IBM Uses the US Open to Pitch Watsonx to Consumers and Bring AI to the Masses

For roughly three decades, IBM has spent its late summer with clients in Flushing Meadows, taking in U.S. Open tennis and showing off new technology. 

Even as it pitches artificial intelligence to business leaders in 2023, human-to-human interaction remains essential to its b-to-b success.

At this year’s Open, IBM has teamed with global creative agency partner Ogilvy to debut a campaign to formally introduce watsonx—the company’s business-focused AI and data platform launched earlier this year. The campaign’s two ads—”The Right AI” and “Transforming Business”—voiced by actor Oscar Isaac and directed by Bonaparte’s Mario Clement—explain why having relevant data matters in generative AI and how technology can increase output and grow a business.

The spots first appeared in late August as part of a campaign that included ads on broadcast channels, connected TV, digital video, podcasts, print, newsletters, social media and out-of-home elements, including digitally activated billboards at the U.S. Open itself. What the ads can’t do is provide more in-depth explanations, answer questions or make potential buyers more receptive to a pitch. 

Noah Syken, IBM’s vp of sports and entertainment partnerships, has found that once clients are outside their home or office (or post-pandemic home office), they’re more relaxed and more open to learning about the complex bit of technology IBM is pitching. There’s going to be a lot more talk about family and vacation planning, but during the course of a tennis match that can average nearly three hours, the conversation’s also a lot more likely to weave back to the AI application you were discussing initially.

That made the U.S. Open an invaluable portion of both IBM’s marketing and sales strategy, with the company using it to launch both campaigns and new products. It’s also part of the brand’s strategy for improving its human-to-human interaction even as its own tech.

“What if I said, ‘Hey…can I come to your office tomorrow and spend eight hours with you?” Syken asked Adweek. “When we say, ‘Hey, would you like to come to the U.S. Open and spend eight hours with us?’ They’re probably going to be a little bit more prone to do that.”

Tennis is life

When IBM chief communications officer and svp of marketing Jonathan Adashek introduces watsonx to clients at the U.S. Open, he’s basically introducing a coworker.

As referenced in its “Transforming Business” spot, “IBM is already using watsonx in its human resources department—automating routine paperwork steps that were once manual and freeing employees to help managers or provide career guidance for employees.” Adashek’s marketing team is looking into how AI can help guide media placements, choose which events IBM marketers attend and create content. It’s applying its data to partner Adobe’s Firefly AI platform to create content for The Masters. It’s also partnering with SAP and Salesforce to create other marketing opportunities through AI.

At the U.S. Open, however, IBM gets to translate all of the above into terms the clients—and even average tennis fans—can easily understand.

“The Open is a key opportunity for us … beyond the traditional sports marketing opportunity,” Adashek said. “It’s an opportunity for us to show more of what’s happening and bring the technology to life in a new way.”

Last year, around this time, IBM focused its technology on the U.S. Open app and predicting the outcome of matches through tools like its Power Index and Match Insights. It’s still doing that, but it’s using watsonx AI Draw Analysis to determine how match outcomes are affecting each player’s path to the final. IBM also brought back the watsonx-driven AI Commentary it used at Wimbledon and The Masters for some of the Open’s early matches that weren’t aired on ESPN.

IBM has been using generative AI at events since the pandemic first hit in 2020 and has used it to drive online debates at the Grammys and to power fantasy football platforms. But as more consumers and businesses learn about generative AI through interacting with ChatGPT and other items, IBM has more reason to include it in broader discussions about cloud technology, cybersecurity and its applications for the USTA fans that IBM clients call customers.

“From a client perspective, what we hope to do through these events is paint a picture of what’s possible—bring a new perspective to each of our clients about how they could be applying these capabilities to their business,” Syken said.

Bringing sports business to business

Sports have served as a stage for IBM’s technology since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, when the company system showing real-time results for races laid the foundation for ATM and travel reservation networks.

Now, the technology IBM brings to these events feeds not only its marketing but its future event participation. This year at Wimbledon, for example, more than two and a half million people watched IBM’s AI-generated commentary videos. More than 10 million visitors hit Wimbledon’s various platforms—apps, website, etc.—with Syken noting that more than 85% used at least one feature: Engaging with the draw, checking out the Power Index, looking at the AI commentary and player fact sheets.

“We’re always trying to bring something new to the Open every year,” Adashek said. “We co-create with the USTA—looking at the data and understanding what people are looking for—and AI is helping us understand the data and what the opportunity is out there.”

Given the pace of technological growth and innovation, Adashek noted that it’s been helpful for IBM to show clients that they’ve been using generative AI at events like the U.S. Open for a few years. IBM doesn’t have a consumer branch of its business, so the Open and other events provide clients one of their few chances to see how products like watsonx work in the field and ask how they might apply to other businesses. 

It may take a week or so for those clients to relay that information to the rest of their team, but seeing a product function without fail during an event packed with more than 800,000 people during intermittent rainstorms results in strong word of mouth—and trust. 

“From a b-to-b marketing standpoint, they’re just real-life case studies that our clients can relate to,” Syken said, adding the USTA, the Masters and more are all businesses that have to grow revenue, please customers and present new capabilities. “And they all have the same technology challenges as more traditional businesses.”