The climate emergency is the defining crisis of our generation. From governments to companies to individuals, our pace of action must quicken if we are to have a hope of meeting the accelerating challenge.

Advertising has a positive role to play in directing consumers to more sustainable options and helping people make decisions, which will accelerate our journey to a low-carbon society. As marketers, we know our industry’s contribution is critical.

At Giffgaff, we’ve committed to that journey, and striven to put our own house in order.

We became a B Corp in 2022, setting our SBTI-validated Net Zero targets. We’ve joined the schemes driving action in media and marketing, including Ad Net Zero and the Conscious Advertising Network.

We’re pursuing media decarbonisation, including developing a sustainable media planning approach which won an Ad Net Zero Award in 2023. The approach is to reduce – by spending less with partners whose sustainability credentials are untested, or weaker; renew – by building new relationships, including with partners with stronger sustainability creds; refine – by scrutinising partners for sustainable optimisations within the plan such as adtech, using specific formats/targets, or simply managing excessive frequency to reduce wastage; and review all ‘sustainable’ recommendations, highlighting any significant increases in costs, or reduction in delivery.

Our industry’s power to spread the message and drive change is unparalleled. Advertisers are stepping up to be part of the change we need. The scale and severity of the issues demands nothing less.

We’ve also created an open fund for positive impact, which currently has voluntary contributions from 14 media partners. The effect of this is to turn media value into verified carbon reduction and extraction projects.

We’ve been on this journey because we believe it is an essential part of earning the trust of consumers – a task which all brands and advertisers need to undergo.

To earn that trust, we believe that we all need to set out our Net Zero transition plans (which ever more companies are doing). It’s critical that we all speak honestly, and place our efforts in a proper context; part of this is ensuring that our ad campaigns and messages are aligned with our carbon reduction plans, backed up with SBTIs.

That’s why we are both delighted to become the co-chairs of ISBA’s Sustainability Forum. The working group brings marketers from across the UK economy together to understand the questions, concerns and barriers that brands face in moving their advertising operations toward Net Zero.

We’re not the only company which has committed to this journey. Far from it. There is a huge amount going on within the industry.

Changing the ‘mental model’: How brands are nudging consumers towards sustainability

Positive steps

Marketing Week readers will be familiar with Ad Net Zero – the advertising industry’s initiative to decarbonise the production, distribution, and publication of advertising – and its five-point action plan, including actions on production, media planning and buying, and the role of advertising to support behaviour change. Since its launch, Ad Net Zero has also developed its training, resources, and foundational pathway programme.

Alongside Ad Net Zero is AdGreen, the initiative working to deliver action two – reducing emissions from advertising production. ISBA is a founding partner and supporter. AdGreen provides training, a carbon calculator, and resources for the whole industry in order to accelerate change.

At the global level, we have the WFA’s Planet Pledge – a CMO-led framework designed to galvanise action from marketers to promote and reinforce attitudes and behaviours which will help the world meet the challenges laid out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Meanwhile, at Cannes this year, we saw the launch of the Global Media Sustainability Framework. This provides a series of industry standards to improve consistent, comparable measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from digital, television, print, audio, outdoor and cinema channels.

We wanted to take a leadership role in the ISBA Sustainability Forum because it is a great place for brands to come together, learn lessons, and encourage progress. Despite all the good work that’s underway, more needs to be done, and to be done at pace. We know that that’s what the people who work in our industry, and the public we serve, demand.

Our industry’s power to spread the message and drive change is unparalleled. Advertisers are stepping up to be part of the change we need. The scale and severity of the issues demands nothing less.

Lisa Boyles is head of go to market and media lead at Giffgaff, and Georgina Bramall is marketing strategy director. They are the new co-chairs of ISBA’s Sustainability Forum.