PUBLISHED TO MEDIUM

The average American had never heard of a weather trader or how the weather could play a major factor in the Global Economy — and then, we did. In fact, almost eight-million viewers quickly learned what it meant to be a weather trader, as we became more familiar with one Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown), on NBC’s hit television series, This Is Us.

We caught a glimpse at just how important weather economics were to both trade and the stock market, as Randall pounded away at the keys, making his predictions, and even burning himself out in the process. Investors may have found new ways to capitalize on this practice, as business owners became hip as to how the weather could be used to forecast products would sell, according to last minutes changes in the weather or climate, and its impact on the economy, overall.

If you were paying close enough attention, those charts and graphs were painful to look at — and, maybe even to understand. But, Randall did so quite diligently, meeting his deadline, and the rest became history from there on out.

New scalability with little-to-no effort at all

Thankfully for you, AccuWeather, one of the world’s most recognized and trusted resources in weather and climate, is making it easier to predict the impact of the weather on business, as they launch a new solution for brands and advertisers, everywhere. With the launch of AccuWeatherIQ™, AccuWeather allows the average business owner to target their audiences, based on weather patterns, and has made it possible for those brands to integrate this data into industry-leading data platforms.

According Scott Sameroff, AccuWeather’s Senior Director of Data Products and Partnerships, “AccuWeatherIQ answers a critical need identified by our many advertising clients, which is to efficiently and effectively extend weather-based campaigns from AccuWeather properties across their entire media strategy and spend using the same weather data assets — with assurances that the toughest standards of data privacy, consumer choice and protection are applied to such assets.”

A recent press releasefurther explains that “AccuWeatherIQ will help advertisers connect with U.S. users experiencing a variety of weather conditions today, tomorrow, or ‘next weekend’ [in order to] provide effective messaging based on lifestyle activities and health management preferences influenced by the weather.”

Every day, over 1.5 billion people worldwide rely on AccuWeather to help them plan their lives, protect their businesses, and get more from their day. Since 1962, radio stations, television networks, newspapers, and now mobile widgets on our lock and home screens, have relied on AccuWeather for their ability to accurately predict the weather for days, weeks, and even months ahead of time. So, it’s safe to say that they “know weather.”

Through the use of AccuWeather’s many innovative, patented and award-winning features, including MinuteCast® Minute by Minute™ forecasts, AccuWeather produces and distributes weather-related news, content, and video for more than 180,000 third-party websites and mobile apps, around the world. But, this time it’s different.

By utilizing AccuWeather’s unique proprietary weather forecasts weather data and proprietary forecasting tools, such as its exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature and Lifestyle Indices, brands will be able to create more personalized and contextual digital marketing campaigns that reach customers at relevant moments in time — with little-to-no effort at all. In fact, weather data segments are currently available and able to be imported directly within Salesforce and LiveRamp Data Stores, in addition to AccuWeather’s owned and operated media properties.

Advertisers will be able to schedule their campaigns, based on the weather, and better budget their spending on days that would provide either little or greater significance to their bottom line. Not only would they cut back on unnecessary spending, but they would have more to invest at times that would prove more profitable to their ROIs. While annual budgets may already be budgeted, based on the month, season or even year, they will now be more flexible and able to allocated based on day, week or even hour!

Data Privacy & Consumer Protections

In light of yesterday’s decision by theFederal Trade Commission (FTC) and New York Attorney General that both Google and subsidiary, YouTube, would pay a record $170M fine for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA),you may be wondering just how this new platform will ensure your privacy, as you make the decision to carry an umbrella to work or make your children wear a rain jacket to school.

Teaming up with a select group of trusted data partners in data privacy and protections, AccuWeather states its commitment to consumer privacy and protecting the rights of consumers by through increased transparency within the marketplace:

“By working with world-class partners, such as Salesforce, LiveRamp, and Beemray, we are committed to maintaining industry-leading data privacy and consumer protection practices, while supporting business innovation and growth,” vows Eric Danetz, AccuWeather’s Global Chief Revenue Officer. The AccuWeather app allows users to control when AccuWeather or its third-party partners may access user data, including device location data, and for what purposes such data may be used, with clear prompts and navigation screens and specific notice and consent language.

Keeping this in mind, Danetz goes on to say, “We have been dedicated to building products and advertising solutions that embrace the best practices of data privacy regulations to enable our U.S advertising partners to reach AccuWeather users at the right time and the right place, with the right context, while putting our users in charge of their data.”

Advertisers may not yet be able to change the weather, but at least now they can change their efforts at the drop of the barometer. And, while they may not have a life as perfect as Randall Pearson, they can still rake in the big ones by learning how to invest in the weather economy!

DISCLAIMER: Neither NBC, This is Us, nor Sterling K. Brown have any affiliation with the AccuWeather brand or its product lines.