Critics of the advertising sector have often accused our industry of being accelerators of materialism and consumption, with an arrogant disregard for the environment. The good news is the tide is turning. Big brands are listening to their consumers and launching campaigns with positive ethical messages such “Buy better. Wear longer” from Levis and “Together we can turn this around” from Budweiser.

In a sustainability conscious world, big brands are waking up to the need to be sustainable across the entire advertising ecosystem. From the creative and media agency used to production travel requirements and the paper in the outdoor campaign – achieving carbon net zero is a genuine challenge every business needs to help resolve – not least across the advertising industry.

With 2020, being one of the warmest years on record, we can’t delay, we need to act now and shift our industry to being carbon net zero and sustainable. In response to the changing demands of consumers, the advertising industry has a moral and environmental responsibility to promote sustainability and use its unique platform to communicate to a global audience. The creative and strategic strengths of our sector must be used as a positive catalyst for making sustainable production the norm.

A commitment to change

There has been a lot of chatter from the wider industry sharing big sustainability claims. Earth Day (22 April) recently saw numerous pledges including, in a first for the industry, WPP committing to reaching net zero in the emissions generated by the placement of advertising in the media by 2025 and across its entire supply chain by 2030. 

The Climate Action Working Group, led by the Advertising Association (AA) in partnership with Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), launched AdGreen last September. An initiative to eliminate the negative environmental impacts of production and reducing emissions from production is one of five recommendations from the AA's Ad Net Zero report.

At CLICKON, we’re both proactive and passionate about sustainability in production and it’s integrated into everything we do. However, there are challenges. We need to keep pace with technology, adapt to the global pandemic, as well as navigating economic uncertainty.

We’re future-proofing our business with our long-term commitment to being carbon neutral. We’re extremely conscious that we, like many businesses, leave an impact on our planet and as part of our 2025 vision, we aspire to not only be carbon neutral in our internal and external client-facing operations, but also to be a net promoter of carbon capture. Our goal is to plant over one million trees over the next five years as well as supporting many environmental groups, including African charities protecting species on the brink of extinction. 

Change for good 

During the pandemic, environmental issues have been pivotal to global business decision making and offer advertisers the opportunity to enhance creative output, while delivering on carbon neutral commitments. This has its benefits, by significantly reducing project costs as well as minimising the environmental impact of travelling production crews. To help achieve our commitment to being carbon neutral by 2025, we’ve recently acquired Travlrr a global creative production and marketing solutions company who have a remote production platform. 

Travlrr supplies access to over 800 vetted production partners and over 500 vetted influencers, via its simple to use platform. Since January 2019, it has committed to removing over 7,500kg of carbon by tree planting for every single project - that’s the equivalent to removing seven months of emissions for an average household. 

With the integration of Travlrr into our ecosystem, we can now confidently accelerate the roll out of our Sustainable Studio. This offers a unique new-era creative solution which meets the needs of teams grappling with delivering sustainable production efficiently and at speed. 

The age of accountability 

The pandemic has forced the advertising industry to look at bigger environmental issues, which may have previously been ignored. Travelling overseas to film ads or video creative has become increasingly challenging due to ever-changing travel restrictions, which has led to environmentally sustainable production. One of our recent ad campaigns working with Travlrr and partnering with MPC, helped Land Rover launch its new Defender using remote production and CGI to deliver a breath-taking commercial. Without sending a car on location, we delivered 83% less carbon emissions, 33% increase in delivery and 30% less cost.

Advertisers have a vital role to play by showing consumers that they are serious about wanting sustainable solutions and this is imperative for the future. Sadly, there is no quick-fix solution to saving the planet, it’s a long-term commitment.

We’ve set very clear objectives and hold ourselves accountable to delivering sustainable production. We’re promoting sustainable behaviour in creative work, reporting, and measuring the carbon impact of campaigns and encouraging other companies within the industry to adopt similar practices. Our approach to sustainable practices is evolving too – and every day there’s a new challenge. When it comes to sustainability, there’s no time to waste.