Omnichannel media agency Assembly has used CES2023 to announce a range of sustainable media solutions designed to reduce the carbon footprint of media and marketing.
First out of the blocks, Assembly is launching Clean Media Lab with a media “decarbonisation minimiser” as the first product available, starting in Europe and then rolling out globally.
Clean Media Lab will explore and assess the current ecosystem of media decarbonisation initiatives to identify pathways to improves clients’ carbon outputs.
The company says it is working on a number of technology-based solutions such as:
- a tool to audit the carbon footprint of clients’ holistic media spend;
- a carbon scorecard to assess prospective publisher partnerships; and
- a carbon emissions metric that can be universally applied and tracked across all parts of omnichannel campaign planning that is powered by STAGE, Assembly’s proprietary technology.
“Sustainability within our media products, services, and supply chain is a key pillar in our wider innovation strategy. We are fully invested in taking a deep, multi-faceted approach to developing Media solutions that are sustainable and progressive, including further investment in our technology to ensure global scale of the Clean Media Lab for all of our clients worldwide,” said James Townsend, Global CEO of Assembly and the Brand Performance Network.
Clean Media Lab is the latest build to an existing suite of Sustainability + Impact initiatives across Assembly, ensuring sustainability and purpose are woven into all aspects of its business model and client engagements. The agency has already led market-defining work for Nike’s Move to Zero Campaign, with emphasis on both media decarbonisation and carbon offsetting through solar projects and planting trees.
Gaby Sethi, Global Head of Impact at Assembly said, “We simply can no longer ignore the impact that media campaigns have on our planet. Advertising adds an extra 32% to the annual carbon footprint of every person, and that’s in the UK alone.” Sethi adds, “this isn’t just a one-off initiative for us, it’s how we need to think about campaigns from start to finish, and we’re bringing the best minds together to make it happen.”
Assembly is joining Ad Net Zero in 2023, focusing most significantly on Action #3 in the organization’s 5-point plan: curb emissions from media buying & planning. Assembly has also embarked on B Lab’s rigorous B Corp certification process as this milestone reinforces and adds more formality around the agency’s promise to balance purpose and profit to benefit clients’ businesses.
Understanding the critical role suppliers and partners play in helping clients reduce carbon emissions from the way they advertise, Assembly has put its own business under the microscope and is measuring its operational carbon footprint with the goal of creating and publishing a transparent reduction plan in 2023.