Telling a Story

with DataThe IBM MobileFirst Datagrams

1. The ChallengeIBM was launching MobileFirst – a suite of development, design and analytics services focused on the mobile space.

They wanted to start a conversation with thought leaders and practitioners — the people shaping the future of how consumers use mobile — in support of that launch.

Photo from Flickr. By: Intel PhotosTaken at Mobile World Congress 2013

Photo from Flickr. By: apperian-incTaken at Mobile World Congress 2013

2. Who’s the audience?No surprise – those thought leaders and practitioners are mobile first themselves! They live more on their smart phone than their laptop.

We knew they were going to be aware of the product launch. And we knew they would be at (or closely watching coverage of) Mobile World Congress 2013.

3. What do they need?Those innovators need to know how their consumers are using their mobile devices.

That knowledge would allow them to better connect with their own audiences – and therefore better match the products and services they craft with the desires of the marketplace.

Photo from Daily Mail. 2013Taken at St, Peter’s Square during introduction of the new Pope.

4. Why IBM MobileFirst?So while MobileFirst covers all angles – from design and development, to analytics, to security – social conversations rarely start around products.

We used stats to illustrate the state of the mobile universe that people — professionals or consumers — can relate to.

In other words... we spoke directly to mobile-first people about mobile data via mobile channels.

IBM MobileFirst Datagrams

“Datagrams” are small bites of information that can be displayed together as a part of the broader “IBM mobile story,” or viewed individually as standalone statistics. They are accessible on mobile, the web or even as printable cards or posters passed out by IBM sales reps at events.

Datagrams increased search and social “surface area” during the critical first days after launch of the major new MobileFirst initiative, and throughout Mobile World Congress 2013.

Distribution

As both a “mobile first” and visual channel, Instagram served as a perfect launch point for the Datagrams. The number and types of channels that Instragram enables also made it an ideal point of distribution.

Over a three-week timeframe, approximately 50 Datagrams were placed on Instagram with the #IBMMobile hashtag, along with a caption that linked to more information. They were cross-posted to Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Mobile enables unique customer insights for location and time-specific targeting. Explore @ ibm.co/Xx0trH #ibmmobile

Aggregation

Instagram and Twitter are perfect channels for in-the-moment conversation, but not necessarily ideal for long-term findability. So we aggregated all the Datagrams on a Tumblr blog, creating an ever-growing and changing infographic.

And the Tumblr platform is a social channel itself. So once people find the Datagrams there, they can comment on them or share them with their own social network of choice — including some that Instagram isn’t designed to push to: Google+ and Pinterest.

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Social Propagation

Earned promotion through likes, tweets and retweets, +1s and embeds were all part of the plan. Yes, the Datagram’s size was ideal for Instagram and Facebook; but it was also primed for blogs and media coverage. And the individual nature meant influencers and industry analysts could choose which stat worked best for their article.

With every post and share, the search footprint of the Datagrams — and more importantly, of IBM MobileFirst — increased. That extends the usefulness of the Datagrams far beyond the initial launch.

Summary

The datagrams Centerline created for the IBM MobileFirst launch achieved a significant social footprint and increased search “surface area” by releasing points of data over time to consistently engage people and spark a larger conversation about IBM Mobile.

Details

The IBM press team partnered with Centerline to create initiatives for the IBM MobileFirst Launch. They wanted to deliver engaging information to people about current trends in the industry and the mobile solutions available through IBM. So Centerline created the idea of Datagrams - small bites of information that could be displayed together as a part of a broader “IBM mobile story,” or viewed individually as standalone statistics across various social media channels.

Centerline crafted a complete launch plan that included everything from content creation to delivery to measurement and governance. We designed the datagrams and the aggregation point, wrote the social descriptive texts, and most importantly, developed the editorial calendar that listed when each datagram would launch over a three-week period.

Instagram served as the initial touch point for the datagrams. Once uploaded, each could be pushed to Twitter, Facebook and Flickr while being aggregated on a Tumblr page that we designed to serve as the “living” infographic. Through the MobileFirst home on Tumblr, visitors could embed statistics, “favorite” items, comment, re-blog, and share the datagrams with their own cross-channel social networks — enabling IBM to see immediate results. By launching the datagrams individually, we were able to extend social relevance and keep a continuous conversation about mobile going throughout and well beyond the launch.

IBM MobileFirst Datagrams | More Details

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