IBM’s weather arm, The Weather Company, signed deals in June to run AI-backed ads. With a user’s location and local conditions, the company can show weather-aware creatives that people can talk back to in text or voice.
Campbell’s went first
The first ads powered by IBM’s Watson went live this week. Soup brand Campbell’s will suggest recipes based on local weather. When the temperature drops, you might see a line about warming up with a hot bowl of soup. Brands already know weather moves shopping; this is that insight with a conversational layer.
Watson can also ask what ingredients you have and list matching recipes. The bet is twofold: answer a real need on the spot, and nudge the purchase while attention is high. If a shopper has doubts about the product, they can ask the ad itself. Watson parses the question and tries to clear the hesitation.
Next-gen advertising
Jeremy Steinberg, global sales lead at The Weather Company, called it the next step for the industry: “An ad that can listen, think, and answer is a powerful weapon.”
Personalization plus interaction is meant to raise attention and memory. These units live on The Weather Company site and app, so the brand conversation stays in one place, which the company argues builds trust.
Beyond Campbell’s, Unilever and GSK signed on, with AI ads planned for later in the year. Toyota was expected to follow in 2017. As platforms like IBM Watson mature, advertising and plenty of other sectors will keep rewriting the playbook.
