Corporate Centennials have become commonplace. But when IBM turned 100 in 2011 it wanted more than the usual self-congratulations. Defining objectives against IBM employees, clients, communities and investors, we built a year-long program of executions and events to turn the occasion into business advantage.The key strategic problem was this: how does a technology company celebrate its Centennial without seeming out of date? We found the answer in IBM’s spirit of ceaseless innovation – applied to the fields of technology, business and society in general.This spirit was brought to life across every ‘earned’ and ‘owned’ media channel available, with very little ‘paid’ expenditure. (Our total media budget across 170 countries was only $6m.)

First, IBM issued a press release on its website, which was connected to a case study video on IBM’s Smarter Cities page. Following this, IBM launched banners ads to drive viewership to the landing site. To drive the bulk of visitors to the site and foster public recognition, we targeted and invited members of the press, influential bloggers and citizens to engage with the online content, who then spread the word in print news, online blogs, and other earned media channels. Local headlines brought local awareness to the collaboration and informed the public about one of the world’s most advanced emergency response systems now in place.

IBM’s dedicated online experience generated 6 times more traffic than the typical IBM marketing site, with over 286,000 unique visitors in 1 year. The client enjoyed front-page headlines in the city regarding the solution’s deployment, and received local and international commendation for its unique collaboration with the city. As a result of the engagement in Madrid, IBM is now working on several such projects with cities around the world.