Media agencies need to rethink decarbonisation | WARC | The Feed

Media agencies need to rethink decarbonisation

Media decarbonisation has to be more than a tick-box exercise and become a mindset shift away from what has been happening; to be successful, the industry needs to question how it reduces the carbon footprint of the whole supply chain.

Why it matters

The current short-term tension between cost efficiencies and carbon efficiencies driven by legacy practices and processes needs to be addressed. Longer-term the industry has to be continually looking to identify performance-enhancing formats and techniques that also reduce carbon.

Takeaways

• Education is critical. Ensuring everyone has a base knowledge of climate science and is using sustainability terminology correctly is key to adoption and innovation.
• Carbon offsetting is a temporary stopgap; the primary focus should be on reducing the amount of carbon created before offset.
• Until carbon calculators have fully inclusive and accurate vendor/supplier data, efficient campaign management and elimination of digital waste is the foundation for a low-carbon campaign.
• Wherever possible, use frequency capping and shorter-length video; consider too the impact of autoplay or unskippable formats; and identify ways to reduce unnecessary data loads in the plan.
• Reduce waste. Each non-viewable impression creates excess data waste, and has an ecological cost.

The big idea

All the actors in the supply chain need to align, say Laura Wade and Susanna Pitts, respectively EMEA head of sustainability and global head of strategy management at essence. Everyone needs to be invested in a reduction mindset – from planners to vendors to clients. 

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