The business of helping businesses do better
Wings4U & Ecologi story
“I didn’t want my kids to grow up thinking businesses only make profit,” says Maria Sztarovics, Founder and CEO at Wings4U. To challenge the status quo, she’s constantly looking for ways Wings4U’s business – that specializes in Customer Marketing & Advocacy for B2B tech companies – can be used as a force for good.
Balancing profit and purpose
Through storytelling, Wings4U is helping grow its clients’ impact and revenue. “We tap into our clients’ customers to give voice to their mutual successes. The logic behind this is simple – customers trust other customers. It’s word-of-mouth advertising, amplified,” explains Maria.
“We believe our tech clients have the potential to improve the world. By giving voice to their advocates, we raise awareness about their potential for good,” she adds.
Maria believes that acting collectively is crucial because it enables people to pool their knowledge, resources, and energy to tackle the most complex and pressing challenges our society is facing. “Individuals can make a difference. Together, we can change the world. Imagine what would happen if every company going paperless would contribute some of the savings to carbon offsetting? What if every business migrating to the cloud would contribute some of the hardware savings to funding water treatment projects around the world? We want to shine the light on these stories and inspire business leaders around the world,” sums up Maria.
We believe our tech clients have the potential to improve the world. By giving voice to their advocates, we raise awareness about their potential for good.
Purpose, in practice
In 2021, Maria launched a talk show series ‘Expecting Miracles’ to broadcast the purpose-driven stories of business leaders in the B2B space. “These talks entice, inspire, provoke, and challenge our audience to rethink the way they do business,” she says. “We tell stories to inspire more leaders to use their profit and position for good.”
Through Wings4U, Maria looked at partnership opportunities to support purpose-driven organizations. In 2022, Wings4U and SlapFive partnered with Artists for Humanity (AFH) – a Boston-based organization that provides under-resourced teens the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in art and design.
Wings4U purchased paintings from AFH to support the cause, and led a campaign to raise awareness for AFH’s mission, giving away the paintings as part of a raffle drawing during the CustomerX advocacy conference.
Toward the end of 2022, Maria started to think about new year’s gifts. Wings4U wanted to thank its clients, employees, and community for their awesome collaboration throughout the year. “Instead of a material gift, we wanted to share something truly special. And what’s more special than securing a hopeful future?” Maria thought.
Ecologi came to Maria’s mind immediately after that. Through Ecologi’s subscription service, Wings4U is planting 10 trees for each day of 2023 on behalf of its clients, employees and community. This amounts to more than 3,500 trees in one year.
Wings4U impact
Brought together through common values
“We found Ecologi when we started our B-Corp certification process back in 2021,” remembers Maria. Back then, Wings4U was looking for reputable, trusted companies that offer carbon offsetting services. “Ecologi came out on top based on our research criteria.”
Ecologi’s brand promise to provide simple and impactful ways to take action for businesses and individuals matches Wings4U’s vision. "Planting trees is not just an investment in our environment, it's an investment in our future,” says Melis Hamurculu, Head of Sales at Wings4U.
"Planting trees is not just an investment in our environment, it's an investment in our future.
Ecologi helps Wings4U support protection of vital resources like clean air and water, support biodiversity, and mitigate the impacts of climate change. “By investing in reforestation through Ecologi’s services, we can create a healthier, more sustainable planet for generations to come,” adds Melis.
And Wings4U is far from the only business interested in such services. A research study that Ecologi undertook in 2022 revealed that 8 in 10 businesses want to be greener but don’t know where to start. “Ecologi helps everyone to take their first step towards a better future. We hope that our gift of trees to clients, employees and community works not just as a gift, but as a roadmap which every one of us can use to make a positive contribution to our environment and community,” concludes Maria.
OUR WORK
Customer Evidence Program for Microsoft CEE
Together with Microsoft we landed a centralized and holistic Customer Evidence Program in Central and Eastern Europe
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Driving Advocacy Transformation as a Department of 1
Together with Cache Walker, we combined technical and advocacy knowledge in order to create a unique environment that turned happy customers into the best-sellers.
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Building a customer marketing program that delivers results
Wings4U and Fortinet forged a partnership that goes well beyond business: From gathering customer insights to localizing content into native languages, the cyber-security leader now has a seamless and end-to-end customer marketing program.
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A perfect match in Customer Advocacy
Yesler’s strategy & Wings4U’s execution delivered $1B influenced revenue for one of the world’s largest technology companies.
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