Small Scale Model, Big Scale Impact: Our First Pilot Case Study with EECA
Nov 12, 2026
When we published An Advertiser's Guide to Carbon Efficiency, we promised the next step would be proof in action. Guidance on paper is useful, but most marketers want to see it work on a real campaign, with real budgets and real performance targets, before they change how they work.
Today we're sharing the first of those proof points. Our pilot with EECA, the government agency for energy efficiency, set out to answer a question: could we cut a campaign's emissions without hurting its marketing outcomes?
The answer was yes, and it took less effort than people might expect.
The Campaign
EECA's Switch on Efficiency video series welcomed Grand Designs host Tom Webster as he led viewers room by room through a 1:18 scale model of a typical New Zealand home, showing how much they could save by replacing older appliances.
Working with Ad Net Zero and its agency partners, Special and MBM, EECA measured the emissions at each stage of the campaign and looked for practical ways to reduce them.
Many of the decisions were simple. They started with the creative idea. A single, versatile set piece removed the need for multiple location shoots and all the travel that comes with them.
On set, the team used local crews, limited flights across the three shoot days, shared transport, prioritised vegetarian catering, and kept crew numbers tight. They even thought about data storage, keeping only the files they needed to avoid unnecessary duplication.
In media, Scope3's inventory-level data let MBM identify and progressively exclude high-emitting domains and favour lower-carbon supply paths. This filtering had no impact on reach or delivery costs.
The Proof Points
As a result:
- Production emissions were 46% below AdGreen's average benchmark.
- Media emissions per 1,000 impressions were 71% lower than Scope3's average campaign benchmark.
- The campaign reached 1.8 million Kiwis, with an ROI of $2.52 for every dollar invested.
Lower emissions and strong marketing outcomes came from the same campaign. Neither was traded off for the other. Moving forward, EECA plans to integrate emissions tracking into every media campaign and continue measuring emissions across major productions.
Read the Full Case Study
Pilots like this one give the industry evidence it can trust. When peers see results from organisations they respect, low-carbon practice starts to look like the sensible default instead of a risky experiment.
The full case study covers the complete production footprint broken down by category, the media emissions analysis, and insights from the EECA, Special and MBM teams. If you've wondered where to start with decarbonising your own campaigns, it's a practical place to begin.
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