WPP and IBM have announced a groundbreaking business-to-business (B2B) marketing solution powered by IBM’s AI and data platform watsonx. The solution, named WPP Open for B2B, aims to revolutionize how B2B marketers identify and engage clients and prospects throughout the buying journey.
WPP Open for B2B leverages the AI capabilities of watsonx to solve complex B2B marketing challenges and improve return on investment for clients. One of its standout features is the AI-powered Buying Group Brain. Developed with IBM watsonx.ai and trained on trustworthy data from clients and third parties via IBM watsonx.data, this model can accurately identify target buying groups within B2B client accounts. It also assists marketers in delivering personalized and consistent experiences across various channels throughout long-term influencer campaigns.
Stephan Pretorius, CTO at WPP, said: “Our clients want to get in front of the right people, at the right time, on the right channels, with the right message. However, most solutions in the market today are designed for consumer marketing, targeted at sole decision-makers at a single point of purchase. WPP Open for B2B, and our collaboration with IBM and LinkedIn, will help solve some incredibly complex challenges in the B2B marketing space, using the best of WPP and IBM technology and expertise.”
The solution also includes orchestration and optimization tools that use insights from the Buying Group Brain to enhance engagement and opportunity progression for buying groups. It provides recommendations on channel mix and content to ensure cohesive and relevant messaging. Additionally, it helps marketers track the effectiveness of marketing activities, enabling them to adjust messaging or influencer targeting as needed.
Jonathan Adashek, SVP of Marketing and Communications at IBM, added “B2B marketers have been focused on creating truly personalized, relevant and consistent experiences for buying groups at scale for years. Our collaboration with WPP and LinkedIn provides real-time, actionable insights that are based on trusted data. We are excited to create and use these new, powerful and trusted AI solutions to deliver a force multiplier for B2B marketing.”
Another innovative feature is the Chief Marketing Officer Command Center, an AI assistant that serves as a command hub for CMOs. This tool brings forward data and insights, connects underlying systems, and assists in planning and modeling scenarios, predicting results, making data-driven decisions, and executing recommended actions.
Penry Price, VP, Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn, said: “With success in B2B requiring customers to reach between 6 to 10 stakeholders, building relationships and ‘collective confidence’ among the entire buyer group is key. We are looking forward to working with WPP and IBM to determine how our unique knowledge of buyer groups can help inform WPP Open for B2B and help clients deliver more effective advertising campaigns.”
WPP Open for B2B is supported by the IBM watsonx.governance toolkit, which ensures transparent tracking and governance of AI model performance. IBM Consulting acts as the primary change management consulting partner, helping clients customize and integrate the platform into their marketing workflows. This includes building employees’ skills and adoption of the platform through the collaborative IBM Garage engagement model.
The solution also involves a strategic collaboration with LinkedIn, which will help brands better understand buying groups for more effective marketing and targeting. IBM has already begun deploying the platform within its marketing and communications organization. The integration of WPP’s creative and technology expertise with the watsonx platform is expected to support IBM’s objective to accelerate growth through AI-driven marketing.
Designed for enterprise scale and security, WPP Open for B2B is easily integrated into clients’ existing systems, combining the open capabilities of WPP Open, IBM watsonx, and Red Hat OpenShift. This new solution aims to address complex B2B marketing challenges, enhance ROI, and provide consistent messaging across the buying journey, transforming B2B marketing through AI and data-driven solutions.
Overall, WPP and IBM’s solution exemplifies the future of B2B marketing, where AI-driven insights and data integration lead to more effective, efficient, and targeted marketing strategies. This partnership is poised to set a new standard in the industry, helping businesses navigate the complexities of B2B marketing with greater ease and success.
