Digital may have seemed the sustainable alternative to print, but even that now needs conscious strategy and action to offset our carbon footprint.
No matter which way you spin it, our current trajectory is unsustainable. Our only planet is in serious trouble, and we humans bear the responsibility.
There is hope: we can play an equally strong part in our planet’s healing, as we did in its ailing.
With climate change contributing to increased environmental degradation, it is crucial for every industry to take steps towards reducing their impact. Ours is no different – in fact, the media and marketing industry has a unique, substantial role to play in this effort.
The energy consumption required to produce and distribute content has a huge impact on the environment: from printing materials and running ads to powering data centres, our industry’s carbon footprint is significant.
By embracing sustainability, we can reduce our environmental impact, enhance brand reputation, and appeal to socially conscious consumers.
Before we get to what that sustainability means for our industry, we should understand how we affect the environment, as it helps determine where we could best offset that impact.
Sustainability in the cyber sphere
Did you know that the internet is responsible for around 2-4% of all greenhouse gas emissions – and that this is on par with the aviation industry?
Just by using the internet and transferring data, we are releasing around 330m tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. Of that, online advertising is responsible for 60m tonnes – the equivalent of 66m flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
With the inexorable increase in online video consumption, driven by the accelerated uptake in social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, this is only going to get worse.
In ExchangeWire’s Sustainability in Advertising report – based on a survey of 130+ senior-level media professionals in Europe – more than half said that they require their advertising partners to report their carbon emissions to them. And over 90% said sustainability metrics will be increasingly important for their actions within the next 24 months.
These are encouraging numbers, indicative of the change needed.
Of course, I’m not suggesting that we stop using the internet but, just as the fossil fuel industry is faced with unavoidable but needed change, so are we.
Steps in the right direction
It is important to recognise that sustainability is an ongoing journey. As much as we monitor our metrics and economic impact, we should regularly assess practices, and improve where necessary.
Conducting environmental audits, setting emission reduction targets, and monitoring progress are crucial steps in this process.
By continuously striving for sustainability – and reducing energy consumption – the media industry can set an example for other sectors.
In this endeavour, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) established the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) in 2019, to address the challenge of harmful content on digital media platforms. Along with globally renowned brands such as Diageo, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, Reckitt, Mastercard, and others, they established a steering committee to specifically focus on sustainability.
The GARM team developed the world’s first guide to sustainable media for advertisers. Unveiled at the Cannes Lions International Festival in 2023, it provides advertisers and their agencies with real, actionable steps to help reduce the direct carbon emissions of their activities, as outlined below.
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Partner responsibly
Using sustainable suppliers in the media value chain is a major step towards reducing your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This means reassessing who you work with, encouraging to adopt sustainable practices, and filtering out those who don’t. Simply put, work with companies who do, or are willing to, review, report, and reduce their GHG emissions. If everyone at each step of the supply chain takes accountability, we all win.
Free resources like The Sustainable Business Book by Kevin and Sarah Duncan provide an environmental, social and governance (ESG) audit framework, a basic checklist on a company’s impact and commitment to change.
Institutions like the Science-Based Targets initiative offer a range of target-setting resources and guidance for corporations.
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Streamline your value chain
Technologies used to support digital media campaigns require energy, producing heat and generating greenhouse gases. The IAB Tech Lab provides detailed steps to reduce this.
According to their Sustainability Starter Guide about programmatic media: “Reducing the number of transactions in the bid stream has a direct impact on lowering energy consumption and a straightforward way to decrease transactions is to minimise duplication of requests.
Fewer transactions, especially those that result from duplication in the bid stream, means less energy gets used.”
Review your media supply chain from advertiser to consumer – focusing on digital channels – and identify areas of poor quality, overlap, duplication, and redundancy.
For example, looking at a publisher’s listing in their ads.txt shows how many SSPs (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways) they work with, and how much energy they use.
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Drive asset sufficiency
In short, this step involves ways to reduce, reuse and recycle your creative assets. Using fewer versions of assets for a longer time reduces ‘digital waste’ – resources used to create, store, and display assets that may not be needed to still run an effective campaign.
Even considering using darker colour schemes can reduce the energy needed. This also extends beyond digital of course, as printing less reduces waste. It may seem like changing things for a single campaign isn’t much, but over time it significantly adds up.
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Compress digital creative formats
Another relatively simple step: where possible, compressing and shortening creative elements literally reduces the energy used. Larger files and longer assets all add up to increased energy and GHG emissions.
High-resolution creative assets are not always necessary, as most material is viewed on laptops or phones and don’t need long runtimes. A middle ground can be reached between creative and campaign effectiveness and sustainable assets.
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Stream, don’t preload
Preloaded creative content requires full loading of the asset whether the consumer views it to 10% or 100%, leading to lots of data wastage. It’s an easily overlooked aspect of advertising or displaying content online, but with advancing technology, we can move beyond legacy methods.
One company championing adaptive streaming in the interest of sustainability is SeenThis; their technology streams digital creative, rather than using conventional download technology – which means less data, instant loading of assets, and no file size restrictions. .
Other steps include not using auto-play as a default setting, and working with your web development team on landing pages to enable streaming of content.
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Optimise flighting
Electricity usage varies during the day, and in different days of the week, especially in markets that are powered by more renewable energy. Optimising this, by testing and researching on and off-peak times for flighting strategies, can reduce the strain on grids – without sacrificing reach and impact.
Media buying during off-peak times lessens the use of fossil fuels, but as this is still an area of ongoing testing, more experimentation and use-cases are needed. That said, Dentsu is one agency group that’s pioneering in this space locally, with their Nightvision product.
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Outdoor options
By its nature, many outdoor campaigns and media are in public spaces, using public structures. Structural materials, lighting, energy supply, campaign materials, installation, cleaning and end-of-campaign recycling all contribute to the footprint.
Try to work with suppliers who use sustainable practices, not only in physical materials and infrastructure, but also in their campaign and media delivery. Some examples include using recycled paper and biodegradable materials; recycled aluminium or steel; eliminating virgin plastic, vinyl and PVC; energy-efficient digital displays and solar-powered roofs, limiting water consumption through rainwater capture, LED lighting alternatives and using electric vehicles.
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Perspectives in print
Sustainable printing practices is contributing to a growing industry, with the increasing use of recycled and biodegradable paper and supporting materials – binding materials, plastics, transport, and packaging – as well as their disposal or reuse at the end of a campaign.
As there is still no global standard for paper recycling, implementing this as much as possible will go a long way in setting a standard for others.
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Standardise emissions data
GHG emissions data can be done in conjunction with media buying and campaign performance measurements, by overlaying additional metrics like media quality and GHG emissions data, side by side with performance data.
Requesting GHG emission data from supply chain vendors and partners and tracking this measurement will, over time, lead to standardisation, and the expectation that it becomes part of the process.
As yet, no industry standard exists, which GARM aims to change with the idea that it is included in all planning, buying, and reporting platforms.
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Optimise data usage
More data use puts more strain on servers and systems, and use more power. This step is harder to fully implement in developing countries, where roaming data may be more expensive, or networks not fully supported.
However, there are some ways in which data usage can be limited or streamlined, targeting essential audiences, weighing the business imperative for each layer of targeting, reducing overlapping services, and sustainable targeting, like wi-fi over mobile, where available.
Collaboration is key
Collaboration is essential in achieving any of these goals. Like the vital work GARM is doing, media professionals can join industry-wide initiatives or form partnerships to collectively address environmental challenges.
Sharing best practices and knowledge can lead to innovative solutions and a more sustainable future for our industry.
Fostering collaboration within the industry is a significant and crucial step towards a more sustainable future. We have the means, the technology, and the creativity. Together, we can build a greener industry that not only inspires creatively and drives results for clients but also protects our planet for future generations.
Joe Steyn-Begley is managing director of Carbon1, a marketing technology advisory. Carbon1 is a comprehensive consultative assessment and strategic service that gives independent advice on the selection and use of marketing technologies tailored to, and aligned, with an organisation’s digital transformation goals and objectives.
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