The responsibility of brands towards the environment and society is beyond question. Patagonia is considered one of the best-known pioneers of sustainable entrepreneurship, relying on recycled materials, repair services, donations to environmental organizations and much more. Sustainability doesn't stop with the brand, however. Advertising in particular accounts for a high proportion of CO2 emissions. For this reason, the term “green media” refers to the efforts of advertisers and media agencies that save or offset emissions through sustainable planning.
Johanna Dombrowski, Digital Media Account Manager at adlicious, has been working in marketing and campaign management since 2021 — today on the agency side, previously on the corporate side. Through these various stages, she has experienced how many adjustments there are to take on responsibility. Especially in the media sector, where coverage, channels and budgets are decided, she sees great potential to actively shape sustainability — this is exactly where green media comes in. For Johanna, this is less about changing everything immediately and more about raising awareness of sustainable decisions in everyday media life:
Profitability vs. sustainability — a supposed contradiction
But how does “green media” fit in with the business model of media agencies? At the end of the day, doesn't what we can measure count? Won't a low-cost CPM, a strong ROI or a low-cost CPC always result in a positive climate balance?
CO2 emissions are measurable
Of course, media planning for the business must be cost-effective at the end of the year. Fortunately, sustainability is not a one-time hype or trending topic, but an integral part of many companies. CO2 emissions can also be measured in concrete terms and form ideal starting points. But before we can start saving CO2 emissions, we need to understand where they are produced. The figures speak for themselves: For every 1,000 contacts, print media emit around 8-10,000 grams of CO2, TV around 921 grams, online video around 688 grams, radio 69 grams and digital-out-of-home screens around 5-6 grams.
Print, TV & Co. — classics under print
The well-known classic “print” is criticized primarily because of the high energy consumption during printing. However, the increasing importance of digital advertising opportunities automatically reduces CO2 emissions as investments in print advertising fall. Other linear mass media, such as TV, are also associated with known leakage losses. The large reach therefore also includes people who do not necessarily fall into the target group of the brand or the product. Electrical energy is therefore also required and CO2 is emitted in these plays as well. However, there are now other digital advertising formats on the big screen too, which keep scatter losses low — the right households can be reached efficiently via the Connected TV (CTV) or the addressable TV (ATV) format.
Targeted communication as an opportunity
Dispersion losses can also be minimized by addressing specific target groups, such as in the case of online advertising. Individual and highly specific targeting makes it possible to reach only users who are relevant to the customer or the brand. As a result, there are fewer CO2 emissions overall. At this point, it should of course be said that for programmatically bookable advertising, all ad servers and data centers must be kept running with electricity and that these are not a green alternative to print or TV per se. However, energy consumption can be positively influenced by the right power quality.
Balancing reach and sustainability
In addition, for effective media planning, this should of course not mean across the board that attention-grabbing channels such as print or TV are pointless for advertising measures. In terms of green media efforts, however, it is relevant to select channels in such a way that classic evaluation metrics and the reduction of CO2 emissions are in harmony.
Digital-out-of-home as an alternative
More environmentally friendly alternatives, such as digital-out-of-home, can be given greater focus when one-to-many communication is required. However, it is also up to media experts to provide customers with holistic advice on the diversity of alternative channels: at the end of the day, it may no longer just be about the cheapest CPM.
Our approach at adlicious
At adlicious, we are currently taking the first step before the second: We have looked at where emissions actually occur and how we can not only offset but also actively avoid CO2. To this end, we work with external ESG experts to develop a holistic strategy and define concrete goals: Who is responsible for what and by when? With our understanding of responsibility towards society and the environment and our digital expertise, we design holistic media planning for our customers — in line with the green media approach.
