We wanted to keep the iconic Smarter Planet icon as a framework, but express it in an entirely new way, one that felt like something crafted by a human hand. We also needed to create something that appealed to our traditional C-suite target all over the world while also capturing a young demographic at the same time.

Our work grew out of 2 insights:

1) Executives can see the technological disruption all around them. They know it’s altering the way the world does business. But they don’t know what to do about it. Our research revealed a ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ reaction. So we posed questions that executives were hesitant to ask themselves.?

2) Executives spend a lot of time in airports. Previously we’d used this truth just as a media opportunity: ensuring we reached them there. Now with the ubiquity of mobile connectivity, we could create deeper engagement, if we could drive them from poster to website.

The campaign created 265 million impressions for the year. The digital experience at the heart of our campaign received a total of 414K visits in the campaign period. While these were driven by a combination of campaign tactics, including search and banner advertising, we can attribute 21% (or 87K) to response driven by our Print / OOH campaign. Additionally, 8% of experience visitors progressed deeper within IBM.com and hence closer to the sale.