Channel Factory has released campaign data showing that many brands in the US and UK are targeting the wrong audiences with sustainability content. The strongest performance came from older consumers rather than younger, values-led groups.
The findings challenge a common advertising assumption that sustainability-related media environments mainly serve upper-funnel brand goals. Campaigns placed in sustainability-aligned environments recorded about 39% view rates, 34% completion rates and 3% click-through rates. Contextual precision also reduced media waste by as much as 30% and increased return on ad spend by up to 82%.
At the centre of the research is a mismatch between who brands often try to reach and who appears to respond most strongly. While marketers frequently direct sustainability messaging at younger consumers in the awareness stage, 44% of the higher-performing audience was aged 55 and above.
That group was also more likely to be homeowners, financially stable and actively considering purchases. The data suggests sustainability content may signal not only personal values but also commercial intent closer to conversion.
Audience split
The research also found clear regional differences between audiences in the US and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the US, sustainability-interested consumers were more action-oriented and more likely to show affinity for brands such as Walmart and Ford.
In the US, content preferences centred on personalities, documentaries and product-specific technology such as video cameras. This points to a more brand-aware and retail-driven mindset.
By contrast, the EMEA audience was more utility-focused. Commercial signals were linked to everyday maintenance and essential purchases, including water, washing machines and personal care products such as shaving items.
Engagement in EMEA was driven less by loyalty to named brands and more by practical need. Channel Factory characterised that audience as more passive and more likely to sample content for usefulness rather than affiliation.
Rob Blake, Managing Director, EMEA at Channel Factory, said the results indicated that advertisers were overlooking an audience segment with stronger buying signals. "Audiences interested in sustainability aren't who brands think they are. They are also actively making purchasing decisions and behaving in ways that drive outcomes. Sustainability is not just a signal of values but is also commercial intent. The data shows that moving away from broad, low-intent reach environments toward high-attention sustainability context improves not only engagement but also action. Sustainability is a performance-ready environment that brands should be paying attention to," Blake said.
Waste reduction
The research also linked tighter contextual targeting to lower waste in media buying. Channel Factory argued that placing advertising in more relevant environments can improve outcomes while reducing the number of impressions that fail to generate meaningful attention or response.
It cited work with OVO, the UK energy supplier, as an example. In YouTube campaigns measured with carbon accounting platform Cedara, emissions were tracked at 1.39g of CO2 per impression.
According to the figures, OVO cut wasted impressions by 34% and avoided 131 metric tons of CO2, equivalent to more than 330,000 miles driven by a gas-powered vehicle.
The case study reflects a broader shift in parts of the advertising market, as companies increasingly try to connect media efficiency with environmental reporting. For brands under pressure to show both commercial returns and progress on sustainability goals, that overlap has become more important in media planning decisions.
Blake said the industry had often framed responsible advertising too narrowly. "The industry has often treated responsible advertising as an exercise in corporate social responsibility or a soft metrics play. The reality is that commercial profit and broader responsibility are not mutually exclusive; advertising can deliver both performance and purpose. Moving from a binary brand safety floor toward a true suitability mindset means understanding how context drives business outcomes. When we align a brand's message with high-intent, contextually precise environments, we stop looking at sustainability as a box-ticking exercise and start seeing it for what it truly is: a powerful commercial accelerator," Blake said.
Channel Factory operates in 54 countries and works across YouTube, connected television and social media platforms including Meta and TikTok. Its media planning approach uses an audit, avoid and amplify framework intended to improve the relevance of ad placement while limiting waste.