Electric Ireland, Ireland’s leading energy supplier and member of the AdNetZero Ireland community, has delivered a global first with its latest Smart Meter campaign. This is the first time a digital campaign has optimised the ad delivery and ad selection process to reduce carbon emissions, resulting in a 67% reduction in carbon emissions1 and a 31% increase in click-through rate (CTR).
The digital campaign was delivered through a partnership between Electric Ireland, dentsu Ireland, Greenbids, the AI-powered media optimisation solutions, and SeenThis, the adaptive streaming technology agency, and was run via Google’sDisplay & Video 360 in late 2024.
The campaign promoted Electric Ireland’s Smart Meter plans through digital display advertising, highlighting the benefits of switching to these plans; a more sustainable campaign for a more sustainable energy plan.
At the centre of this partnership is Electric Ireland’s commitment to sustainability, driven by the goal to empower, enable and support customers and communities to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Electric Ireland took a deliberate step to align its advertising practices with its sustainability objectives – not just through the net-zero products and solutions it provides, but in how it communicates and connects with customers.
With data transfer expected to grow annually due to digital advertising, Electric Ireland recognise the growing need to address media emissions in digital advertising. Electric Ireland looked beyond the traditional carbon calculators with this campaign, using the latest technology available to reduce carbon emissions, while maintaining strong performance outcomes.
“Electric Ireland’s mission is to lead Ireland towards a net-zero electric future, and that commitment extends to every aspect of our business, including our advertising,” said Lisa Browne, Head of Marketing & Customer Insights at Electric Ireland. “As a member of the AdNetZero Ireland community, we are committed to reducing the carbon footprint of our advertising. This partnership with dentsu Ireland, SeenThis, and Greenbids is an exciting step forward, innovating how we deliver smart supports to our valued customers encouraging them to embrace more sustainable solutions.”
This industry first was achieved through a combination of:
- SeenThis’s Adaptive Streaming Technology: This technology optimises ad delivery by streaming the ad rather than the traditional download method associated with display media. SeenThis also optimised the creatives to ensure they were high quality and would load quickly, reducing the ad file size while maintaining high specifications.
- Greenbids’ AI-Driven Bidding Process: Greenbids’ AI identifies the most sustainable ad delivery paths by considering factors such as location, device type, and network coverage of consumers in the vicinity. For example, the AI prioritises delivering ads to users connected to Wi-Fi over those using cellular data, minimising energy consumption.
“At dentsu Ireland, we’re committed to pioneering sustainable advertising solutions that deliver exceptional results for our clients.” said David O’Riordan, Chief Performance Officer at Dentsu Ireland.
“We went into this project with a very bold target of a 50% carbon reduction,” said Guillaume Grimbert, CEO & Co-Founder at Greenbids. “An emissions cut of this scale had never been achieved in such a short time on a display campaign before, so we were aiming for the sky with this benchmark. Not only did we hit our target, but we also rocketed past it, demonstrating the ability of AI to solve problems that not long ago would have seemed impossible.”
“This collaboration proves that sustainability and performance can go hand in hand,” said Hannah O’Neil, EMEA VP of Sales at SeenThis. “By combining Greenbids’ AI-powered optimisation with our adaptive streaming technology, we’ve not only reduced carbon emissions but also delivered a faster, more engaging ad experience. These results set a new benchmark for the industry—showing that greener advertising is not just possible but can also be effective.”
To date the campaign has been awarded Best Sustainable Programmatic Campaign at the 2025 AdExchanger Programmatic Impact Awards.
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