The Weather Channel unveiled a new ad-targeting technology June 28 that allows clients to customize ad messages either according to time, place or relevance of weather.
The new advertising approach - deemed contextual copy-splitting - delivers ads to the most relevant audience through copy split by either state, DMA, time of day/time zone or weather conditions.
Contextual copy-splitting allows each advertiser to adapt the copy-split feature to meet its particular business needs.
Advertisers participating in the initial product beta-testing phase have reported good results. The product will be available in the second half of 2004.
The Weather Channel developed the copy-splitting technology in-house. It calls the enabling technology for copy-splitting IntelliStar, a localization technology with the ability to provide back-channel reports to verify what ran for the day.
The network is on target to have 1700 IntelliStar devices in cable system head-ends by the end of the summer. When the first implementation phase is complete, more than 70 percent of the 87 million cable households reached by The Weather Channel will see IntelliStar.
