2013 Bronze IT/Telecommunications

Client IBM

How did the campaign make a difference? IBM added social tracking to Wimbledon analytics this year; this campaign proved how it helps businesses make smarter decisions. One hundred and forty eight C-suite executives collected trophies, 7,296 shared content online. Over 750,000 engaged with online content.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? The campaign told senior decision makers about IBM's analytics in a way that would relate to their business concerns. It made a complex story understandable and got them excited about a topic that can be quite dull. Since IBM was adding social sentiment tracking to the analytics mix at Wimbledon, it was a great opportunity to engage the C-suite audience. The strategy was to demonstrate that the insights revealed by combining social sentiment and match data could provide a different view on who's winning at Wimbledon. Businesses often make decisions based purely on business performance. This demonstrated the importance of combining insights from the market tracked through social sentiment. Live data drove a physical production line, live at Wimbledon. It was a highly visible and high-risk way to prove the argument. If IBM's analytics were wrong, thousands of people would have witnessed the wrong products appear. Happily, Laura Robson and Dustin Brown souvenirs came out rather than Serena Williams and Rafa Nadal. The resulting demand was proof that IBM analytics can potentially change businesses' fortunes.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? The insights uncovered by IBM's incredible data analytics at Wimbledon ran the risk of becoming part of the constant chatter. It was key to illustrate the importance of looking at what the public wants as well as your company's business interests. Combining performance data from matches with emotional data from tweets identified who was really winning at Wimbledon. Individually designed souvenir trophies were physically produced, live. As live data was constantly streaming in and demand was constantly changing, an agile, responsive method of production was needed: 3D printing added a visceral sense of wonderment and excitement.

Results A total of 148 senior decision makers collected trophies, 7,296 people shared the content reaching 6.5 million online. Over 750,000 consumed the content and engagement rates on the site were 3.5 times higher than last year. 21,000 users were driven through the site to review more content, resulting in 461 downloads of IBM business case studies.