| Good morning, Marketer, is sustainability just a message to your audience, or is it a practice? We can probably all agree that increased attention by consumers on the environmental impact of the products they buy is a good thing. For consumers with firm convictions, will they also judge your brand on how Earth-friendly your ads are? This jumped out at me from a recent study by Microsoft Advertising and the agency Dentsu International: consumers put governments (51%), businesses/brands (43%) and the advertising industry (41%) ahead of themselves (36%) for accountability on who should be held most accountable for decarbonizing the way they experience advertising. Furthermore, 45% of Boomers believe consuming ads to be negative for the environment, compared with 71% of Gen Z and 73% of Millennials. It’s not just about the trees that go into print ads and billboards, but the carbon put out by digital usage. Many cryptocurrencies and NFT vendors are already out ahead of this with their green values. For marketers in other industries, get ready for the questions about sustainable advertising. The medium, and its environmental impact, will be your message. Chris Wood,
Editor | 