Background

Cadreon (now Matterkind) is IPG Mediabrand's Ad Tech unit, responsible for planning and executing programmatic buys across addressable media. One of Cadreon’s clients is Decathlon - the world’s largest sporting goods retailer. Decathlon design, manufacture, and retail sportswear and sporting equipment catering to more than 80 different sports. The company operates more than 1,500 stores in 49 countries.

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Challenge

Given the weather-contingent nature of some of their product categories (rainproof apparel, hiking and camping gear, thermals, ski wear etc.) Decathlon wanted to explore opportunities around utilizing weather signals to enhance in-the-moment relevancy and emotional resonance of their advertising.

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Objective

The objective of the programmatic display campaigns was to increase traffic and assist conversions for weather-sensitive products.

Strategy & Execution

WeatherAds was identified as the best-in-class solution for executing the weather sync tactic. WeatherAds was chosen on account of its seamless plug and play integration with Display & Video 360 and the high level of support provided by the customer success team. Multiple sets of creative were built across the weather dependent product categories. Automated rules were then applied in WeatherAds to the DV360 line items. One set of creative activated during rainy weather. A second set activated when it snowed. A third set switched on when the temperature dropped below a certain threshold, whilst a fourth set was triggered when the temperature rose back up.

Results

The weather adaptive display ads generated excellent results. Cadreon were “especially pleased with the volume of conversions generated, the increased CTR, and the decreased bounce rates on their product landing pages.”

The feedback from Decathlon was extremely positive. So much so, that following the initial month-long test run, the client allocated a large media budget towards a year-round, always-on, weather sync initiative across programmatic display.

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