GroupM, the media investment group of WPP, has successfully integrated SeenThis’ adaptive streaming technology into its carbon calculator tool. This collaboration, which began in 2023, has enabled GroupM and its agencies to manage and minimize carbon emissions while enhancing the performance of display advertising campaigns. Over the past year, this partnership has helped avoid over 230 tonnes of CO2e emissions, equivalent to charging more than 15 million smartphones. The integration of SeenThis technology marks a significant step in GroupM’s commitment to decarbonizing its media supply chain.
Enhancing Media Performance and Sustainability
The integration of SeenThis technology into GroupM’s carbon calculator has proven to be a game-changer. By leveraging adaptive streaming, GroupM has been able to reduce data waste significantly. This technology ensures that data is only transferred for creative assets that are visible, thereby increasing user attention and reducing the number of impressions needed to meet targets. This not only improves the performance of digital ads but also minimizes CO2e emissions, as each part of the internet supply chain requires energy to operate.
A recent campaign for UOB, a leading bank in Asia, demonstrated the effectiveness of this technology. The campaign reduced data consumption by 25% and increased the view-through rate by 245%. This success highlights the potential of precision targeting and performance optimization efforts in driving both business outcomes and sustainability goals.
GroupM’s ability to turn trials into repeatable successes and create scalable processes is further evidenced by the growing industry interest in this technology. The focus now is on converting successful trials into always-on components of campaigns, ensuring that the benefits of SeenThis technology are realized on a larger scale.
A Global Partnership for Decarbonization
The partnership between GroupM and SeenThis is a testament to the power of collaboration in achieving sustainability goals. By integrating SeenThis’ proprietary technology into its carbon calculator, GroupM has provided its advertisers with a powerful tool to assess the optimization impact during pre-campaign planning. This seamless integration allows advertisers to make informed decisions that drive positive results across both emissions and performance.
The success of this partnership is a significant milestone in GroupM’s commitment to decarbonizing its media supply chain. As more advertisers opt into using SeenThis technology, the potential for reducing carbon emissions while enhancing user experience grows. This partnership is one of the first examples of a vendor providing an immediate turn-key solution to deliver CO2e reductions while improving the performance of digital ads.
GroupM’s global framework for media decarbonization, announced in 2022, has laid the foundation for this successful collaboration. The integration of SeenThis technology is a crucial step in building a sustainable future for digital advertising, demonstrating that it is possible to achieve both environmental and business objectives.
Future Prospects and Industry Impact
Looking ahead, the focus for GroupM and SeenThis is on expanding the use of this technology across more campaigns and markets. The success of the initial integration has generated significant interest from advertisers, who are keen to leverage the benefits of reduced carbon emissions and improved ad performance. This growing interest is expected to drive further adoption of SeenThis technology, making it a standard component of digital advertising campaigns.
The partnership has also highlighted the importance of a common measuring framework for carbon emissions in the media industry. By aligning methodologies on the carbon cost of data transfer, GroupM and SeenThis are setting a new standard for sustainability in digital advertising. This alignment enables more detailed supply-chain decisioning and provides advertisers with the insights needed to make more sustainable choices.
As the media industry continues to evolve, the collaboration between GroupM and SeenThis serves as a model for how technology can be harnessed to achieve sustainability goals. The success of this partnership underscores the potential for innovative solutions to drive meaningful change, paving the way for a more sustainable future in digital advertising.
