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imc² Releases Online Media Carbon Calculator For Marketers

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imc²
Sarah Krnavek
sarah.krnavek@imc2.com
214.224.1192

DALLAS - May 27, 2008 — As organizations become more aware of their environmental impact, the marketing world is beginning to engage in dialogue about sustainability. imc² is demonstrating its commitment to sustainability through the launch of Clear Sky Digital Media, a free tool that allows marketers to calculate and then offset the carbon footprint of their online media campaigns. The tool is the agency's first sustainability service offering.

Clear Sky Digital Media, available at www.imc2.com/carbon, is a free tool that converts a given online media buy into a kilowatt hour measure of the energy necessary to support its delivery. This measure is translated into carbon emissions and then used to determine the cost of purchasing reliable offset credits. Over the last year, imc² partnered with Cody Taylor of ICF International and Jon Koomey at Stanford University to develop the tool.

Clear Sky Digital Media brings attention to the fact that even electronic media has an impact on the environment. Energy consumption tied to data centers doubled between 2001 and 2006 and could do so again by 2011, according to a recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This energy consumption already accounts for an estimated 2 percent of the world's carbon emissions, an impact equivalent to air travel.

According to Don Carli, senior research fellow with the Institute for Sustainable Communication, a nonprofit group leading an initiative called the Sustainable Advertising Partnership, "The challenges of climate change require brands to think beyond measures of marketing effectiveness and financial performance. It is encouraging to see an agency engaging credible resources to identify the energy consumption associated with online media and to estimate the resulting carbon footprint."

Beth Bengtson, imc²'s vice president of corporate social responsibility/positive impact, views Clear Sky Digital Media as an important first step in creating discussions and new services around sustainability. "Every industry is in the process of rethinking its role in shaping and participating in a more sustainable world. Through Clear Sky Digital Media, we are able to deliver a tangible service to marketers, while also introducing the sustainability conversation into the marketing industry." Bengtson cautions that carbon offsets are not the Holy Grail for marketers, "We fully understand that the ultimate goal Releases Online Media Carbon Calculator is for a company to reduce its carbon emissions rather than offset them, but in the near term, helping marketers calculate the environmental impact of their online media campaigns is an important first step." imc² is actively developing other services to help marketers with all aspects of their sustainability efforts.

imc²'s Clear Sky Digital Media follows the release of the company's first Positive Impact Report (www.imc2.com/csr) in January 2008. The report highlights the company's efforts around economics, people, society, environment and services.