Weather intelligence for the future: Crafting a strategic enterprise approach to changing environmental conditions
Continue readingBusiness challenge
Science Moms, a group of nonpartisan climate scientists and mothers are joining forces to demystify climate science. They believe their kids deserve a better world to inherit. So, as extreme weather trends continue to reshape our world,1 the mothers actively rally to help protect the cherished places where future generations will create their memories.
Their organization identified a critical gap: While many mothers worried about their children’s environmental future, they often lacked understanding of climate science and felt uncertain about how to promote climate change awareness.
With 63% of people believing weather is getting more volatile and severe, 2 there was a clear environmental marketing opportunity to connect the dots between weather events happening locally and changing climate patterns across the globe. The goal: to help increase awareness and understanding of climate science and how to take action. The need was evident — 85% of people worry about the changing climate, and 93% live in areas impacted by severe weather events over the past year.3 Polling also revealed an untapped force for climate advocacy: The biggest motivator for climate action is care and concern for future generations and the safeguarding of their environment — naturally placing mothers at the center of this movement.4 This insight led to an innovative strategy combining weather data with mobile app advertising to deliver compelling messages during extreme weather moments.
Impact
unique users reached5
lift in support for climate action6
lift in brand awareness among women 35-446
lift in brand recommendation among women 35-446
lift in ad recall among women 35-446
lift in support for climate action among suburban women7
Weather strategy
Turning storm warnings into climate conversations
Parents plan their daily lives around the weather, rain or shine. In fact, 85% say weather is crucial to making decisions about their daily plans — 26% more likely than the general population of the total audience surveyed.8 Science Moms understood that parents are highly attuned to daily weather, and utilized The Weather Channel app to engage mothers with climate science education while they were planning their daily routines.
As the world’s most accurate forecaster,9 The Weather Channel helps millions of people make informed decisions every single day. Voted as one of America’s most trusted brands,10 its meteorological expertise, scale, and the fact that day-to-day weather is how we experience the changing climate, made it an ideal platform for connecting with mothers about climate action.
The campaign geo-targeted Science Mom’s six priority markets: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina. Within these regions, Weather Targeting advertising identified ZIP codes experiencing extreme weather events — including thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and excessive heat. This strategic timing helped shine a light on the changing climate through everyday weather moments.
That’s where weather-powered creative comes in: By combining Weather Targeting with Integrated Marquee advertising creative, Science Moms connected with mothers as they opened The Weather Channel app home screen and when they would be most receptive to climate marketing. Each message was customized to align with the local weather forecast, creating personally relevant climate conversations.
Science Moms Integrated Marquee advertisement
Results
When weather moments drive climate action
Through The Weather Channel’s trusted platform, Science Moms created powerful connections between local, real-time conditions and climate awareness to reach mothers in key markets during impactful moments.
The group’s approach to simplify and humanize climate science galvanized a movement that yielded impressive engagement, reaching 1.3 million unique users while driving notable lifts across key areas: from a 6.3% lift in support for climate action support, to promising gains in brand awareness (6.7%), recommendation (3.3%), and ad recall (3.6%) among women 35-44.5 6 But the initiative’s impact reached beyond traditional metrics to foster new levels of environmental understanding and inspire collective momentum for meaningful action and change.
About Science Moms
Science Moms is a non-profit organization created by nonpartisan climate scientists and mothers to demystify climate science and motivate everyday moms to create plans and solutions that help preserve the planet for their kid’s future.
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Contact usCampaign dates: July 15, 2024– September 29, 2024
1 UN News: 2024 to become the hottest year on record: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158621#:~:text=The%20year%202024%20is%20set,a%20decade%20of%20deadly%20heat
2 TWC Severe Weather Consumer Behavior Survey, March 2024
3 The Lancet Planetary Health, “Climate emotions, thoughts, and plans among US adolescents and young adults”, October 2024
4 Love For Future Generations Motivates People to Support Climate Action, December 2024
5 GAM, July 15, 2024–September 29, 2024
6 Lucid, July 15, 2024–September 29, 2024
7 Potential Energy Coalition Randomized Control Trial, July-September 2024
8 WAWX Spring Study, 2022
9 ForecastWatch, Global and Regional Weather Forecast Accuracy Overview, 2017-2022, commissioned The Weather Company
10 According to a Morning Consult Q1 2024 survey: https://pro.morningconsult.com/analyst-reports/most-trusted-brands-2024 The Weather Channel brand was the #13 most trusted brand in the US. The surveys were conducted from January 1, 2024 through March 31, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 1,158 and 35,280 U.S. adults