As part of an industry-wide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, advertising experts are getting together to recommend updated standards.
Ad Net Zero launched in New Zealand in August last year with a five-point action plan designed to support the decarbonisation of developing, producing and running advertising in Aotearoa:
- Reduce operational carbon emissions.
- Reduce emissions from advertising production.
- Reduce emissions from media planning and buying.
- Reduce emissions through awards and from events.
- Harness advertising’s power to support behaviour change.
Ad Net Zero recently released an industry roadmap that outlines what will be done for each point. For the fifth action, behaviour change, one of the key components is around working with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on updated greenwashing standards.
Head of Sustainability at the Commercial Communications Council, Jennifer Gunn, says Ad Net Zero’s a collaborative process. “We’re getting the industry together to talk through greenwashing concerns, educate people around the table, look at what other markets are doing, and ultimately bring forward a recommendation to ASA. Although there are rules now, through Ad Net Zero, we have an opportunity to contribute to and support clear guidance in this important area.”
Preventing deceptive ‘green’ claims is critical, and Gunn says it’s also about giving advertisers confidence. “Some advertisers are hesitant to talk about their sustainability achievements or product claims because of a fear of saying the wrong thing – I’ve heard it called ‘green hushing’. We want to make sure people are confident and have very clear standards on how to represent a product well. As we move forward to a more sustainable economy, there are more and more sustainable products that are coming down to the market, so advertisers need to have clear guidelines on how to best represent them in a way that’s going to help their clients and society.”
Updated standards related to greenwashing will also benefit customers, says Gunn. “As a consumer, it’s complicated making the responsible choice that best reflects your values, especially when more sustainable products can sometimes come with a higher price tag or claims that are difficult to compare across a product line. We want to help customers feel comfortable with the purchases they’re making.”
NZ Marketing’s publisher, SCG, is a foundation partner of Ad Net Zero. Editor of SCG Media’s lifestyle and wellbeing magazine Good, Carolyn Enting, welcomes the move to review the standards around ‘green’ ad claims.
“Sustainability has been a big area of focus for Good and our readers for a long time,” she says.
“As interest in sustainability has become more mainstream, more brands are incorporating it into their advertising. We’re happy to see this trend, but it’s important to ensure everyone’s on the same page and that environmentally conscious Kiwi consumers know what they’re really buying.”
This was first published in our March/April issue.
