The Weather Channel: Advertisers Reap Rewards With Branded Content

It all has to do with how the branded storyline is developed quotEverything that comes through our branded content partnership team has to include a storyline that relates to weatherquot said Jason Hermes Vice President Branded Entertainment and Partnerships The Weather ChannelAmong the clients that The Weather Channel has partnered with to create content include Jeep Generac First Alert Ford and TMobile From climatefocused content to outdoorenthusiast adventures all branded content is developed with weather as the main characterTMobile39s branded content was tied to its robust 5G cellular service following the company39s 20 billion merger with Sprint in April 2020 quotAs a brand what we do at the core is connect customersquot said Peter DeLuca Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer at TMobile quotWeather today has become even more important We look for opportunities as a brand to help educate people along the wayquotThe Weather Channel collaborated with TMobile to discover the most compelling way to tell the brand39s desired story The possibility of using the network39s Emmywinning Immersive Mixed Reality IMR technology was a must quotIt39s incredible technology that can take a viewer anywhere any place at any timequot Hermes notedFor example the technology can recreate what a fivefoot storm surge really looks like should water rise around your home during a hurricane In his conversations with The Weather Channel39s design team Hermes said quotbuilding reallife situations in an immersive studio by putting a meteorologist in his own home and then showing what would happen if a storm surge came through this close to the coastquot was the goal quotThis is technology that really brings weather impacts to life for viewers When they tell you to evacuate they mean it and this is whyquot he addedFor TMobile The Weather Channel created multiple IMR segments including how quickly a wildfire can move forcing people to evacuate quotThe content shows you how wind can fuel flames around youquot Hermes explained quotTo see that is very powerful It39s another tool in our arsenal to prepare people for what39s comingquotRegular Weather Channel viewers are very familiar with winter storm and hurricane coverage and the growing instance of fastmoving wildfires in Western states such as California Colorado Montana and New Mexico The huge amount of damage they can cause in a very short time is now of greater relevancequotWe really worked hard to develop this contentquot said DeLuca quotThere are moments to sell and moments to just be organically woven into the story and allow your brand to show up As a brand and as a business our merger with Sprint has only allowed our network to get bigger and stronger in the marketplace We are subtly telling the story of being the leader in this spacequotIt39s easy to see why advertisers are attracted to The Weather Channel According to a 2022 poll of 1500 respondents by the Economist and YouGov 52 of Americans consider The Weather Channel their most trusted news source Morning Consult ranks The Weather Channel as one of the topten most trusted brands in America That trust translates to a great deal of brand equity for wouldbe content partnersThe network works to make sure brandedcontent clients get the full benefit of that trust For example The Weather Channel produced branded content for Generac sharing the importance of generator safety during power outages Generac39s content is triggered to air leading up to and during inclement weather ensuring viewers are prepared for storm impacts before storms hitquotIdeally we want it to be contextual wherever it goesquot Hermes concluded quotIt39s up to the client if they want their content to be stormtriggered based on snow hurricanes or what have you We39re shooting evergreen content all the time but we39re always pushing it out based on the weatherquotClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

The Weather Channel: Advertisers Reap Rewards With Branded Content

Author

Publish date

Channel

Paige Albiniak

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

The Weather Channel: Advertisers Reap Rewards With Branded Content

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Paige Albiniak

TAGS:

Cookies