IBM CLIENT ADVOCACY

THE IDEA

The IBM Client Advocacy campaign set out to rebuild credibility in a space where trust had eroded. Clients felt unheard and doubted their feedback created any real change. The campaign’s driving idea was clear and urgent: make feedback matter again. To do this, we established a dedicated new business unit—Client Advocacy—giving the initiative its own identity and space within IBM. This move reframed advocacy as a living, responsive system grounded in empathy, accountability, and tangible results, showing clients that their voices could drive authentic, meaningful action.

ROLE

As Creative Director, I led the development of a 360° campaign that helped launch a new business unit within IBM—Client Advocacy. Collaborating closely with a copywriter, art director, videographer, and account team, I guided the creative vision from strategy to execution, shaping a bold, multi-channel experience that redefined how IBM listens, responds, and builds trust with its clients.

VISUAL LANGUAGE

At heart, the focus is on empathy, authenticity, and action. The story would be told through interconnected assets featuring a new and own-able tone, look and feel, under parent guidelines of IBM.

IBM Client Advocacy is an entirely unique business unit, building brand and driving sales without selling products. So, an alternate color palette was chosen. Each color tells its part of their whole story. Blue was chosen as the core campaign color, reflecting the IBM parent brand but in a tone that emphasizes the empathy behind the initiative. The pink, teal, and purple tones represent the specific focus areas of IBM Client Advocacy efforts driven by feedback, from pervasive internal improvements to solution innovations and strengthening relationships.

By creating assets where none existed or unifying disparate messages under one signal, we bridged the internal, enterprise-wide audience of IBMers with IBM clients around the world. Here’s how each asset, with its own value, purpose and strategic placement, tells the big story: Feedback matters. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social assets were strategically developed to amplify the advocacy message by driving users to through the overarching story, both internally on the IBM intranet and externally on global social channels.

LANDING PAGE

A new landing page on IBM.com provides a closer look at how the award-winning advocacy drives client success on a global scale, giving the initiative a place to call home as the story evolves.

The Success Stories, true tales of advocacy achievements told from both sides. Tough feedback inspires action that leads to ongoing growth across pervasive-, product- and hero-focused stories.

NON-TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Beyond digital, we wanted IBM Client Advocacy to feel real. Tangible assets like the handbook, which tells the advocacy story from cover to cover, enable sales teams to share something their clients can hold onto, while stickers and postcards let IBMers share their support internally.

RESULTS

The IBM Client Advocacy campaign sparked a powerful shift in perception and engagement. Social impressions rose 230%, internal awareness jumped 65%, and the new landing page saw a 3.4x boost in visits. Most importantly, client skepticism dropped by 40%, replaced with renewed trust and participation. With a bold visual identity and human-centered storytelling, we transformed feedback into fuel for real change.