Two Commitments We Just Made, and Why They Matter

Written By Chloe Cai

Choosing who to collaborate with is one of the most important decisions for creative agencies. The work we produce shapes how brands are perceived, the stories they tell and the ideas they promote. When we formalized the two commitments that reflect our long-held views on work, it felt like a clear statement of existing facts and a more explicit description of our future actions, rather than a new direction.

SOA has joined Clean Creatives and Pledge 1%. Here is what each one means and why we joined.

What Clean Creatives Is

Clean Creatives is a global pledge by advertising and PR agencies to decline new contracts with fossil fuel companies and their front groups. The reasoning behind it is straightforward: creative agencies build trust, shape public perception, and give organizations the tools to influence how people understand the world. When those tools are used to rehabilitate the fossil fuel industry's reputation, agencies become part of that project whether they intend to or not. More than 1,500 agencies have signed. SOA is now one of them.

Why We Joined

SOA works with growth-stage companies and ambitious brands, organizations trying to build something that holds up over time. The core of brand strategy is to help these organizations articulate what they actually are. A brand worth building is one that can stand up to scrutiny.

As a studio led by women and ethnic minorities with sustainable communication as its core practice, we have always focused on creative work with long-term impact. Accepting fossil fuel clients means building narratives for organizations whose business models run directly counter to the futures that our clients, our communities, and our own teams are pursuing. This is not the position we are willing to take. Signing the pledge is a way of being clear with ourselves and with anyone who works with us about where we stand.

What Pledge 1% Is

Pledge 1% is a global movement that requires companies to allocate 1% of their equity, profits, products or time to communities and causes. Each company selects a category that suits its stage and structure. SOA is committing 1% of our time and product, pro bono. This means that part of our actual creative work, including strategy, positioning and production, goes to organizations doing work we believe in, and at no cost to them.

Why We Joined

For small agencies, 1% of the time is not a rounding error. It is real hours, real strategy, and real deliverables that most mission-driven organizations would otherwise not have access to. We want some of what we are good at to reach those teams anyway. This commitment also reflects the most exciting thing we have discovered in our work. Organizations that attempt to do something real often prompt us to think more carefully, act more purposefully, and produce work that we are truly proud of. Making room for such participation is good for the work and good for the cause.

What This Means for Our Clients and Our Work

These commitments will not change what we do. They make clearer who we do it with and where we are willing to place our capabilities. For existing and prospective clients, they signal something about how we operate. We consider the long-term impact of creative work. We treat client selection as a value decision, and we are willing to invest a share of what we are good at in work that does not come with a budget attached.

The projects we are most proud of tend to come from organizations building toward something that actually matters. These commitments are the way we continue to make room for this type of work and also the way we are responsible for the standard we already try to operate by. If you are thinking about how your brand can build that kind of credibility, we'd love to partner with an ethics-driven creative studio.

Sources

• Clean Creatives, Website, June 2026. cleancreatives.org

• Pledge 1%, Website, June 2026. pledge1percent.org