Earlier this month, Starcom MediaVest Group and Envido launched CarbonTrack, what the companies say is a tool designed to calculate the carbon footprint of advertising campaigns – everything from TV to radio, outdoor, magazines, newspapers, digital display and search.
According to first estimates using CarbonTrack, the UK advertising industry is thought to produce an estimated 2 million tonnes of CO2 annually, the equivalent of heating 364,000 UK homes for a year.
The tool measures the carbon output of an advertising campaign throughout its entire lifecycle, from concept to set-up to breakdown – or simply, from cradle to grave.
CarbonTrack has two primary uses – first, it will provide companies with a certified report on the total levels of carbon emissions associated with their advertising campaigns, so they can report on their carbon targets. Second, it will allow marketers to make subtle changes to their advertising campaigns, mindful of other planning considerations such as coverage, quality and cost, to actively manage carbon emissions. Marketers can even include carbon management targets into annual KPIs.
Users can benchmark themselves against their previous campaigns, their peers and the wider industry.
The tool was created and developed under the PAS 2050 guidelines