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Sebastian Backhaus is a German social entrepreneur and marketing specialist. On his blog www.sebastianbackhaus.de, he regularly writes about media, marketing, sustainability and innovation in Germany. He founded the company ‘Backhaus Marketingberatung’, a PR and advisory firm based in Freiburg, Germany, with focus on sustainable marketing for social businesses, NGO’s and charities. Mr Backhaus gladly agreed to be featured with an interview on our blog and to share his insights of the development and innovations in the sustainability- and social business sector in Germany.

Mr. Backhaus, could you introduce yourself and your enterprise ‘Backhaus Marketingberatung’ in a few words?

I hold a Masters in business administration with a focus on media and communications and I am the founder of ‘Backhaus Marketingberatung’. My work essentially involves two basic components: On one hand I create communications concepts for companies, charities and NGO’s as well as providing advisory services. On the other hand, as the project manager, I apply those concepts and implement them via a well established network of consultants. As regards to contents, I specialize on sustainable businesses and enterprises. We provide all traditional communications aspects and recently broadened our focus to the online and social media sector.

Your focus lies on sustainable products and services, that is, you primarily advice social and ecological start-ups. Do those companies have special needs that you intend to satisfy?

Generally, social and ecological start-ups require the same support and advisory services as traditional companies. However, there can be differences. For example in terms of the basic inventory we provide. A number of questions arise here: How can a company find an internet provider that hosts their website carbon neutrally? Or how can I find ecologically produced office equipment?

Furthermore, it is important to have the know-how of the relevant target groups that demand social and sustainable products and services. For several years, I’ve not only been involved in the development of media in this regard but also with the respective target groups and their needs.

How do you proceed in creating publicity for such sustainable companies? Is there some sort of ‘best practice’, a formula that guarantees success?

I don’t think there is a formula for success. Alongside the more traditional fields such as PR and advertising, marketing measures that aim for a dialogue with potential customers have proven successful. This can be corporate blogs or social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube - just to name a few.

Those new modes of communication are valuable for a number of reasons: First, sustainable companies are generally interested and willing to communicate honestly and to create transparency, as well as being thankful for feedback from customers and partners. In addition, [online marketing using web 2.0 tools] is relatively fast and low cost compared to traditional ways of advertising. By using web 2.0 applications the target group is able to distribute the contents further. After all, people enjoy telling their friends and relatives about products or companies they like.

What comes to your mind when you think of the term ‘social business‘?

Spontaneously, a number of terms come to my mind: Future, Fairness, Profitability and Sustainability. In principle, a social business integrates commercial with social targets. A social business not only aims to sustain itself but to provide a social asset, too. Its objective is that of serving humans.

The social business model was primarily introduced by Nobel Peace laureate Mohammad Yunus, founder of (among other things) the ‘Genesis Institute for Social Business and Impact Strategies‘.

What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of these social businesses?

I believe that social businesses enjoy a high credibility on the market as well as trust among consumers. The major aspect surely is the social benefit of this business model. Companies that bridge the gap between commercial targets and social objectives (and ideally integrate ecological aspects), are in the long run more successful and more resilient to crisis than traditional companies.

The weaknesses lie, in my opinion, in the initially higher prices of products or services of a social business. That is either due to more cost-intensive production or lack of experience in a certain field.

What are the themes of your blog www.sebastianbackhaus.de?

When I started this blog I chose ‘Marketing‘ ‘Media’ and ‘Sustainability’ as umbrella terms. Principally, those terms still apply to this day.  The themes I use are manifold, but mainly center around ecological or social impact. Posts range from from interviews with companies, to reports on organizations, events, conferences and products and to introductions of campaigns, videos, e-petitions and book reviews.

In general I write about things that interest me and which I think the public should know about. My  sources include newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, blogs, websites, recommendations by friends, Twitter and Facebook, just to name a few.

What is the aim of the two maps depicting ‘sustainable blogs and journals’ and ‘sustainable businesses’ on your blog?

The map of sustainable blogs and journals is based on a list created by Michael Wenzl for the website www.bioemma.de. Shortly after seeing this list I created a map to show where the different bloggers live. It’s nice to see that it is working and that it leads from online to offline. With this map, I was able to meet some of the bloggers in real life.

The second map of sustainable businesses and organization evolved from a similar idea. I asked myself, whether there are any social businesses in Freiburg and if I could include them in my blog. I began with conducting interviews with those businesses but, due to time constraints, I include business descriptions too, as of now.

Do you think that the number of social and sustainable businesses in Germany will increase within the next years? And if so, why?

Yes – but not only for altruistic reasons. In case of finite resources it is just a matter of time that people will reconsider and change to ecological alternatives. However, that doesn’t necessarily include the social sector. One can only hope that there will be enough reasonable people. I do not have recent figures with regards to the development of social and sustainable business at the moment, however I do know a fair number of people in search for a meaningful work. For some this may lead to the formation of a business which incorporates commercial, ecological and social objectives.

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