Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
The Associate of National Advertisers (ANA) has released a groundbreaking study, ‘Sustainability in Media Planning’ taking a deep dive into the carbon cost of digital marketing, the solution to measuring and reducing emissions, and how Fortune 100 brands have already achieved success with those solutions.
The ANA’s Media & Measurement Leadership Council partnered with Scope3 on the report to share practical studies and examples of how and where marketers can make sustainable advertising a reality through their influence in the ecosystem. The report is aligned with one of the core industry growth priorities of the Global CMO Growth Council – established by ANA and Cannes Lions to accelerate business growth and societal good.
Critically, the original data in the report supports the claim that sustainability and growth aren’t at odds. The findings highlight how limiting the waste in marketing programs can be beneficial both for business outcomes and sustainability.
Major brands, Coca-Cola, GM, Kimberly Clark, Kroger, Mars, and Mondelez all participated in the study and the three key approaches emerged as ways to slash emissions. Adopting green private marketplaces (GMPs) proved to be the most effective, followed by inclusion lists, and then exclusion lists.
“From brands and consumers to society as a whole, sustainability in advertising is an issue that impacts us all, which is why the ANA is working to address all areas and help the industry reduce marketing emissions while still driving growth,” said Jason Turbowitz, SVP, Media and Measurement Leadership Initiative Lead, who oversees ANA’s Media & Measurement Leadership Council. “What we found through this is that significant carbon emissions reduction is possible even in the early stages of practicing more sustainable advertising and advertisers do not have to sacrifice their performance goals or increase ad costs to make meaningful emissions improvements.”
By incorporating sustainability into their media plans, brands reduced emissions as much as 36%. The study also revealed that 2% of media sites account for a whopping 50% of total emissions, underscoring the progress brands can make within days of measuring their emissions by optimizing away from high-emissions sites. As the brands reduced their carbon emissions, they also saw a positive impact on business outcomes. Brands were able to:
- redistribute spend to high-quality sites
- hit KPIs earlier, and
- avoid overextending budgets trying to reach users on bad inventory.
Download the report here to learn more about the scope of the problem, the available solutions, and how simple and quick actions can reduce carbon and lead to greater media efficiency.
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