LUMO and Metservice partnership harness the weather

New Zealand is blessed with geographic diversity, from the subtropical regions of Northland to the alpine terrains of the South Island. That being said, it’s not uncommon for a morning graced with sunshine to transform into an afternoon deluge.

Kiwis are attuned to changes up above. Be it planning a fishing trip based on the weekend forecast, expressing worries about a drought’s impact on agriculture, or admiring an exceptionally beautiful sunset. Weather is an integral part of our cultural fabric, extending far beyond a casual conversation opener.

Acknowledging New Zealand’s weather-centric discourse and a market that is warming up to the dynamic and programmatic potential of digital Out of Home (DOOH), LUMO Digital Outdoor and MetService have entered into a strategic data agreement, warranting smarter capabilities for brands using weather signals to determine creative and ad-serving decisions for DOOH.

This partnership will use MetService’s trusted, localised weather forecast and data to create more focused targeting across 55 nationwide digital billboards. The preferred supplier arrangement will offer LUMO API access and Custom Weather Event data solutions for dynamic creative development, dynamic delivery, and custom event triggers development for programmatic DOOH activation.

Says Jack Plowright, GM of programmatic at LUMO Digital Outdoor: “Weather targeting isn’t anything new. But it’s an understated overlay that can be used effectively when advertisers include dynamic creative messaging and programmatic activation. Data that helps to deliver investment and messages, only when the conditions are right to do so.”

Custom weather triggers were used effectively in Fire & Emergency NZ’s ‘Wild Fire Safety’ programmatic DOOH campaign during the 22/23 summer. The initiative between LUMO, MBM, Hivestack and Motion Sickness harnessed the power of real-time localised fire risk levels to enable timely, targeted, dynamic messages that informed high-risk communities about the current wildfire risk. This innovative approach to public safety communication utilised the immediacy and flexibility of programmatic DOOH, ensuring critical information reaches the right people at the right time in aid of wildfire prevention and preparedness.

Says Craig Delaney, general manager commercial, MetService: “Weather is sensory – so integrating our weather data into campaigns means –advertisers are reaching customers when they are most likely to be receptive to the targeted message. The data that underpins this comes from our trusted, localised weather forecasts and real-time data from our national weather observation network.”