Some think typical computing systems lack the ability to understand, reason or learn. Cognitive systems are different. In fact, they have “human” characteristics. Accordingly, they are able to understand, reason, and learn from previously unseen data. We introduced Watson, our cognitive system, to notable figures and their work—so it could learn and grow, i.e. get smarter. We fed it data, such as lyrics, novels, and tennis statistics - among other things – to find compelling, interesting, or even unexpected insights relating to many of our notable co-stars. Pairing man and machine in this innovative way allowed us to create ads unlike any other before.

Working with IBM scientists, we fed Watson ‘data’ from teachers – for example, Bob Dylan, Stephen King, and Serena Williams. We fed in Bob Dylan’s song lyrics (over 300 songs) and Watson came back with surprising new findings about the changing personas in Dylan’s work. We learned that his persona has grown more rebellious as he’s grown older – a surprise given his widely perceived rebellious youth. For Stephen King, we fed his autobiographical works into Watson and discovered that the author - best known for suspense and the macabre - is mostly driven by a need for emotional connection; this puts King’s work into new context: “The Shining” is about a family coping with alcoholism. And hidden in the data surrounding Serena Williams’s Grand Slam success is evidence of her grit: she was more likely than her competitors to try and ‘ace’ an opponent when under pressure.

In the months following the campaign launch…

The work earned almost 30 million YouTube views.

84% of decision makers who saw the ads said the ads wanted them to visit the IBM website.

77% of them wanted to contact IBM to find out more.

IBM jumped from sixth to #1 preferred IT company,

with preference at the highest level in six years.

IBM’s stock price rallied to beat the S&P by 390%.