IBM Invests $100 Million to Expand Its Marketing Consulting Business

The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) will invest $100 million to globally expand its data-driven capabilities and consulting strategy. The investment will combine IBM’s digital marketing agency with other related businesses, including data analytics and experience design.

“We have seen growing client demand globally in the marketplace around experience capabilities and the front office transformation,” says Shannon Miller, global strategy leader for IBM Interactive Experience. “We wanted to expand our reach to create labs around the world so we can meet this demand, and can collaborate and co-create with clients to develop innovative solutions.”

The worldwide effort aims to help clients create personalized models of engagement through data and design. To achieve this, IBM will hire 1,000 employees and open 10 new IBM Interactive Experience labs, a concept the company launched in January of this year, in a range of key commercial and financial hubs, including Bangalore, Beijing, Groningen, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, New York, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Each new lab will enable IBM’s clients to work closely with local experts in mobile, digital marketing, and experience design.

Data analytics also plays a pivotal role in IBM’s global expansion. While the company’s designers help clients develop mobile-driven experiences, IBM researchers and data scientists will create quality engagement for clients by harnessing the value of data.

“Mobile, social, analytics, and cloud technologies are disrupting the way companies traditionally work and interact with consumers. Likewise, existing business models are being challenged in this new digital, data-driven world. And the expectation for personalized engagement is increasing,” Miller tells ClickZ.

“The ability to create quality engagement and experiences is based on data – and specifically the insight that companies can harness from data,” Miller adds.

Along with the new facilities, IBM also released new data-driven capabilities from IBM Interactive Experience – the consulting arm that was created in January – including, intelligent customer profiles, influence analysis, and customer identity resolution. These are hoped to provide deeper insights into individuals and transform the way customers experience their products, services and brands. The addition of the new innovations will add to the existing data-driven portfolio including life event detection, behavioral pricing, and psycholinguistic analytics.

IBM currently owns four labs, in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Toronto.