GroupM's digital sustainability initiative

Tayla Foster
By Tayla Foster | 25 July 2022
 

GroupM agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker, MediaCom and Essence have moved to decarbonise the programmatic media supply chain in Australia by partnering with Good-Loop, a B Corps-certified advertising platform.

The agencies digital sustainability initiative is designed to reduce the environmental impact of clients’ media spend and help make advertising better for the planet.

It builds on GroupM’s recent announcement of an innovative, new global framework for measuring and reducing ad-based carbon emissions across all five stages of the advertising lifecycle for all formats, channels and markets in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s standards.

GroupM’s partnership with Good-Loop is part of Alpha, its new sustainability strategy in Australia. Alpha represents GroupM’s commitment to shaping the next era of media for future generations of Australians. Generation Alpha is the current generation of kids born before 2025, who will become the largest generation ever.

The partnership will establish GroupM as the first agency holding group in Australia to offer carbon offsetting and climate-positive activities across Display and Online Video.

The partnership between GroupM and Good-Loop will mean the implementation of Good-Loop’s Green Ad Tag in GroupM’s programmatic activities for Display and Online Video.

This allows GroupM to measure and offset the impact via Carbon Credits. Clients have the option to go beyond carbon offsetting by supporting climate-friendly activities, including reforestation, habitat protection and coral reef restoration.

Aimee Buchanan, GroupM Australia & New Zealand CEO, said: “Sustainability is a pressing and significant concern for Australians and a major concern for businesses and brands. In our ambition to be responsible for shaping the next era of advertising and making advertising work better for people, ensuring that we make advertising more sustainable is key."

"We’ve launched Alpha, as a whole of business strategy because we believe we have a responsibility to take positive action for the current generation of kids - Generation Alpha. There is no greater motivation than that. Digital media might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but we know that every ad and every impression has a carbon impact."

Claire Gleeson-Landry, Good-Loop’s head of Investment and sustainable media, said: ""Not only will this partnership enable GroupM Australia clients to measure and offset the CO2 emissions generated by their digital advertising, but they’ll also be able to refine their future media plans all while planting biodiverse trees and restoring coral reefs. Good for profit and good for the planet. It’s a win-win."

Stephen Connor, managing director at Volvo Car Australia, said: “I am personally excited by this initiative - it is so in line with our Volvo Cars commitment to being part of the solution to address climate change. Volvo aims to become a fully electric car maker by 2030 and plans to roll out a whole new family of pure electric cars in the coming years, one of the auto industry’s most ambitious electrification plans.

"This is part of our ambition to become a climate neutral company by 2040, as we work to consistently cut carbon emissions acrossour business. I congratulate our partner GroupM Australia for kicking off this ground-breaking initiative in Australia. We’re proud to be part of it.”

John Matthews, executive director, Customer Acquisition And Media, Foxtel Group, said: “As our customers make changes to live life more sustainably it is important that brands also lead the way. We’re proud to be working with our partners at GroupM to take meaningful action by measuring, understanding, and then acting to decarbonize our media supply.”

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