GroupM collabs with ad

Francis Scialabba

· 3 min read

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GroupM, WPP’s media investment arm, is collaborating with Swedish ad-tech firm SeenThis to help advertisers reduce carbon emissions from video ads.

Simply put, the firm’s technology lets advertisers stream video ads via display inventory, explained Gareth Holmes, VP of commercial strategy and media for SeenThis, in turn helping them avoid data-intensive downloading techniques.

“The typical way we deliver things in the industry with regard to video is download technology. About 80% of a normal download file needs to hit a device before it starts playing,” he told Marketing Brew, so if a user scrolls past the ad, “that data has already been transferred.” With streaming, advertisers aren’t pre-loading data, so “there’s no wasted data going on there,” resulting in fewer emissions.

In terms of pricing, he told us that “buyers activate our streamed ads within display media so [they] don’t have to pay for the video-specific inventory which attracts the highest costs.”

Holmes also said that streaming ads can cut down on wasted impressions since they start “loading instantly,” meaning more people might see an ad as opposed to an empty ad unit. “Typically, when I’ve loaded any number of sites and I’m scrolling along, because I’m scrolling, the ad unit will be in view, and the ad unit will pass me by, but there’s no ad in it,” he said.

As part of the partnership, GroupM agencies will be able to leverage the SeenThis emissions dashboard, which lets advertisers analyze carbon emissions from campaigns.

It’s not clear how many GroupM clients will make use of the offerings from SeenThis; GroupM was unable to make anyone available for an interview by the time of publication. But the two have worked together in the past—in June, they announced that “their partnership has positively reduced the carbon footprint of multiple leading global brands’ advertising campaigns.”

The partnership is part of a larger WPP commitment to decarbonization. In 2021, WPP announced it would “reach net zero carbon emissions” across its supply chain by 2030.

Last year, GroupM debuted a “global carbon measurement framework” to power its carbon calculator, which advertisers can use to gauge their ad campaigns’ carbon footprints. As part of its partnership with SeenThis, GroupM will incorporate the firm’s methodology on the carbon cost of data transfer into its carbon calculator.

In 2022, GroupM also spearheaded a client coalition with about 20 advertisers as part of an effort to standardize measurement of ad-based carbon emissions.

In February, GroupM announced a partnership with Scope3, an ad-tech company that measures emissions from digital ads.

Several other holding companies and agencies have publicly committed to reducing their carbon footprint in recent years, including IPG Mediabrands, Dentsu, and Havas.

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