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AccuWeather targets different demographics through different devices

NEW YORK ? An AccuWeather executive at the Mobile Marketing Summit: Wearables and Holiday Focus 2015 conference discussed how its brand shifts its content for each mobile and wearable device, making sure to serve relevant content to each platform. 

During the session ?How New Weather Content Defines the Future of Wearables? the executive detailed the endless possibilities available to marketers through wearables and mobile devices, whether it is editorial or marketing content. AccuWeather has developed a series of tools and content that coincides with each respective device and partnership.

"When we first started 52 years ago AccuWeather put out forecasts newspapers and the evening news," said David Mitchell, vice president of digital media for emerging platforms at AccuWeather. "For the most part nobody gets weather in these ways anymore. 

"It is certainly declining rapidly overtime," he said. "Devices such as wearables is new and early adopters are getting weather this way, but the vast majority of mobile is consumed on mobile devices. 

"For AccuWeather mobile has by far been the biggest traffic driver for about three to four years for us now. The movement to wearables has happened very rapidly as well." 

Wearable devices
The weather service is developing a series of applications that fit with specific wearables and their purposes. For instance the Garmin wearable is focused on fitness, and content that correlates with what works best for consumers that own that product. 

Garmin users will be served content featuring allergy indexes, air pressure and other information that is best for those planning on completing athletic activities outside. However, users on the Apple Watch will receive short snippets of up-to-the-minute weather forecasts. 


Mr. Mitchell presents at Mobile Marketing Summit

Users accessing AccuWeather content via desktop or mobile are served a more comprehensive content archive. But with wearables the screen is much smaller so content that fits that tiny screen is imperative. 

Personalized experiences
Weather information on wearable devices need to be highly relevant. It is not a device that users are going to be scrolling through casually. 

AccuWeather is in the process of curating products, which coincide with that idea. Users running with devices will be able to plan out their routes based on real-time information. 

For instance, if an Apple Watch user is training for a triathlon while out on a bicycle ride the device can notify him that it is about to rain. He can see how much time he has to complete his ride before the rain comes, and adjust the rest of his route based on where the rain will be located and for how long. 

Users with asthma or allergies will be served notifications on how a vacation or trip to a specific location will affect how they feel as well as tips on how to combat these issues. For instance, if a user will be traveling to Florida and has entered this information into the wearable app, AccuWeather will notify them if weather data signifies his or her asthma will become a problem, and notes such as prompts to stay inside to assist them. 

The executive feels there is a future in incorporating marketing into this as well. For instance, marketers can serve content that correlates to weather data such as prompting users in areas where it is hot where they can purchase a bottle of water. 

"Where we want to go and where we are in the early stages of getting to is to make this much more relevant," Mr. Mitchell said. "How do we start to display the weather no just the high temp and what the weather but how to make it more relevant to what they?re looking for."

Final take 
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer