In the advertising industry, sustainability is the elephant in the boardroom that no one seemingly wants to tackle. But World Out of Home Organization (WOO) President Tom Goddard highlighted the issue at the annual conference of the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) in San Diego. He called on the US out-of-home industry to do more.
Goddard cited the Ad Net Zero 2023 report which stated that 88 percent of signed-up brands have set science-based carbon net zero targets, but only 25 percent of media owners have done the same. “This is exposing us to accusations of greenwashing that are hard to defend currently. We’re seeing more attacks from eco protesters in Europe and elsewhere targeting the advertising sector and OOH in on the front line.”
He also commended the industry for the positive steps taken towards sustainability. Goddard said individual initiatives like the widespread use of Clear Channel’s and JCDecaux’s eco-friendly bus shelters, and Lamar’s use of solar energy to power boards, as well as BlowUP Media site that helps purify the surrounding air. He added that the WOO is fully engaged in helping its members deliver their sustainability objectives.
“At WOO we’ve assembled an international task force, including Judd Guthmiller from Daktronics, Adam Green from Broadsign, and Jeff Jan from the OAAA, who are working to chronicle all the positive initiatives our industry is undertaking on sustainability. This group is led by Katrin Robertson CEO of Stroer Media’s BlowUP division and comprises Media Owners, OOH Associations, Media Agencies, Software suppliers, and Hardware Manufacturers. We’re publishing all the output from this workstream on our members database, which will help and inspire members to develop their own strategy, but also to help defend themselves from attack.”
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