IBM has successfully rebranded itself from a hardware company to a data analytics and consulting firm through its "Smarter Planet" initiative. This initiative highlights how smarter systems can help achieve goals like economic growth, energy efficiency, and sustainability. A key part of this rebranding involved IBM's supercomputer Watson competing on Jeopardy in 2011, which introduced cognitive computing capabilities to a mass audience and established IBM as a leader in this field. Through Smarter Planet, IBM aims to demonstrate how data analytics can improve various aspects of life from transportation to access to safe water. This rebranding has been highly successful in growing IBM's business and brand value.
WEF predicts automation will displace 75 million jobs globally by 2022 but create 133 million new ones. Those in kindergarten today will graduate in 2030. What will work look like? What skills will be most in demand? We identify the most and least important skills for success in a world driven by automation and human-machine collaboration.
An insight into current trends affecting travel industry and a look at what's next.
Any questions, please get in touch via LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bjgill
Brown Advisory recently held a client forum called NOW 2016 to explore issues around disruption in technology and other fields. Speakers discussed advances in areas like genetic engineering, drone technology, and digital business models, but also cautioned that institutions need to adapt quickly to ensure equality and societal well-being amid rapid change. Three companies - Amazon, Microsoft, and Google - were highlighted as dominating the growing cloud computing industry by committing billions to infrastructure and demonstrating the reliability and security of cloud services.
This document advertises and provides details about the Crimson Innovation Conference happening on March 15th in Birmingham. The conference will explore opportunities and challenges of digital transformation for businesses, and will feature case studies and lessons from thought leaders in digital strategy, data usage, cloud computing, and developing digital talent. Speakers will discuss topics like digitizing a FTSE 100 company, challenges with cloud environments, using a digital approach to support rapid retail growth, and enabling organizational change in a digital world.
The Second Technology Revolution: How the PR Business Needs To Change Once AgainMSL
The document discusses how the PR industry needs to change and adapt to a second technology revolution driven by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and big data analytics. It argues that these technologies are augmenting influence by providing more data-based insights, amplifying emotional resonance through immersive experiences, and using artificial intelligence to automate and adapt interactions. This will disrupt traditional media and influence, requiring PR practitioners to develop new skills in data, technology, and storytelling to help clients navigate this changing landscape.
AI in Financial Asset Management Market – Notable Developments, Upcoming Tren...ShivamGaur62
The document provides an overview of a 67-page report on the AI in financial asset management market from 2019 to 2025. It discusses key trends such as the growing adoption of AI technologies like machine learning by financial institutions to manage assets and customer interactions. The global market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 33.84% during the forecast period, with technologies like natural language processing seeing increased use. The report segments the market by technology, applications, and regions to provide an in-depth analysis of industry trends, competitive landscape, and growth opportunities.
History has many examples of powerful companies that seem to be unbeatable. Then in a short time they become irrelevant due to new companies with new ideas. One of the factors in such transformation is technology. Never in history has technological change been so important in building and destroying companies. We look at few examples of successful companies that fail to address the chaning times and become disrupted. We also look at why technology emerges when it does and why some ideas can only be realised when certain conditions are met.
In this first lecture we set the tone for the course and define the themes that we will be looking at.
Digital Leadership Interview : Gavin Starks, CEO of the Open Data Institute (...Capgemini
"Large organizations should think about releasing their data and rely on third parties to innovate on their behalf rather than trying to innovate internally."
A somewhat longer version of my Frontiers talk about technology and the future of the economy, with additional material pitched to an audience of Internet operators at Apricot 2017, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on February 27, 2017
Irrational Exuberance: A Tech Crash is ComingJeffrey Funk
These slides apply Nobel Laureate Robert Schiller's concept of irrational exuberance (and a book) title to the current speculative bubble of 2019. Over investments in startups and a lack of profitability in them are finally starting to catch up with the venture capital industry and the tech sector that relies on it. Investments by US venture capitalists have risen about six times since 2001 causing the total invested in 2018 to exceed by 40% the peak of 2000, the last big year of the dotcom bubble. But the number of IPOs has never returned to the peak years of 1993 to 2000; only about 250 were carried out between 2015 and 2017 vs. about 1,200 between 1995 and 1997.
The reason is simple: startups are taking longer to go public because they are not profitable. Consider the data. The median time to IPO has risen from 2.8 years in 1998 to 7.7 years in 2016 and the ones going public are less profitable than they were in the past. Although only 22% of startups going public in 1980 were unprofitable, 82% were unprofitable in 2018. The same high percentages of unprofitability have only been achieved twice before, in 1998 and 1999 right before the dotcom bubble burst. Furthermore, startups that have recently done high profile IPOs such as Snap, Dropbox, Blue Apron, Fitbit, Trivago, Box, and Cloudera are still not profitable.
What's Wrong with the Silicon Valley Growth Model (Extended UCL Lecture)Tim O'Reilly
A three part lecture for the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London. I talk about how the Silicon Valley growth model is leading from value creation to rent extraction, then about how public policy shapes our markets and what public policy students can learn from technology platforms (both what they do right and how they go wrong), and finally, I touch on some of the great mission-driven goals that could replace "increasing corporate profits" as the guiding objective of our economy.
The document discusses strategies that telecommunications CEOs in sub-Saharan Africa will need to adopt to survive in the challenging market environment. Competition is intensifying as the market nears saturation, squeezing margins. CEOs will need to focus on outsourcing non-core functions, targeted network deployments, and low-cost data strategies rather than subscriber acquisition. Rural expansion is key to address urban saturation but challenges remain around costs, infrastructure, and device affordability. Adopting fixed-mobile convergence solutions, enterprise data services, and rural value-added services like mobile commerce present opportunities for growth.
DIGITAL LEADERSHIP: An interview with Caspar de Bono, Financial TimesCapgemini
Caspar de Bono is the Managing Director, B2B at the Financial Times (FT).
The FT is one of the world’s leading business news organizations, providing news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community. In
2014, the FT’s total circulation reached an all-time high with 700,000 subscriptions and sales across print and online. Significantly, digital subscriptions increased 23% yearon-year and now constitute nearly two-thirds of the FT’s total paying audience. Further, the FT has seen sustained mobile growth - mobile now accounts for almost 50% of the FT’s total traffic and 20% of new digital subscriptions. In an industry that has been swept by digital disruptions in the last decade, the FT stands out as one of the few incumbents that have successfully managed these disruptions. Capgemini Consulting spoke with Caspar de Bono, Managing Director, B2B at the FT, to discuss the impactof digital on the news media industry and the response of the organization to that tidal
wave of change.
Lalo Huber - El impacto de la Economía Digital - Econ2017Lalo Huber
The document discusses the impact of the digital economy on organizations. It describes how the digital economy is significantly transforming business models, industries, and the relationship between business and technology. Key trends discussed include the rise of platforms, on-demand services, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, robots, sensors, and new technologies like blockchain. The document also addresses how organizations must change their strategies, structures, processes and culture to adapt to the digital world.
CEO sustainability club Luxembourg presentation Olivia Walker - Frost&Sull...francoisneu
Great presentation from Frost & Sullivan in Luxembourg at CEO Sustainability Club (by IMS Luxembourg) on the "Mega Trends" which will change the economy in the coming years.
The traditional brick-and-mortar business model is no longer the only option for the aspiring entrepreneur. Many of today’s greatest successes belong to those who have captured the power of the viral loop by designing products and services that spread themselves through the channels of the Internet, propelled by word-of-mouth recommendations.
We are pleased to give to you the 2015 Innovation Forecast Report. We used the principle of the triple helix while inviting influencers to co-author this edition. Thus, in the report you can find publications of entrepreneurs, scientists and government representatives. Such a combination allows to show different perspectives of thinking and bringing innovation into life.
Among the invited authors are:
Paweł Adamowicz - The Mayor of the City of Gdańsk
Sebastian Grabowski - Director of the Research and Development Centre, Orange Poland
Paweł Tkaczyk - guru of branding and allfather of Midea
Izabela Disterheft - Director of Gdansk Science and Technology Park
Sebastian Brzuzek - Head of Innovation in Meritum Bank ICB
Krzysztof Kanawka - scientist and Leader in Blue Dot Solutions
Agata Kukwa - CEO, dlaodmiany.pl
Bartosz Rychlicki – CEO, Quantum Lab
Wojciech Drewczyński – Product Owner, Gamereer
and
Marcin Kowalik – Managing Partner, Black Pearls VC
All of the authors pointed out an important trend that is worth following. Using help of Jamel interactive agency and their solution called Social Board we gathered references to these trends published by internet users worldwide. With simple click on a hashtag under each forecast you will see how the trend is growing around the world and how ideas that are connected to that topic are developing.
http://innovation.socialboard.pl/
The document discusses disruptive technology and how attitudes have changed for Millennials. It notes that Millennials have delayed many financial and life milestones like completing school, becoming financially independent, marrying, and having children due to the recession and high student debt levels. More young adults are enrolled in school but costs have increased, making it harder to achieve independence. The recession also caused many young people to move back home with their parents. The document suggests technology and attitudes around adulthood will continue to change.
Presentatie IBM Nederland op Content Club #CC03, thema: Thought LeadershipContent Club Nederland
Presentatie IBM Nederland door Jelmer Letterie en Kirsten Haver Droeze op Content Club-avond editie 3 (#CC03)
Op 14 november 2013 bij IBM Nederland.
Thema: Hoe word je (als merk) een Thought Leader?
Meer info over Content Club Nederland? www.contentclub.nl
Gastheren: Cor Hospes (Tsjee) en Mark de Lange (Beklijf)
Este documento describe los procesos de negocio de una biblioteca. Presenta diagramas de flujo que muestran los pasos para solicitar un préstamo de libros, verificar la información del solicitante, autorizar el préstamo teniendo en cuenta que no se pueden prestar más de 3 libros, asignar fechas de préstamo y devolución, y verificar que se cumplan los plazos establecidos o cobrar recargos en caso de retraso. También incluye tablas de contenido y figuras para organizar la información.
This document is a term paper about cultural dimensions for a cross-cultural communication course. It provides an introduction to the topic and then summarizes Geert Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions, which identifies five dimensions that cultures can be classified along: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs collectivism, masculinity vs femininity, and long-term vs short-term orientation. For each dimension, the paper describes the characteristics of high and low scores, and provides examples of how the dimensions influence workplace behaviors, advertising, and other cultural factors. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural differences when conducting international business.
Este documento describe las características y beneficios de Driver Max, un programa que permite detectar y actualizar los controladores de dispositivos en una computadora de manera ordenada y gratuita. Driver Max mantiene actualizados los controladores de red, audio, video y chips, lo que es útil para prevenir virus. Si una computadora se infecta con un virus, Driver Max respalda los controladores para facilitar la recuperación después de una formateo.
This virtual store sells decorative products for Halloween including candles, candies, serviettes, cakes, and other items to decorate homes and throw parties. Candles come in various sizes, colors, and shapes, ranging in price from $7,000 to $12,000. Customers can also order Halloween candies in bulk or browse the online catalog. Serviettes ideal for setting festive dinner tables are priced at $10,000. The store aims to provide affordable options to decorate every corner of the home for Halloween celebrations.
Laporan ini mengamati pengaruh perantara dan kemolaran terhadap penurunan suhu dan titik beku larutan elektrolit dan non-elektrolit. Percobaan mengukur suhu larutan garam, gula dan air murni setiap menit saat dimasukkan es. Larutan gula mengalami penurunan suhu paling cepat karena kemolarannya paling rendah, sementara air murni paling lambat. Penggunaan perantara memperlambat penurunan suhu. K
Unilever owns many ice cream brands around the world collectively known as Heartbrand. While the brands have different names in different countries, such as Wall's in the UK and Algida in the Czech Republic, they are unified by the Heartbrand red heart logo. Most of the brands were originally separate companies that Unilever purchased over time, keeping their original well-known local names. While having different brand names allows the brands to maintain their local recognition, the Heartbrand logo and marketing campaigns help connect them as part of a global ice cream company. The document provides background on several iconic ice cream brands owned by Unilever under the Heartbrand umbrella.
This document discusses cultural shock and acculturation. It defines culture and acculturation, and describes the acculturation curve, also known as the cultural shock curve. The curve has four stages - honeymoon, crisis, recovery, and adjustment. It discusses how moving to a new culture can disrupt routines and cause stress and uncertainty. Working in a multicultural environment can also lead to misunderstandings due to cultural differences in work routines, schedules, and expectations. The document concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding cultural shock and acculturation to make international experiences more successful and to better adjust to a new culture.
This presentation gives an overview of social bookmarking features available from ibm.com today and provides training on how to use Dogear to share your own bookmarks with communities on ibm.com.
This document summarizes Keurig's business including its history, products, customers, competition, pricing, distribution channels, and SWOT analysis. It discusses that Keurig was founded in 1990 and produces single-cup brewing systems for coffee, tea and other beverages. Their popular K-Cup system offers over 200 varieties and they are targeting affluent customers through new larger products and environmentally friendly options while addressing quality concerns to maintain customer confidence against competitors like Starbucks.
Keurig is looking to expand into the at-home coffee brewing market after establishing dominance in the office coffee service market with its single-cup brewing system. Its current plan involves introducing a second portion pack size, paying greater attention to brewer pricing, using direct marketing and leveraging existing partnerships with office distributors. However, this plan faces limitations from a lack of marketing resources and potential new competitors entering the market. Suggested strategies include returning to a single portion size, using a premium pricing strategy for the brewer, setting appropriate cup pricing, pursuing initial direct online sales followed by traditional retail partnerships, and promoting the brand through product demonstrations, referrals and building brand awareness.
The document discusses insights from a three-day event hosted by IBM called the Future of Work Experience. It provides an overview of the event and key takeaways. Some of the main points discussed include:
- IBM partnered with PureMatter to lead a Thinkathon event to ideate the future of work.
- Over the three days, futurists and IBM executives explored themes like the future of work talent, culture, technology, communication and collaboration.
- Insights from the event suggest the future of work will be more focused on intuition, harmony between work and personal life, purpose and trust between employees and employers.
- IBM's new email solution Verse was launched at the event
Knowledge sharing involves exchanging information, skills, or expertise among individuals or groups. Google had over 1 billion searches last year and earned $6.5 billion in online ad sales from services like YouTube, Gmail and Google Search. IBM grew 30% from last year, replacing Microsoft as the second most valuable technology brand at $86.3 billion due to a 24% annual growth rate. Apple's brand value is $83.7 billion, slightly below IBM, growing 32% from increased sales of the iPad and iPhone 4 which doubled revenue to $8.7 billion. Microsoft maintained its position at number 4 with a brand value of $76.3 billion through advertising campaigns for Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7.
Brian Cauble is the co-founder and CEO of Appsolute Genius, a mobile app development company. He has over 9 years of experience in software development. The app economy has grown significantly, with over 274,000 active apps on the Apple App Store and thousands of new submissions each month. Marketers should pay attention to opportunities that apps provide, such as reallocating advertising dollars to mobile, cause marketing promotions, direct response capabilities, and integrating barcodes/QR codes. However, brands need to ensure their app strategy aligns with overall marketing goals and is sustainable.
Mobile@Ogilvy releases new report at APPNATION Consumer & Enterprise Mash Up -Hidden in plain sight: How mobile is quietly revolutionizing the B2B world @
Hidden in plain sight: How mobile is quietly revolutionizing the B2B worldOgilvy
Mobile@Ogilvy has published a new report into how business-to-business (B2B) brands can leverage “smart mobility” to gain significant competitive advantage. Entitled “Hidden in plain sight: How mobile is quietly revolutionizing the B2B world,” the report outlines key mobile opportunities for B2B marketers and describes how to develop mobile strategies for B2B brands.
Mobile is quietly revolutionizing the B2B world by making B2B marketing more effective, sales interactions more productive, distribution partners more successful and customers more engaged. The document discusses how mobile is mobilizing marketing, the enterprise, and products/services. It provides examples of how various B2B companies are using mobile advertising, apps, and other technologies to engage customers throughout the sales cycle and enable employees and partners to be more productive. While B2B mobile adoption lags behind B2C, the opportunities are significant as mobile allows B2B companies to interact with customers in new impactful ways.
IBM faced the challenge of changing perceptions of their mainframe product as the cloud was becoming more popular. They launched a marketing campaign called "The Engines of Progress" featuring stories from major clients like Walmart and Visa about how IBM's mainframes helped transform their industries. The campaign included videos, events, and a student competition. It was highly successful, generating over 100 million social impressions and increasing IBM's annual revenue by 20%.
The document discusses IBM's focus on and investments in business analytics. It notes that IBM has spent $14 billion acquiring analytics companies in the past 5 years and $6 billion annually on R&D, demonstrating its commitment to the field. It also highlights two customer success stories where IBM solutions helped optimize operations: providing a government entity real-time debt exposure monitoring and reducing a bank's credit risk assessments from 10 days to industry benchmarks. The document advocates that analytics can provide hidden insights to help businesses know how they are doing, understand why, and determine what they should do next.
The document discusses IBM's focus on and investments in business analytics. It notes that IBM has spent $14 billion acquiring analytics companies in the past 5 years and $6 billion annually on R&D, demonstrating its commitment to the field. It also highlights two customer success stories where IBM solutions helped optimize operations: providing a government entity real-time debt exposure monitoring and reducing a bank's credit risk assessments from 10 days to industry benchmarks. The document advocates that analytics can provide insights to gain competitive advantages, as it has helped IBM's customers.
IBM is an international technology company with subsidiaries around the world. The company's core values are dedication to client success, innovation that benefits both IBM and the world, and trust in all relationships. IBM's mission is to deliver business value to clients through integrated IT solutions while shifting to higher-value software and services. The company focuses on growth markets, analytics, industry solutions, and cloud/data center technologies. IBM has a global distribution strategy and targets markets for growth, analytics, cloud/data center solutions, and smarter planet initiatives.
Day 7HEALTH COMMUNICATION EVALUATION RESEARCHEvOllieShoresna
This document discusses research design and various approaches to health communication research. It outlines different types of research designs including experimental, survey, textual analytic, ethnographic, and multimethodological designs. For each design, it provides brief descriptions of what they are used for as well as their strengths and weaknesses. The document emphasizes that a diversity of methods is important for health communication research to fully understand the complexities involved. It also discusses evaluation research and links to additional resources on research design and methodology.
IBM was formed in 1924 and became a leader in computing technology throughout the 20th century. It introduced many innovations including the personal computer in 1981. More recently, IBM has expanded into consulting services and acquired companies to grow. It aims to increase profits and market share, especially in Asia. Potential strategies include increasing marketing in Asia, entering the mobile phone market, and producing video game consoles. The best approach is increasing Asian marketing and entering mobile phones given market potential. Contingency plans address issues that may arise with these strategies.
The global business trends involve Machine Learning, AI, end-to-end digitalization, sustainable development, Data Security, and EV with sales increasing by 85%
9 trends that will shape Digital Marketing in 2016. Black Marketing
Digital marketing trends in 2016 will include:
1. HTML5 becoming the new standard format for digital content.
2. Flexible planning and budgets becoming the norm to quickly adapt to new opportunities.
3. Ad blocking growing on mobile, challenging marketers to focus on quality over quantity of ads.
Data and creativity combining to generate highly relevant and efficient marketing campaigns will be a overarching trend shaping digital marketing in 2016.
9 Trends That Will Shape Digital Marketing in 2016Webrepublic
Digital marketing trends in 2016 will include:
1. HTML5 becoming the new standard format for digital creatives.
2. Planning requiring more flexibility and fluid strategies to quickly adapt to new opportunities.
3. The rise of ad blocking forcing brands to focus on quality, relevance and content over ads.
4. The increasing convergence of online and offline activities due to mobile and location-based technologies.
The document summarizes key points about how the International Controller Association is focusing on the topic of "Big Data" in 2013-2014. It discusses how big data is characterized by large volume, variety, and velocity of data. It provides examples of how big data is used in various fields like CRM, politics, and manufacturing. The document also discusses how data analysis can improve corporate management by enabling more data-driven decision making. Finally, it summarizes a workshop the Controller Association had with IBM about tools for analyzing big data and potential applications in controlling.
Cognizant is the only company to earn a place in the list of Forbes fastest growing technology companies every year since the list’s inception. Its intriguing growth leaves us inquisitive – is there a framework to excel? Has Cognizant found the same? It is known that the book Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras influenced Francisco D’Souza (CEO of Cognizant) the most. He is committed to establish a “cult like” culture focused on core values. But, beyond this, does their dual mandate of run better and run different have any role in their monumental growth? Cognizant is not only preaching about helping their clients to transform in order to run better and run different but also walking the talk by practicing the dual mandate within organization from its early days. This paper digs into Cognizant’s history and current trends to understand what they have done to run better and run different.
The document summarizes IBM's business strategy and objectives over the past decade and outlines its roadmap for continued growth through 2015. Some key points are: IBM has achieved record earnings per share and cash flow since 2000 by shifting resources toward high-value areas. Its 2015 roadmap aims to generate $20 EPS, $100B in cash flow, and increase software/growth market revenue. IBM's investments in areas like analytics, cloud, and smarter systems are expected to drive $20B in additional revenue and position the company for continued leadership in the digital era.
1. IBM /
This article appeared in Contagous issue Thirty Three.
Contagous is an intelligence resource for the
global marketing communiy focusing on
non-tradiional media and emergng technologes
www.contagiousmagazine.com
For more information please email the team on
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CASE STUDY
1st Page Case study.indd 1 15/11/2012 13:25
2. case study / patagonianews / quarterly round-up
SUPER SMART
case study / ibm /
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 2 15/11/2012 14:08
3. Smarter Planet, IBM’s pioneering business
strategy, has removed the brand from the
category norm of safe and stuffy business-to-
business advertising. Colourful icons, sports
sponsorships, fast-talking films and long-copy
iPad ads have all communicated one clear
concept: progress. What’s more, the return on
investment of moving away from product-led ads
to this focused agenda has been staggering: in
2011, Smarter Planet paid for itself more than ten
times over in directly attributable profit.
So how did big data turn into big bucks for
Big Blue? /
By Lucy Aitken
Brand DNA
Founded /
1911
HQ /
Armonk, New York
Employees /
433,362
Product /
Technology and consulting
Promise /
Let’s build a smarter planet
WHY CONTAGIOUS /
Since 2008, Smarter Planet has
proved an effective way to connect
with both a business and a consumer
audience. Colourful, informative
communications highlight how
smarter systems can help achieve
objectives of universal benefit,
such as economic growth, energy
efficiency and sustainability
CASE STUDY
IBM / SUPER SMART /
Michael Dobak,
Ogilvy & Mather New York
'IBM isn’t as sexy as
Apple but it is probably
contributing more to the
world’
66 / 67contagious
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4. case study / ibm /
‘I, for one, welcome our new com-
puter overlords.’ Former Jeopardy
champion Ken Jennings sportingly
penned this phrase after being
defeated by IBM’s super computer
Watson on the US quiz show. The
2011 man-versus-machine show-
down saw Watson sandwiched
between Jennings and fellow former
champion Brad Rutter, outsmarting
them both. It made for edge-of-your-
seat TV while also introducing the
next era of computing to a mass
audience: 9.1% of US households
watched Watson’s victory. Ann
Rubin, IBM’s VP brand expression
and global advertising, comments:
‘Such a well-loved show was the
perfect platform to show this tech-
nology because Jeopardy is all about
understanding the questions, not
searching for the answers. Millions
of people saw how Watson could
understand nuance, sarcasm and
unstructured data.’
Watson, named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, was
on Jeopardy as a poster boy for cognitive computing. This
is where machines not only learn data but also refine it and
expand on it, growing smarter with time. They can also
understand human behaviour. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty
has stated that we are entering an era of cognitive comput-
ing, and, at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, she
predicted: ‘Everybody’s job – the front office, CMO, mayor,
chief of police – will be redefined by this.’ Since Jeopardy,
Watson has provided diagnostic support for oncologists and
helped finance giant Citigroup analyse data. There’s even
talk of Watson one day powering your smartphone as part of
IBM’s wider objective to drive its business analytics division
to $20bn by 2015.
Forbes magazine dubbed it ‘Siri on steroids’.
We believe in progress,
that the application of
intelligence, reason and
science can improve
business, society and the
human condition.
IBM mission statement
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 4 15/11/2012 14:08
5. contagious 68 / 69
A brief history
Founded in 1911, IBM has been at the forefront of techno-
logical innovation for the last 101 years (see boxout p.54
on the centennial for highlights) and today has three areas
of specialism: services, software and systems. It suffered a
turbulent start to the 1990s when there was a question mark
hanging over its future: computing at that time was starting
to refocus around the desktop and personal productivity, not
on enterprise-wide business applications, a former revenue
powerhouse for the company. Annual net losses reached a
record $8bn in 1993.
In the new millennium, IBM changed tack, focusing more
on what runs on computers as opposed to the machines
themselves. It acquired PricewaterhouseCoopers Consult-
ing for $3.5bn in 2002 and sold its hardware division for
$1.25bn to Chinese giant Lenovo in 2004. Today, having
successfully reinvented itself over the last two decades, it
leads new markets such as enterprise social software which
helps companies improve relations between employees and
with clients. Intelligence firm IDC estimates that this market
is expected to reach $4.5bn by 2016 and with IBM growing
nearly two times faster than the overall market. Thirty five per-
cent of Fortune 100 companies have adopted IBM’s social
software.
IBM’s switch from hardware to consulting is widely
credited with saving the company. In a well-documented
turnaround, former CEO Lou Gerstner recognised that
IBM’s strength was in its client relationships, not in selling
desktop computers.
IBM in numbers / IBM is 19th in the Fortune 500 (two places
behind Apple) and its 2011 revenue was $106.9bn. Q3
results for 2012, however, showed a 2% dip in revenue to
$24.7bn, with IBM’s big services business declining about
5%, to $14.5bn. The company has flagged up cloud com-
puting as a growth area in its 2015 Road Map which also
identifies growth markets, business analytics and Smarter
Planet to drive $20bn in revenue over the next three years.
But analysts suggest that this might cannibalise its software
revenues. Then there’s the issue of the competition, which
is no longer confined to obvious players such as Oracle,
Accenture or Microsoft, but now encompasses Google, and
Amazon’s Web Services.
Today, Interbrand estimates IBM’s brand value at more
than $75bn, ranking it as the world’s third most valuable
brand, behind Coca-Cola and Apple. As Michael Dobak,
managing director of Ogilvy & Mather, New York (O&M), its
roster agency since 1994, says: ‘It isn’t as sexy as Apple but
it is probably contributing more to the world.’
Smarter marketing
Jon C. Iwata, an IBMer since 1984, became senior vice
president of marketing and communications in 2008 with
a remit to reveal what makes the company tick. With the
help of employees, Iwata came up with the following mis-
sion statement: ‘We believe in progress, that the application
of intelligence, reason and science can improve business,
society and the human condition.’ Dobak adds: ‘IBM wasn’t
after a campaign, it wanted an agenda that would help drive
Using data science changes
how you do your job.
Ryan Blank,
Ogilvy & Mather, New York
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 5 15/11/2012 14:08
6. case study / ibm /
business back through the enterprise. Jon really wanted to
show that IBM’s mission is to make the world work better.’
Susan Westre, the worldwide creative director on IBM at
Ogilvy & Mather, New York, who has worked on the account
since 1995, remembers that Iwata brought Ogilvy staff into
IBM offices to broaden out their sense of the company and
its strong sense of values. ‘Before Jon was on board, we’d
work with IBMers in marketing. Jon allowed us to come into
contact with other IBMers, such as the research and devel-
opment guys.’
The result was Smarter Planet, an initiative that high-
lights how smarter systems help to achieve objectives of
universal benefit, such as economic growth, energy effi-
ciency and sustainability. Interbrand describes it as ‘a
ground-breaking business strategy... it remains a textbook
example of how to create, build, and deliver a world-leading
business-to-business brand.’
Visit the Smarter Planet website and you’ll see a refer-
ence to the 3 Is: Instrumented, Intelligent and Interconnected.
In other words, how we use data, how industries collabo-
rate and how we make the world
smarter. Meanwhile, the ‘People
for a Smarter Planet’ page on
Facebook, which has 238,278
Likes, offers information such
as how IBM is using precision
weather forecasts to help farm-
ers, or advice on how energy
can be saved within buildings.
Crucially for a business brand, it
talks to a broad range of people,
from its core audience (C-suite
decision-makers) to people with
an interest in sustainability, technology or innovation.
For the love of data / IBM estimates that 2.5 quintillion bytes
of new data are created daily, 90% of which is unstructured
and incorporates emails, tweets and videos. Smarter Planet
is intended to help navigate that data constructively and has
been successful in growing IBM’s business by creating new
markets, selling its services to clients such as city mayors by
showing how it can assist with tasks such as sanitation and
water-management. Creek Watch, for instance, is an iPhone
app by IBM Research that enables citizens to play a part
in contributing to water management. Already in use in San
Jose, California, the app invites people to monitor and report
water levels and flow rates. Every update enables local water
authorities to track pollution, manage resources and plan
environmental programmes.
Smarter Planet aims to show how expert data-manage-
ment can impact our daily lives, from information collated via
a smartphone app to improve an irritating stop-start drive to
work, to helping the 884 million people in the world who lack
access to safe water supplies.
Chief Executive Customer
Future-facing, it also incorporates initiatives such as Smarter
Commerce, which aims to redefine the value chain in the
age of the consumer, or the Chief Executive Customer, as
IBM likes to put it. Smartphones play a big role here: in July
2012, IBM Research scientists in Haifa, Israel, piloted an
augmented reality app to offer shoppers a retail experience
personalised with product tips, recommendations and cou-
pons as they scan the shelves with their smartphones. In a
long copy ‘op-ad’ called ‘The mobile world is open for busi-
ness’ IBM flagged up smarter analytics that not only predict
what consumers might buy but also when, where and how. It
ends by pointing out that ‘on a Smarter Planet, the future of
business is quite literally in our hands.’
CEO Ginni Rometty is also eager to sell IBM’s portfolio
of services to marketing chiefs, seeing as, according to a
2012 Gartner report, by 2017, the CMO will spend more on
IT than the CIO (chief information officer).
Ryan Blank, group creative director at Ogilvy & Mather,
New York says: ‘People are voluntarily giving out data and it
is essential that marketers listen to it. That’s your customers
trying to talk to you! And that’s where IBM comes to the
table. Five years ago, why would an IBMer talk to a mar-
keter? Using data science changes how you do your job.’
Mutual benefit / Ogilvy and
IBM benefit from each other’s
expertise. In September, eCom-
merce@Ogilvy, O&M's global
ecommerce practice, announced
the formalisation of a partnership
with IBM Smarter Commerce
which benefits its other clients,
for instance Kimberly Clark. Miles
Young, worldwide chairman and
CEO of O&M, made clear that
the 18-year relationship is mutu-
ally beneficial: ‘IBM’s technology solutions in this space
are unequalled and will add to the solutions eCommerce@
Ogilvy delivers. At the same time, we will also provide IBM
with an expanded base of potential clients.’
Smart equals effective
Thanks to Smarter Planet, IBM is the world’s most effec-
tive brand, according to the Effie organisation. A 2012 Effies
entry, which in May scooped 18 Effie awards including
five Golds, claims that the Smarter Planet media invest-
ment has paid for itself more than ten times over: IBM has
attributed a 37% increase in sales directly to the campaign.
Considering that IBM spent $1.37bn on global advertising
and promotions in 2011, Smarter Planet has clearly been
responsible for creating billions of dollars worth of new busi-
ness for the company. Ginni Rometty even singled it out in
the annual report, estimating that Smarter Planet revenue
grew by almost 50% in 2011. IBM’s vice president of cor-
porate marketing, John Kennedy, adds that Smarter Planet
has helped the company to establish new markets, citing
Smarter Commerce as an example: ‘We describe the poten-
tial that companies have to instrument their value chain, how
they transact with a customer on the front end, all the way
through to their supply chain on the back end.’
IBM's 2011 global
ad spend
Quintillion bytes
of new data are
created daily
$1.37bn
2.5
People are voluntarily giving
out data and it is essential
that marketers listen to it.
That’s your customers trying
to talk to you!
Ryan Blank,
Ogilvy & Mather, New York
2011 revenue
$106.9bn
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 6 15/11/2012 14:08
7. contagious 70 / 71
Smarter commerce aims
to redefine the value chain
in the age of the Chief
Executive Customer
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 7 15/11/2012 14:08
8. case study / patagonia
2011
rare look
back
c-suite
game
changer
innova-
tions
inter-
active
iPAD
case study / ibm /
Centennial
In 2011, IBM celebrated its centenary
with what Ogilvy’s ECD Susan Westre
describes as ‘a rare look back’.
Three films racked up combined YouTube
views of more than a million. Directed
by Joe Pytka, 100 x 100 ticked off
IBM’s many achievements, including the
personal computer and the barcode.
They Were There featured IBMers such
as Patty McHugh, ‘the mother of the
motherboard.’ Directed by Errol Morris,
this film also noted IBM’s strong track
record in employee rights. Thirdly, Davis
Guggenheim created a 14-minute film
called Wild Ducks, which interspersed
an animated story with mini-profiles
of exceptional people such as Carolyn
McGregor, who used her skill in
spotting number patterns to improve life
expectancy for premature babies.
Other content included WSJ and NYT
supplements, books and events. ‘After a
century of innovations, we’re just getting
started,’ was the take-out.
SPorts Sponsorship
IBM is TV sponsor and technology partner
for Masters Golf and Grand Slam tennis
events, bringing data to life for both
participants and spectators. Under
the header ‘data is a game changer,’
IBM shows information such as what
happened last time tennis player x met
tennis player y on grass, and what player
x needs to do to win. At the US Open, IBM
launched an iPad app which enhanced
the experience of watching a live game.
Linking its immense data capabilities to
spectator sports means that it hits its
core C-suite target – as well as a more
mainstream audience. It also collaborated
with New York-based independent digital
design agency HUSH on an interactive
visual experience that presented the
data in a fun and accessible way. David
Schwarz, creative partner at HUSH,
comments: ‘This project was about using
design and interaction to cut through
the data complexity and create visual/
informational insights that the average
tennis fan can understand.’ IBM now
plans to extend data visualisation into
rugby and football. Susan Westre says:
‘Since Moneyball came out, interest for
this extends beyond sports junkies.’
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 8 15/11/2012 14:08
9. contagious
Follow-up work included Outcomes, a colourful, graphic-
led series of posters, cross-tracks and print ads that boasted
strong design credentials. This showed a fresh, agile, mod-
ern brand, a million miles from the lumbering dinosaur image
that had haunted it in the early 1990s.
A programme called Access To Expertise enabled peo-
ple to contact IBMers or other experts. ‘I get emails every
day from IBMers who want to be in the advertising,’ says
Ann Rubin. If they’re not on TV or YouTube, they often write
blogs or they can be contacted via social media. ‘There are
more than 400,000 IBMers and most of them have a very
strong digital footprint,’ adds Hahn. Rubin says: ‘When we
say access to experts, we mean it.’
Focus on reinvention / As 2011’s centenary made clear,
IBMers are keen to be at the vanguard of technological inno-
vation. The company recently stated its intention to target
medium-sized enterprises with cloud computing services.
It will increase its global footprint in growing and emerging
markets, particularly in Asia and Latin America. It will also
continue to build on its annual research and development
investment of $6bn. As CEO Ginni Rometty told Fortune’s
Most Powerful Women’s conference in October 2012:
‘You’ve always got to focus on reinvention.’
The IBM of 2012 is very different from the IBM of 2002.
Not even Watson could predict what it might look like in
2022.
72 / 73
Op-ads and iPads / Flick through a copy of The Econo-
mist and it’s striking how much B2B advertising is stuck in
a time-warp. A Smarter Planet ‘Op-ad’ stands out, not only
for its colourful icon but also for its commitment to long
copy, intending to create a seamless segue from editorial to
advertising. This offers IBM a means to break down complex
subjects such as predictive maintenance (using data to flag
up when infrastructure problems might occur).
More recently, the brand has turned to the iPad to make
its op-ads in global media such as The Wall Street Jour-
nal more interactive, encouraging readers to participate in
polls and share their opinions. Michael Hahn, group creative
director at Ogilvy & Mather, New York, says: ‘We often hear
people say ‘‘I don’t really see ads like this anymore.” In a
world where everything is a tweet, we wanted something
with real substance and a point of view.’
Op-ads have catapulted IBM into conversations around
board rooms, in governments and on websites and blogs all
around the world. IBMers like Jeff Jonas, IBM Fellow and
chief scientist of the IBM Entity Analytics Group, suddenly
became powerful figureheads for the company, blogging
about data and offering thought leadership.
The beauty of beta / IBM’s marketing strategy is linked to
a broader set of business objectives, specifically the 2015
Road Map, which identifies four growth strategies (growth
markets, business analytics, cloud and Smarter Planet) to
drive $20bn in revenue. Yet there is also room for sponta-
neity. Ann Rubin says: ‘If a beta project supports Smarter
Planet and enables the story to be told in a relevant way, we
take advantage of that. We are aligned to the Road Map, but
if additional things come up we go for it.’
Examples of this in action include Smarter Cities. This
started out as a $70,000 web project, a computer-generated
web city that aimed to incorporate the best elements of cit-
ies all over the world. Hahn reflects: ‘We sought to combine
the buildings of Chicago, the policing of London and the
traffic management of Singapore, so we built a computer-
generated Smarter City that showed how IBM systems can
change how cities manage their utilities. This small web proj-
ect turned into print and outdoor advertising, as well as our
first iPad and touchwall projects for IBM.’
Access to experts / IBM also invested in TV spots starring
employees describing what they do with the proud tagline
‘I’m an IBMer’. Fast-talking 30-second spots saw the brand
whizz through how data systems could help control traffic or
manage healthcare. As Ryan Blank explains: ‘The ads were
about helping IBMers translate their big brain supersize
stuff. We would say: “Tell us what you’re working on and
pretend I’m in third grade.”’
2015 Road Map target
$20bn
In a world where everything is
a tweet, we wanted something
with real substance and a point
of view.
Michael Hahn, Ogilvy & Mather New York
IBM's Research &
Development budget
$6bn
IBM's estimated brand
value (Interbrand)
$75bn
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 9 15/11/2012 14:08
10. contagious
analyst insight / IBM
By Ian Stephens, Saffron Brand Consultants /
Analyst
Insight IBM = IQ + EQ
EQ (emotional intelligence) is the secret of IBM’s recent
brand success.
Successful branding is quite straightforward: find a
brand idea with the right mix of rational and emotional
messages (IQ & EQ) and build it into absolutely every-
thing you say and do in the marketplace.
Well, it’s easy in theory but doggedly difficult in
practice, because almost all organisations have such an
IQ-biased business culture that they find it extremely
hard to embrace the EQ part.
IBM’s Smarter Planet brand concept has both,
whereas the brand strategies of close competitors like
Accenture and Oracle are more or less ‘pure IQ’ driven
and consequently fail to engage their audiences nearly
as well.
By identifying the single-minded brand idea of ‘prog-
ress’, which connects tightly to the substance of their
business strategy, the IBM team gave themselves a head
start. The bright and optimistic visual identity also helps
tell the story.
Smarter Planet is an idea confidently rooted in
thought-leadership, even though, in reality, most of what
IT companies like IBM actually get paid to do is pretty
functional – the 21st century equivalent of laying train
tracks.
This is effective because their research shows that
IT customers tend to believe that any one of the big
firms has the capability to actually deliver the work they
are looking for. But they still have to choose one, so
intangibles like thought-leadership become much more
important in the decision making process than might
otherwise be justified in a purely rational (IQ) world.
So it gets at least 9 out of 10 in our book.
But it’s not perfect. The long copy adverts are well
written but they are still ‘adverts’, competing for the
reader’s attention alongside unbiased editorial, so are
probably rarely actually read. And whilst the Smarter
Planet concept and the visual identity contain plenty of
EQ, the rest of the content is often quite bland, corpo-
rate business-speak, which takes some of the shine off.
Finally, the future may not be quite so bright. Whilst
IBM’s traditional competitors are unlikely to find it in
themselves to respond effectively, many of their potential
next-generation competition (Google, Amazon, Face-
book?) come with EQ booster rockets already fitted as
standard. When it comes to branding in IT, companies
like Google and Apple make old-school firms like IBM and
Accenture look flat-footed. Perhaps IBM will anticipate
this and move things on again whilst they still have time.
History isn’t on their side though.
Ian Stephens / Principal / Saffron Brand Consultants,
London / ian@saffron-consultants.com
case study / ibm / 74 /75
'You’ve always got to focus
on reinvention.’
Ginni Rometty
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 11 15/11/2012 14:08
11. case study / ibm /
Brand Map / IBM
Challenge / Solutions /
ExpertsReplace IBM’s disparate and product-led
marketing
Define IBM’s purpose in the world by
showing that it stands for progress
Drive new business
Enter new markets IBMers have played a leading role in
communicating Smarter Planet, thanks
to their digital footprint. A few have
starred in films or TV ads, while others
write blogs or communicate via Twitter,
LinkedIn and Facebook.
‘When we say access to experts we
mean it,’ says IBM’s Ann Rubin.
IBM’s super-computer Watson defeated
two human champions in US quiz show
Jeopardy in 2011. Millions of people
saw how Watson could understand
unstructured data and were introduced
to the concept of cognitive computing,
where machines can learn and refine
data, as well as understand human
behaviour.
Watson
The ads were about helping
IBMers translate their big brain
supersize stuff. We would say:
'Tell us what you’re working on
and pretend I’m in third grade.'
Ryan Blank, Ogilvy & Mather, New York
Centenary
In a ‘rare look back’, three films racked
up a million YouTube views and showed
what IBM had achieved between 1911
and 2011. Key milestones included its
partnership with the space programme
in the late 1960s, the personal computer
and the barcode. It also promoted IBM
as a progressive employer.
Smarter Planet op-ads break down
complex issues such as smarter
commerce and predictive maintenance
and provide a launching pad for
discussion. Recent iPad executions have
enabled user participation, too.
The ads have helped to catapult IBM
into conversations around boardrooms,
in governments and online.
Op-ads 2015 Road Map
IBM’s 2015 Road Map is a set of
business objectives focusing on four
areas: Smarter Planet, cloud, growth
markets and business analytics.
While Smarter Planet is aligned to the
Road Map, it can also be spontaneous,
as in the case of Smarter Cities which
evolved from a web project.
At Masters Golf and Grand Slam tennis
tournaments, IBM is a sponsor and
technology partner. It shares data in
real time and, this year, at the US Open,
enhanced the spectator experience
through an iPad app and touch wall.
Sponsorships
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 12 15/11/2012 14:08
12. contagious 76 / 77
Takeouts /Results /
Establish an overarching premise that
you stand for. In IBM’s case, this is
Progress.
Have one message for shareholders,
customers and employees. After all, they
are united by being stakeholders in the
future success of your business.
Business audiences and consumers
aren’t mutually exclusive. IBM shows
you can target both, particularly through
sports sponsorships that enhance the
spectator experience.
Find simple, original and memorable
ways to demonstrate your product. A
documentary on cognitive computing
would not have attracted the millions
of viewers that Watson on Jeopardy
achieved.
Invite agency partners into your
organisation. Confining them to the
marketing team will restrict the quality of
the communications they can create for
your company.
$78bn
IBM’s stock price rose from $125 to $167 from September
2010 to September 2011, a 38% increase, representing
an increase in market cap of $78bn
28%
Smarter Planet was credited with directly
generating 28% more leads in 2011, representing
32% more potential revenue
$75bn
Interbrand ranks IBM as the world’s third most valuable
brand, behind Coca-Cola and Apple, with a brand value
of more than $75bn
Smarter Planet
revenue growth in
2011
Q3 2012 revenue
Years that IBM has
been with Ogilvy
50%
$24.7bn
Ogilvy & Mather, North
America was ranked by Effie
as the most effective agency
in North America
The Smarter Planet media investment has paid for itself
more than ten times over in directly attributable profit
18
37%
Sales attributed by IBM to Smarter Planet increased
by 37% in 2011
18 awards
IBM was named the most effective brand at the Effies
in May, picking up a total of 18 awards
IBM wasn’t after a campaign,
it wanted an agenda that would
help drive business back through
the enterprise. Jon really wanted
to show that IBM’s mission is to
make the world work better.
Michael Dobak, Ogilvy & Mather, New York
IBM_FINAL_after changes.indd 13 15/11/2012 14:08