ITV is launching Weather Targeting, an addressable advertising option, to users of its self-service programmatic platform Planet V.
Weather Targeting enables the automation of campaigns to go live, pause, or adjust creative copy on ITV Hub, ITV’s streaming platform, from the moment their specified weather criteria is met across any one of ITV’s 22 broadcast regions.
It is the first time that a UK broadcaster has been able to offer such a feature.
The tool features real-time options to target a range of weather conditions, from temperature and rain, to pollen.
ITV has partnered with global weather metadata provider tomorrow.io, which provides the broadcaster with a library of parameters covering different weather conditions.
The company’s information feed offers numerical data and map layers with minute-by-minute weather, including historical, real-time, and forecast weather data.
ITV said it decided to develop the product after feedback from advertisers in the fashion, retail, and DTC sectors.
This feedback was further supported by joint-research carried out by the British Retail Consortium and the Met Office, which cited differences in temperature as a strong predictor of sales growth.
During the current autumn season, over half the variations in weekly retail sales growth are attributable to changes in the weather.
The launch follows a period of testing with pilot advertisers, including a pharmacy brand which trialled high pollen tactics to promote over the counter allergy relief.
Planet V, ITV’s self-service programmatic platform, launched last year and now has more than 800 individual users, comprising all the major media and digital agency groups, independents, and a growing number of advertiser in-house programmatic teams.
Alex Maison, head of advertising development at ITV said: “Adding these real-time automated weather triggers to Planet V allows advertisers to activate or adjust their marketing messages based on a user’s local weather.”
