Did You Know? Branded Merchandise Is One of the Lowest-Carbon Marketing Channels - Latest Industry Report
- 3 min reading time
Our take on the latest BPMA Report "Comparing Carbon Footprints Across Media Channels"
As sustainability becomes a core business priority, brands are taking a closer look at the environmental impact of their marketing activity. A recent independent study comparing the carbon footprint of major advertising channels shows that promotional products consistently rank among the most carbon-efficient marketing options available.
This research challenges the assumption that physical products are automatically worse for the environment than digital or broadcast media. In fact, when measured correctly, branded merchandise performs exceptionally well.
How Carbon Impact Was Measured
The study, conducted by climate consultancy 51toCarbonZero and commissioned by leading promotional industry bodies, compares promotional merchandise against five major advertising channels across Europe and the United States.
Three metrics were used:
- Carbon emissions per memorised impression
- Carbon emissions per campaign
- Carbon emissions per € / $ spent
Crucially, the research focuses on carbon efficiency - not just emissions volume, but emissions relative to marketing effectiveness.
Carbon Emissions per Memorised Impression
This is one of the most meaningful metrics in the study. It measures how much CO2 is generated for each advertising impression that people actually remember.
The results clearly show that promotional products deliver remembered brand impressions with far lower carbon impact than most traditional and digital channels.
Key insight:
In Europe, promotional products rank second lowest for carbon emissions per memorised impression. In the United States, they are joint lowest overall - outperforming TV, radio, print, and digital advertising.
Carbon Emissions per Campaign
This metric looks at the total carbon footprint of a typical marketing campaign using each channel.
Once again, promotional merchandise performs strongly, with significantly lower campaign emissions than TV, print, radio, and digital media.
Why this matters:
Promotional product campaigns typically involve a one-time production and distribution footprint, but continue delivering brand exposure long after - without ongoing energy use.
Carbon Emissions per € / $ Spent
This measure compares how much carbon is emitted for every unit of marketing spend.
The findings show that promotional products offer strong carbon efficiency, especially when compared to TV and print advertising.
In Europe, promotional merchandise ranks among the lowest carbon impact channels per euro spent. In the US, it performs on par with digital advertising and better than TV and print.
What This Means for Sustainable Marketing
The data highlights an important point: sustainability in marketing isn’t just about going digital. Digital advertising relies on continuous energy consumption through servers, data centres, and streaming infrastructure.
By contrast, promotional products:
- Deliver repeated brand impressions without repeated emissions
- Remain visible for months or years
- Allow brands to control materials, production, and lifespan
When selected responsibly, branded merchandise can be both effective and environmentally efficient.
Final Thought
No marketing channel is carbon-free - but some are clearly more efficient than others. This independent research shows that promotional products consistently rank among the lowest-carbon ways to generate memorable brand impressions.
For brands balancing visibility, value, and sustainability, that’s a powerful combination.
IN CONCLUSION - we believe that us using just an appropriate number of promotional products, highly targeted at a relevant audience, advertisers are ethically marketing their brand, reducing the waste of excess production and cost effectively making their business memorable to the right audience.
At BlankKeyrings we have supported modern sustainability standards for many years. We source our clear acrylic products from UK based, modern manufacturers.
Our main source factory in Blackpool, Lancashire has certifications including the highest Global standard, Ecovardis, plus Smeta Pillar 4, ISO9001, ISO14001 and ISO45001.”
