Sustainability in OOH: Success in my role means it will cease to exist
It is not usual to wish your job into planned obsolescence but, as Alice Date (group sustainability manager at Talon) writes, it’s the situation she finds herself in.
Sustainability is a term that has been, is, and will continue to be thrown around – mostly with good intent. It encapsulates a positive yet complex narrative and getting to its core isn’t simple. It has been a mere four months since I relocated to Ad Land – taking up the role of group sustainability manager at Talon – and in this short time I have heard vast conversations about what sustainability means and what our role is as an industry.
Sustainability is understanding the impacts of and to a business - beyond financial implications. It is a new way of working that acknowledges the effect had on people, the planet and profit in equal parts. My role is to ensure our business - and the broader OOH industry - is future fit as critical levers regarding sustainability shift continuously; regulation is certain, influence on reputation and retention is already apparent and effect on revenue is inevitable.
While the work being done by groups such as AdNetZero, Purpose Disruptors and the Conscious Advertising Network is exactly what the industry needs. Now, we need to think about how we harness this movement to create tangible impact.
Success in sustainability
To ensure success in the OOH industry, two things need to happen.
Firstly, taking a broader approach – we must bring environmental and social issues together under one banner of sustainability, uniting the industry together in responsibility. Environmentally, we are currently plagued with climate tunnel vision and whilst I don’t disagree given the urgency, other critical topics like biodiversity and waste are yet to be wholly acknowledged.
On the social side, Ad Land has and continues to succeed at highlighting varied issues through a plethora of bodies that exist – MEFA, Outvertising, WACL, NABS, TimeTo and the fresh Head First Award from ITV. However, these brilliant social initiatives are yet to be considered under the banner of sustainability. Bringing them under this umbrella and setting clear industry-wide targets could spark board attention and help to scale impact at large.
It’s already happening with climate targets. AdNetZero for example, will require all members to have set a Science Based Net Zero emissions target by June 2024 and are working with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) to provide a universal methodology for calculating industry carbon emissions. It’s these kinds of stringent goals and global approaches that will further unite Ad Land with transparent direction and raise the bar as needed.
The second thing we need for success is increasing knowledge and understanding of sustainability. Currently sustainability stands most often as a siloed function, however whilst accountability can lie with an individual, responsibility belongs to everyone - the only true way we will achieve ‘sustainability’ is by adopting shared ownership on both a business and personal level.
Businesses can do this by developing a strategy that acknowledges both financial and non-financial goals. Once set, each business unit should be informed and upskilled on their role in achieving the objectives of the strategy and therefore learning about their impact. More broadly, we must also acknowledge our role in media in building awareness across society and unite to take advantage of it - affecting positive consumer behavior is the single biggest impact we can have as an industry.
We are all architects of desire seeking to normalize aspirational lifestyles, our creativity of thinking is the skill the rest of the world needs to translate a message into real change. Therefore, promoting necessary societal changes through impactful goods and services should become our raison d'être.
The out of home opportunity
I am biased having joined an out of home agency, but have instantly recognized the immense opportunity it provides to have positive impact beyond the advertising itself – 46% of every pound invested into OOH goes back into local communities through installing and enhancing public infrastructure, job creation and donating media space. The communication is energy efficient as large audiences are viewing the same screen or billboard simultaneously – and it is inclusive – one message to everyone. The impact doesn’t just stop with OOH however, every channel has its own ability to affect change.
The power is in our hands
We hold the power to help the world exist as it should. Given the enormity of the change required, it will take time to weave and embed into each facet of a business – success in sustainability however lies in the ability to do just that.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for me) there is a lot of work required before sustainability is BAU. I hope that in years to come, ‘sustainability’ can drop away from job titles as it will inherently and seamlessly be built into all business functions, hence leaving the role of sustainability in isolation redundant. I know this wish leaves my career in potential jeopardy, but by then I’ll just settle for the CEO title instead.