Based on an internal study done by IBM, it was found that the brand was losing out on ad recall, engagement via social channels & overall consideration. The outcomes of the study, drove the objectives of the campaign which was three-fold:
1. Increase Conversations with Line of Business Leaders:
Get through to the Business leaders and drive communication thus driving the following leads:
2. Strengthen Brand Position:
Increasing IBMs brand salience as an analytics powerhouse that provides end to end analytics solutions
3. Drive Category Awareness:
Demonstrate the capability of IBMs analytics solution to synthesize unstructured data from numerous sources and extracting relevant insights
IBM realized that the World Cup caught the attention of the audience that IBM was interested in speaking with, but had difficulty reaching out to. Agency research revealed that the line of business managers and C-suite audience were not left unaffected by the Cricket World Cup. They are known to follow the game online, on smartphones, during social chatter and conventions. And this was the audience, which remained a little aloof to traditional communications from IBM- the general notion was that IBM is an IT vendor.
IBM decided to showcase its expertise in analytics in a manner that made people take notice. Their effort was also targeted in repositioning IBM from being a stodgy firm to a vibrant and creative one. The route was to capitalize one of the biggest festivals of the year- the Cricket World Cup, marry it with advanced analytics prowess manifested on the social space. The recipe that ensured this was "ScorewithData".
The Implementation:
Twitter was an obvious choice given its ability to capture conversations and moments in real time. Real time broadcast and demonstration of insights about the game was the result.
For 45 days IBM turned the twitter handle @scorewithdata into a cricket pundit with a twitterfeed carrying social and on-field data on impact index, effective player, team bowler etc. before, during and after the match. Scorewithdata even enjoyed regular air time too, with it being referenced regularly on television during the match.
Three types of content was created:
- A tie-up with Wisden allowed IBM to produce 'Moneyball' moments for cricket in India for the first time. A fledgling property called impact index was created and it enabled calculations to measure effectiveness in all aspects of the games – most effective player, team, bowler, batsman etc. are just a few of those.
- Analysing social media sentiments gave an interesting perspective to the analyses such as the most talked about moments and key social media personalities who were talking about the matches
- Tracking conversations that people spoke the most about around the event with the same hashtag resulted in identifying trending topics showcased in the form of Twitterati cards.
Why Twitter?
It was essential to use a medium that can push updates to people instead of expecting people to access a page all the time or login and check updates several times a day. From that point of view, Twitter or Facebook was identified as the most appropriate medium. Twitter was chosen over Facebook (despite bigger user base in India) because tweets are publicly viewable and appear on search results too, unlike Facebook's walled-garden approach.
The campaign ecosystem consisted of multiple channels & tactics to engage with the audience
| Tactic | For 45 days | |
| Goals Set | Goals Achieved | |
| C-Level Prospects (CEO, CIO, CRO, etc.) | · 50 | · 87 |
| C-Level -1 Prospects (Sr. Managers, Managers, etc.) | · 400 | · 655 |
| Overall Reach | · 200,000,000 | · 556,235,000 |
| ScorewithData Mentions | · 2,000 | · 3,488 |
| ScorewithData Clicks | · 5,000 | · 6,000 |
| ScorewithData Profile Visits | · 1,000,000 | · 2,174,000 |
| Prospective Leads Generated | 2,333 | |
A revenue of around 1.23 million dollars has been projected
