Made with IBM
A documentary of client transformation
It’s not about IBM.
It’s about clients and their stories of transformation.
Viewed as a 33-minute film in its entirety or as individual case studies, clients shared their stories of transformation.
The campaign was launched during the Master’s golf tournament.
How can IBM regain relevance with clients in global markets?
IBM’s principles -
Dedication to every client’s success.
Innovation that matters—for IBM and for the world.
Trust & responsibility in all relationships
Smarter Planet was an 8-year campaign that positioned IBM as a thought leader. Everyone loved it, but customers wanted to see proof of impact at scale - they didn’t see themselves or their challenges being addressed.
Sneak peek - 63 Unique stories of collaboration, launched in 157 countries.
Smarter Planet had run its course.
In the winter of 2013, Ginni Rometty the CEO of IBM, asked Ogilvy to create something new that would drive sales, connect with customers and developers, and would work in all corners of the globe.
We had our planning group gather all the research that we’d accumulated over the 29 years Ogilvy had been the agency of record to lay the groundwork for identifying what success would mean for the new campaign.
We narrowed towards a tactical exercise, a 3-day brand hackathon comprised of diverse teams from all over the world. We structured it in 3 main parts.
Immersion. Big ideas. Experiences.
The teams comprised of IBM and Ogilvy SMEs from engineering, analytics, creative, production, and account groups so that each team would have 360 capabilities so they could deliver feasible, targeted, and effective ideas.
Teams were expected to come up with five ideas by 5 pm each day. The ideas had to demonstrate product thinking, service design, messaging, and brand thinking. Senior leaders would act as a shark tank panel, reviewing and assessing the quality and merits of each team’s efforts.
TL;DR
The new CEO Ginni Rometty identified shifting business goals
We analyzed IBM's previous campaign, "Smarter Planet" and its impacts
We identified target audiences had changed
We identified the need for a fresh global campaign with new success metrics.
Key Stakeholders had different expectations
Ogilvy needed to evolve to address new client expectations
1) Planning
Conducted research to identify new audiences that IBM wanted to reach
Developed the Brand Hackathon workshop program
Assembled diverse teams (pods) with varying expertise(including client stakeholders)
Set the course for a three-day intensive idea-generation process.
2) Evaluation Criteria
Created a decision-making framework that stakeholders approved.
Introduced the leadership team as the decision-making body
Explained the evaluation process and selection criteria
Curated and captured the final shortlist and ranking
3) The Hackathon Event
Organized & orchestrated the proceedings of the three-day Hackathon
Organized participants into cross-functional teams, set the rules of the road, and explained expectations for outcomes
Outlined the selection criteria & scope of ideas (gave examples)
Captured the quantity & quality of ideas generated (over 100)
4) Event outcome
The birth of the "Made with IBM" brand strategy
Clarified the idea, its breadth and depth, and its origin (mapping it from insights)
Explicated how the strategy embodied a brand evolution
Drafted a plan to use “Made with IBM” in different ways for different business objectives
5) Event outcome
Detailed a three-year plan derived from the Hackathon
Segmented audiences, aligned tactics with specific goals
Tracked progress of the strategy & ideas over this period
Highlighted the awards won and recognition received
6) Business Impact
How "Made with IBM" improved sales and client conversion rates
Analyzed changes in brand perception and customer sentiment
Shared client testimonials and case studies of success
Reflection & Learnings
The approach brought IBM + Ogilvy teams closer together - Ogilvy became a trusted partner to the new CEO.
Ogilvy became the lead agency managing a constellation of agencies and vendors.
Ogilvy set the strategy for all aspects of the brand for the next 4 years.
I developed an agency playbook for large brand strategy campaigns (other brands successfully used the playbook).
Created a global roadmap for the brand, launching tent pole campaign ideas around the globe.
Developed Insights for future campaigns and brand strategy development.
Evaluated my growth and contributions as a Creative Leader.
A selection from 63 documentary films
No. 1 Intro - IBM Watson
No.2 Cogntive Kitchen
No. 3 Zya, Music Creators
No. 5 Leyou Stores
No. 6+7 Storing Data in Atoms
No. 8 Social Businesses
No. 9 Astron Telescopes
No. 10 Smartphone Analytics
No. 11 Cloud Innovation for Business
No. 12 Smart Supply Chains
No. 15 Mobile Analytics
No. 16 Ningbo, Smart Logistics
No. 17 Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
No. 18 Toshiba
No. 19 IBM Cloud, Africa
No. 20 Big Data, Manufacturing
No. 21 New York Genome Center
No. 22 Mobile Analytics
No. 23 Mobile Analytics
No. 24 BC Egg Marketing Board
No. 25 Sun Life Stadium
No. 26 IBM Cloud, Quality Control
No. 27 Lindt & Sprüngli, (USA)
No. 28 IBM Cloud, Social Business
No. 29 Memorial Sloan Kettering
No. 30 IBM Mobile Security
No. 31 IBM, Big Data
Co-creating with stakeholders
Teams of IBM and Ogilvy SME’s from engineering, analytics, creative, production, and account groups were formed so that each group would have 360 capabilities to deliver feasible, targeted, and effective ideas.
Teams were expected to come up with 5 ideas by 5 pm each day. The ideas had to demonstrate product thinking, service design, messaging and brand thinking. Senior leaders would act as a shark tank panel, reviewing and assessing the quality and merits of each teams efforts.
The strategic insight
After 100’s of man hours of work from the assembled teams, my insight ended up being the guiding strategy for the global brand.
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Initial concept deck - Made with IBM
Youtube slowly revealed all of the stories as they played out on the Masters.
Case studies of transformation made to evoke learning and exploration of the client solutions.
Rich interactive banners were launched in prime media placements.
Client stories highlighted in print.
Dispatches from a smarter planet.
