Editor’s note: This article was originally published on The Current by The Trade Desk.

Remember your favorite neighborhood business — the one that knows your name, anticipates your needs and makes you feel like you’re part of something real? That connection isn’t just good business; it’s the essence of humanity. What brings us comfort, peace of mind and trust in our communities is no different from how marketers are approaching 2025.

We’re witnessing a transformation in advertising, driven by both consumer advocacy and regulatory frameworks that seek to harness technology’s potential while safeguarding privacy and overall well-being. The next frontier isn’t about more technology — it’s about using it wisely to foster real human connections that matter.

Based on the fundamental human truths of community, trust and authentic connection, here are three transformative trends in advertising that will define 2025 onward.

Think globally, act locally

The numbers tell a compelling story: 60% of marketers and content creators localize their content, and 68% of U.S. internet users believe that when national brands adapt their messaging to reflect regional nuances, it enhances the relevance of ads and demonstrates that advertisers are investing in local communities. This isn’t just a trend; it’s foundational to how brands create relevance.

Local advertising taps in to the immediate reality of your audience’s environment. The most successful brands speak to consumers in their immediate context, tailoring messages to what matters most in that specific moment. Weather patterns offer a perfect paradigm for this approach, where global systems manifest in highly specific local impacts that shape consumer behavior and needs.

Consider this: A national quick-service restaurant might leverage real-time weather data to adjust its promotions based on patterns in a given neighborhood, offering refreshing drinks during heat waves or seamless delivery services during inclement weather. Similarly, energy providers could craft their messaging around regional weather events, alerting and educating communities to preparedness measures during severe conditions.

While localization creates the foundation for relevant messaging, the next evolution in advertising authenticity comes through reimagining what true influence means in consumers’ lives.

Influencer marketing that doesn’t sacrifice trust

In 2025, authenticity will be the most valuable currency in advertising. As people become more skeptical of traditional influencer marketing, they are gravitating toward sources of influence that feel genuine, trustworthy and meaningful to their lives.

Consider weather: it’s the original influencer, and the most universal of all, affecting everything from our moods to our purchasing decisions. This makes weather an incredibly powerful and trusted source of influence (maybe even more so than the acclaimed Martha Stewart).

Leading brands are already operating at the intersection of trust and impact. Weather-informed campaigns in the home-improvement sector have seen engagement rates soar by 320%, as measured by Meta Ads Manager and Google Analytics. Why? Because they connect with consumers at moments of genuine need, not manufactured opportunity.

As brands master the art of authentic influence, they’re turning to AI-powered solutions to scale these meaningful connections without losing the human touch.

AI-powered personalization and consumer experiences

The conversation around AI is shifting from “what’s possible” to “what’s meaningful.” The most successful marketers are leveraging AI purposefully, ethically, and as an amplifier of human insight and connection. The key to AI’s potential is not the technology alone, but finding data sources that are universally relevant while respecting consumer privacy — sources like weather.

Weather is nature’s own predictive algorithm, influencing how we feel, what we buy and how we live. By layering AI’s pattern-recognition capabilities with human behaviors, brands can unlock new dimensions of consumer understanding, driving more effective and relevant interactions across the digital ecosystem. When weather and AI come together, you create deep, authentic, personalized experiences. For example, a mosquito-repellent brand reaches parents with education and awareness messaging to keep their families safe, while also influencing weather data in advanced multivariant modeling to ensure their product is on the shelf when consumers need it the most.

With 89% of business leaders believing ethical use of AI can be a competitive business advantage, forward-thinking brands are prioritizing data signals that are both powerful and inherently consumer-centric. The key is not how much data you have, but how well you translate that data into scaled experiences that still feel personal and add value to people’s lives.

Looking ahead

As we accelerate toward 2025, the forecast is clear: The future belongs to brands that can harness technology to make every interaction feel as personal as your favorite local business, at a global scale.

Editor’s note: All data sourced from Weather and Health Impact Study, Sago for The Weather Company, March 2024, unless otherwise noted.

As the mercury dips and the days grow shorter, the connection between weather and health is unmistakable — in fact, 89% of consumers believe weather impacts their health. This link often drives decisions related to winter health and wellness, as people frequently use weather as a signal to plan their day, make informed decisions about dosage and frequency for certain medications, and prevent symptom flare-ups by understanding optimal times for activities.

So, how might this winter’s forecast influence consumers and health and wellness marketing campaigns? Let’s start with a few highlights from The Weather Channel’s winter outlook 2024-25:

• A mild-to-warm winter overall: Most of the U.S., except the Northwest, is forecast to bask in above-average temperatures, but prepare for potential cold bursts that could keep people inside and send health conditions into a flurry.
• Wetter than average conditions: From the Northwest to The Northern Plains, expected above-average precipitation could cause people to seek comfort indoors.
• Early spring: Southern regions might get an early taste of spring, which could signal an early start to allergy season.

2024-25 winter outlook

The intersection of winter weather and wellness

You may not realize it, but winter weather can actually improve health and wellbeing. From joint pain relief, sharpened focus, improved sleep, or even weight-loss,¹ cold weather has its benefits. It also has its drawbacks, heightening health conditions like cold and flu, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and asthma. With 76% of consumers using weather to manage their health — a 33% increase since 2020 — understanding how weather patterns impact daily habits is vital for crafting effective wellness in winter campaigns. So, bundle up and explore how the winter chill can be to your advantage this season.

View and download infographic

Embrace the elements this season: Leverage the power of weather and digital advertising to ignite brand relevance and growth. Three ways health and wellness brands can put a weather strategy into action:

• Engage with qualified audiences across The Weather Channel app and weather.com premium consumer health experiences and content as they look to inform daily plans and health decisions from weather information.
• Activate health ads with Weather Targeting that leverages an intelligent mix of weather and anonymized health data to anticipate consumer behavior and drive action featuring over 100 health signals. With over 50% of Gen Z saying the most challenging thing about winter is lack of motivation, sleep, or energy (vs. 31% across demos),² we’re launching three new signals to meet consumer needs during winter season: stress, anxiety, and sleep.
• Transform data into business intelligence with Weather Engine.^TM Powered by AI and machine learning, Weather Engine is a decision-making platform and API integration that builds insights for businesses to optimize operations across the enterprise.

Make this winter your strongest season yet: Trust The Weather Company’s advertising solutions for insights and tools to elevate your brand and create better decisions for consumers.

Look no further than The Weather Channel’s winter 2024 outlook to discover how the season is shaping up across the country. And as those chilly temperatures arrive, so does something else: spring break weather wanderlust. For marketers, this presents a golden opportunity to showcase exactly what travelers need to turn their daydreams into reality, from short-term packing decisions to long-term destination planning.

Strike while the iron is hot, but the temperatures are not

Nearly half of consumers admit that winter weather fuels their desire to escape to warmer destinations.¹ To help travel-related brands deliver real-time, personalized relevance, they can tap into weather’s proven influence on mindsets and behaviors. Bringing weather data together with impactful first and third-party datasets can enable better decisions for consumers, and a competitive edge for brands and businesses. So, when decision-making kicks in for the ultimate spring break travel adventure, we’ll help you reach consumers at the optimal time and place.

Weather impacts travelers emotionally and physically, making it a key factor for brands to consider. Because weather intelligence allows brands to reach people during specific conditions and when they are in the right mindset, marketers can use this valuable tool to influence consumer behaviors.

From choosing a beach or ski resort to deciding what to pack, the forecast plays a role throughout the entire travel journey. And let’s not forget the impact of weather on air travel — because nothing says “vacation vibes” like a surprise snowstorm canceling your flight. In fact, a recent Expedia Group report named “weather” as the top influencer of trip destinations for travelers considering multiple destinations. It’s no wonder 67% of people use The Weather Channel, the world’s most accurate forecaster, to research or plan their trips.²

Take it from Mother Nature: Real-time weather drives winning campaigns

Weather doesn’t only come into play when planning the perfect vacation during spring break, it shapes the trip itself. Nearly two-thirds of people say weather and travel conditions impact their enjoyment of a trip while more than half of travelers are open to trying new product brands during their travels.² This means all brands can benefit from using weather data to reach those travel-savvy consumers at the right moments.

Capturing that moment when consumers are in the right mindset, at the right time, is precisely the use case for Weather Targeting’s predictive and performant capabilities driving relevancy, action, and effective messaging. For instance, when a hotel brand wanted to increase awareness and consideration of its beachfront resorts, they leveraged Weather Targeting to efficiently reach consumers when cold, wintry, and rainy weather was present in their local area. Compared to third-party cookie targeting, using Weather Targeting to engage travelers and loyalty members helped their campaign break through the clouds:

Remember, the daily forecast isn’t just a local phenomenon; it’s universal. As the ultimate contextual signal, it influences every aspect and decision of people’s lives – consciously or not. It affects how we feel, what we do, where we go, and what we buy. In this late-winter limbo, kickstart spring travel campaigns by integrating weather targeting solutions and data into marketing plans to drive relevance, awareness, and ultimately, conversion.

We all know that feeling — the anticipation of winter and the holiday season. Whether it sparks child-like excitement or a hectic whirlwind of activities, one thing is for sure: Emotions run high the last few months of the year. But is it just the calendar stirring those feelings, or could weather be playing a role in influencing holiday consumer behavior?

Weather: the unexpected force behind consumer emotion

Weather influences our everyday decisions in more ways than we realize. In fact, 84% of consumers across all generations admit that weather affects them emotionally.¹ It’s why the shift in seasons is often a better gauge of consumer mindset than the date on the calendar. As the seasons change, people feel more optimistic, social, and ready for something new — making it the perfect moment for marketers to connect. According to The Weather Channel app^TM users:

But with climate patterns shifting globally, when does the “season” really start?

‘Tis it really the season?

Gone are the days when marketers could rely on a universal ‘start of winter’ to kickoff holiday campaigns. Today’s fluctuating seasons demand a more nuanced approach. For those aiming for timely, relevant campaigns, forward-thinking brands are embracing dynamic Weather Targeting, a powerful tool that allows brands to sync their messaging with the specific climatic cues that catalyze holiday shopping moods, regardless of the calendar date.

A beloved coffee chain leveraged The Weather Company’s expertise to tap into the holiday spirit and winter weather cravings. By combining Weather Targeting and high-impact dynamic creative on the homescreen, they aligned their limited-time offer messaging with real-time local weather conditions on The Weather Channel app. This strategy capitalized on the fact that 66% of people say winter weather impacts their beverage choices,² and nearly half are excited about seasonal drinks.² The result? An impressive 94,400 incremental store visits and a 12.2% lift in foot traffic, proving that understanding weather’s influence on consumer behavior can brew up significant success.³

The purchasing power of seasonal shifts

Winter weather doesn’t just mark a change in temperature; it signals a shift in seasonal buying trends, as evidenced by The Weather Channel app survey data:

Let it snow, let them shop

Seasonal spending habits may seem tied to the holiday calendar, but it’s the weather that really dictates how consumers feel — and when they’re ready to spend.

Marketers can tap into this powerful insight by using proven, accurate weather data⁵ to target consumers at the right moment, with the right message. Weather Targeting is a privacy-friendly approach to contextual marketing that can predict consumer needs, helping brands future-proof their strategies with scalability across the advertising ecosystem.

Holiday marketing strategies will always be about timing, and with Weather Targeting, you’ll be ready when that seasonal excitement strikes. As the temperature falls, let the deals drop. That’s when the real holiday magic happens.

Editor’s note: All data sourced from The Weather Company Entertainment Behavior Survey, January 2024

The entertainment industry is buzzing with anticipation this time of year, as cinema blockbusters and binge-worthy series hit the big screens and streaming platforms. But while studios and networks are busy promoting their latest and greatest, there’s an influential director getting rave reviews from marketers: Mother Nature.

Weather plays a starring role in our content consumption, from sunny days that lure us to the theater to stormy nights streaming a nostalgic film at home. This show-stopping link between weather and how we engage with media presents a unique opportunity for marketers seeking the spotlight.

The Weather Company helps brands tap into weather-driven strategies, so your campaigns are as irresistible as the aroma of fresh popcorn.

So grab your snacks, take your seat, and enjoy the show…

Download infographic

How to leverage weather data during “peak binge” season

Just as a director uses many techniques to create a cinematic masterpiece, savvy marketers can harness the power of accurate weather data¹ to craft a seat-filling campaign full of offers consumers can’t refuse. Script your brand’s success story with Weather Targeting, which allows you to:

• Increase awareness through highly relevant, dynamic messaging
• Deepen the connection with content viewers by promoting brand products or services using Weather Targeting for OTT/CTV platforms
• Engage entertainment enthusiasts with contextual targeting solutions
• Foster brand loyalty in daily weather-influenced decision moments

Ready for your brand’s big break? With The Weather Company’s tailored solutions, your marketing may go from box-office snub to award-season darling.

When it comes to Halloween — the preparation and the main event — there’s one thing consumers experience collectively, and universally rely upon throughout their journey: the weather.

Pre-event: Connect with consumers using weather information to plan and make event decisions.

During the holiday: Build strong customer relationships through the transformative and enduring power of weather.

Don’t get caught in the cobwebs this year — check out our “Fright Forecast” to learn how consumers use weather information to stay informed, make predictions, and prepare to celebrate under the moon.

Download infographic if you dare

With ad solutions from The Weather Company (and a wee bit of wizardry), you can reach consumers planning for Halloween at more than twice the scale of major weather and news competitors.³ When weather wields its magic wand this spooky season, The Weather Company can help you spellbind audiences.

As football season kicks off, it’s not just fans gearing up in team colors – brands are also entering a high-stakes game of brand visibility and consumer engagement. In a crowded advertising landscape, how can your brand stand out? The answer lies in an often-underestimated factor: the weather.

Weather is the MVP in the consumer journey. It influences every aspect of the football experience, from pre-game planning to post-game memories, making it an invaluable asset in your marketing toolkit.

But weather doesn’t just make outdoor entertainment events more enjoyable, it makes them more memorable. And better weather isn’t always…better.

Here’s the real winning insight for brands: One-third of people are more likely to remember weather-aligned advertising at outdoor events, a figure that rises significantly among multicultural, millennial and parent audiences.¹

How to leverage weather data this season

1. Pre-event targeting: Influence decisions on attendance, attire, and transportation on The Weather Channel app.
2. During the event: Tailor messaging to current conditions, enhancing enjoyment and creating memorable moments across the digital ecosystem.
3. Post-event: Analyze weather and performance data to uncover customer insights and strengthen brand loyalty even after the campaign ends.

Integrating weather into your marketing playbook this fall allows you to proactively shape the consumer journey, transforming weather from a mere backdrop into a strategic advantage. With Weather Targeting and data, you can:

• Increase awareness through highly relevant, dynamic messaging
• Engage sports enthusiasts with privacy-compliant targeting solutions
• Foster brand loyalty in daily weather-influenced decision moments

Weather isn’t just a condition to be endured. It’s a unifying element that ties together every fan’s experience, from the die-hard tailgater to the casual at-home viewer.

To ensure your brand remains a significant part of the football experience, The Weather Company offers tailored solutions designed to make every campaign a winning one with weather-driven strategies.

Health and wellness marketers have no shortage of challenges. Staying relevant with health-conscious consumers. Navigating strict compliance regulations. Finding ways to stand out and connect with the right consumer in a stacked marketplace – to name a few.

The rewards are there, though, for brands who can break through. The $1.8 trillion global health and wellness market¹ only continues to grow. And many of those consumers are turning to the powerful influence of weather to make their health and wellness decisions. That’s one reason why we recently modernized and enhanced The Weather Channel app user experience as well as our AI-powered ad tech and back-end data modeling with an extra emphasis on health and well-being. Which brings health and wellness marketers a unique and relevant set of advertising solutions to fuel brand relevance and growth.

Unpacking the weather-wellness connection

The connection is clear: Habitually checking the weather informs more than how to dress for the elements. Recent research shows that weather inspires action to minimize illness, manage symptoms, and maximize time outside; offers a sense of control on quality of life; and guides purchases to maintain a healthy lifestyle. According to consumers in the study:

The go-to health and wellness marketing partner

Your customers realize weather’s impact, so meet them where they are. Trusted, accurate data, innovative AI in weather prediction, and brand-safe, contextually relevant content from The Weather Company, place your brand in the direct path of qualified audiences and their health decisions. Additionally, by understanding the effect of weather on consumer spending, we can better tailor our advertising strategies to influence purchasing decisions that are directly related to health and wellness.

Better accuracy, better engagement, better performance

A constant companion, weather influences daily habits and decisions, sunrise to sunset. But not all weather forecasts are equal. Or accurate. Not only are we the most accurate forecaster³ and one of America’s most trusted brands,⁴ The Weather Channel is the preferred weather source used by health-conscious consumers to manage health across all conditions.

Since launching new wellness features in The Weather Channel app, we’ve seen 3x higher clicks into our wellness forecast experiences.⁵ In fact, compared to the legacy app experience, we’re already seeing:

• 11% more stickiness⁵
• 10% more page views per visit⁵
• 8% increase in time spent per daily active user⁵

This preference for, and engagement with, our digital channels means more reach and a higher likelihood of campaign success. But beyond the lure of our new features, the instability and volatility of Mother Nature herself means more eyeballs, more often, on the forecast.

IQVIA-validated health audiences

IQVIA, a leader in healthcare intelligence, utilizes rich prescription data to provide insights into the types of visitors on digital platforms. Our new IQVIA partnership has validated that The Weather Channel’s platforms effectively reach qualified health audiences across over 60 health conditions. Notably, we connect with 47% of U.S. psoriasis patients, which over indexes the general population by 32%.⁶ This collaboration validates our ability to deliver health content to audiences most likely to be treating health conditions and wanting to learn about weather’s impact on their symptoms. 

Brand-safe sponsorships

Get your brand seen in the well-placed context of weather information and health resources through sponsorships on our digital properties.

Content sponsorships: With the latest enhancements to The Weather Channel app, we’ve re-imagined the experience to emphasize the weather-to-wellness connection. New editorial sponsorship opportunities help you align your brand with premium, health-related articles and video content created by award-winning journalists and verified by medical reviewers. Trusted advice and resources cover psoriasis, eczema, weight loss, type 2 diabetes, asthma, COPD, arthritis, stress management, aches and pains, and migraines.

Forecast sponsorships: Health-conscious consumers have access to a range of customized forecasts and tools designed for allergies, skin care, colds and flu, headaches and migraines, body aches, and respiratory health. These forecasts use weather data, AI, and insights to help predict how symptoms might change in the coming days and week.

We put weather into action to give your audience information and insights that help them ultimately live healthier, happier, safer, and smarter.

Anticipate consumer needs with actionable data signals

By using weather data to inform when and where consumers’ health will be impacted, health marketers can tap into unified, scaled, and predictive signals to help to find and connect with qualified audiences and influence health outcomes.

Weather Targeting

Deliver hyperlocal, targeted, personalized health ads by leveraging an intelligent mix of weather data and health data, including:

• OTC/prescription sales from IQVIA
• anonymized patient reports and aggregated insurance claims reports from Merative
• weather science to identify the optimal mix of environmental elements most likely to exacerbate health conditions at a ZIP code level

Audience Targeting

In healthcare marketing, privacy is paramount. Find and connect with your audience using demographic look-alikes with a propensity for specific conditions. These representative audience models are based on:

• behaviors and insights from The Weather Channel digital properties, including site interests and frequent locations viewed
• anonymized health claims data
• CDC and other third-party sources

Beyond the marketing department

Make weather your business. The Weather Company can help you improve strategies, operations, and profitability across the enterprise. Yes, the same company that uses meteorological expertise and technology to help keep millions of people safe and informed about the weather also helps thousands of businesses increase the bottom line.

Weather Engine™

Help your business adapt quickly and make informed decisions that account for weather impacts. Powered by proprietary AI and machine learning, our Weather Engine helps you take advantage of large, analytics-driven insights across internal processes and consumer-facing touchpoints.

Weather Data APIs

Integrate reliable weather data directly into your enterprise applications, business processes, or own custom models. Both weather data and insights are available via APIs with flexible integration services.

Competitive advantage is in the forecast

The influence of weather on daily health and wellness choices isn’t slowing down. Marketers need ways to stand out in a crowded, challenging market. Fortunately, as weather, data, and health continue to intersect, you can trust The Weather Company’s advertising solutions to help you create purposeful, relevant connections and better outcomes for both consumers and your business.

Look no further than the 8 million #sweaterweather posts on Instagram or the staggering 239.6 million posts on TikTok. “Sweater weather” is more than just a seasonal change; it’s a cultural phenomenon that rivals the PSL for fall fame.

Social proof, combined with recent survey data, suggests that most industries offering seasonal products could benefit by timing their campaigns based on actual weather rather than a calendar date. When asked what prompts them to make fall-related changes, consumers overwhelmingly cited weather — 65% mentioned how it feels, and 64% noted the actual forecast¹. This means that understanding subtle weather shifts presents a major opportunity to tap into seasonal consumer habits.

In other words, to truly connect with your audience, you need to know precisely when they’ll be pulling out their sweaters — or even buying new seasonal products.

The relativity of weather

Pinpointing when sweater weather starts in specific markets requires more than just knowing when temperatures will dip below a certain point. Weather is a relative experience. What consumers qualify as sweater weather can span a 10 degree difference depending on where they live. For example, when it’s 45°F in Minneapolis, people are out in shorts, enjoying the brisk air. But when it’s 45°F in Georgia, people are bundled up on the couch, texting friends to make sure they’re staying warm.

We asked consumers what temperature makes them reach for their sweaters. The results? They provide a guide to when people across U.S. regions will start feeling like it’s fall.

Median temps at which The Weather Channel users say fall weather becomes cool enough to put on a sweater are highest in the West at 60 degrees and lowest in the Upper Midwest at 50 degrees.

Here’s the thing about fall weather: More than any other season, people anticipate sweater weather, and when it arrives, they’re ready to make changes.

But there’s one statistic that underscores why marketers should engage with consumers at the first hint of sweater weather: 66% of people say fall weather makes them want to try something new. For Gen Z, that number jumps to 79%¹.

The power of relativity

Brands across industries should take note: If the majority of consumers base their fall-related behavior on the feeling of autumn, knowing exactly when those feelings will arise is crucial.

Is it nuanced? Absolutely. But it’s not complicated if you have the right tools. With Weather Targeting, we’ve combined the world’s most accurate weather data² with third-party data sources and industry-leading AI technology. This allows you to understand how precise, hyperlocal conditions impact consumer mindsets and behaviors, enabling you to automate messaging at the exact moment sweater weather arrives.

So, as the season shifts and the air gets crisp, remember: Sweater Weather isn’t just a time to stay warm — it’s a moment to connect with your audience in a way that resonates deeply. And with the right strategy, your brand can be as eagerly anticipated as that first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season.