Several major industries in the country have, in recent years, begun a tangible transition towards a green and sustainable market economy. Examples include billion-dollar investments in the industry for green steel, electrification of passenger cars and trucks, and large-scale production of batteries.
In advertising, marketing, and communication, the progress has been slower. The reason for this has partly been the perceived difficulty many media companies face in developing methods to measure the carbon footprint in campaigns and advertising purchases. Additionally, there might be a concern about how media buyers will react when the carbon footprint for different media becomes fully visible to customers. What if the reaction is negative?
It is now time to move forward towards a green transition for the media industry as well. Transparency and measurability at the campaign level are absolutely necessary to identify areas where the carbon footprint is significant and where additional efforts are required to reduce it in the future.
Media buyers will welcome transparency and measurability. Advertising and communication generate around 40 billion kronor annually. It is clear that such a significant part of the country’s economy should proceed with the green transition, which furthermore requires significantly smaller investments than many other industries, such as manufacturing, which has already started this transition.
