Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Honors Thesis (Open Access)

Department

Colby College. Science, Technology and Society Program

Advisor(s)

Ashton Wesner

Abstract

Digital marketing significantly contributes to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of marketing and advertising agencies. Despite efforts towards corporate sustainability, discrepancies in carbon accounting and sustainability practices persist across the industry. An increasingly relevant topic for many industries is the circular economy (CE). It is concerned with creating a structured and cyclical sustainable practice and/or operation. This research paper examines the intersection of the CE and environmental sustainability initiatives in global digital marketing, analyzing sustainability efforts and ordinances up to April 2024, alongside theories from Science and Technology Studies (STS). Then, CE principles are explored more in-depth and the sociotechnological imaginary of “smart cities” is developed into an original concept of “smart marketing cities.” Using eight literature and scholar-based points, a framework is created to examine agencies’ alignment with CE principles. This criterion guides the case studies on the three leading agency groups in the world: WPP Plc, Publicis Groupe, and Omnicom Group. Following this, a cumulative analysis is presented, assessing the commonalities, differences, and shortcomings in their abilities. Despite a lack of definitive firm-wide commitment to CE principles/initiatives, it reveals that potential exists for these companies to eventually adopt a CE structure. This research also aims to outline actionable strategies for integrating CE principles into digital marketing, proposing plausible solutions for implementing the CE into the industry.

Keywords

Greenhouse Gas emissions, international agency groups, digital marketing/advertising economies, “smart marketing cities, ” circular economy, sustainability ordinances

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