Adform, the global programmatic platform, today (September 12th, 2023) unveils the results from its carbon reduction capabilities pilot programme. Adform’s DSP, enabled by its recent partnership with Scope3, drove a substantial decrease in digital advertising emissions for Audi, Vodafone, and PcComponentes, while also improving campaign performance toward their brand-specific KPIs. 

Carbon emissions as a result of digital ads are of great concern to advertisers, agencies, and publishers alike. Recent studies have revealed that display and streaming ads are responsible for 7.2M metric tons of emissions every year, which is the equivalent of yearly electricity usage for 1.4 million US households. Likewise, a 2023 survey conducted by Adform found that across global market decision marketers, 70% considered sustainability an important topic in programmatic planning. However, respondents to the same survey stated that reducing these emissions can be challenging. This is mostly due to a lack of green media solutions that offer quantifiable data and results while maintaining performance. 

Adform’s carbon reduction capabilities are an industry first as they enable clients to implement change without compromising on their business-specific objectives. This is through excluding up to 30% of the highest emitting domains, without sacrificing reach or performance.

For example, Audi Czech Republic utilised this carbon reduction feature as part of its advertising campaign with Adform for its new edition of e-tron vehicles. Deployed by media agency PHD, campaigns achieved an 81% lower gCO2PM compared to the Scope3 market average, while driving a 65% increase in CTR.  

Likewise, Vodafone Germany partnered with Adform to reduce the carbon footprint of its display campaigns while ensuring Cost per Acquisition (CPA) remained unaffected. The resulting campaign achieved a 28% reduction in the average number of gCO2PM, a 35% increase in conversions per impression, and a 12% reduction in CPA. Following this same strategy, Vodacom (Vodafone South Africa) achieved a 58% reduction in the average gCO2PM, a 100% increase in conversion rate, and a 40% reduction in CPA. 

Lastly, leading Spanish electronics retailer, PcComponentes, also ran Adform´s carbon reduction capabilities across a six-week campaign, showing a 21% reduction in overall carbon output against the market level. 

In less than three months, Adform has delivered over 45 campaigns with clients across industries such as telecommunications, banking, CPG, travel, and automotive to reduce carbon emissions. Building on the success of this proof of concept, Adform will also this week launch a new set of features for sustainable trading, including dashboards and benchmarks that provide greater control and transparency to clients.

Commenting on the partnership with Adform, Ivan Ivanov, senior online marketing manager at Vodafone Germany said: "At Vodafone, sustainability is a core value and we fully embrace our ambition to become the foremost eco-conscious advertiser. Our partnership with Adform is a decisive step toward achieving sustainability in our digital advertising efforts.”

“We are so pleased to have the opportunity to have partnered with Audi, Vodafone and PcCompenentes on these pioneering carbon reduction digital campaigns, which all demonstrate fantastic results,” adds Oliver Whitten, chief operating officer at Adform. “The results from the pilot clearly show that the right technology can drive down emissions without compromising reach or performance. Measuring our carbon footprint in digital ad campaigns is an important step in addressing carbon emissions in the whole marketing mix, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. We look forward to building on our success here to drive sustainability even further.”