Ad Products | weather.com
The Weather Channel · 2006 – 2016 · Web Developer → Director of Creative Services, Ad Products
Overview
Ten years at The Weather Channel laid the foundation for everything that came after. I joined in 2006 as a Web Developer building rich media advertising in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and ActionScript. By 2009 I was leading the team; by 2016 I was running a department of 11 across design and ad engineering, defining ad product strategy for one of the most-visited weather properties on the internet and growing advertising revenue from $7M to $11M.
The core challenge: build advertising experiences genuinely useful to users, premium enough to command higher CPMs, and scalable enough for a small team to execute across web, iOS, and Android. The answer was branded content products built on live weather data: custom forecast experiences that served relevant advertising as a function of the weather itself.
$7M → $11M
Advertising revenue growth
10 Years
Developer to Director
11 Reports
Design + ad engineering
3 Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Career Arc
2006 – 2009
Web Developer
Built and maintained rich media advertising across Weather.com and early mobile web, with deep technical execution in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and ActionScript. Learned the ad tech stack from the ground up: impression tracking, click-through mechanics, third-party tags, and cross-browser rendering.
2009 – 2016
Director of Creative Services, Ad Products
Led design strategy and execution for all advertising products, overseeing 11 direct reports across design and ad engineering. Defined the custom branded content portfolio, established design systems for ad production, managed the media kit, and drove the premium ad inventory strategy behind the revenue growth.
The Ad Product Challenge
Core Tension
Standard banner advertising was commoditizing: CPMs were falling industry-wide, and sales needed a reason to command premium pricing. The opportunity was uniquely Weather Channel's: weather data is personal, contextual, and time-sensitive. Advertising products powered by real forecast data would be genuinely useful, so advertisers would pay more and users would engage more. The challenge was building a repeatable product framework, not one-off executions, that a small team could scale across dozens of brand partners and three platforms.
Custom Branded Content Products
The centerpiece of the ad product strategy was a suite of custom branded forecast experiences for major consumer brands. Each fused live weather data with relevant product recommendations, turning the forecast itself into a contextual ad unit, not banners alongside the content, but the content itself. The Allergy Tracker (Flonase/Claritin) surfaced real-time pollen levels with a geo-targeted gauge UI. HairCast pulled humidity, dew point, and wind speed to generate daily frizz forecasts for Pantene. Farmers' Forecast served precipitation, soil moisture, radar maps, and almanac data for Case IH's agricultural audience. All three shipped fully responsive across web and mobile.
Outcomes
$7M → $11M
Advertising revenue growth driven by premium branded content products and innovative ad formats commanding higher CPMs.
Industry Awards
Multiple awards for custom advertising experience innovation, recognizing the branded content product portfolio.
11-Person Team
Built and led a cross-functional creative services department spanning visual design, UX, and ad engineering.