Data platforms for marketers track everything from what devices they prefer to receive offers on, to what channels they’re most receptive to, to what time of day they are most likely to buy. Why not a program to tell marketers what weather is most likely to make customers press the buy button on certain products and services?
The Weather Company, owner of The Weather Channel and Weather Underground, today launches Forecast Factor, an online resource providing weather-based consumer forecasts, business insights, and best practices to help marketers “implement and execute weather-centric” initiatives. A story on the site’s homepage today, for instance, reports that changing weather patterns are altering consumer buying patterns. People are waiting to buy seasonal products when it feels like they need them instead of when the calendar tells them to.
Forecast Factor content will be directed by The Weather Channel’s on-air business and weather analyst Paul Walsh, and it will focus on the retail, automotive, travel, consumer packaged goods, insurance, and restaurant verticals. It is a free-access website supported by advertising.
Weather Company global revenue officer Curt Hecht said Forecast Factor was expanded from an email service into a website following successful predictions on consumer activity following last winter’s polar vortex and a late-breaking spring 2014. “Our goal with Forecast Factor is to provide marketers with powerful weapons to change weather from a reason for poor sales performance to a reason for sales success,” said Hecht in a press release.
