World Out Of Home Launches Global Sustainability Task Force

December 13, 2022 by Dave Haynes

The World Out of Home Organization has created a Global Sustainability Task Force of expert practitioners from all sides of the global ad industry to get on top of rapidly emerging environmental issues confronting media owners.

The Task Force will be led by blowUP media CEO, and WOO board member, Katrin Robertson. “Sustainability is one of the most pressing issues facing advertisers and media owners and it’s important that Out of Home, as such a visible and public medium, takes a proactive stance,” she says.“The Task Force is designed to help the whole industry take the initiative on sustainability so it becomes an engine for growth rather than an impediment.”

“Sustainability is top of the agenda in all aspects of media and marketing right now and it’s vital that WOO helps its members make their case to advertisers and legislators,” adds WOO President Tom Goddard. “There is much good work being undertaken by many members, including some of the largest players in the business, but we must remember that we are a highly diverse industry in terms of stakeholders and owners and WOO can play a bigger role in helping members, smaller operators in particular, improve and communicate their sustainability performance.”

Among the task force’s duties:

• Positioning Out of Home (with a particular emphasis on DOOH) positively including a database of constructive evidence and relevant information sources;
• Sharing best practice on how companies and other WOO members can successfully implement sustainability into the heart of the business;
• Advice on organizing a sustainability team;
• Advice on engaging appropriate consultants with recommendations by region and country;
• Guidance on potential costs;
• Collating real Net Zero Initiatives, mission statements, in-house activities and action points;
• Creating a regularly updated database of industry innovation;
• Analyzing and improving WOO’s own carbon footprint;
• Formulating a  Global Guidelines Document for WOO members.

WOO’s own Sustainability Survey will also become an annual event, canvassing views from all sides of the industry.

The Ukraine invasion and energy price hikes and shortages that have followed have put media companies – especially in parts of Europe – under a microscope, with restrictions on operating hours for digital displays that exist mainly or entirely for advertising. As Robertson notes, sustainability efforts can help the industry grow, or green initiatives could otherwise impede growth through restrictions and bans.