The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic proved to be the catalyst that shifted emphasis from traditional to digital media, causing a surge in digital marketing spend as businesses adapted to online platforms. This focus has not just persisted, it’s expanded, with forecasts predicting a significant rise in digital ad spend to over $754 billion dollars by 2025.

But what does the growth actually mean in the context of the industry’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards?

The Unseen Costs of Clicks

Digital growth is not without its environmental drawbacks. The industry relies heavily on large data centers and expansive server networks that consume an incredible amount of energy to support everyday online activities such as internet searches, email exchanges, and, of course, ad delivery. In 2022, the UK alone produced over 208 million tonnes of CO2 emissions from advertising efforts, an increase of 11% compared to 2019.

This substantial energy consumption contributes to what is known as ‘digital carbon’, posing a clear challenge to the perceived environmental neutrality of digital progress. As digital engagement continues to rise, it’s becoming more and more important for brands to closely examine and address the environmental impacts associated with their digital operations  – namely the energy demands of their digital infrastructure.

Sustainable Changes Within Reach

While reducing digital outputs might seem like a Sisyphean task in our tech-centric society,  choices exist that can reduce the scale of this impact significantly. Opting for service providers who prioritize sustainability, utilizing renewable energy sources for business operations, and extending the lifespan of electronic devices are actionable steps businesses can take today. For instance, Incubeta’s UK office, The Bower, runs entirely on renewable energy—a step towards reducing our carbon footprint. 

Sustainability UX and Media Decarbonization

From a digital perspective, there are two key areas that businesses hoping for a smaller carbon footprint can focus on:

Sustainable User Experience

• Speed Performance: Speed-optimized website pages not only improve the end-user experience but also use less energy on the user’s device. Core Web Vitals serve as essential metrics for this optimization.
• Digital Sustainability: Focus on reducing energy usage and also on sustainable energy sources, like hosting with a carbon-neutral host, and using optimized server processing.
• Reduce Returns: Unnecessary returns have a negative impact on sustainability, as well as more optimized fulfillment. By providing the user with the most relevant user experience, returns will not only be reduced but can also provide a much richer brand experience. A win-win!

Carbon-Friendly Media / Media Decarbonization

• Design: Using modular design principles, multiple ad variations can be developed. For example, a 4K video uses eight times more energy than a standard definition version, which can also effectively convey the message.
• Content Delivery: The closer the hosting environment is to the end user, the less energy is required for transmission. Fully optimizing content delivery networks (CDNs) and server infrastructure can reduce the energy required for data transmission and processing.
• Ad Selection / Low Emission Custom Bidding Strategies: Serving ads and doing media selection from publishers with fewer ad tech resellers emits fewer carbon emissions.

Why it Matters: The Bigger Picture

Adopting sustainability is no longer just about corporate responsibility but a strategic imperative driven by consumer preference, regulatory pressures, and operational efficiency, with the introduction of industry-wide programmes like Ad Net Zero. 

Sustainability-marketed products are outpacing their traditional counterparts in growth, driven by a consumer base that increasingly aligns purchasing habits with personal values. Data gathered in 2023 by The Business Standard confirmed that 78% of consumers feel that sustainability is important, and an even higher percentage stated that poor environmental practices will alienate them from a brand or company.

Long-Term Vision Over Short-Term Gains

While digital marketing’s environmental impact might be less visible than industries like fast fashion, aviation, or fuel and energy, it’s no less significant. The industry stands at a crossroads where it can either continue contributing to the problem or pivot towards more sustainable practices that not only ensure compliance and consumer satisfaction but also contribute to a healthier planet. Making informed choices today is imperative for a sustainable tomorrow.

We believe in following our own advice, which is why in 2021 we pledged to put sustainability at the forefront of all that Incubeta does, and launched a digital carbon offsetting initiative with Ecologi, where our carbon footprint is offset with the planting of trees.

How does this work you might ask? We’ve built a calculation that takes into account Environment (Search/Social/Web), Format (Text Ad/Image/Video) and Contribution to Page Load (Search/Result/Infeed/Web Ad/Editorial) to work out the estimated impact of digital advertising for our clients to then assign a ‘carbon responsibility’ score. 

(Environment x Format x Contribution) X Aggregate Impression Volume = Estimated Digital Carbon Impact (Carbon Tonnes)

Taking into account total impressions served over an annual period, we are now able to provide our clients with a view of their annualized digital carbon footprint for the paid media channels that Incubeta is running on behalf of our clients. From here we can offset the estimated carbon footprint through our partnership with Ecologi.

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There will always be room for improvement, and best practice would be working towards reducing our digital carbon footprint, rather than simply offsetting.

We can provide you with Sustainability UX audits to help you to communicate your sustainability efforts and your sustainable products which can increase your revenue. To learn more about how you can increase your brand sustainability. Get in touch today…