TheBFG.Team Brandmark Score

A Living Standards-Based Framework for Measuring For-Conviction Businesses

TheBFG.team reimagines living standards into a brandmark to communicate to consumers how "for-conviction" a business is. It offers a transparent, comparative, and actionable scorecard that evaluates how businesses serve five core stakeholder groups

Shareholders
Employees
Customers
Society
Natural Environment

Each stakeholder category is rated from A (Leading) to D (Exploitative), resulting in a five-letter rating (e.g., C C B B A) that reflects a business’s proactiveness at improving that stakeholder’s wellbeing.

A

Paradigm-defining leadership among "For Conviction" businesses.

B

Demonstrably a "For Conviction" business.

C

Common practices similar to shareholder primacy entities today.

D

The business practices exploitative or harmful approaches

🧠 How to Earn a B or A Grade

The secret sauce of a B and A grade is Empathy.

Empathy is also the secret sauce how actors/actresses are able to act their characters despite not living the experiences. Empathy is the understanding of the viewpoints of another person, without influence by our personal beliefs. It helps us recognize the cultural, emotional, and situational factors shaping someone’s view. With empathy, we see the world from their eyes.

Empathy is a diagnostic tool for understanding what each stakeholder values.

Without empathy, businesses risk optimizing for the wrong outcomes.

Below is a guided process to practise empathy for each stakeholder:

Shareholders

What do shareholders seek?
- How resilient is the business against shocks?
- What does taking risks responsibly means?
If shareholders explain the business to their children, would they feel proud?
What worries shareholders?
Would shareholders feel their capital is contributing to a legacy?
How does the business become a partner of the shareholders?

Employees

What do employees seek?
- How does working in this company fit into employee's life?
- What does being recognized or valued means?
What does the Purpose of the business mean to employees?
What would make employees advocate others to work in this business?
Would the employees miss us if the business disappeared tomorrow?
How does the business become a partner of the employees.

Customers

What do customers seek?
- What does fair means?
- Why do customers choose us out of all the options available to them?
What does the Purpose of the business mean to the customers?
What would make customers advocate for the business?
Would customers miss us if the business disappeared tomorrow?
How does the business become a partner of the customers?

Society

What does society seek?
- What does our existence mean to society?
- How is the business engaging with society?
  - Is the business making things better or worse?
What does the Purpose of the business mean to society?
What would make society advocate for the business?
How does the business become a partner of society?

Natural Environment

If the natural world can speak, what does it seek?
- What does our existence mean to the natural environment?
- How is the business engaging with the natural environment?
  - Is the business making this better or worse?
What does the Purpose of the business affect the natural environment?
What would make the natural environment, like animals, advocate for the business?
How does the business become a partner of natural environment?

Today, businesses having empathy is an exception, not the norm.

And that may be the reason behind many ills we face.

The goal of this living standards is to inspire and instill empathy into businesses.

Make "For Conviction" businesses seen, trusted and honoured.