Green GRP

How big is the carbon footprint of an advertising campaign? Information about this is provided by the Green GRP. When planning a campaign, Mediaplus offers its clients the option to individually offset the carbon emissions that the campaign will generate. The Green GRP is part of Mediaplus’ sustainability initiative.

As Europe’s largest owner-managed agency group, the Serviceplan Group has set itself the goal of becoming a sustainability trailblazer. We avoid CO2 wherever possible, whether by using green electricity, buying local organic produce or reducing travel. Where we cannot avoid CO2, we offset 100% of our remaining carbon footprint. Mediaplus has also set up an interdisciplinary taskforce that deals with sustainable media. In addition to launching a cross-sector debate, the aim is to develop sustainability standards for the market and introduce sustainable media products. The aims here are to encourage an interdisciplinary discussion, develop sustainability standards for the marketplace and introduce sustainable media products. The Green GRP is the first tangible product.

The GreenGRP calculator will help you work out how many emissions are caused by your ad placement and the cost of offsetting them. The Green GRP is an open industry initiative that everyone on the market can join, including other agencies. We will make the corresponding calculation models freely available to all market partners.

To calculate the resulting emissions and to offset them through certified climate protection projects, Mediaplus has brought ClimatePartner on board. After its launch, the Green GRP will be available to all market partners – agencies, marketers and advertisers – as an open initiative. Following on from Mediaplus Germany, the model for CO2-compensated climate-neutral campaigns will also be introduced into other countries where the agency operates.

There is wide support from the market partners: Ad Alliance, Axel Springer Media Impact, Bauer Advance, El Cartel Media, Funke Medien Gruppe, Hubert Burda Media, SevenOne Media, Ströer and RMS have already joined the initiative and committed to its goals. The offsetting model operates purely in relation to the campaign, independent of the agency or marketer and regardless of the booked media.

When customers decide to use the GreenGRP, they are registered as participants with ClimatePartner. On the basis of their consumption parameters (print run, paper used, electricity etc.), ClimatePartner calculates the CO2 footprint of the campaign and the corresponding costs to offset it. ClimatePartner has developed a model for this purpose in cooperation with Mediaplus and the marketers. Based on this, the carbon emissions of the entire advertising campaign are calculated, depending on the material, distribution and production. The client receives a report and an invoice from ClimatePartner. ClimatePartner then initiates the offsetting through a climate protection project of the client’s choosing.

The environmental impact of the campaign remains the highest priority in the planning. The Green GRP does not affect the composition of the media mix. The selection of campaign components is still based on the client’s objectives and focuses on the best possible ROI.

Climate Partner calculates the CO2 surcharge. Carbon emissions vary depending on the medium and print circulation or airing frequency of TV or radio ads. ClimatePartner always breaks down the total emissions into the different areas that the emissions are generated in. In the case of print, this is the printed material on the one hand, but also the distribution and the production (e.g. materials printed for a photo shoot, digital processing, etc.). For every calculation, they take the emission factors from scientific databases, which helps to translate the data into CO2 emissions.

Our Green GRP expert

Dominik Kropp

Head of Knowledge Management I Insights Mediaplus

"The GreenGRP allows the advertising industry to do something that was not possible before - take responsibility for the carbon footprint of their campaigns. However, carbon offsetting can only be the beginning. New ideas and solutions are needed to further reduce campaign emissions.”

Climate change and sustainability have become enablers for consumer behavior. The pandemic has once again greatly increased the general awareness of the impact of individual consumption. In this context, I analyse trends and developments in the field of consumer ethics as well as the effects on consumer behavior. Based on the results I derive recommendations for our clients - in order to be prepared for the growing number of green consumers and their needs.

We would be happy to advise you on how to calculate the carbon footprint of your campaign and to calculate your campaign without obligation.

Our partner for sustainable climate protection

ClimatePartner supports us in precisely calculating our CO2 emissions and also in developing measures to reduce them. Together we can implement climate protection strategies in a much more target-oriented way and offset carbon emissions through certified climate protection projects.