MADE WITH IBM
I was part of a large Ogilvy team on a global rebrand of IBM, working under the creative leadership of the great Mike Hahn and Ryan Blank. The process was a master class in building, breaking, and refining ideas through nonstop sprints that pitched dozens of campaign platforms to top brass.
Along the way, we wondered what it might look like to utilize the common tech world concept of “minimum viable product.” Instead of trying to boil the ocean with one massive statement, what if we could show IBM’s value through smaller “aha moments.”
What resulted was the Made With IBM campaign which launched during the Masters golf tournament.
Rather than making a single multi-million dollar anthem film that aired dozens of times… instead Ogilvy’s 30+ person brand team went to work to produce a first (and last?) of its kind approach to live sports advertising.
We treated golf-loving c-suite laden audience to 64 unique documentary films shot in 17 countries. In other words “30 minutes of ads interrupted by golf.”
Each telling a customer story of IBM technology in action. Together they formed a serialized narrative that showed how IBM helps clients solve business problems by putting their data to work. Case study video below. As well as some additional briefs that rolled out following the launch.
Launch Site:
IBM Watson Business Group
Remember when IBM Watson won on Jeopardy? Orchestrated by Ogilvy, in what is probably the greatest piece of branded content of all time.
As this unfolded, IBM was busy transforming Watson into a money-making juggernaut that would transform the fields of customer experience, health care, finance, and scholarly research.
When they were ready for business, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty tapped Ogilvy to update Watson's marketing campaign microsite with all the important business offerings and initiatives.
To make this happen I worked with CD Anne Davison and a team of developers, content strategists, and UX designers to create a media rich parallax / accordion site.
IBM Power 8 Systems Brand Film
I wrote and creative directed the production of this B2B brand film. And ran point IBM’s server group's CMO. I ran a workshop with their lead chip engineer - to make sure we got all the tech stuff right in the animation.
IBM makes the servers that make our modern commerce tick. A microchip like an industrial wood chipper for big data.
Films like this can feel dry, but in some ways are more important than big emotional TV spots, because they give c-suite tech decided the information they need to sign big checks.
Animated by Nice Shoes in NYC.