Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods Ball Park^® brand knows summer means hot dogs on the grill, so naturally they looked toward The Weather Company to level up their advertising efforts during the season. In fact, Tyson Foods found weather ranks as the most important factor in deciding to grill a meal. And since 68% of consumers say the summer weather impacts their food choices,¹ there was a clear correlation on-deck between outdoor grilling and optimal-weather moments.

To grill or not to grill is a game-time decision. The majority of grillers decide to grill the very same day, but it only takes an initial craving spark to provoke a cookout. And there’s no better influence than Mother Nature herself. So, with the goal of boosting awareness, consideration, and purchase intent, Tyson Foods wanted to persuade people to fire up their favorite hot dogs when the weather is prime for a barbecue.

A sizzling targeting strategy

Tyson Foods knew the time was right to capture audience attention when the weather was perfect for grilling. Their strategy focused on activating media when the forecast called for clear, sunny skies, with warm and hot weather conditions in their local area, relative to what is typical for the season and location for the consumer.

Tyson Foods’ grilling message aligned with the insight that people decided to grill on the same day, so they acted on this by using real-time weather data to present a dynamic, contextually relevant message. From The Weather Channel app Integrated Marquee, Tyson Foods seamlessly incorporated their grilling message into the current hyperlocal forecast on the home screen. Images and copy were dynamically served for optimal relevance to each person – and as a result, an afternoon sun forecast could turn into hot dog-time in the backyard. But that’s not all: Tyson Foods extended the weather-specific creative messages across digital-out-of-home screens via Vistar, prompting people throughout their day that the current weather was perfect for firing up Ball Park^® franks (after all, hot dog selfies don’t take themselves).

Integrated Marquee and digital out-of-home ad placements activated by Weather Targeting

Grilling is having a moment with Gen Z

Between The Weather Channel app and DOOH, Tyson Foods optimized for ideal grilling moments and covered all the bases across the full funnel. They were able to boost awareness, consideration, and purchase intent by keeping a close eye on the local forecast. The box score: 18.7% and 16.9% lift in brand awareness and consideration (respectively) among Gen Z, and 10.1% lift in purchase likelihood, a home run leading up to and on July 4th.