-By Mike Shields

The Weather Channel Interactive has partnered with Nielsen’s Claritas to launch Segmentation Targeting, a new product which enables brands to target specific psychographic, demographic and socioeconomic clusters in various regions of the U.S.

The new offering combines Claritas’ PRIZM segment data—which is partially derived from U.S. Census data--with Weather.com’s ability to target individual zip codes. Using Segmentation Targeting, brands could direct their messaging toward dozens of Claritas-defined consumer groups, such as the high-income, suburbanite-skewing Blue Blood Estates group, or the working class-heavy Shotguns & Pickups cluster--while also cherry picking specific markets where these groups congregate.

Weather.com’s sales teams have begun showcasing the new offering over the last few weeks to various digital agencies as part of the company’s self-described ‘Infront’ presentations. Among the categories being targeted are automotive and retail, and possibly political campaigns, said Paul Iaffaldano, executive vp, general manager, The Weather Channel Media Solutions. “This is definitely geared for national advertisers looking for specific demographics and psychographics,” he said.

Iaffaldano believes that Weather.com will be able to exploit the PRIZM data better than most, given what he claims is the site’s superior ability to geo-target ads—since most users voluntarily supply their real zip codes when using the site. ”Nobody else has this capability,” he said. “ We’ve got an unfair advantage. It’s really not a fair fight.”