The carbon footprint of Super Bowl Ads: the hidden cost of the Big Game
Part of this article was originally published in The Media Leader
There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of weeks about the eye-watering cost of advertising at this weekend’s Super Bowl. And with good reason.
The cost of just 30 seconds of airtime for Sunday’s Big Game – which sees two-time defending champions the Kansas City Chief take on the Philadelphia Eagles at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana -- is now a record-breaking $8M. That’s around $267,000 for every second.
However, there's another cost associated with the Super Bowl that's often overlooked: the cost to the planet.
The carbon cost of Super Bowl advertising
Whether it’s through the production, broadcasting or consumption of them across TVs or digital devices, Super Bowl ads generate a significant amount of energy, which in turn leads to a substantial increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Around 70 ads are broadcast to an estimated global audience of 170 million during the Big Game, with around 50 minutes of ad time. But most emissions come from the digital activity surrounding these campaigns rather than the main broadcast. This includes pre-game teasers, social media promotion, website updates and post-game engagement. All in all, that equates to billions of digital ad impressions.
How many emissions Super Bowl ads generate exactly is difficult to calculate due to the sheer number of variables involved and the sheer scale of activity.
Focusing purely on the distribution and consumption of digital ads, there are a range of different variables that can affect an ad campaign’s overall impact on the environment. These include the file size and length of the creative assets, the digital platform where the content is viewed, and the device used to view the content.
But with just 5-10 million ad impressions generating the same amount of GHG emissions as a person flying from London to Nevada, you get some sense of the scale of the issue.
So, what can advertisers do to reduce the carbon cost of their Super Bowl campaigns without affecting results? Here are some tips (reductions based on Impact Plus’s methodology):
1. Size up the opposition
Before you start, it’s important to understand what you’re up against. For every Super Bowl advertiser, that means evaluating, tracking and benchmarking the environmental impact of their campaign, across all channels.
The good news is there are many helpful tools. These range from Adgreen’s calculator, which measures the carbon cost of ad production, to Impact Plus’s Environmental Sustainability Platform, which monitors and offers recommendations on how to reduce the emissions generated by digital ad campaigns.
2. A second can change the game
With every 30 seconds of airtime now costing $8M, it’s no surprise most advertisers keep their TV spots to half a minute to reduce costs. But it’s a different story online, where brands run longer edits.
But every second an online video is played has an impact on GHG emissions. So, by cutting the length of their online videos, Super Bowl brands can not only boost their video completion rates, but also significantly reduce their impact on the planet.
3. It’s a weight-ing game
The weight of a brand’s creative assets significantly impacts emissions. This is a hugely significant factor at the Super Bowl, with brands splashing out millions on lavish films designed to catch the eye.
Glossy ads are great for the big screen, but you don’t need the same high-definition videos or high-res images when targeting people on smaller screens. You can reduce the weight without any perceivable loss of quality to the viewer, particularly on mobile. For example, Impact Plus’s Creative Optimizer tool reduces greenhouse gas emissions generated by a digital video ad by an average of 20%. The tool works by creating lighter creative assets, thereby avoiding a significant volume of emissions by reducing the load on servers, networks, and devices. Techniques such as video compression can also help.
By choosing lighter video formats, marketers can also improve the user experience, as viewers will not have to wait as long for ads to load.
4. A picture can tell a thousand words
The Super Bowl is one of the few (if only) events where you get ‘ads for ads’. These are usually 5-15 second videos shared online to get people excited about whichever celebrity is starring in their ad.
Some of these campaigns are incredible, but sometimes a pic can be just as effective (if not more) at teasing a campaign.
A picture tells a thousand words -- and it’s also better for the planet, with videos generating on average six times more GHG emissions than standard display creatives.
5. Keep your eyes on attention
Unseen ads generate unnecessary emissions, so by focusing on platforms that drive higher conversion rates rather than deliver higher reach and volume, Super Bowl advertisers can really cut their carbon footprints.
Avoid ad placements with low viewability rates or poor video completion rates and avoid spamming users at a high frequency.
6. Programmatic power-up
Advertisers can reduce emissions by streamlining their programmatic supply chains and reducing the number of intermediaries. Purchasing directly from publishers whenever possible further optimizes efficiency.
7. Delivery is everything
Understanding your audience's device usage and connection preferences is crucial to minimizing emissions. For example, optimizing delivery to focus on Wi-Fi users, which consume less energy than 5G. Wi-Fi users are also more attentive as they are less likely to be on the move and will have fewer distractions.
In the days leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, advertisers could also reduce emissions by as by delivering their campaigns during off-peak hours and days when energy consumption and energy grids’ dependence on fossil fuels is lower.
Conclusion
By acting on some of these recommendations, brands can significantly reduce the overall environmental impact of their Super Bowl campaigns.
But for brands serious about tackling the carbon footprint of their digital advertising, the Super Bowl is only the tip of the iceberg (a sizeable tip admittedly). It’s a good start, but the path to truly sustainable advertising, like the Super Bowl itself, is a game of inches.
Only by making small, everyday changes to the way brands and agencies plan, distribute and activate their digital campaigns will we have any chance of meaningful change. Game on.
The carbon footprint of Super Bowl Ads: the hidden cost of the Big Game
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Part of this article was originally published in The Media Leader
There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of weeks about the eye-watering cost of advertising at this weekend’s Super Bowl. And with good reason.
The cost of just 30 seconds of airtime for Sunday’s Big Game – which sees two-time defending champions the Kansas City Chief take on the Philadelphia Eagles at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana -- is now a record-breaking $8M. That’s around $267,000 for every second.
However, there's another cost associated with the Super Bowl that's often overlooked: the cost to the planet.
The carbon cost of Super Bowl advertising
Whether it’s through the production, broadcasting or consumption of them across TVs or digital devices, Super Bowl ads generate a significant amount of energy, which in turn leads to a substantial increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Around 70 ads are broadcast to an estimated global audience of 170 million during the Big Game, with around 50 minutes of ad time. But most emissions come from the digital activity surrounding these campaigns rather than the main broadcast. This includes pre-game teasers, social media promotion, website updates and post-game engagement. All in all, that equates to billions of digital ad impressions.
How many emissions Super Bowl ads generate exactly is difficult to calculate due to the sheer number of variables involved and the sheer scale of activity.
Focusing purely on the distribution and consumption of digital ads, there are a range of different variables that can affect an ad campaign’s overall impact on the environment. These include the file size and length of the creative assets, the digital platform where the content is viewed, and the device used to view the content.
But with just 5-10 million ad impressions generating the same amount of GHG emissions as a person flying from London to Nevada, you get some sense of the scale of the issue.
So, what can advertisers do to reduce the carbon cost of their Super Bowl campaigns without affecting results? Here are some tips (reductions based on Impact Plus’s methodology):
1. Size up the opposition
Before you start, it’s important to understand what you’re up against. For every Super Bowl advertiser, that means evaluating, tracking and benchmarking the environmental impact of their campaign, across all channels.
The good news is there are many helpful tools. These range from Adgreen’s calculator, which measures the carbon cost of ad production, to Impact Plus’s Environmental Sustainability Platform, which monitors and offers recommendations on how to reduce the emissions generated by digital ad campaigns.
2. A second can change the game
With every 30 seconds of airtime now costing $8M, it’s no surprise most advertisers keep their TV spots to half a minute to reduce costs. But it’s a different story online, where brands run longer edits.
But every second an online video is played has an impact on GHG emissions. So, by cutting the length of their online videos, Super Bowl brands can not only boost their video completion rates, but also significantly reduce their impact on the planet.
3. It’s a weight-ing game
The weight of a brand’s creative assets significantly impacts emissions. This is a hugely significant factor at the Super Bowl, with brands splashing out millions on lavish films designed to catch the eye.
Glossy ads are great for the big screen, but you don’t need the same high-definition videos or high-res images when targeting people on smaller screens. You can reduce the weight without any perceivable loss of quality to the viewer, particularly on mobile. For example, Impact Plus’s Creative Optimizer tool reduces greenhouse gas emissions generated by a digital video ad by an average of 20%. The tool works by creating lighter creative assets, thereby avoiding a significant volume of emissions by reducing the load on servers, networks, and devices. Techniques such as video compression can also help.
By choosing lighter video formats, marketers can also improve the user experience, as viewers will not have to wait as long for ads to load.
4. A picture can tell a thousand words
The Super Bowl is one of the few (if only) events where you get ‘ads for ads’. These are usually 5-15 second videos shared online to get people excited about whichever celebrity is starring in their ad.
Some of these campaigns are incredible, but sometimes a pic can be just as effective (if not more) at teasing a campaign.
A picture tells a thousand words -- and it’s also better for the planet, with videos generating on average six times more GHG emissions than standard display creatives.
5. Keep your eyes on attention
Unseen ads generate unnecessary emissions, so by focusing on platforms that drive higher conversion rates rather than deliver higher reach and volume, Super Bowl advertisers can really cut their carbon footprints.
Avoid ad placements with low viewability rates or poor video completion rates and avoid spamming users at a high frequency.
6. Programmatic power-up
Advertisers can reduce emissions by streamlining their programmatic supply chains and reducing the number of intermediaries. Purchasing directly from publishers whenever possible further optimizes efficiency.
7. Delivery is everything
Understanding your audience's device usage and connection preferences is crucial to minimizing emissions. For example, optimizing delivery to focus on Wi-Fi users, which consume less energy than 5G. Wi-Fi users are also more attentive as they are less likely to be on the move and will have fewer distractions.
In the days leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, advertisers could also reduce emissions by as by delivering their campaigns during off-peak hours and days when energy consumption and energy grids’ dependence on fossil fuels is lower.
Conclusion
By acting on some of these recommendations, brands can significantly reduce the overall environmental impact of their Super Bowl campaigns.
But for brands serious about tackling the carbon footprint of their digital advertising, the Super Bowl is only the tip of the iceberg (a sizeable tip admittedly). It’s a good start, but the path to truly sustainable advertising, like the Super Bowl itself, is a game of inches.
Only by making small, everyday changes to the way brands and agencies plan, distribute and activate their digital campaigns will we have any chance of meaningful change. Game on.