Can Watson Crack The Case?

WITH THE LAUNCH OF A NEW AD DIVISION, IBM PROMISES TO BRING NEXT-LEVEL AI TECHNOLOGY TO MARKETERS.

- Marty Swant

IN recent years, The Weather Company, which produces forecasts for 2.2 billion locations every 15 minutes, has been using its troves of data in ways that go far beyond what’s happening outside. Since its acquisition by IBM in January 2016, the company has also begun swirling deeper and deeper into the world of advertising with the help of Watson, IBM’s artificial intelligence service that’s working on everything from diagnosing diseases to crafting movie trailers. Now, IBM is finally bringing several major components of The Weather Company’s data capabilities under the Watson umbrella with the launch of Watson Advertising this week.

The new division—encompassing data, media and technology services—will offer a suite of AI products for everything from data analysis and media planning to content creation and audience targeting. By integrating The Weather Company’s signature WeatherFx and JourneyFx features along with all of the other data at IBM’s disposal, the company is hoping to transform what is in many ways still a legacy business into a cutting-edge advertising powerhouse.

“Weather impacts your mood and your emotions, and your moods and your emotions are a huge input into your decision-making modality,” says Cameron Clayton, the former CEO of The Weather Company who is now general manager of IBM Watson’s Content and IoT Platform.

Watson Advertising promises to kick start the era of cognitive advertising, a field that has both legacy tech companies and startups seeking to transform every aspect of marketing from image and voice recognition to big data analysis and custom content.