Download Weather is the New Black

Weather is the
New Black
PART ONE:
Weather Changes Everything
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
Page 1
Introduction
Weather has profound influences on consumer purchase behavior. Various
conditions and temperature ranges impact what we buy, when we buy, how
much we buy, and why we buy. Using breakthrough technology, marketing
teams can easily understand how weather has influenced purchase behavior
on their site or in their bricks and mortar store. For example, a retailer can
use Skymosity’s Weather Analytics Suite to see AOV (Average Order Value)
and Revenue fluctuation when it’s colder than 20 degrees, or snowing, or 70
degrees in January, or their top 10 selling products when it is raining.
Using this information, marketers can then take advantage of savvy technology
to create a better user experience. On their website, a brand can serve different
content based on the visitor’s current weather condition; they can trigger advanced
emails based on current or forecasted weather; and more.
Marketer Considerations
•
What if marketers had a way to easily understand how any weather condition
or temperature range influences their sales, and then could target customers
across multiple channels based on local weather conditions?
•
What if a website could present personalized content based on each visitor’s
weather condition.
•
What if a retailer could automatically trigger targeted emails based on local
weather in 42,000 zip codes?
•
What if Adwords could be optimized by automatically increasing and
decreasing bids based on the weather?
For Marketers, Weather is The New Black.
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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The Power of Weather
Weather has universal influence. Everyday, weather impacts the thoughts and
behaviors of everyone across the globe, both consciously and subconsciously.
Weather has influence on what individuals will wear, where they will go, what they
will do, how they think about themselves, others, and the environment, and even
what and when they purchase. Weather’s influence on the human environment
is something that has been studied for over two millennia, from Artistotle to the
present, with radical improvement in predictability models taking the forefront
throughout the last century.
Weather data is constantly being gathered from the furthest reaches of the globe
for weather monitoring, forecasting, and business purposes. Up until recently,
weather’s influence on business has been viewed in limited scope with insurance
agencies and agricultural business utilizing large data sets, mostly to hedge
against drastic fluctuations that could affect insurance payouts or poor crop yields.
Skymosity has introduced a new model for utilizing big weather data, making it
both digestible and actionable for marketers across industries to easily make sound
marketing decisions, based off of the correlation of weather data tied together
with historical transaction data.
Weather Directly and Indirectly Influences Consumer Behavior
It is widely known in the marketing community that a variety of key factors affect
consumer behavior in the marketplace. The most widely discussed factors of
influence are social, economic, cultural, personal, and physiological, underscoring
that both internal and external factors play a crucial role in consumer behavior
and the decision making process. Who a person is, who they associate with, how
much spending power they have, what their needs are, as well as their cultural
background are basics to understanding consumer behavior, but upon further
evaluation, it becomes clear that weather plays a meaningful role, as well.
Weather’s Direct Influence on Product Purchase Decisions
In different climate conditions and different temperature ranges, consumers
are driven to purchase different items. Rain coats and snow tires intuitively
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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see spikes in purchase behavior near the beginning of the winter season,
respectively, and board shorts and sun dresses see spikes near summer and
springtime. Beyond these simple examples, though, customers are driven towards
different product purchases from the same retailers, during different weather
conditions throughout the entire year. In consideration that there are nearly
42,000 zip codes in the United States, each with varying weather conditions
at any given time, it is important to note that weather is extremely localized
and how consumers feel in accordance with the weather has a direct impact
on what they will purchase.
Weather’s Influence on Purchase Psychology
Weather conditions and temperature ranges also have an effect on consumer
purchase psychology. In the most intuitive manner, in extremely colder weather
conditions, people are more reluctant to leave their homes for their shopping
endeavors which can impact B&M sales as well as online purchase behavior,
whereas in extremely hot conditions, consumers show similar behavior, with
impact points for weather related purchasing dipping and spiking at larger
temperature fluctuations. Beyond that, consumers are more prone to purchase
different items based on the immediate weather condition outside, in which
there are intuitive spikes in umbrella purchasing when it’s raining or spikes in
suntan lotion when it’s sunny. Weather affects the way that people consider
their day and opportunities, driving divergent consumer behavior, based on
divergent weather conditions.
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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340BC: Aristotle wrote Meteorologica which
included theories on how weather formed.
A Brief History of Weather
1592: Galileo Galilei invented the thermometer
to measure temperature.
1643: Evangelista Torricelli invented the
barometer to measure atmospheric pressure.
1837: Samuel F.B. Morse invented the
telegraph, allowing for tramission and
retention of weather data.
1849: Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian
Institute was plotting daily weather maps.
1869: Cleveland Abbe started forecasting daily
weather at the Cincinnati Observatory.
1870: National Weather Service was founded
in the US.
1904: Vilhelm Bjerknes comes up with idea for
numerical forecasting.
1922: Lewis Fry Richardson wrote “Weather
Prediction by Numerical Process” which
describes weather prediction in 64,000
calculations.
1950: Jule Charney made a successful 24 hour
weather forecast using a computer.
2000: Weather forecasting is used heavily
for air traffic control, predicting crop yields,
and anticipating hurricanes, tornados and
other extremely adverse weather.
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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2013: Skymosity launches a breakthrough
Weather Marketing Platform for eCommerce
to translate big weather data into actionable
wins for marketers.
Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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From Big Data to Actionable Data
Big Data is more than a buzzword; it’s something that can be very powerful, if
and when it is digestible and actionable to create big wins for marketers. Big
Data, by definition, is too complex to utilize, so many marketers want to utilize it,
but must choose to ignore it due to its overwhelming nature. Big Data is everywhere,
but few are able to fully monopolize on it’s capabilities. By focusing on actionable
data, meaning big data that can be translated into action, there emerges key
opportunities for businesses, large and small.
Once big data becomes actionable data, it becomes a resource that businesses
can begin to utilize for maximum value. Once actionable data is being properly
utilized, the need for additional research and guessing is eliminated so that teams
can work on implementation, not interpretation. Going from big data to actionable
data for businesses is best understood as going from individuals within a business
collectively knowing their organization to collectively understanding their business.
Weather is one of the oldest forms of big data on the planet.
Around 340 B.C., Artistotle wrote Meteorologica1 , in which he made assumptions
of the formation of weather conditions, based on independent research and
personal data he collected. Many of the assertions that he made were proven
inaccurate, but his assumptions were considered the authority on weather for
nearly two millennia. Fast forward a few hundred more years to present day and
weather conditions and temperature readings throughout the populated globe
are collected and maintained every moment of every day, broken down into
bite-sized nuggets of localized actionable data for individuals. Collectively, we
know exactly how storms and clouds are created and can identify tornadoes
and hurricanes more readily than ever before in known history.
Big weather data has been used in some form of predictive analytics for nearly
a hundred years, from war strategy, to air flight control, to anticipating crop
yields. Although not infallible, the more near an upcoming weather condition
is, the better we are able to anticipate it, and the better prepared we are to
make decisions on forecasts. Thomas Bogdan, president of the University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research stated, “It’s smart business to incorporate
the latest weather and climate knowledge into financial decisions.”2 Weather
data is prevalent, influences consumer behavior, and should be utilized, once
transformed into actionable data.
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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From Satisfice to Maximize: Maximizing Weather Marketing Opportunities
Making a decision off of data that one can understand is something that all
businesses and marketers must deal with on a daily basis. In an environment of
information scarcity the same effect happens as in an environment of information
abundance- little to nothing. Marketers have had to satisfice that they were
making the wisest decision, based on gut instinct and limited or overly abundant
data. In fact, satisficing in regards to big weather data has been the only way
to feel good about it’s utilization, especially in business, until now.
Enter the age of weather marketing maximization.
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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Leveraging Weather Marketing
Technology
Weather Diversity: Cross-seasonal merchandising has historically had its place
in clearing inventory, rather than fulfilling customer needs. That mindset is
finally changing. While winter months may be a prominent push for certain products,
there are still many customers and prospects that live in counter-climate areas.
For example, while it is 38 and raining in many areas in January, other cities enjoy
70+ degree weather with clear skies.
This presents an opportunity for marketers to maximize their merchandising
strategy and provide a very meaningful customer experience. Even in
consistently-seasonal geographies, the perspective is quite different. “Cold” for
some is 50 degrees, while 15 degrees is a warmer day for others in the winter.
If marketers speak to this in smarter ways, they can then better target the
-10 degree winter, the 20 degree, 35 degree and 65 degree winter, which all
benefit from more targeted merchandising.
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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Weather Analytics: With weather analytics, marketers can analyze historical
transaction data to see how weather influences sales. It is important to gain
a better understanding of AOV, Revenue and Product Trend variance during key
weather conditions in order to make better marketing decisions. Understanding
how weather influences consumer purchase behavior is a crucial insight that
allows marketers to merchandise, advertise, and convert sales. At its most
basic level, if marketers can identify their top selling products during various
weather conditions, they can then better merchandise and advertise for higher
conversion during those conditions. There’s no need to satisfice, when a marketer
has the actionable data to maximize.
Email Triggers: Automated email triggers help marketers to deliver the right
content to the right person at the right time. By utilizing weather analytics
data, marketers have powerful information to make informed decisions on
how to best target. Email is a powerful channel, but many marketers treat it as
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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a one-to-many communication. Using weather-based email trigger technology,
marketers can create automated email trigger campaigns that deploy specific
content during certain conditions.
By utilizing automated weather-based email triggers, marketers can maximize
the influence of weather on consumer purchase behavior, to improve the
customer experience and increase revenue.
Website Personalization: Website personalization allows for brands to adjust
content based on each visitor’s weather condition. Marketers have become
smarter by testing extensively and presenting different content based on
various visitor criteria. Weather is both a rudimentary and necessary element
here, as utilizing weather’s influence on consumer purchase behavior by better
voicing key website real-estate allows marketers to create a much more targeted
visitor experience.
By analyzing historical weather trends with advanced analytics, marketers can
then maximize the way that consumers interact with their website, by having
optimal content display for each visitor’s local weather. For apparel websites,
for a simple example, a website could drive visitors in rainy conditions to the
outerwear section of their site, winter jackets and cold-weather gear could
display for visitors in sub 20 degree areas, and shorts and polo shirts for 75+
temperature ranges, honing in on purchase behavior in accordance with
the weather to maximize conversion and AOV at all times. While these are
rudimentary examples, leveraging weather data to understand specific product
trends for every condition provides retailers with powerful opportunities to
better serve every site visitor.
Adwords Bid Adjustments: Consumer search behavior and buyer modality
depends on many factors. Weather is one key element that most marketers
do not yet leverage when developing Adwords bid strategy. However, weather
influences when a consumer researches certain products and when they are
driven to actually purchase.
By using automated bid adjustments, marketers can easily increase and decrease
campaign bids based on the user’s local weather. For example, a search marketing
manager may opt to decrease campaign bids by 50% during certain conditions
and increase by 25% in others to maximize opportunity for conversion.
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
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It remains crucial in the digital age for marketers to start thinking about how
weather impacts sales in all channels, including important paid search efforts.
Conclusion
Weather is the best new way for marketers to have a 360 degree approach
to their marketing efforts. Beyond simple site tracking and preferences monitoring,
by seeing marketing through the lens of weather conditions and temperature
ranges, businesses are able to speak better to consumers and their environment,
further personalizing and catering the buying experience to consumer needs
and wants. In turn, by leveraging big weather data and seamless weather-based
marketing technology across multiple channels, businesses will be able to
create a stronger customer experience, better handle seasonal merchandising
challenges, and increase revenue.
Weather is not just a trend. Weather is a breakthrough method for understanding
business operations to maximize marketing and influence. Weather is in style
and available now. Weather is the new black.
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of the follow-up white paper:
Weather is the New Black:
Part II - Industry Specific Concepts
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
Page 11
About Skymosity
Skymosity is a breakthrough Weather Marketing SaaS platform that
provides advanced analytics and real-time weather marketing based
on any current or forecasted condition. Starting with its flagship and
patent-pending email trigger technology, EA Rainmaker, the Skymosity
Weather Marketing Platform transforms big weather data into actionable
wins for marketers. With bleeding-edge weather-focused technology,
Skymosity continues to evolve their platform to help crush records
for top brands around the world.
Retailers interested in learning more about how they can leverage
weather in their marketing programs can visit the Skymosity website
at www.skymosity.com or email [email protected].
CLICK TO WATCH THE
DRAMATIC SKYMOSITY
TRAILER
About Email Aptitude
Email Aptitude provides strategic services, full-service management,
and ESP-Agnostic technology for top retailers. From triggers based
on site activity to view-through email conversion tracking for multidevice attribution, Email Aptitude’s functionality enables marketers
to have powerful interactions with their customers. Visit the Email
Aptitude website at www.emailaptitude.com.
Copyright © 2014 Skymosity
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Weather is the New Black
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Part One: Weather Changes Everything
Page 12