Meteo-Marketing and Digital Signage in stores

Meteo-marketing in digital signage takes advantage of weather conditions to highlight content that more easily engages target audiences and maximize the impact of campaigns of point of sale communications.

The ability to change ads instantly

To maximize sales, retailers need to be willing to announce discounts on the products people need, regardless of whether June is hot or rainy. It is precisely where the contextualized advertising comes into play: it allows retailers to use the weather to their advantage.

With dynamic signage And the digital outdoor advertising (DOOH), retailers have the ability to change their ads instantly, whether in their store or in an outdoor advertising network. Using programmatic and real-time data, ad sales can be highly targeted and only displayed under certain weather conditions.

The DOOH responsive to the weather

Weather-reactive advertising campaigns can be very effective. For example, Stella Cider observed a 65.6% increase in sales during a period when this technique was used. The Stella Cider teams found that people are more likely to drink cider when it's hot. So they chose to show ads near retailers only when the temperature was two degrees above average. In addition to increasing sales, this strategy also reduced advertising expenses, since the company only paid to display ads in optimal conditions. There were no useless broadcasts offering cider to passers-by who were cold and preferred to drink a glass of red wine or a cup of tea.

Better promote and analyze with weather marketing

Weather conditions have an impact on our habits, reactions, behaviors, and emotions. For these reasons, which induce a high potential for promotional effectiveness, the use of weather is finding a prominent place in marketing and communication strategies. The combination of weather marketing and digital signage is therefore a major asset in the race for differentiation and contributes, beyond the simple possibility of anticipating stock movements or forecasting sales trends, to economic outperformance. Indeed, because beyond the strictly logistical aspect, meteorological marketing in digital signage makes it possible to contextualize the statements and concentrate their distribution at the best times, that is to say when theCustomer attention for a particular type of messages is at its maximum.

Because dynamic signage conditioned by the weather goes beyond the forecasting of commercial flows, responsive to seasonality. Campaigns that adapt to weather forecasts make it possible to have a direct impact on communications performance, and thus optimize the ROI of marketing actions. Thanks to the contextualization of the messages broadcast, marketing teams can imagine comprehensive brand stories rich in experiences, promoting discussions and engagement.

By transforming climate constraints into opportunities, digital technologies are adding weather as an additional targeting criterion alongside geographic, temporal and socio-demographic conditions, which are widely used. The strategies and schedules developed according to climate hazards make it possible to better anticipate what to say and, ultimately, to increase their reach. Although this approach is global and universal, it will have even more impact on seasonal or weather-sensitive products, i.e. products whose sales volume varies with the change in weather.

Weather Marketing: Influencing sales thanks to weather conditions

Using the weather context in content planning helps promote the right products at the right time. (i.e. when sales are already strong), either because it is already known, or because a sales analysis makes it possible to identify it. A ready-to-wear brand may therefore, because a sales report shows that swimsuits are better sold on sunny days over 24°C, decide to promote these swimsuits frequently as soon as these conditions are reached. She will then withdraw her communications for her hats, which are only popular (natural) when temperatures are low. In this way, the brand benefits from customer packaging “offered” by the climatic environment (i.e. the sun and the heat). In the same way, agricultural products can greatly benefit from this type of promotion combining seasonality and weather conditions — because strawberries are more valuable on a sunny July day than on a rainy August noon! The impact of this precise and adaptive promotion on sales is significant, as is the time saved by the possibility of anticipating such communications.

The theoretical model (graph), applied to the example above, represents the volume of sales of jerseys in normal times (blue curve) and that of sales during periods of weather-reactive campaigns (green curve)

Contextualized promotion (ie: visuals adapted to temperature) makes it possible to increase the volume of sales when sales are at their maximum (the top of the curve is higher), but also to reduce the threshold temperature, i.e. the temperature at which a certain volume of sales is reached (shown in red on the graph). For example, here, sales are high up to 20°C (24°C previously).

But because each individual has their own sensitivity, not everyone will be sensitive to the same temperature threshold and the brand will probably never be able to identify a single value such as the critical threshold (24°C above) between sales and non-sales (or high/low sales). Weather-reactive dynamic display allows change the frequency of broadcasts according to different temperature ranges and increase the granularity of the possibilities. Thus, brands are able to extend the target temperature ranges for their promotions, at lower frequencies. The temperature range offering great economic performance is then extended.

→ Each season has its own specificities, find out how to use dynamic weather display according to the seasons.

Digital signage and in-store marketing weather

In addition to using contextualized DOOH to boost sales, you can also broadcast weather-reactive advertising on your own screens, whether in the store windows or at Inside the point of sale. Using a content management system fromeasy to use digital signage, you can create a series ofads adapted to different weather conditions and change the ad according to the weather. If it's hot, remind people that fans are being discounted, and if it's cold, put your ad on the covers.

The current weather is not the only factor that can be used as a trigger: forecast data can also be used. If the forecast calls for a heatwave for the weekend, create appropriate communication so that the public can prepare for it as best as possible. Retail analysts at HIM found that 58% of buyers said they were influenced by a sunny weather forecast before organizing a barbecue. With the digital signage, you can use the forecasts as soon as they are announced.

Discover the weather-sensitivity of products

If the weather-sensitivity of some products is easy to intuit (swimsuits that are better sold in summer for example), it may be different for other products. In this case, experiments can be carried out to identify or refine the weather-sensitivity of these products. For example, a ready-to-reach brand could plan weather-sensitive campaigns including, for example, different promotional codes by temperature range (15 to 20°C, 21 to 25°C, 26 to 27°C, 26 to 27°C for example). Analyzing the use of promotional codes can complement the analysis of sales alone (because promotional codes give an indication of when to make the decision, more than the purchase itself). The control of the weather-sensitivity of its products makes it possible toguide marketing efforts and therefore to increase theeffectiveness of campaigns while saving time (planning).

Many players are already applying the principles of weather marketing during digital signage campaigns and are noticing double-digit increases in their sales during the targeted periods. So Stella Cider announced an increase in sales of 65.6% during the test period and compared to the previous year. (source: Nielsen Sales Data 2013) La Redoute announced a 34% increase in their traffic and a 17% increase in sales directly induced by digital signage campaigns triggered by the weather.

Other types of contextualized advertising

The weather is a trigger you can use to drive sales, but others temporal or environmental triggers are also effective. For example, the allergy medication brand Benadryl used screens near stores that sold its products to indicate pollen density and provide alerts when pollen concentrations were particularly high.

Although there are not as many particular dates in summer as during other times of the year (no Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, or Christmas), this season is rich in sporting and cultural events that can drive sales. Even the most popular TV events can boost alcohol and snack sales. Digital signage is there to support all your ideas, and since the costs associated with creating digital ads are low, it is interesting to experiment with.

How retailers use digital signage during summer sales can have a big impact on the bottom line. The combination of discounts and additional triggers makes The ads a lot more Attractive and interesting. Customers are more likely to follow up on an offer if they see it at the right time. That's the difference between a really useful ad and a waste of time (and advertising spend).

These campaigns can also be used to meet the needs of internal communication, for prevention campaigns for example.

You too can benefit from the power of weather marketing applied to digital signage and contact us.

Cenareo offers an intuitive, scalable Saas solution and perfectly adapted to the needs of communication professionals in all sectors of activity: Points of sale, Internal communication, Hotels and restaurants but also DOOH.