LONDON — Sunny Side Up (pictured) has become the latest agency to achieve full B Corp status. Founder Nick Woods said: “This agency was founded to help good brands grow but it has always felt like we needed to cement that thought into something more tangible and measurable. B Corps recognises our most challenging global problems cannot be solved by governments and non-profits alone. By harnessing the power of their business, B Corporations commit to positively impact all stakeholders – workers, communities, customers, and our planet. Sunny Side Up is therefore no longer a single bottom line business, driven solely by the attainment of profit. Instead, we are part of a new generation of business which place equal importance on people, planet and profit.”

MANCHESTER — Purpose- focused communications consultancy Social has also achieved B Corp status. The consultancy, which employs 45 colleagues across its offices, has introduced five days’ paid volunteering leave for all staff, 30 days’ annual leave, a transparent pay and grading system, and an enhanced environmental policy, and has embedded its commitment to have a material positive impact on society and the environment into its articles of association.

LONDON — Also confirmed as a B Corp this month is positive change agency, Kindred, which joins seven other PR and comms agencies in the country to have achieved more than 100 points in the assessment. The agency now only develops client campaigns that will benefit the plant, people or both, and has implemented a ‘no positive change, no pitch’ rule for new business.

LONDON — Brands2Life has become carbon neutral and accelerated its aim of becoming net-zero in the next five years, before the UK government’s target of 2030, by partnering with carbon analytics company Alectro. The agency measured its carbon impact for the past fiscal year using the GHG Protocol – the most widely-used framework around the world. COO Tim Spink said: “This is only the first step of our net-zero journey. We believe that by selecting best-in-class offsets, making clear, sustainable changes to the way we operate our business, and with hybrid working, we are enabling every employee to make positive environmental choices in their day-to-day lives.”

LONDON — Sport and entertainment agency Fuse has won Japanese beer brand Asahi Super Dry’s Rugby World Cup 2023 partnership activation, after a competitive pitch. The agency will focus on the key markets of UK and Ireland, Japan, France, New Zealand and Australia. Fuse’s remit includes rights management, digital content and PR as well as the end-to-end management of ticketing, hospitality and events programmes across the seven-week tournament in France next year, for which Asahi Super Dry is the official beer.

DUBAI — APCO Worldwide and the GCC Board Directors Institute have released the results of a joint study seeking to better understand where companies in the Gulf region are on their ESG journey, their priority issues and barriers to ESG implementation. The survey found that companies are beginning to take action on ESG, but that a lack of transparency and standardised metrics remain major points of friction. The report found that ESG programs in the region have emerged largely as a reactive response to investor and stakeholder pressure, but as government policies around ESG are rapidly evolving, GCC-based companies are still at the “start-up” phase of their ESG journey and still struggling to understand, analyse and act on their data. Most private companies in the region are not reporting on their ESG goals, but more than half of listed companies that were surveyed are doing so.

HAMPSHIRE, UK — Jargon PR has been appointed by retail package returns company Pollen to build its profile in the international retail, fashion, business and telecoms media, as the brand expands globally, including highlighting its partnerships with Fedex and UPS. In addition, after its expansion into the UAE last month, the B2B agency has be selected as the official strategic technology PR partner of GITEX Global 2022, the Middle East’s largest technology event.

LONDON — Influencer marketing company Influencer Intelligence has published a white paper on ‘The Role of Influencers in Social Commerce’, revealing that social commerce will be the top objective for influencer marketing campaigns within the next year. Other key findings from the survey of over 150 marketers worldwide include: 74% of marketers believe the growth of social commerce will drive better practices in ROI and measurement within influencer marketing; shoppable links were seen as the most popular way to integrate social commerce into influencer strategy by 61% of marketers; and 51% agree that shoppable live streaming will be essential for all brands within the next year. The white paper also explores the growth of social commerce and lessons from China for western markets.

LONDON — Emerging technology specialist Cherish PR, which last year merged with B2B agency Gong Communications to establish The Wilful Group, has added two new clients to its roster: Goldster, a digital platform that offers virtual classes designed to provide physical, emotional and cognitive benefits to an ageing population; and veterinary telehealth service Vetster.