What is Campaign Carbon Score?
Campaign Carbon Score (CCS) is WE7 AI's proprietary metric that quantifies the carbon intensity of a digital marketing campaign — before it goes live. It gives marketing and sustainability teams a single, actionable number to compare, optimize, and report on the environmental footprint of media spend.
The Definition
Campaign Carbon Score (CCS) is a composite index — expressed in grams of CO₂ equivalent per 1,000 impressions (gCO₂e / 1K impressions) — that measures the carbon intensity of a digital advertising campaign across all channels, platforms, and creative formats.
Unlike a simple emissions estimate, CCS is weighted against campaign performance (CTR, ROAS, conversions), giving brands a true efficiency signal: not just how much carbon was emitted, but how much value was generated per unit of carbon.
Why Campaign Carbon Score Matters
Digital advertising has a significant but largely invisible carbon footprint. Data centers, ad servers, video rendering, and programmatic supply chains all emit CO₂. Under CSRD (EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and IFRS S2, companies are increasingly required to disclose Scope 3 emissions — which include marketing supply chains.
CSRD & IFRS S2 Compliance
CCS maps directly to Scope 3 Category 1 (purchased goods and services) disclosures, giving sustainability teams audit-ready data.
Performance Optimization
High CCS campaigns often signal inefficiency. Reducing carbon intensity frequently correlates with reducing wasted impressions and improving ROAS.
Pre-flight Decision Making
CCS is calculated before a campaign goes live — not after. This allows media planners to choose lower-carbon channel mixes without sacrificing reach.
How Campaign Carbon Score is Calculated
CCS is produced by WE7 AI's proprietary scoring engine, which synthesizes multiple carbon and performance data inputs into a single, normalized efficiency index. The exact formula, internal weights, and calculation logic are proprietary and available to customers under NDA.
WE7's scoring engine ingests channel-level emission baselines, creative format characteristics, ad tech supply path data, and live campaign performance signals — then produces the final CCS through a proprietary synthesis model. The model is continuously refined against peer-reviewed LCA data and platform sustainability disclosures.
Data Inputs CCS Considers
Channel-Level Carbon Baselines
Each digital channel (paid social, programmatic display, CTV, search, email, influencer) carries a different carbon intensity per 1,000 impressions. WE7 maintains a proprietary baseline library calibrated against Scope 3 emission factors, cross-referenced with IAB Tech Lab and Greenly data.
Creative & Format Characteristics
Video, rich media, and high-resolution imagery affect carbon intensity through data transfer size, rendering energy, and device load. WE7 accounts for format-specific impact using proprietary factors calibrated from primary research.
Ad Tech Supply Path
The programmatic supply chain — DSPs, SSPs, DMPs, verification vendors — adds layered carbon overhead. WE7 models the transaction path, and campaigns on direct publisher deals consistently score better than open-exchange programmatic.
Campaign Performance Signals
CCS is performance-weighted — it reflects carbon per unit of meaningful marketing outcome (using CTR, ROAS, or conversion rate depending on objective), not just carbon per impression. The exact weighting methodology is proprietary to WE7 AI.
Interpreting Your Campaign Carbon Score
CCS is presented as a tiered rating alongside the raw gCO₂e / 1K impressions figure:
CCS and ESG Reporting
Campaign Carbon Score data generated by WE7 AI is structured to be exported directly into CSRD double materiality assessments and GRI 305-3 (Other indirect Scope 3 emissions) disclosures. The data can be aggregated by quarter, campaign type, brand, or business unit — matching the granularity required by most sustainability reporting frameworks.