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Rollout Newsletter
 
New IBM ‘Smarter Planet' ads focus on data

Story posted: June 1, 2010 - 10:22 am EDT





IBM Corp. has rolled out new ads in its “Smarter Planet” campaign, developed by Ogilvy & Mather New York, focusing on how IBM is using data to create a smarter planet.

The “Smarter Planet” campaign debuted in November 2008, aimed at showing how the technology company is partnering with businesses and government leaders to create solutions for smarter enterprises, transportation systems, energy and health care.

“The launch phase of year one was about defining a ‘smarter planet' and IBM's vision for systems becoming smarter,” said Greg Ketchum, executive creative director at Ogilvy & Mather. “Phase two is about the ‘how.' From a competitive standpoint, data is one of IBM's differentiating points. Only IBM can take a company's data and help them find answers in ways they couldn't before.”

To highlight IBM's expertise in data, Ogilvy created an integrated campaign, including TV, print, and online that uses actual data in the ads.



For example, a TV spot called “Data Anthem” uses data from traffic flow, hospitals and energy systems superimposed on images of cars on a highway, a patient in a hospital and power lines. Voiceover says: “The more we understand data, the more answers we find. …On a smarter planet, we can analyze all the data we now see to make the world work better. Let's build a smarter planet.”

Another spot, “Data Baby,” shows a baby in a hospital along with data on a newborn's vital signs, to show how IBM is creating solutions for smarter hospitals. Other spots focus on energy and transportation systems.

The campaign also includes print ads running in publications such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, as well as technology trades.

The campaign is also running on business and technology sites, where users can click through to online videos featuring IBM experts talking about the importance of data in creating a smarter planet.

The data campaign broke during golf's Masters Tournament in April and is currently running on ESPN, the Discovery Channel and Sunday morning news programs.

The budget was undisclosed.


3 Comments


Ford Kanzler
Marketing/PR Savvy
June 1, 2010 05:17 pm

Interesting story but the premise of IBM's differentiation being, "Only IBM can take a company's data and help them find answers in ways they couldn't before” is utterly preposterous. There are likely a few dozen companies already effectively claiming the same value. How about Oracle and SAP for starters? Is someone dreaming up IBM's differentiation in a vacuum?

2429692
 
David Gordon Schmidt
Strategic Outreach
June 1, 2010 06:23 pm

I agree with Ford - but would go further. Helping companies discover additional value from their data is what most IT services companies (from SAP to small consultants) do. More than a few dozen. Was Mr. Ketchum quoted correctly?

I've been a fan of the Smarter Planet campaign, by the way, and I've blogged about it at http://wp.me/pE0TS-3g. (BtoB Issues and Opps).

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Grant Whitehouse
GPJ
June 1, 2010 07:56 pm

I think we can excuse the enthusiasm that an agency creative would bring to this campaign launch. I've worked on the account for 10 years in experience marketing and gotten very familiar with their offerings. But IBM are the number 1 computer services company in the world and have a broad set of offerings that are very different from a company such as SAP. SAP do not produce servers, chip technology, storage systems etc. IBM rank 2nd or 3rd (depending on list) largest software producer and have over 190,000 consultants around the world. They would say that the combination of software, systems and consultants gives them that edge over other firms in finding ways to better use data, because the answer is not in software alone...the entire system needs to be considered. 2 cents worth.

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