The Future of Sustainable Advertising with GroupM Carbon Calculator
GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, recently released an update to their carbon calculator, which promises an accurate and omni-channel experience for brands looking to track their advertising carbon footprints. Ultimately, the goal of the tool is to make advertisers more conscious of their sustainable advertising practices and to reduce carbon emissions per media impression by 50% by 2030.
This update is the second part of a three-part development for GroupM, with plans in 2024 for a vendor level non-digital carbon measurement. The vendor level measurements can calculate emissions for partner levels and provide better insight into media planning and investment.
The calculator includes things like the physical weight of a non-digital ad, and even the carbon emissions taken to produce creative. The tool is part of GroupM’s commitment to eliminate carbon emissions from their supply chain by 2030. Since WPP is one of the largest advertising media agencies in the world, eliminating carbon emissions from their advertising campaigns is a massive step toward future sustainable advertising practices.
In a report by Harvard Business School, they state that “77% of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place, while 73% of investors state that efforts to improve the environment and society contribute to their investment decisions.” With more consumers concerned about combating climate change, businesses and ad platforms are also changing their practices to become more sustainable as well.
Out-of-home advertising is especially important in the sustainability conversation, since research shows that one double-sided digital bus stop can consume 17,000 kWh of electricity a year, and an LED digital billboard consumes 41,000 kWh. These two signs alone release nearly 22 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually. So, a tool like this provides amazing opportunities for brands to take control of their efforts to reach net zero carbon emissions.
Soofa is one of the only solar powered ad platforms in the OOH industry, so hearing this news from GroupM keeps Soofa optimistic on the future of sustainable efforts in advertising.
Interested in learning more about how to reduce carbon emissions for your brand? Try sustainable Soofa Signs.
Written by: Ally Peters
Ally is a Content Marketing Specialist at Soofa and spends her days researching and reporting on current trends in smart city infrastructure and OOH media.