New Zealand has topped Kantar’s global tracker for sustainable behaviours in advertising. Here’s what the result means for the digital advertising industry, and how IAB New Zealand’s GMSF Pocket Guide v1.3 can help you build on it. Thank you to the team at Ad Net Zero for informing this update.
Kantar’s Q3 2026 Sustainable Behaviours Ad Tracker puts New Zealand first of all the markets it covers. Of New Zealand ads, 14% show sustainable behaviours. The global average is 4.1%, so New Zealand is more than three times higher.
The result reflects the work of brands, agencies, media owners and production teams across the country, and as an
Ad Net Zero industry partner, IAB New Zealand congratulates everyone whose work sits behind it.
The result is also a commercial story. Kantar tested 21,187 ads and found that showing sustainable behaviours does not make ads less effective. Compared with ads that don’t show sustainable behaviours, ads that do scored higher on these measures (percentile points):
- Long-term brand equity: +3
- Short-term sales likelihood: +1
- Ad distinctiveness: +6 overall, and +14 against other ads in the same category
- Emotional engagement: +5
- Viral potential: +7
For agencies and brands, that is evidence to bring into the next brief. The Every Brief Counts toolkit sets out sustainable behaviours you could show New Zealanders, either explicitly or as part of the story. It covers diet, home and energy, products and purchases, and transport and travel.
If you're measuring the media side: start with our GMSF Pocket Guide because what appears in ads is only one part of the picture. The other part is the carbon impact of the media that carries them, and advertisers increasingly expect their partners to measure it.
The Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF) is the industry standard for measuring media emissions consistently. Version 1.3, released in June, now covers media that makes up 95% of global media spend. It includes:
- New implementation guidance for television, out-of-home and print
- Updated digital guidance
- New methods for corporate overhead emissions and data uncertainty
Guidance for audio and cinema is expected in December.
Our GMSF Pocket Guide is a quick introduction to the framework for New Zealand publishers, platforms, agencies and adtech companies. If you’re new to the GMSF, or a client has started asking about media emissions, it's a great place
to start.
IAB New Zealand is an Ad Net Zero industry partner. To find out more about becoming a Supporter, visit adnetzero.co.nz
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