“Datagrams” are small bites of information that can be displayed together as a part of the broader story, or viewed individually as standalone statistics. They can be accessed on the web, mobile or even as printable cards or posters that are passed out at events. In the case of the IBM #MobileFirst Datagrams, they were are focused on starting a conversation with thought leaders and practitioners (developers, etc.) in the mobile industry. They increased the search and social “surface area” of IBM MobileFirst during the critical first days after launch the major product announcement, into Mobile World Congress 2013, and beyond.

1. Telling a Story
with DataThe IBM MobileFirst Datagrams

2. 1. The ChallengeIBM was launching
MobileFirst – a suite of
development, design and
analytics services focused
on the mobile space.
They wanted to start a
conversation with thought
leaders and practitioners
— the people shaping the
future of how consumers
use mobile — in support of
that launch.
Photo from Flickr. By: Intel Photos
Taken at Mobile World Congress 2013

3. Photo from Flickr. By: apperian-inc
Taken at Mobile World Congress 2013
2. Who’s the audience?No surprise – those
thought leaders and
practitioners are mobile
first themselves! They live
more on their smart
phone than their laptop.
We knew they were
going to be aware of the
product launch. And we
knew they would be at
(or closely watching
coverage of) Mobile
World Congress 2013.

4. 3. What do they need?Those innovators need to
know how their consumers are
using their mobile devices.
That knowledge would allow
them to better connect with
their own audiences – and
therefore better match the
products and services they
craft with the desires of the
marketplace.
Photo from Daily Mail. 2013
Taken at St, Peter’s Square during
introduction of the new Pope.

5. 4. Why IBM MobileFirst?So while MobileFirst covers
all angles – from design
and development, to
analytics, to security –
social conversations rarely
start around products.
We used stats to illustrate
the state of the mobile
universe that people —
professionals or consumers
— can relate to.

6. In other words...
we spoke directly to
mobile-first people
about mobile data
via mobile channels.

7. IBM MobileFirst Datagrams
“Datagrams” are small bites of
information that can be displayed
together as a part of the broader
“IBM mobile story,” or viewed
individually as standalone statistics.
They are accessible on mobile, the
web or even as printable cards or
posters passed out by IBM sales
reps at events.
Datagrams increased search and
social “surface area” during the
critical first days after launch of the
major new MobileFirst initiative,
and throughout Mobile World
Congress 2013.

8. Distribution
As both a “mobile first” and visual
channel, Instagram served as a
perfect launch point for the
Datagrams. The number and types
of channels that Instragram enables
also made it an ideal point of
distribution.
Over a three-week timeframe,
approximately 50 Datagrams were
placed on Instagram with the
#IBMMobile hashtag, along with a
caption that linked to more
information. They were cross-posted
to Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.
Mobile enables unique customer
insights for location and time-
specific targeting. Explore @
ibm.co/Xx0trH #ibmmobile

9. Aggregation
Instagram and Twitter are perfect
channels for in-the-moment
conversation, but not necessarily
ideal for long-term findability. So we
aggregated all the Datagrams on a
Tumblr blog, creating an ever-
growing and changing infographic.
And the Tumblr platform is a social
channel itself. So once people find
the Datagrams there, they can
comment on them or share them
with their own social network of
choice — including some that
Instagram isn’t designed to push to:
Google+ and Pinterest.
VISIT SITE g

10. Social Propagation
Earned promotion through likes,
tweets and retweets, +1s and embeds
were all part of the plan. Yes, the
Datagram’s size was ideal for
Instagram and Facebook; but it was
also primed for blogs and media
coverage. And the individual nature
meant influencers and industry
analysts could choose which stat
worked best for their article.
With every post and share, the search
footprint of the Datagrams — and
more importantly, of IBM MobileFirst —
increased. That extends the
usefulness of the Datagrams far
beyond the initial launch.

11. Summary
The datagrams Centerline created for the IBM MobileFirst launch achieved a significant social
footprint and increased search “surface area” by releasing points of data over time to
consistently engage people and spark a larger conversation about IBM Mobile.
Details
The IBM press team partnered with Centerline to create initiatives for the IBM MobileFirst Launch.
They wanted to deliver engaging information to people about current trends in the industry and
the mobile solutions available through IBM. So Centerline created the idea of Datagrams - small
bites of information that could be displayed together as a part of a broader “IBM mobile story,”
or viewed individually as standalone statistics across various social media channels.
Centerline crafted a complete launch plan that included everything from content creation to
delivery to measurement and governance. We designed the datagrams and the aggregation
point, wrote the social descriptive texts, and most importantly, developed the editorial calendar
that listed when each datagram would launch over a three-week period.
Instagram served as the initial touch point for the datagrams. Once uploaded, each could be
pushed to Twitter, Facebook and Flickr while being aggregated on a Tumblr page that we
designed to serve as the “living” infographic. Through the MobileFirst home on Tumblr, visitors
could embed statistics, “favorite” items, comment, re-blog, and share the datagrams with their
own cross-channel social networks — enabling IBM to see immediate results. By launching the
datagrams individually, we were able to extend social relevance and keep a continuous
conversation about mobile going throughout and well beyond the launch.
IBM MobileFirst Datagrams | More Details

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