No pain, all gain? Study shows sustainable advertising improves both profit and planet

Sustainable business practices and advertising campaign efficiency are proving to be complementary goals rather than competing priorities, despite recent political retreats from climate commitments. Forward-thinking marketers are discovering that viewing operations through a sustainability lens not only helps meet environmental targets but also uncovers valuable insights about media inefficiencies, enhances campaign performance, and prepares organizations for AI integration—demonstrating that profit and environmental responsibility can successfully coexist.

The big picture: The advertising industry continues to embrace sustainability despite governmental policy shifts, with nearly 70% of digital ad businesses now ranking sustainability equal in importance to cookieless targeting and measurement.

• Industry organizations including Ad Net-Zero and IAB Europe have released global standards for measuring media’s carbon footprint.
• Marketers are developing frameworks that simultaneously reduce environmental impact and improve media effectiveness.

Why this matters: The sustainability lens is revealing hidden inefficiencies in advertising campaigns that harm both budget performance and environmental impact.

• By addressing these inefficiencies, marketers can contribute to organizational sustainability targets while improving campaign outcomes.
• This represents a significant departure from volume-based strategies that prioritize maximum reach at minimum cost.

Important stats: The American National Advertisers (ANA) playbook, created with Scope3, documented that brands like Coca-Cola and Mars improved marketing outcomes while reducing emissions by up to 36%.

The AI opportunity: Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming advertising capabilities, from disrupting search and product placement to potentially reimagining the technical infrastructure of the entire ecosystem.

• AI integration must be guided by sustainability principles to maximize both environmental and performance benefits.
• A ‘green by design’ approach ensures sustainability is embedded in both the tools themselves and how they’re leveraged.

The path forward: Brands must disregard political narratives suggesting profit and sustainability are mutually exclusive and instead continue developing sustainable frameworks.

• Companies that maintain their environmental commitments while embracing emerging technologies like AI will be positioned to lead the industry.
• This dual focus on sustainability and innovation creates a foundation for both safe and sustainable growth.