What matters
Sustainability and campaign performance go up and down based on a number of variables, and our metrics need to account for these variables correctly. The goal is to build a picture of how they intersect to support innovation and growth. In some situations, a solution both reduces emissions and increases campaign performance—like streaming technology over traditional ad-serving. In other situations, an improvement in sustainability is a bonus with little effect on performance—such as working with a company that uses renewable energy. These three metrics can work together to ensure a campaign performs sustainably without going sideways.
Advertisers must beware the claim that a solution delivers efficiency without a connection to total carbon footprint. While this word does apply to both sustainability and performance, advertising as an industry is subject to the Jevons paradox.
Ideally, the solution would be for advertisers to favor cost-efficient solutions and simply pocket the margin, rather than reinvest in more advertising impressions—but that’s not how growth works today. That’s not an excuse to keep using inefficient and expensive technology though. Drawing that conclusion would stifle the innovation crucial for sustainability progress. Each player in each step of the value chain, advertisers included, is responsible for designing away waste and becoming as efficient as possible—and all the better if that’s both in carbon cost and financial cost.
Advertisers must work with their agencies to build a measurement structure that works across the ecosystem. A combined focus on emissions per impressions, budget and campaign performance helps us all get off to a good start.
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