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How Brands Can Offset Their Carbon Emissions With Digital Ads

Video
6
minutes
Technical Level
November 18, 2023
6
minutes
June 20, 2022
Technical Level
Ari Belliu
Marketing Communications Specialist

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In this video, I will cover how the delivery of digital ads causes carbon emissions, the importance of brands acting to reduce their impact on the environment and the first initiative in ad tech by Sharethrough and Scope3 for advertisers to create a sustainable programmatic ecosystem using Sharethrough’s GreenPMPs™.

Consumers prefer brands that are actively reducing their carbon emissions. Brands and organizations are looking for ways to minimize their impact on the environment. Could digital ads be the solution hiding under our noses? Stick around and let’s find out.

Introduction:

Hey there everyone, it’s Ari from Sharethrough here with a brand new episode of Behind Programmatic Headlines. In this video, I’ll cover how digital ads impact the environment and the importance of brands to reduce their carbon emissions. As well as the first initiative in ad tech by Sharethrough and Scope3 for advertisers to create a sustainable programmatic ecosystem using Sharethrough’s GreenPMPs™.

Brands want to reduce their impact on the environment

Everyone knows climate change is an increasing issue, and most industries know what they need to do to limit their impact on the environment. Now, digital advertising is stepping up to do its part. Cannes Lion 2022 made sustainability as one of its key pillars, ad giant WPP aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2025, and more recently, a group of organizations, government bodies and educators formed the Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES.) But how can digital ads create a cleaner future? First, let’s find out how browsing the internet and digital ads impact the environment.  

How does digital advertising impact the environment?

1 Ad = 1g of carbon emissions

Browsing the internet and running digital ads causes  carbon emissions similar to the amount of carbon emitted by the aviation industry.

1M ads = 1 round trip flight per person from Boston to London!

But how? Newton’s Third Law: For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. All the servers required to run digital ads and operate the internet create heat, noise, and other environmental pollutants. And that’s across the entire programmatic supply chain. So it eventually adds up. How does this impact advertisers?

What do consumers know about carbon emissions?

Most consumers are unaware of the fact that  digital ads cause carbon emissions. 

To be more precise, 6 of 10 people didn’t know their internet browsing habits have an impact on the environment.

However, even more people are willing to reduce the amount of time spent online to reduce their carbon emissions.

That means less opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences.

But here’s the kicker: digital ads account for a 28% increase in the average consumer’s carbon footprint, according to Purpose Disruptors.

And consumers believe that brands have a greater impact than governments in creating a cleaner future. What can advertisers do to meet people’s expectations and behaviours?

What can advertisers do to become carbon neutral?

Until recently, there wasn’t much that advertisers and brands could do to lower the carbon emissions of digital ads. But that’s where our new GreenPMPs™ come in! We at Sharethrough partnered with Scope3 to create GreenPMPs™ and provide advertisers with the first, real industry solution to offset the carbon emissions caused by running digital ad campaigns. I’m personally really stoked about this! There’s finally a way to decarbonize the programmatic supply chain without placing the responsibility on consumers to change their habits. It’s only fair since digital ads contribute to their individual footprint.

How do Green PMPs neutralize carbon emissions?

By running ad campaigns through Sharethrough’s GreenPMPs™, Scope3 uses a portion of the ad spend to fund high-quality carbon offsetting initiatives, like direct air capture, carbon soil storage, and reforestation. Which in turn, neutralizes the same amount of carbon waste produced throughout the programmatic supply chain.

How can advertisers show consumers they’re doing their part?

Since consumers prefer environmentally friendly brands, advertisers can show their target audiences they’re doing their part to create a sustainable future using the green icon generated on all ads running through GreenPMPs™. Users can click the green icon to learn more about how these ads are carbon neutral and about other Green Media Projects.

What are some other ways that advertisers can reduce their carbon emissions?

Brands and advertisers can encourage partners to support sustainability initiatives. Ultimately, it’s ad buyers who have the power to make the most change, they control where advertising dollars are spent. Using that power, ad buyers can influencing their partners throughout the advertising supply chain to reduce their carbon emissions. It’s going to take the entire advertising industry working together to create an environmentally-friendly programmatic ecosystem.

Closing

Well that’s all for this episode. How can advertisers reduce their impact on the environment? Will ad tech become carbon neutral by 2025? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! And don’t forget to like, subscribe and click that little bell for more Behind Programmatic Headlines. This has been Ari at Sharethrough, thanks for watching!

Check out how GreenPMPs™ neutralize carbon emissions:

Building a Sustainable Programmatic Ecosystem with Sharethrough’s Green PMPs

[Infographic] Research Reveals Consumer Understanding of Advertising's Impact on Carbon Emissions — Sharethrough

Decarbonize the Programmatic Supply Chain With Green PMPs by Sharethrough

Sources:

Media Buying Briefing: Sustainability once again takes center stage across digital media - Digiday

Can Cannes Lions 2022 Deliver on Climate?

Havas Media Group bumps up its commitment to attention metrics, which is linked to positive emissions and sustainability

UN climate report: It's 'now or never' to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees

Scope3

Brian O'Kelley: 'Our model is to get buyers to make emissions part of their spending decisions'

Advertised Emissions — Purpose Disruptors

Ad giant WPP pledges net zero emissions by 2025 | Reuters

Creativity can change the world

Want to learn more about Sharethrough?

Sharethrough — Human-Centric Programmatic Advertising

Sharethrough Blog

Enhanced Inventory Packages & PMPs

Follow us on LinkedIn: Sharethrough | LinkedIn

About Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech—

Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech is a short 3-minute podcast exploring the news in the digital advertising industry. Ad tech is a fast-growing industry with many updates happening daily. As it can be hard for most to keep up with the latest news, the Sharethrough team wanted to create an audio series compiling notable mentions each week.

In this video, I will cover how the delivery of digital ads causes carbon emissions, the importance of brands acting to reduce their impact on the environment and the first initiative in ad tech by Sharethrough and Scope3 for advertisers to create a sustainable programmatic ecosystem using Sharethrough’s GreenPMPs™.

Consumers prefer brands that are actively reducing their carbon emissions. Brands and organizations are looking for ways to minimize their impact on the environment. Could digital ads be the solution hiding under our noses? Stick around and let’s find out.

Introduction:

Hey there everyone, it’s Ari from Sharethrough here with a brand new episode of Behind Programmatic Headlines. In this video, I’ll cover how digital ads impact the environment and the importance of brands to reduce their carbon emissions. As well as the first initiative in ad tech by Sharethrough and Scope3 for advertisers to create a sustainable programmatic ecosystem using Sharethrough’s GreenPMPs™.

Brands want to reduce their impact on the environment

Everyone knows climate change is an increasing issue, and most industries know what they need to do to limit their impact on the environment. Now, digital advertising is stepping up to do its part. Cannes Lion 2022 made sustainability as one of its key pillars, ad giant WPP aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2025, and more recently, a group of organizations, government bodies and educators formed the Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES.) But how can digital ads create a cleaner future? First, let’s find out how browsing the internet and digital ads impact the environment.  

How does digital advertising impact the environment?

1 Ad = 1g of carbon emissions

Browsing the internet and running digital ads causes  carbon emissions similar to the amount of carbon emitted by the aviation industry.

1M ads = 1 round trip flight per person from Boston to London!

But how? Newton’s Third Law: For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. All the servers required to run digital ads and operate the internet create heat, noise, and other environmental pollutants. And that’s across the entire programmatic supply chain. So it eventually adds up. How does this impact advertisers?

What do consumers know about carbon emissions?

Most consumers are unaware of the fact that  digital ads cause carbon emissions. 

To be more precise, 6 of 10 people didn’t know their internet browsing habits have an impact on the environment.

However, even more people are willing to reduce the amount of time spent online to reduce their carbon emissions.

That means less opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences.

But here’s the kicker: digital ads account for a 28% increase in the average consumer’s carbon footprint, according to Purpose Disruptors.

And consumers believe that brands have a greater impact than governments in creating a cleaner future. What can advertisers do to meet people’s expectations and behaviours?

What can advertisers do to become carbon neutral?

Until recently, there wasn’t much that advertisers and brands could do to lower the carbon emissions of digital ads. But that’s where our new GreenPMPs™ come in! We at Sharethrough partnered with Scope3 to create GreenPMPs™ and provide advertisers with the first, real industry solution to offset the carbon emissions caused by running digital ad campaigns. I’m personally really stoked about this! There’s finally a way to decarbonize the programmatic supply chain without placing the responsibility on consumers to change their habits. It’s only fair since digital ads contribute to their individual footprint.

How do Green PMPs neutralize carbon emissions?

By running ad campaigns through Sharethrough’s GreenPMPs™, Scope3 uses a portion of the ad spend to fund high-quality carbon offsetting initiatives, like direct air capture, carbon soil storage, and reforestation. Which in turn, neutralizes the same amount of carbon waste produced throughout the programmatic supply chain.

How can advertisers show consumers they’re doing their part?

Since consumers prefer environmentally friendly brands, advertisers can show their target audiences they’re doing their part to create a sustainable future using the green icon generated on all ads running through GreenPMPs™. Users can click the green icon to learn more about how these ads are carbon neutral and about other Green Media Projects.

What are some other ways that advertisers can reduce their carbon emissions?

Brands and advertisers can encourage partners to support sustainability initiatives. Ultimately, it’s ad buyers who have the power to make the most change, they control where advertising dollars are spent. Using that power, ad buyers can influencing their partners throughout the advertising supply chain to reduce their carbon emissions. It’s going to take the entire advertising industry working together to create an environmentally-friendly programmatic ecosystem.

Closing

Well that’s all for this episode. How can advertisers reduce their impact on the environment? Will ad tech become carbon neutral by 2025? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! And don’t forget to like, subscribe and click that little bell for more Behind Programmatic Headlines. This has been Ari at Sharethrough, thanks for watching!

Check out how GreenPMPs™ neutralize carbon emissions:

Building a Sustainable Programmatic Ecosystem with Sharethrough’s Green PMPs

[Infographic] Research Reveals Consumer Understanding of Advertising's Impact on Carbon Emissions — Sharethrough

Decarbonize the Programmatic Supply Chain With Green PMPs by Sharethrough

Sources:

Media Buying Briefing: Sustainability once again takes center stage across digital media - Digiday

Can Cannes Lions 2022 Deliver on Climate?

Havas Media Group bumps up its commitment to attention metrics, which is linked to positive emissions and sustainability

UN climate report: It's 'now or never' to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees

Scope3

Brian O'Kelley: 'Our model is to get buyers to make emissions part of their spending decisions'

Advertised Emissions — Purpose Disruptors

Ad giant WPP pledges net zero emissions by 2025 | Reuters

Creativity can change the world

Want to learn more about Sharethrough?

Sharethrough — Human-Centric Programmatic Advertising

Sharethrough Blog

Enhanced Inventory Packages & PMPs

Follow us on LinkedIn: Sharethrough | LinkedIn

About Calibrate—

Founded in 2015, Calibrate is a yearly conference for new engineering managers hosted by seasoned engineering managers. The experience level of the speakers ranges from newcomers all the way through senior engineering leaders with over twenty years of experience in the field. Each speaker is greatly concerned about the craft of engineering management. Organized and hosted by Sharethrough, it was conducted yearly in September, from 2015-2019 in San Francisco, California.

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Ari Belliu
Marketing Communications Specialist

About the Author

Ari is an experienced digital marketer with a demonstrated history of multi-tasking and working in health and tech on small teams. He's skilled in copywriting, community building, email and social media marketing, and building brand awareness.

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