Every media impression served, has a direct carbon impact on the environment around us. Ensuring that every impression is purpose-designed for maximum platform attention is vital, as ads that don’t breakthrough or grab attention have minimal business effect but continue to drive significant carbon output implications regardless. South African media agency Carat, leading retailer PEP, and the Red & Yellow Creative School of Business launched a pioneering collaboration designed to prepare students for this marketing reality.

Together, they introduced the first-ever Attention Economics brief into Red & Yellow’s flagship Brand Challenge. This initiative empowered students to work on a real-world client brief through the lens of attention breakthrough, maximising the effectiveness of every impression thus minimising wastage and resultant carbon outputs.

“Teams had to put platform attention elasticity and carbon output considerations at the heart of their responses,” said Graham Deneys, Chief Strategy Officer at dentsu Media Brands. “For example: how do you maximise the effectiveness of your communication on a platform that averages 1.2 seconds of attention and what potential carbon implications are associated.”

This collaboration exemplifies the power of bridging academia and industry, ensuring that graduates are not only creatively skilled but also designing for maximum attention and sustainable outputs from the word go.

“Through interactive sessions with the teams from both PEP and dentsu, students were well equipped to deliver impactful solutions with a unique approach,” said Di Charton, Programme Coordinator at Red & Yellow. “This collaboration empowered students with knowledge and insights and then provided them with the opportunity to put those learnings into effect to create real-world, meaningful recommendations. It is partnerships like these that empower our students and create mindful marketers for the future.”

For PEP, a brand that thrives on purpose and scale, this challenge presented an opportunity to mentor and inspire. Michelle Zass, Marketing Manager for Clothing, Footwear and FMCG, shared: “We believe that doing good and doing business should go hand in hand. This collaboration allowed us to inspire the next generation of marketers to think differently, to deliver breakthrough creative while being mindful of the impact every impression has on our planet. We were proud to be part of a challenge that so meaningfully aligned with our purpose and values.”

By placing Attention to Economics and Sustainable Media at the core of the student experience, the collaboration is setting a new benchmark for education-industry.