It has been a few weeks since we became a certified B Corporation. 2nd in Finland. 6th in Sweden. One of the first in our industry on the planet. So what does a B Corp mean for Framme and our customers daily and weekly?
Framme’s mission is to build meaningful connections in an increasingly sustainable way. Meaningful connections and experiences between people, physical locations and brands. In the marketing industry, however, sustainability has often been the very last priority. Marketing promotions usually are associated with fast one-off campaigns and random giveaways that end up being throwaways.
Quick and dirty.
We at Framme want to change that and empower our customers to become change-makers. Reduce the production of quick and tactical materials and start making long-lasting, well-thought physical marketing assets. Sustainably and measurably.
One of the first ways we want to help our customers is by assessing and ensuring the solutions we recommend and make meet at least four of our six sustainability criteria:
- Sustainable materials
- Sustainable disposal
- Local impact
- Circular economy
- Responsible supplier
- Green logistics.
We realise that 4/6 isn’t perfect. But whilst we reviewed our supply chain, we realised that some fantastic and sustainable producers and craftsmen in locations like Iisalmi or Skellefteå don’t have certifications to prove their excellence. Are they worse than a producer with a Global Organic Textile Standard certification in Bangladesh or Italy? Therefore, we believe it would be silly to rule them out by only looking at what certifications they might have. We need to look at productions more holistically.
Read more about our sustainability criteria here ›
Providing sustainability data and insights to our customers
On top of the sustainability criteria mentioned above, we have built capabilities to track your project’s productions and collect the data connected to materials, certifications, disposal and logistics. We can now show you the impact of your projects in a comprehensive way to make often confusing sustainability data more tangible. Our end goal is to help you make smarter marketing production and material choices which are easily comparable and measurable. We also hope this data encourages you to communicate your sustainability impact to your internal and external stakeholders.
At Framme, we also put a lot of effort into staying up to date and keeping track of new ideas and material innovations. Something we are eager to share with you. In the upcoming days, we’ll be releasing our first-ever Framme Materials Guide to assist brand builders and designers learn more about physical materials used in marketing productions.
Oh, one last thing. What being a certified B Corporation also means to us. B Corp is not a product, material or process certification but a management model for organisations. A model and governance structure helping companies like Bower, Patagonia, Aesop and now us to consider our decisions across customers, own team and organisation, supply chain, broader society and the environment before making them.
However, much like digital technologies, we realise sustainability is evolving fast. What we consider sustainable now might not be seen as sustainable tomorrow. Therefore, the decisions we make need to be relevant also in the future. One of the long-term benefits of the B Corporation movement is that we have to reapply every three years. Every 36 months, B Lab, a third-party organisation, reviews our sustainability data, evidence and processes to ensure we have continued to use our business for a good cause. A journey we have just started. With our fantastic customers.
