5 Minutes with… Audrey Danthony

Sustainability in digital advertising has often been overshadowed by performance metrics. But Audrey Danthony is working to change that. A tech entrepreneur from a young age, Audrey built her first website at 14 and launched one of France’s earliest digital ad networks by 17. Her passion for technology and environmental sustainability has shaped a career devoted to reducing the carbon footprint of advertising. 

Audrey’s journey through ad tech powerhouses like Teads and Ogury exposed her to the environmental costs of digital media, inspiring her to co-found sustaintech platform, Impact Plus in 2020. The platform helps brands measure, reduce and ultimately transform the environmental impact of their digital campaigns without sacrificing performance. 

Transparency and industry-wide collaboration remain critical hurdles. As a member of IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee, Audrey is championing clearer data-sharing practices to enable robust emissions tracking. She’s equally passionate about fostering inclusivity in tech, advocating for systemic changes to support women entering the industry. 

From automating eco-conscious media buying algorithms, to partnering with global brands like L’Oréal, Audrey is on a mission to propel sustainability beyond responsibility and into an opportunity for digital advertising to redefine its future. We sat down with Audrey to find out more. 

LBB> Can you tell us about the inspiration behind Impact Plus? What motivated you to create a platform focused on reducing the carbon footprint of digital advertising?

Audrey> In 2014, I became increasingly aware of the need for a more sustainable digital advertising industry. My experience at Ogury, where we pioneered user consent for data collection, further solidified my commitment to ethical and responsible technology.

So, in 2020, I joined forces with Vincent Villaret, who I worked with at Teads, and Marion Cardona, and set about creating Impact Plus. I realised the industry where I could have the most impact on reducing emissions was the one I knew best: advertising. At that time, the issue of environmental sustainability in digital advertising had never really been addressed.

Our goal is to address the growing environmental impact of digital advertising. Recognising the industry's potential to drive positive change, we set out to develop solutions that would help reduce carbon emissions without compromising performance.

LBB> How does the Impact Plus platform work to reduce emissions in online ads?

Audrey> Impact Plus works with clients throughout their journey to facilitate a reduction mindset in order to set, track and achieve reduction goals. We typically follow a three-phase process:

1. Evaluate: We evaluate by measuring greenhouse (GHG) emissions from digital campaigns and establish benchmarks.
2. Reduce: We then identify opportunities to reduce emissions, assist our clients’ media teams and agencies in implementing these measures, and assess their effectiveness.
3. Expand: Once that’s complete, we then scale sustainable digital media practices across countries, brands, and divisions, empowering our clients to use Impact Plus's solutions and pilot their own reduction strategies. We then provide ongoing support and QBRs to continuously push towards achieving long-term objectives.

LBB> What are the biggest sustainability challenges currently facing the digital advertising industry? Given your role in IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee, how do you see the industry evolving in terms of sustainability practices?

Audrey> I think the biggest obstacle to a more sustainable digital ad ecosystem is the industry's reluctance to share data. Let's face it, digital advertising is still not as transparent as it could be. Industry players are largely very hesitant to share information as they think it could jeopardise their collaborations with clients. But to build reliable assessments of the environmental impact of digital advertising and make informed strategic choices, we need greater transparency and collaboration among industry players.

LBB> In what ways do you think advertisers and brands can view sustainability as a strategic investment rather than just a cost? How does Impact Plus help clients make this shift in mindset?

Audrey> From data centres to device manufacturing, the digital world relies on significant physical resources in which to operate.

So, as climate change intensifies and resource scarcity grows, it's imperative that we adopt more sustainable practices to ensure the long-term viability of digital services. It means those who prioritise sustainability will have a significant competitive edge.

At Impact Plus, we believe in a proactive approach to sustainability. We empower brands to evaluate and reduce their digital carbon footprint through our solutions. By conducting low-cost tests, we can show that sustainable practices can be put in place that won’t impact campaign performance or efficiency. And our Environmental Sustainability Platform (ESP) allows brands to scale these practices and track their progress.

Many of our clients recognise the long-term benefits of sustainability. They’ve already optimised their production processes, and now they're eager to apply similar principles to their digital advertising. It's up to us to prove to marketers that simple actions can have a big impact when deployed at scale.

LBB> How do you think the industry could drive more standardised KPIs around carbon footprint reduction? Are there specific metrics or frameworks you believe would make sustainability efforts more measurable and impactful?

Audrey> The Impact Plus team is actively involved in industry-wide efforts to standardise carbon emissions assessment, such as the Global Media Sustainability Framework, which is being developed in collaboration with Ad Net Zero and IAB Europe. While these standards will eventually lead to better transparency and comparability, their finalisation and implementation will take time.

In the meantime, marketers shouldn't wait before taking action. Climate change is a pressing issue, and every effort to reduce emissions, no matter how small, can contribute to a more sustainable future.

To track progress, marketers can focus on two key metrics:
1. Total Carbon Emissions: The total emissions of their activities over a long period of time (MtCO2eq), for example, annually. This metric is necessary to measure progress in reduction.
2. A Unit KPI: We recommend carbon emissions (gCO2e/$) per dollar spent (or any other relevant currency) for the advertiser or earned for the publisher.

By monitoring these metrics, marketers can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions to optimise their campaigns for both performance and sustainability.

LBB> Impact Plus recently launched tools that cut video ad emissions by up to 30% of emissions due to electricity consumption. What other innovations are you working on to make ad formats and media plans even more sustainable?

Audrey> As you mentioned, we recently launched our Creative Optimiser tool, which reduces the weight of creative assets. This in turn helps advertisers limit the amount of data transfer needed to deliver the advertising creative.

We are also working closely with trading desks and agencies to help them automate the use of environmental impact data into their buying algorithms.

For example, by applying simple machine learning concepts, we can identify the environments that are most favourable to both media and environmental performance. The algorithms can then choose to prioritise delivery within these environments, making it more sustainable.

This is an important way to manage campaigns in the long term, achieving the best results in terms of reduction of GHG emissions. But to do this, these algorithms must be fed with sufficiently granular data, which we are enabling through our data export systems.

LBB> Could you tell us about a recent client success story?

Audrey> Impact Plus has been working with L’Oreal since 2021 as part of its L’Oreal For The Future sustainability program. The objective was to first identify areas of its digital media activities that can be optimised for GHG emissions reduction and then scale these best practices across the company’s markets and brands around the world.

By leveraging Impact Plus' standardised methodology, L'Oréal was able to assess the environmental impact of their digital media campaigns across multiple countries. With the implementation of Impact Plus’ Environmental Sustainability Platform (ESP), L’Oréal is in the process of measuring the complete CO₂eq baseline of its global digital media activities. This allows the company to identify actionable levers to reduce emissions effectively.

To help accelerate onboarding and rollout, Impact Plus also provided continuous upskilling support and quarterly market-specific analyses. Through the partnership with Impact Plus, L'Oréal reduced its digital ad emissions by 30% in 2023 within the optimised perimeter.

As the CO2 activity-based baseline is still being built, it is too early to report on reductions; however, we are already seeing some strong indicators. Using Impact Plus’ Creative Optimiser Tool, which reduces the emissions generated by the creative itself, one YouTube campaign for a luxury brand run across North America saw a 35% reduction in emissions within the optimised perimeter. By targeting Wi-Fi users, another brand has managed to reduce the emissions generated by its social media campaigns by 8%.

This case study is the perfect example of what we aim to achieve. We start by measuring the carbon impact of a few campaigns and then raise awareness and help to educate client teams. We then implement initial reduction levers and assess their effectiveness.

The process is then scaled to include more campaigns for greater reduction, eventually integrating sustainability as a core element of the media strategy, understood by all.

LBB> You’ve been a strong advocate for women in tech. What advice do you have for women looking to enter the tech industry, and what changes would you like to see in tech to foster a more inclusive environment?

Audrey> It’s a vast subject. The systemic barriers to women in tech are multifaceted. Childhood gender stereotypes often steer girls away from STEM fields.

Even those who pursue these studies may face harassment and discrimination. Recent research suggests 20% of French female students and 13% of working women in STEM fields say that sexual violence and/or harassment during their studies was one of their main difficulties they faced as women while studying for engineering and technology courses (source: Elles Bougent). Some school administrations have not yet fully grasped the extent of the problem.

Unfortunately, gender imbalance remains a persistent issue, as I sadly witnessed firsthand at an event in London recently, with male speakers significantly outnumbering female ones. Until this imbalance is addressed, nothing will change.

Women should not be deterred by the male-dominated nature of the tech industry. There is room for all of us. By offering inclusive hiring practices and mentorship programs, but also more sustainable practices, companies can empower women to thrive in tech.

LBB> What have been the key challenges and successes in your journey from founding Oxeva during the ‘Dot-Com’ boom to creating Impact Plus? How has your perspective on tech entrepreneurship and sustainability evolved over the years?

Audrey> The most significant challenge of the past 15 years has been reconciling my work with my values. Impact Plus has allowed me to bridge this gap, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to a more sustainable future. However, scaling our impact and driving widespread adoption of sustainable practices remains a significant challenge.

Prior to Impact Plus, I was unaware of the finite nature of technological resources. In 2018, I came to a stark realisation: unchecked digital expansion, oblivious to planetary boundaries, was simply not sustainable. While I'm encouraged by the growing number of green tech initiatives, I believe that too few leaders are integrating these constraints into their business strategies. Sustainability, unfortunately, is still viewed more as an obstacle than a potential advantage.

The key lies in funding innovation. The community of sustaintech solutions still remains niche, which means our impact is still limited. While sustaintech investments are growing, the industry still needs huge investment in this area to truly address global challenges.

LBB> Anything else you’d like to add?

Audrey> I just want to say thank you for interviewing me. I hope this will help Little Black Book readers learn more about how technology and human capabilities can help build a more sustainable advertising world.