Innovation

As for what type of company Global Prairie is, Mr. Bell said “There are business consulting firms and marketing agencies, Global Prairie lies somewhere in between; we are a hybrid marketing firm”. Global Prairie believes in using business as a force for good and the innovation lies in their business model.

The business model is designed in such a way that the Global Prairie:

1) Collaborates only with a niche segment of clients whose businesses improve the health of people, communities, and the environment. These clients are in the quality of life sectors such as human health, animal health, plant sciences, CPG/food, energy, sustainability, and philanthropy. Some of the clients are Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Galderma laboratories, Google, and Sherwin Williams. 2) Donates 10% of annual profits to organizations making a positive impact in the world. 3) Gives every employee almost three weeks of billing time to spend volunteering for community organizations they are passionate about.

The company provides services such as Advertising, Branding, Design, Digital Strategy and Development, Medical/Scientific Communications, Events Management, Guerilla and Experiential Marketing, Market Research, Social Media, Public Affairs, and SEO/SEM. The underlying purpose of the business is to create value for the customers, community, environment and the employees while generating profits and Global Prairie partners with those clients who believe in the same value and culture. Sustainability is a growing segment of the economy and Global Prairie services this growing segment with the hope of differentiating themselves from the competition, building customer and employee loyalty in a way that makes it more successful and solidifies its presence. This innovative business model has helped their clients to partner with a marketing agency that shares similar values and really understands what is needed and how the community can be benefited. This enables the client to get closer to their objectives and audience while benefiting the community and environment.

Inspiration

The co-founder, Mr. Douglas Bell talked about the brilliant business model that not only helps the business and clients but also benefits the community/society. Mr. Bell fondly said, “We wanted to do well by doing good”. When this idea didn’t resonate with his former boss, he along with Ms. Anne St. Peter took the bold step of beating the odds of a recessionary period and forming Global Prairie. I also had the opportunity to interview Ms. Natalie McAllister, the Regional Director of the Cleveland office and she recalled how this innovative business model creates a long-term relationship with clients and with peers.

Mr. Douglas Bell observed the innovative business done at Silicon Valley and wondered how a for-profit business could tackle non-profit business related issues. He described how he wanted to bridge the gap between achieving the profit goal of a business and solving community/society related issues. He said, “Can there be embedded value in addressing community/society issues with what we know and do well i.e.-marketing and then attaching ourselves to higher purpose and cause which future generations will value and care about?” The two options moving forward were: 1) Invent what already existed. There are a multitude of marketing agencies that have practice groups called sustainability or social causes. 2) Embed sustainability in the business model and how we do business and not just express themselves as a group that works in social cause area. Mr. Bell incorporated the second option and said “It is not a mutually exclusive proposition that either you do well or you do good, but these two things can co-exist with one another. We do business in a way that fits with our life not just as businessmen but as people.”

Overall impact

This innovative model sets the base for entrepreneurs to follow and makes businesses realize that a business model benefiting the client as well as developing the community/society can be profitable. Keeping in mind what future generations will do and care about, this business model is ahead of its time and creates sustainability in all the work that it does. Being operationally efficient while donating 10% of revenue to the community/cause that they are passionate about requires courage, drive and motivation and a strong commitment to stand by what you believe in. Global Prairie creates a collaborative atmosphere by bringing their clients closer to the community and setting an example for other businesses to follow all while being profitable.

Business benefit

Global Prairie was founded in the year 2008 and currently services 75 clients from different industries and has donated more than $5 million in money and time to the causes that their people and their clients are passionate about. It is certified by B-Corporation and in the list of companies recognized under B-Corporation in Cleveland, Global Prairie has the highest score.

Being operationally efficient while staying true to their promise of benefiting the clients and the community requires a business to earn profits and keep the cycle going. Global Prairie’s family includes passionate employees, niche segment of socially responsible clients which makes their business model very solid. The company has a strong brand image among the potential/ future clients, employees and also the community which not only helps generate business but creates a competitive edge and a fierce customer loyalty. In another interview in Freshwater, Cleveland, Mr. Bell said, “Our clients come to us almost exclusively by referral based on our good work and based on our overarching view of life and business”. Passionate employees acquire new clients and Ms. Natalie gave an example of how she is so involved in the work that she does - her motivation makes her go out of the way to acquire new accounts and sustain existing accounts.

Social and environmental benefit

The major social and environmental impact is that Global Prairie influences other businesses to follow their innovative business model. Example: Natalie reached out to a Cleveland foundation representative who was dumb-founded to learn what Global Prairie does and the impact of the GP foundation on communities. The representative said, “I want to adopt this concept and if I could, we would have the same structure”. Global Prairie also inspires people by setting a solid example that their innovative business model actually works. Douglas Bell concluded by saying, “We have established a framework of the belief that anything is possible, and by bringing momentum to the idea, we have created a wave of change due to which our mentality ends up infiltrating in the others' minds.”

Global Prairie’s business model meets UN Sustainability Goal 17 called “Partnership for Goals” by doing the following: 1) Collaborating only with clients whose businesses improve the health of people, communities, and the environment, 2) Donating 10% of annual profits to organizations making a positive impact in the world, 3) Giving every employee almost three weeks of billing time to spend volunteering for community organizations they are passionate about. Global Prairie also has set up each employee with a donor advised fund in their name through the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. Global Prairie donates funds at least three times each year to every employee starting on their first day and empowers every team member to invest in community non-profit organizations which they are personally passionate about. The idea is simple. Rather than a few people making donations on behalf of the company to select organizations, each team member is encouraged to give back to his or her community individually through donations of time and money. This makes Global Prairie an enabler and a facilitator of client and community development.

Interview

Douglas Bell, Co-Founder