People, Planet, Profit

I’m sure we’ve all heard the term triple bottom line thrown around in the business world before. 

But do we really know what it means?

The term refers to the idea that thinking about profits as the only “bottom line” isn’t enough. The triple bottom line was introduced to emphasise the importance for businesses to focus on social and environmental concerns as much as profits, coining the 3P’s “people, planet, profit”. 

 As consumers and businesses began to adopt the triple bottom line theory, the value of the business has become about much more than generating cash. The growing trend of the 3P’s has brought to light that running a business purely for profit ultimately leads to poor results for not only the business but to society as a whole. 

While new leads, customers or clients are one way to measure the success of your marketing, what about the impacts your business has on the world around us? 

 Incorporating triple bottom line into your marketing efforts is about conveying what your business stands for, the positive impact you aim to have on the people & planet around you and differentiating your business from other profit centres. 

 So, let’s break it down, what do each of the P’s stand for. 

 PEOPLE

The impact a business has on its stakeholders, both positive and negative. Stakeholders can include employees, customers, suppliers and the wider community influenced by the business. 

PLANET

The positive and negative impact an organisation has on the natural environment and world around them. This includes reducing its carbon footprint, materials used in the supply chain, removal of waste, reforestation and restoration.

PROFIT 

The positive and negative impact an organisation has on the economy (i.e. local, national and/or international) This includes creating employment, innovation, paying taxes, creating wealth and other economic impacts. 

 With a growing interest in the triple bottom line, consumers are now taking note of what impacts their purchases have on society. As a business, adopting triple bottom line in an authentic way that aligns with your business culture and values can be extremely beneficial. What are the benefits of adopting the 3P’s into your marketing strategy? Triple bottom line allows you to convey your business values and passions for the greater good of society. In doing so, this creates a culture and community around your business, generating brand loyalty and brand identity.  

At Double Tap we have worked to include the triple bottom line not only for our own business but for that of our clients, with many who were on our books while making the transition at DTA following along. 

Coming from a corporate background where my days were filled with revenue targets, profit KPI’s, hard sells, long long long working days where my value was based on who was the first in and last to leave and operating like a cog on a massive wheel. I started Double Tap to do things differently in the marketing space, and now we do things different across the business working with those with similar ethos to us. 

People and Planet over all else and of course profit comes off the back of that, feeling good about what we do, about the impact we are having & waking up every morning loving our job as we strive to do better.