records that complied with B Labs’ application standards.”
• That said, B Corp companies do often use their status to display their values to customers. Sweitzer said TCHO displays the B Corp logo prominently on its packaging and marketing materials.

(Not) easy as ABC: In order to become a certified B Corp, companies have to hit a mark of at least 80 out of 200 on the B Impact Assessment, an online tool that evaluates a company’s impact on its workers, customers, community, and the environment.

The assessment asks questions about the amount of on-site renewable energy a company’s offices use, or the number of full-time workers who are reimbursed for continuing-education opportunities, in addition to several others. B Lab also imposes legal requirements to become a B Corp. The org says that about a third of companies seeking the certification actually get it.

“If you just see this as a label, you’re not going to actually reach that 80 bar. It requires legitimate dedication to mission and true positive performance,” Holly Ensign-Barstow, B Lab’s director of stakeholder governance and policy, told Marketing Brew.

Read more about how companies become a B Corp here.—ZS

In the past few years, several media companies have been making efforts to capture more of the US Hispanic audience. The old guard of US Spanish-language broadcasting like Telemundo and Univision, as well as newer companies born of the internet, is building out streaming platforms catering to Spanish speakers in the US.

• The 2020 Census showed that nearly a fifth of the country identified as Hispanic or Latino, and that the demographic accounted for half of the country’s population growth in the last decade.

Romina Rosado, EVP and GM of Hispanic streaming at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, told Marketing Brew that media companies are looking to account for this picture of the country’s demographics. “As a company, if you are trying to reach Latinos under the age of 40, you need to have a well-thought-out strategy to find them where they are,” Rosado said.

• Earlier this year, NBCU established Telemundo Streaming Studios, a division responsible for producing original content for Hispanic audiences across the streaming ecosystem. A few months later, NBCU created a separate unit charged with attracting Hispanic audiences to NBCU’s own streaming platforms like Peacock.

Ad buyers are attuned to the opportunity with Hispanic streamers, Karina Dobarro, EVP and managing partner at media agency Horizon Media, told us.

“Hispanics have from the beginning led in digital video consumption, but the options were limited until recently. With the entrance of these new endemic streaming platforms, we are able to effectively shift dollars to this growing space to match Hispanic video consumption habits,” Dobarro said.

Click here to read more about how both streaming companies and advertisers are rushing to reach Spanish-speaking audiences.—ZS

Lowe’s is selling more than just Christmas trees and plywood. Announced this week, the big-box retailer has come out with an advertising business called One Roof Media Network, which is definitely not an ad network catering to rural motels.

Through the network, brands will be able to buy banner and search ads on the Lowe’s app and website. It’s also selling sponsored content on its website and social channels. The platform was built alongside the ad-tech companies Criteo and CitrusAd.

• If your brand is already selling power drills at Lowe’s, you could now reach customers while they’re browsing the retailer’s site and reading product reviews.
• Samsung, Kohler, and GE Lighting all participated in the network’s beta testing, according to the company.

Lowe’s is also letting brands use its sweet, sweet first-party data to target users outside of its own properties, according to Business Insider.

But wait, isn’t privacy such a big deal now? How are they just going to, like, sell their shoppers’ own first-party data? Great questions! There are a few ways, explained Eric Schmitt, an analyst at Gartner.

• They could build custom audience sets for a specific brand. A marketer might want to target “frequent power tool buyers who spend a lot, but seem to favor other brands,” for instance.
• Create standardized segments, like “commercial contractors and builders” or “DIY enthusiasts,” and make these available to buyers through a demand-side platform.
• Or, run data through a “clean room,” which would anonymize or aggregate it while still allowing for targeting.

“Generally speaking, retailers want to avoid the risk of data leakage, and so will keep close control over valuable information like unique customer identifiers, purchase frequency, amounts, and other details,” Schmitt wrote.

Zoom out: Retailers know a lot about their customers. What they like, what they buy, and when they want it. That’s all incredibly valuable data. Conversely, marketers are also looking for alternatives to Amazon. That’s why Kroger, Target, CVS, and now Walmart are getting into the ad game.—RB

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Social media: Americans view it as a double-edged sword, based on a survey from Gallup and the Knight Foundation. The study asked people to weigh social media’s benefits, like staying connected, versus potential harms, like misinformation.

Twitter Spaces: Social audio…what a concept. If your brand is trying to figure out how to leverage Twitter’s version of Clubhouse, this might help.

Websites: You want people to visit yours, but how do you know if enough people are? This guide will show you how to get that data and analyze it.

Spice it up: With insights that turn up the heat and strategies that actually work, Chili Piper’s podcast, Demand Gen Chat, breaks down how today’s marketing leaders are driving revenue. Learn what they’re raving about in the latest episode.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content}

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• What to expect at Advertising Week New York
• Facebook’s latest privacy-oriented move
• Advertising legend David Kennedy dies at 82

There are a lot of questionably named companies in the murky marketing universe. Two of these are real ad tech companies. The rest are fitness studios. Can you distinguish them? Keep scrolling for the answers.

• ZeSa
• Liftoff
• Solcioty
• NXPT
• SOCi