Role of Influencer Engagement in Our Changing Profession

© 2013 IBM Corporation

The Role of Influencer Engagementin Our Changing Profession

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Agenda

1. The landscape is changing and transforming our work

2. So what are we doing about it?

3. An example of influencer engagement

© 2013 IBM Corporation

FROM:

� Media driven

� One to many

� Controlled by brand

The landscape is changing and transforming our work

© 2013 IBM Corporation

The landscape is changing and transforming our work

TO:

� Empowered individuals

� Many to many

� Self-branding: “Brand You”

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Source: Jay Rosen’s Press Think, March 10, 2014

Individuals are in control now

“Sorry, that was 25 years ago, when you do

some interviews with other journalists and

that’s called publicity.

Today, publicity is what is actually

happening to your story in real time as it

gets shared, discussed and lampooned.

You don’t get to decide to whom this article

will spread. The people formerly known as

the audience will do that.”

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Sources go directly to people they trust

Respondents who replied “extremely credible” or

“very credible” to the following question:

If you heard information about a company from

one of these people, how credible would that

information be?

Employees Non-Employees

Source: 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer

Who has influence? Employees are trusted more than official brand sources.

© 2013 IBM Corporation

So what are wedoing about it?

© 2013 IBM CorporationIBM Employee Perception Research

We know that employees and their expertise differentiate the IBM brand

No recent experience with IBMRecent experience with IBM

Reliable and trustworthy

100%80%60%40%20%0%

67%

Quality of products and services 58%

82%

78%

78%Deep expertise of IBM employees 44%

© 2013 IBM Corporation9

� Influencer Identification

� Subject Matter Expert (SME) Mobilization

� Influencer Information System

Engagem

ent

Inte

lligence

Str

ate

gy

So we are building a new systemof Influencer Engagement

© 2013 IBM Corporation10

� Influencer Identification– Knowing the right people with whom to engage– Understanding who to target to work smarter, not harder– Monitoring IBM impact on the “mavens” in the marketplace

� SME Mobilization– Utilizing IBM’s best “owned” assets for messaging– Leveraging IBM experts to increase awareness – Promoting earned media to drive business success

� Influencer Information System– Providing reliable and valid data around who matters in the digital marketplace– Understanding trends in authority among market segments, client groups, employees– Leveraging cross-over opportunities

Enabling IBM SMEs to know the right people with whom to engage

drives efficiency and impact for IBM in its overall social strategy around owned and earned media marketing and communications.

So we are building a new systemof Influencer Engagement

© 2013 IBM Corporation

IBM Select� High-touch, thought leaders aligned to priorities� Strategic, tactical external placement� 1:1 coaching & support� Ongoing listening & measurement to gauge progress

Forward Thinker� Intermediate touch, high value SMEs� Scalable service to surface expertise� Community-based coaching & enablement� Ongoing listening & measurement to gauge progress

Digital IBMer Hub� Low-touch, self service on demand for all IBMers� High volume� Self-directed participation & engagement� Self service metrics & gamification to gauge progress

Guidelines & Policies

100s

10s

of1000s

100s

of 1000s

The system is built on engaging the right employees

Building trust and credibility by recruiting and enabling theIBMers who possess deep expertise on a particular subject

© 2013 IBM Corporation

An example ofInfluencer

Engagement

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Creating signature moments that engage influencers

A cadence of monthly “signature moments”

Big announcements that demonstrate progress against the strategic imperatives, amplified by high-impact marketing and communications support

Deploy senior leaders and SMEs with key influencers

Senior leaders and IBM SMEs will engage select influencers to explain and build confidence in IBM’s strategic narrative and support signature moments

© 2013 IBM Corporation

� IBM Watson Group

� 2000 professionals

� $1B+ in funding committed

� $100M direct investment fund

� New Watson HQ – NY (Silicon Alley)- Incubator- Design Center- Solution Center

� New Watson Offerings- Watson Discovery Advisor- Watson Analytics

� Ecosystem Update- New partners- 750+ applications

What we were announcing

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A signature moment that nearly wasn’t

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The power of Influencer Engagement

From a potential derailment to a blip on the radar

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Signature moment: Watson launchEvent� 280+ attendees / 3,000+ global live stream viewers� “C” Level client-led content � 12 Watson demos

Coverage� 540M+ media impressions (87.2M on Twitter)� 36,500+ new LinkedIn Members � 600+ earned media placements

Digital Activation� New Watson Microsite� YouTube, Tumblr takeovers (60K+)� Instagram, Reddit, LinkedIn, FB leverage� Image gallery (120K+ views)

Outreach and Advertising� Digital billboard at Grand Central Station� NPR digital and radio spots� Sponsored tweets

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Additional signature moments to supportbusiness priorities: Cloud launch

Coverage�1,000+ publications around the world�52M+ social media impressions�3,500+ social shares of press release�1,400+ social shares of Smarter Planet Blog

Engagement�86,000+ influencers directly engaged through

Facebook, LinkedIn, email�1,000+ venture capitalists briefed in newsletter�100+ analysts briefed in webcast�8,000+ views on w3, 160 newsletters, 17

communities, 7 blogs

Outreach and Advertising�700,000+ paid media impressions, from NPR

underwriting announcements, paid search, custom banners, paid LinkedIn posts, etc.

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Big Data analytics reveals the key influencers

• Arrow: Indicates that one influencer mentions another on Twitter.

• Node Size: Nodes increase in size with higher numbers of overall Twitter followers.

• Node Color: Indicates influencer’s profession.

Legend

Business ProfessionalLoB ProfessionalJournalist/MediaC-SuiteConsultantAnalystAcademic

Overall Twitter Connectivity Network, by Edge BetweennessApril 1 – June 30, 2013

Edge betweenness is a measure of an author’s ability to broker communication between individuals who are not already connected. Influencers closer to the center have higher measures of edge betweenness.

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Those influencers are not always traditional media

Data Scientist, Manager, Predictive Analytics Leader

Chief Innovation Office & Founder,

Big Data Scientist

Data Scientist in Residence

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Q&A