Clearly PR features in PRWeek (and more)
Clearly PR, the B Corp PR agency, pledges free public relations consultancy services to 100 certified B Corp businesses in 2025.
Over the last few days, Clearly PR’s announcement regarding the launch of its B Corp 100 Challenge has received a raft of media coverage, including the PR industry’s leading trade publication PR Week.
Earlier this month, Clearly opted to extend its pro bono PR consultation services for other B Corp businesses and brands that it launched last autumn. Since then, the agency has supported over 50 organisations.
Now the goal is to increase this by a further 100 over the course of 2025. That will see the Clearly team support more than 150 B Corps in under 18 months – 5% of all certified B Corps in the UK.
By the end of 2025, Clearly PR will have supported 1 in 20 of all B Corps in the UK.
We thought this would make for an interesting story for the media, and we were right. In addition to PRWeek, media coverage was secured in some of the South West’s most influential business publications including Business Desk, The Business Exchange, and Bath Business News.
See coverage:
Here’s the story in full – comments provided by Paul MacKenzie-Cummins, managing director at Clearly PR.
How big is the B Corp movement in the UK?
“The B Corp movement is seeing incredible growth right now both within our region and nationally, with almost 3,000 certified businesses in the UK alone. This is a six-fold increase since Clearly PR gained B Corp status in 2021.
“Yet despite its popularity and widespread attention, many B Corps report difficulties in successfully generating press interest in their ESG (environment, social and governance) related news.”
Why are brands struggling to get media traction in their ESG stories?
“The reason for this is two-fold. First is greenwashing. The dramatic rise in the number of organisations exposed for exaggerating their environmental credentials by ‘greenwashing’ their marketing and PR has left a sour taste in the mouths of the media.
- Further reading on greenwashing: Corporate greenwashing is not dead or dying
“When once media outlets couldn’t publish ESG-related stories fast enough, they are now increasingly sceptical of businesses and brands looking to promote any news that is aimed at heightening their profile as an environmentally responsible business.”
What does this mean for brands who want to share their ESG stories?
“This presents a real challenge for B Corps and other ESG-led organisations who have great stories to tell. Take the example of a consultation we had with a very well-known international skincare brand.
“They confided in us a fear of talking about the great work they do to protect and restore endangered ecosystems in case they were labelled as ‘greenwashers.’
“This is despite the brand’s green credentials clearly outshining most if not all of their direct competitors.”
- Free webinar coming up: How to generate more PR for your B Corp
Lack of knowing ‘how’ to effectively pitch their stories to the media is an issue for brands
“The second reason that B Corp organisations are failing to get media coverage is down to them not understanding ‘how’ to construct their stories.
“Too many create press releases that are either overly self-promotional or they fail to include key details that address the questions that journalists will likely have.
“Every organisation who attends a one-on-one online PR consultation with Clearly PR gains invaluable real-world ideas that are specific to them.
“These in turn can be developed as news stories that – with Clearly’s guidance on ‘how’ to present and pitch them to the media – will pique the interest of journalists and increase the chances of publication.
“If we reach our target of 100 by the end of this year, which we are already on course to do, we will have supported over 150 B Corp businesses and brands in less than 18 months.
“That’s one in every 20 certified organisations in the UK.”
