Responsible Media: Three aspects of more sustainable advertising

How much energy does a digital advertisement consume? Determining the actual costs or the impact on the environment is a highly complex task, unfortunately still without an internationally recognised standard procedure. But one thing is certain: production, advertising media and environment quality, as well as the delivery chain of the advertising media play decisive roles. Consequently, marketers can proactively influence the CO₂ impact of their campaigns in a positive way.

Three aspects are crucial here, according to Teads, the global media platform that operates a leading, cloud-based, omnichannel platform that enables programmatic digital advertising across a global ecosystem of quality digital media. Through exclusive global media partnerships, Teads enables advertisers and agencies to reach billions of unique monthly users in brand safe, responsible advertising environments. Teads partners with the leading marketers, agencies and publishers through a team of 1,200+ people in 50 offices across more than 30 countries.

Corporate social responsibility and climate protection initiatives are increasingly demanded by consumers from their favourite brands. They have become an integral part of the customer experience and are a relevant factor in purchasing decisions. It is therefore necessary that the marketing department also takes a critical look at its advertising materials and processes.

Based on outdated KPIs, brands and companies often still deliver digital advertising that does not reach the target group and also does not generate enough attention. A large amount of advertising runs virtually “into nothing” and thus not only burdens the companies’ wallets, but also the environment.

The advertising materials produced are often not ideally tailored for the respective media touchpoints – both in terms of technical aspects and the context of the touchpoints. Brands should therefore take a critical look at where and how they advertise.

There are numerous steps between the creation and delivery of an ad. Reducing this process chain not only makes it easier to buy and place advertising inventory, but also significantly reduces the amount of emissions generated by the steps. And then there is the question of “with whom”: In the past, media selection was mainly about transparency, fraud, brand safety and brand suitability. But now, in addition to the topics of brand safety and brand suitability, environmental impact must also become an integral part of these processes.

What recommendations for action result from these aspects for brands and companies?

Introduce Attention Rate as a new metric

More attention-grabbing advertising means: more advertising impact with fewer advertising media. A Responsible Media strategy focuses accordingly on achieving the highest possible Attention Rate (AR). This opinion is also held by a large majority of marketing decision-makers surveyed in England: 83 percent of marketers are convinced that high attention rates have a positive effect on the advertising eco-balance of a company.

Modern measurement methods such as HD eye trackers are used to determine AR, which determine user perception and reactions as well as engagement with the advertising material in different content environments. In addition, surveys are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the advertising. In contrast to viewability, which records the number of impressions, for example, this new metric gains significance in both quantitative and qualitative terms. As an indicator for recognising ineffective advertising, it is therefore of great strategic importance. This is proven by a study conducted by the media agency Dentsu in cooperation with Teads last year: according to the study, AR is three times more suitable for predicting media performance than viewability.

Minimise data volumes, maximise creativity

Digital advertising generates large amounts of data, which in turn result in relatively high energy consumption. However, the amount of energy consumption and emissions can be minimised by marketers consciously choosing media-optimised formats for digital advertising. Especially in video advertising, shorter ads are generally “lighter” than longer ones. This reduces the emissions generated by the placement of an ad and at the same time improves the user experience: less data download conserves the battery and thus also the overall life of the device that receives the ad.

However, this presents brands with the new problem of communicating their advertising message clearly and effectively in the compressed assets. This requires highly efficient creative processes: Campaigns must not only appeal to consumers, but also be precisely tailored to the respective media touchpoints. For example, (A/B tests) have become indispensable to optimise campaigns also for mobile devices and to check with which target group or in which context the ad is best received in terms of creativity and attention.

The selection of the context in which the ad is played plays a decisive role: a Channel Factory study found that 49 percent of consumers relate brands and content to each other. Firstly, advertising messages are remembered less if they do not relate to the context.

Secondly, misplaced advertising can have a negative impact on brand awareness, for example if an airline’s travel offers are advertised next to an article that deals with an air accident. Consistently eliminating misplaced advertising therefore not only achieves a positive energy balance, but also protects the brand.

Reduce the tech stack

The sheer volume of available technology solutions is a headache for companies for many reasons – especially when thinking about integration or tool management. The goal of reducing emissions and thinking more sustainably about advertising also involves taking stock of one’s own technology stack. After all, reducing the complexity of deployed systems and the supply chain on the one hand streamlines the process of buying and placing advertising inventory, but on the other hand also indirectly reduces the amount of emissions associated with the campaign. Supply chain solutions that offer a large reach with as direct a playout of the advertising media as possible or as few intermediate levels as possible are accordingly preferable to complex systems. With their help, further data-based optimisations can be carried out. However, it is crucial not to do without modern measurement methods such as eye tracking and facial coding. This is because they support the information gained on effectiveness and attention rates.

Conclusion

Experience shows that ineffective digital advertising placed in the wrong environment achieves low attention values and leaves a negative ecological footprint precisely because it consumes energy, generates CO₂ and also damages the brand. Modern ad management avoids this waste of energy. The following applies: creative, well thought-out and customised campaigns have very good chances of success. Teads’ analyses confirm this tendency. According to them, two thirds of the overall success of a campaign depend on the creative performance. The effect is remarkable: advertising optimised in this way achieves up to 17 percent higher attention values and is also characterised by a positive eco-balance.

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