From reporting to reducing: why carbon is becoming a live buying signal in DOOH

Meet e3

We built e3 in partnership with Cruxx and Latch. It's backed by media agency MBM and New Zealand energy company Meridian.

e3 scores the carbon efficiency of every screen bid and shifts delivery toward the cleaner plays across available inventory, in real time. It sits within Cruxx, the programmatic DOOH curation layer (via Perion), so it works on top of the buy rather than replacing it.

As Jack Plowright, our GM of Platforms and Partnerships, puts it:

“Buyers haven't had a way to automatically reduce carbon emissions inside a digital out-of-home buy once it starts. Existing carbon solutions are helpful for measuring and reducing after the fact, but they rely on static data sets, so they can't steer DOOH inventory decisions as the campaign runs.”

Same screen, different moment

The same ad on the same screen can carry very different emissions depending on when it plays. e3 is built around that insight.

At the moment of play, e3 scores every bid opportunity on grams of carbon dioxide emitted per thousand impressions (gCO2ePM). That score combines three things that change through the day:

• The screen's measured energy use: how much power it takes to deliver the ad.

• The audience the play delivers: more people reached means less carbon per impression.

• The carbon intensity of the New Zealand grid: how clean the electricity is right now (gCO2e/kWh).

When all three line up, that's a cleaner moment, and e3 leans into it.

You stay in control

e3 doesn't compromise the buy. Buyers choose how firmly it leans in with three settings:

Concentrates spend most firmly on the most carbon-efficient inventory

Whichever you choose, e3 adjusts bid weighting continuously so your campaign keeps pacing.

“e3 can sit on top of any programmatic DOOH buy without compromising the DOOH buy itself. It gives buyers control over how much they want to reduce, based on the targeting the campaign needs, whether that is location, attention on larger screens, or time targeting.”
Jack Plowright, LUMO

What we're seeing so far

Initial findings from a recent campaign showed a meaningful reduction in delivered emissions per thousand impressions compared with a control buy. The reduction scaled with the setting applied.

e3 builds on our existing carbon measurement and reporting through Scope3. The first release optimises on the screen power used to deliver the ad, which makes up over 95% of a screen's emission score. Broader supply-chain emissions are expected in the next release.

Why our partners are behind it

For MBM, the shift is from looking back to acting in the moment.

“Our team has worked with Meridian to reduce the carbon footprint of media plans for some time, usually without the granularity of data to optimise in flight. What is different here is that the decision happens as the buy happens, in real time, rather than only being reported once a campaign has run. e3 shifts weight toward cleaner moments while the campaign keeps pacing against the objectives we set for the buy, which makes it an easy recommendation for our clients.”
Ellen Kempster, Business Director, MBM

For Meridian, it's about turning measurement into better decisions.

“Measuring the carbon footprint of our media is important, but the real value comes from turning those insights into more informed media decisions. e3 makes it possible to prioritise more carbon-efficient opportunities in real time, without compromising campaign performance. We’re proud to support its launch and help bring a more practical approach to reducing media emissions to the New Zealand market.”
Steph Osborne, Media Manager, Meridian

Ready to buy cleaner?

e3 is live now across LUMO's digital out-of-home network through our curation partner Cruxx. It's available to DSPs integrated with Perion's SSP, and more New Zealand DOOH supply is expected in the coming months.

To add e3 to your next programmatic buy, talk to your LUMO account manager or get in touch with our team.