• Ad Age, Monday, January 11, 2010 10:33 AM

Marketers are increasingly using weather patterns to take advantage of the inherent appeal of their products. In addition to its regularly scheduled national advertising, for example, Campbell Soup monitors the weather in 30 second-tier markets such as Des Moines and St. Louis. Its "misery index" uses an algorithm that incorporates temperature fluctuations and gives "extra credit" when things get nastily wet, Natalie Zmuda and Emily Bryson York report.

Planalytics COO Scott Bernhardt says 40% of his clients use weather intelligence, up from 25% to 30% just 18 months ago. "Marketing into a situation that's favorable for your product [causes] the numbers to go off the chart," he says.

Allstar Marketing Group, however, is going in the opposite direction -- it temporarily has pulled all of its marketing for its Snuggie in the wake of the widespread cold snap. It seems that demand is outpacing supply. "It's a nice problem to have," says Allstar's vp of marketing, Anne Flynn. "But when people want their Snuggies, they want them now."

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