To demonstrate both the power and capabilities of the IBM Cloud we showcased Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a charity using the IBM Cloud to gather, process, and analyze vast troves of quantitative and qualitative data collected from the dogs, raisers, and trainers participating in its mission to provide expert guide dogs to visually impaired people in need.

Rather than delve into the complexities of the charity’s genetics, breeding, and training programs, we followed a single dog from birth through two years of training to its ultimate “graduation” and placement in service to a blind woman. With relevant data points flashing across the “dogs-eye” footage, we traced the development of Jackson the dog and highlighted the breadth of data Guiding Eyes relies upon IBM to analyze as it seeks to refine its program in order to broaden its mission and serve greater numbers of blind people.

Before its final home on the Medium.com landing page, Jackson premiered at IBM’s InterConnect, the world’s premier conference for mobile and cloud technologies. With over 25,000 attendees and another 15,000 joining remotely, Jackson was part of an integrated effort from IBM to showcase this unique client story. Various representatives from Guiding Eyes were present at the premier, including the Director of Genetics and Breeding and several guide dogs that had graduated from the Guiding Eyes program.

Briefed on the project only 6 weeks before the conference, we moved quickly to execute the video and create teaser content in the form of 15 second cut down videos and gifs to live on social media. The video was posted on IBM’s YouTube and Medium.com shortly after the conference, quickly gaining over 28K views, wildly outpacing the views of any other IBM Cloud content.

With few concrete KPIs beyond reorienting the way prospective enterprise customers within the Fortune 2000 viewed IBM Cloud, we focused on driving engagement and building enthusiasm for a new approach to storytelling within IBM’s marketing group. Beginning with our custom Medium.com page, the film enjoyed a wave of earned media coverage garnering over 28k views (more than 200x the average for IBM Cloud content).

More significantly, it has become the centerpiece of IBM Cloud’s go-to-market strategy, with Jackson being shown internally and externally to clients to inspire the human connections with technology.

While quantitative data on results are scant (IBM sales and implementation processes take many months to complete) the effect of the Guiding Eyes case study on IBM Cloud’s business has vastly exceeded the expectations of our direct clients by becoming a centerpiece of the company’s efforts to reposition the masterbrand as a cloud-centric company delivering human outcomes.