IBM: SMART BUSINESS SERIES

Credits & Description:

Category: Business Products & Services

Advertiser: IBM AUSTRALIA

Product/Service: BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

Date of First Appearance: Oct 1 2009 12:00AM

Entrant Company: MINDSHARE , Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Entry URL: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/special-reports/ibm-smart-thinking

Partner Client Leadership: Carolynne Moore (Mindshare Sydney)

Manager Invention: Karl Wells (Mindshare Sydney)

Director The Exchange: Amy Rappo (Mindshare Sydney)

Manager The Exchange: Timo Waldbuesser (Mindshare Sydney)

Executive The Exchange: David Carmody (Mindshare Sydney)

Media placement: National Newspapers - The Australian Newspaper - 04/09/2009

Media placement: Magazines - The Deal - 18/09/2009

Media placement: Digital - Dedicated Microsite - 18/09/2009



Results and Effectiveness

We created conversations about Smarter Planet themes both at the events, in print and online.

Best-in-class engagement on the IBM ASBS website
• Average session time: 12 minutes
• 2,650,000 impressions served
• 2,500 video views
• 91 White paper downloads

Consideration of using IBM as a business solutions partner in the future increased from 18% to 28% wave on wave.

We made the news, several times, demonstrating IBM’s leadership and commitment to the issues to the broader business audience.



Creative Execution

A major media event called the IBM Smart Business Series was created. By appealing to their sense of social responsibility (and ego) we engaged some leaders of industry in debate and showed that IBM was committed to leading change. This was how IBM and themes of Smarter Planet came to the table for discussion along with some of Australia’s top business people.

Along with Australia’s leading business magazine, The Deal, we invited the top names in business to three events in News Corporation’s Sydney boardroom. An IBM expert sat at every table guiding discussion and offering expertise.

The Smart Business Series produced very lively debate, covered in The Deal magazine (6-8 page spread) and through a dedicated website to which others were invited to join the discussion online. TV, newspapers and online were also used.



Insights, Strategy & the Idea

Little known fact: IBM moved out of the personal computer business and transformed into a business solutions company years ago.

In 2009, IBM launched Smarter Planet – a business strategy supported by a campaign of stories about how IBM brings solutions to the challenges facing cities, infrastructure, transportation of goods, traffic congestion, water and energy.

Objectives:

a) Drive conversations around Smarter Planet themes at the big end of town.
b) Increase consideration of IBM as a business solutions provider by 5%

IBM target CEOs and C-suite executives. In Australia, most CEOs think that IBM is just a big IT company.

Insight: CEOs love to self-promote, are fiercely competitive and monitor closely the profiles of their peers.

So we gave 18 CEOs of Australia's largest organisations the chance to be in the media, show their smarts, get noticed and by doing so, made all the other CEOs take notice.