Good-Loop’s Good-Media Academy outlines how the ad
industry impacts climate change and what advertisers can do to mitigate it.
Today, Good-Loop, an ethical ad agency that “exists to make
advertising a positive force in the world,” launched its Good-Media
Academy — a free course designed to
teach agency teams the principles that make up “Good-Media,” and educate
participants about the technologies available to mitigate the environmental
impact of their campaigns.
“Our research,
Counting Carbon: How marketers are tackling adland’s climate crisis, shows
that over 66 percent of brand marketers feel there is not sufficient education
and training on sustainable media,” says CEO and co-founder Amy
Williams. This green-skills gap is
one of the biggest barriers to action against climate change in the ad sector;
many marketers want to address this but are unsure how. With this free course,
we want to ensure that everyone in our industry has the skills and knowledge
needed to make more sustainable choices and turn advertising into the force for
good it has the potential to be.”
Williams — who told Sustainable Brands® (SB) in a recent
interview
that her previous experience in advertising was the “antithesis of
sustainability” — says the idea for Good-Loop, the first B Corp-certified
ad-tech company, was born out of a frustration with ad-blocking (“the biggest
boycott in human history”); and she felt driven to create a way to “use this
industry to do good and turn the tanker in the right direction.” Since its
launch in 2016, the agency has grown to become a resource for companies that
want to combine consumer ad engagement with support of social and environmental
causes.
Good-Loop also makes sure brand ads are as sustainable as possible (by
compressing font files or reducing animation libraries, for example, so they use
as little energy as possible) before distributing them across the web and social
platforms; and offers a service to measure the carbon impact of digital
campaigns
— until recently, a largely overlooked contributor to a brand’s
footprint.
And while companies such as Mars have begun working to both reduce the
impact of their
advertising
and increase awareness around the topic, the industry tanker continues to turn
very slowly.
To help move things along, Good-Loop’s new course is divided into three
different modules: The first delves into climate change and how it relates to
the media industry. The second module focuses on breaking down the carbon jargon
that surrounds sustainability conversations in the ad industry and what this
means for advertisers’ climate claims. The final installment focuses on
decarbonization, and outlines some practical steps participants can take to
identify and address the environmental cost of their campaigns.
The course is hosted by Good-Loop co-founder and CEO Amy
Williams; Impact Manager Hannah
Williams; and Claire
Gleeson-Landry, Head of
Sustainable Media. They are joined by a host of ad industry experts, with guest
speakers including:
“The advertising industry is desperately lacking knowledge about sustainability
— and it’s getting worse as artificial
intelligence
is getting all the limelight,” Kolster told SB. “It’s
applaudable that Good-Loop wants to invest and support the industry’s learning
journey; and I can only hope industry bodies, brands and bigger media players
will get inspired to help turn our industry from part of the problem into part
of the solution.”
Good-Media is a category founded by Good-Loop, which has pioneered it with
its suite of products. The goal is to fund quality journalism on quality
websites, and reduce carbon emissions while gaining the attention of consumers,
building trust and increasing brand recall.
To learn more about the course and to register, visit
https://good-loop.com/good-media-academy.
Published Apr 22, 2024 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST
Sustainable Brands Staff