2012 Bronze Business to business

Client IBM

How did the campaign make a difference? The IBM SlamTracker at Wimbledon predicted what players needed to do to win. This work drew the obvious analogy on what this could mean for hard-to-reach decision-makers’ businesses. The result was 30 leads, representing an ROI of £9 for every £1 spent.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? IBM’s challenge is to be seen to offer analytics and software, not just hardware and services, by business decision-makers. Unlike their colleagues in IT, senior figures don't gravitate towards IBM. So how to get them interested in IBM’s analytics? The strategy was to engage them in a more expansive, leisure mind-set, through their known interest in the Wimbledon Championships. IBM’s SlamTracker analyses Grand Slam data in real time, to identify how players can win. The winning keys aren’t just unique to the player but also to when they play particular opponents, for example, if Murray’s playing Federer – a key might be that Murray needs to win more than 65% of points on his second serve to win. The aim was for the audience to think “If IBM's analytics software can reveal the secrets of winning a tennis match – what could it mean for my business?” Live-feed digital posters were deployed in stations and office spaces: Executive Communication Network Live in 100 prestigious office locations and Transvision screens in 17 major railway stations in the UK.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? The IBM SlamTracker analytics approach could make normal fans into smarter fans. By analysing live match data, IBM SlamTracker can show fans exactly what their favourite player has to do to turn a match around. Every day at Wimbledon armies of fans were given support banners and t-shirts, parodying Wimbledon fan paraphernalia, with the keys for their favourite player. Normal fans shouted ”Come on Andy!” but smarter fans shouted “Come on Andy, win 46% of first serve return points!” Live footage of these smarter fans was streamed into the digital posters, featuring fans waving the specific key.

Results This campaign created 30 software and services leads, representing an ROI of £9 for every £1 spent. This projection comprises a total campaign cost of £207,000 and an average deal size of £63,000. It delivered impact and response among the target audience: 34,000 site visits were generated from this activity contributing to 71% of all site visits. A £130,000 media cost delivered £260,000 in media value and 21.2 million impacts throughout the campaign.

Team Charlie Wilson, Emma de la Fosse, Pavlos Themistocleous, Kristal Knight, Katriona Gordon, Matt Vickers, Samantha Knock, Nina Mynk, Rose Faulkner, Chau Teresa