Dive Brief:

• Toyota is cutting back the carbon footprint of its digital ad campaigns by up to 20% through a new partnership, per a news release.
• The automaker is one of several GroupM clients leveraging an adaptive streaming solution from Swedish technology firm SeenThis. The offering focuses on paring down ad load times, which culls the amount of data needed to effectively run campaigns.
• GroupM has been implementing SeenThis’ technology since January and claims the results related to both performance and sustainability have satisfied. Such solutions could become more popular as digital takes up a larger share of media budgets while environmental, social and governance (ESG) mandates become more pressing.

Dive Insight:

Automakers are under mounting pressure to make the switch to electric vehicle manufacturing as consumers and regulators sound the alarm on the worsening effects of climate change. How the category’s media-buying tactics impact the environment may not be under the spotlight right now, but it’s another area of business that could receive greater scrutiny amid the call for holistic solutions.

Toyota’s tie-up with SeenThis, a relationship established through its media agency GroupM, shows promise in helping make a less visible aspect of the marketing pipeline greener. Agency The&Partnership is also working with the brand on the initiative.

“GroupM and The&Partnership, together with SeenThis, provide us with digital advertising solutions that help us achieve our business goals, while helping reduce carbon emissions,” said Jan Casserlöv, marketing and CEX manager at Toyota, in a press statement. “We are extremely pleased with their work as sustainability and performance are extremely important to our digital advertising strategy.”

Founded in 2017, SeenThis works to cut back on load times for image and video ads, avoiding what it sees as limitations in traditional methods of ad-serving. Messages that appear instantaneously receive more views per impression, while reducing the amount of data needed. Xaxis, which is part of GroupM, said it’s seen up to 64% less data transferred in applying SeenThis, which, in turn, creates a smaller CO2 footprint.

GroupM helping scale the technology speaks to how media-buying agencies are adjusting their approach as channels like digital video take a more central role in marketing. The WPP-owned firm handles more than $50 billion in annual media investments, according to the release.