Digital advertising has one of the highest carbon emissions of any industry in the world. As more sectors do their part to address the climate emergency, it is imperative for the ad ops industry to lead in sustainable initiatives.
Carbon Intelligence Platform Cedara recently announced the launch of its Reduction Marketplace, an innovative solution to help reduce corporate and supply chain emissions in the digital advertising space.
As part of the launch, Cedara worked with full-service digital marketing agency, Croud, and adaptive streaming technology platform, SeenThis, to empower Pret to reduce carbon emissions.
A team of individuals with experience in media and ad tech founded Cedara because they were passionate about sustainability. The company’s aim? To make an immediate impact on sustainability efforts in digital advertising, particularly as the industry works toward a Net Zero Carbon Emissions goal.
What is Ad Net Zero? How Can We Achieve It?
The climate emergency is affecting the entire world, and it is an issue that can only be effectively addressed as a group effort. Ad Net Zero is an organization based in the U.K. that was founded by the combined effort of the ANA, 4A’s, and IAB to help brands, agencies, publishers and ad tech companies achieve net zero carbon emissions.
Ad ops professionals are working toward a goal of net zero emissions by 2030, and the first step toward achieving this is understanding how much carbon each company is producing. Companies like the recently founded Scope3 are forwarding the effort to help organizations in the industry measure and reduce their carbon footprint.
Once each company knows how much carbon they are putting into the environment, they can work on reduction efforts – the second step to achieving net zero. The advertising inventory that causes the largest carbon footprint is also the lowest quality inventory. Eliminating this low quality inventory can help companies’ bottom line by reducing waste while simultaneously lowering emissions.
The final step is removing any excess carbon that could not be eliminated in reduction efforts. This is accomplished using carbon offsets from reliable companies, such as Climate Impact Partners. Following these important steps is essential to helping digital advertising reach its goal of net zero by 2030.
Prioritize Sustainability Before It’s Too Late
Sustainability is something that everyone is talking about across almost every industry, but why is it important for publishers to limit their carbon emissions? The ugly truth is that digital advertising is one of the worst offenders of emissions – in fact, we are up there with the airline industry. Many may see sustainability efforts as an unnecessary burden, but in fact being more eco-conscious is beneficial to your bottom line.
Sustainability can help mitigate risk. Limiting the number of bloated and unproductive demand paths limits the operational risk involved in seeking to expand reach. It can lead to more intentional operations by limiting the number of bid requests, many of which are duplicates and therefore wasteful.
Being green can also help a company attract and retain talent because many younger workers are endeavoring to work for organizations that care about their environmental impact. Working together to achieve these objectives can also make workers feel more in touch in their company’s mission and culture.
Cedara is Helping Publishers Reach Their Goals
Cedara is designed to measure and reduce carbon emissions across the entire supply chain using software and automation. It helps companies track their emissions and reduction efforts as they aim for net zero.
As part of the launch of its Reduction Marketplace, Cedara partnered with Croud and SeenThis to help Pret reduce emissions for its video ad campaigns. By leveraging SeenThis’ integration, the impact of switching to SeenThis’ proprietary streaming technology during the marketing planning stage was evident. It also measures the overall campaign footprint, and quantifies avoided emissions.
The results of integrating the video creatives via programmatic delivery included:
- Through the use of SeenThis’ video delivery technology, Pret could avoid 2,343 GB data wastage, or 48%, compared to running the same quality creative using conventional ad serving technology.
- When applying Cedara’s models, the carbon footprint related to creative delivery was calculated to 749 kg CO2e, which, when assuming the above lower data transfer would result in overall avoided emissions of 121 kg, or approximately 16% related to creative delivery.
- If also incorporating ad selection and overhead emissions across the media supply chain for campaign measurement which includes business travel, energy, offices, and non-media Scope 3 emissions, Pret’s total footprint was 8,354 kg CO2e.
This reduction in emissions helps companies protect their bottom line, utilize only high quality inventory, and protect the environment, ensuring the ad ops industry remains on the forefront of sustainability efforts.
David Shaw, CEO of Cedara, says: “We are proud to partner with leading companies advancing the industry towards Ad Net Zero. This collaboration underscores the importance of data-driven decision-making in the pursuit of environmental sustainability.”