1 August 2024
After an engaging panel discussion at PAB 2024, adtech experts Gloria Eichler, CPO at smartclip, Charles-Edouard Monier, Head of Strategic Planning and Ad Tech at RTL Nederland; and Guillaume Belmas, CEO at Realytics, share their perspectives on the state of sustainability in our industry. Here’s what they had to say:
Charles-Edouard Monier, Head of Strategic Planning and Ad Tech at RTL NL
What specific responsibilities do broadcasters have in promoting sustainability within the advertising industry? How can broadcasting platforms be used effectively to drive significant change?
Broadcasters play a crucial role as the endpoint on the supply side. Our responsibility is to provide inventory, which presents an opportunity to offer increasingly sustainable options. From a content perspective, we are committed to two key areas: first, producing and broadcasting more low-carbon content across all genres; and second, developing ‘climate storytelling’ to inform, normalise, and inspire audiences about the environmental challenges society faces. This ‘green’ context holds significant value for the advertising market. Additionally, we are actively measuring and reducing the footprint of our tech ecosystem and products, ensuring we offer the most energy-efficient solutions to our clients without compromising performance. As a market leader, we have the ability to drive meaningful change and create a lasting impact.
The Global Media Sustainability Framework was launched at Cannes Lions. How do you think this initiative will impact European broadcasters?
Collaboration and alignment are essential for progress and meaningful change. This framework enables us to measure impact using comparable tools and scope while working towards decarbonisation with shared KPIs.
With the introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), broadcasters will need to share increasingly detailed data with their partners, including agencies and advertisers. The Global Media Sustainability Framework provides a standardised language for the industry, ensuring consistency and transparency across the ecosystem.
What practical steps can broadcasters take to address sustainability in advertising? And how is your organisation currently addressing sustainability in advertising?
Broadcasters can begin measuring the energy consumption and CO₂e footprint of their advertising activities with as much granularity as possible. Establishing a baseline and gaining insights are critical first steps toward meaningful reduction.
At RTL Ad Alliance Netherlands, we are particularly focused on the digital ecosystem as it offers the greatest potential for improvement compared to the more rigid linear ecosystem. Our initial tests cover multiple dimensions, including end-device type, network, ad format, completion rate, and the time of day ads are served. We are first prioritising direct sales before delving deeper into the more complex programmatic value chain.
Beyond these efforts in digital advertising, we are also driving sustainability on the content side by increasing the number of green-certified productions (validated through the Albert calculator) and developing new narratives that inform, normalise, and inspire audiences.
Guillaume Belmas, CEO of Realytics
Adtech companies like Scope3 or Carbon Chain are creating solutions to meet the needs of sustainable advertising. Has Realytics tested these technologies or tools, and if so, what are your main takeaways?
As an adtech company managing large volumes of data, we are concerned not only with the environmental impact of our own activities but also with that of the entire advertising ecosystem. We do not use such solutions; instead, we practise eco-design daily in how we manage our data and cloud services. Our goal is to optimise resource use to minimise environmental impact, and whenever it’s possible, we integrate an environmental approach into our processes.
What are the biggest challenges or barriers you’ve faced in integrating sustainable practices into advertising? How have you overcome these challenges?
France has set a clear roadmap: reducing GHG emissions by 40% by 2030 — and the advertising industry is no exception to this. One of the key challenges lies in standardising the measurement of TV advertising’s carbon footprint. Currently, various initiatives, such as reports and carbon footprint calculators, provide useful insights but lack consistency. While progress has been made, there is still significant work to do. In my view, this remains the industry’s biggest challenge.
What practical steps can adtech take to address sustainability in advertising? Please also share how your organisation is currently addressing sustainability in advertising, including any specific initiatives or strategies that have already been implemented.
Two years ago, we launched a TV campaign carbon footprint calculator within Adkymia, our TV DSP. This tool assesses a campaign’s carbon footprint from TV spot production to airing, including spot validation and programming steps before launch. Our methodology is based on existing standards and tools to ensure accuracy. The next step is to leverage these insights to develop more eco-responsible media plans.
On a broader scale, the TV advertising market — alongside adtech companies — should collaborate to unify knowledge and experience in this area, driving the development of next-generation sustainability technologies that benefit the entire industry.
Gloria Eichler, CPO at smartclip
There’s a lack of industry standards for sustainability in advertising. In your opinion, what should these standards look like, and how can the industry work together to establish them?
The industry standards should be easy to implement and yield visible results across the entire supply chain, not just the demand side. However, implementation should be encouraged but not directly enforced. Ultimately, sustainability must be viewed as a collective effort that benefits everyone, and the absence of established industry standards should not prevent us from taking action now. We can all begin by examining our own operations and identify areas where we can already save resources.
What role does technology play in enhancing sustainability in advertising, and are there any emerging technologies you are particularly excited about?
Technology plays a crucial role in providing the tools to measure, track, and reduce carbon emissions, as well as optimise resource use. With advertising technology in particular, we can reduce emissions through several practical methods, such as improving data handling, infrastructure management, and enhancing the ad delivery processes.
At smartclip, for example, we use a Kubernetes-based infrastructure that reduces hardware needs by 90%, while autoscaling adjusts resource use based on demand, conserving energy. We also plan to compress and consolidate bid requests to minimise unnecessary transmissions and apply bid request pacing to reduce redundant requests. Our frequency reduction technologies, like Probabilistic IDs — which we’re about to launch — and which is part of our smart ID Hub, consolidate identifiers to prevent wasted contacts. Additionally, we optimise creative delivery by applying individual device settings to adjust asset quality based on device need
Lee is the Marketing Specialist Europe at smartclip and is responsible for content writing, editing, social media, and creative support across the department and company. Originally from the United States, Lee graduated from the University of Cincinnati, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Electronic Media. Before joining smartclip, she has worked with various organisations managing social media accounts and assisting in the video and audio production processes.
Lee Richter
Marketing Specialist Europe
