Advertisers want to be adjacent to sustainability, climate change coverage
Advertising Initiative Blog | 12 June 2022
In the 2020s, we have seen publishers begin to invest in more climate change coverage. The question this poses is whether this content is actually garnering interest from our advertisers.
For the likes of major media brands such as the BBC, Bloomberg, The Economist and the FT, the answer is a big “yes.”
Indeed, many say their advertisers are sending out more requests for publishers to offer sponsorship or ad campaign opportunities to them around “solutions-based editorial” — a growing trend of interest in publisher’ content/coverage of sustainability and climate change.
The key points I have noted seem to be:
- For the BBC, up to two-thirds of its advertiser briefs now contain a “sustainability or climate element.”
- Of Bloomberg’s top-50 largest ad proposals, approximately 20% are centered around sustainability and ad revenue from Bloomberg’s climate-focused platform “Bloomberg Green” has increased 144% in the last 12 months.
- The Economist is now achieving large, multi-year ad deals around its “Sustainability Project.”
- Financial Times has seen a 10X increase in request in proposals in the last year from advertisers seeking to position themselves with FT’s sustainability and climate editorial. Up to 50% of requests highlighted that sustainability and/or climate change as a “contextual alignment” demand.
To be asked by media companies the world over: Are you offering your advertising clients opportunities around climate change/sustainability, special features, sponsorship opportunities, branded content, etc.? If not, why not?
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