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Designing and Launching an AI-Powered Marketing Assistant in 90 Days

Client: IBM Watson MarketingRole: AI Solutions ArchitectDuration: 90 Days

Objective

To design and deliver a live demonstration of an AI-powered marketing assistant, showcasing IBM Watson's capabilities to enhance marketing strategies through audience segmentation, campaign planning, and predictive analytics.

Challenge

  • Highlight Watson's AI capabilities in marketing.
  • Be designed, scripted, and prototyped in under three months.
  • Engage an audience of industry professionals and create a foundation for a future product.

Approach

Defining the Vision

Collaborated with IBM executives to conceptualize a marketer-focused AI assistant. Developed user journey storyboards and prioritized features like audience segmentation, social trend analysis, and campaign performance prediction.

Rapid Prototyping

Created medium-fidelity visual designs, developed an interactive script, and built a functional prototype to demonstrate real-time interaction with Watson.

Execution

Prepared the live demo, ensuring a seamless experience for the main stage presentation at Amplify 2016.

Results

Main Stage Success

  • Delivered a live demo that captivated the audience, generating significant buzz on social media.
  • Garnered accolades from industry experts, including positive feedback on Watson's ability to process big data through verbal commands.
Presentation on Main Stage from 2016

Product Impact

  • The demo laid the groundwork for the Watson Marketing Assistant, launched in 2017.
  • The product eventually evolved into the Acoustic Marketing Assistant after being acquired in 2019.
Screenshot of shipping app UI

Key Learnings

  • Agile Execution Under Tight Deadlines: Effective collaboration and rapid prototyping were crucial to delivering on time.
  • User-Centric Design: Early scenario testing and marketer interviews ensured the assistant addressed real-world needs.
  • Scalable AI Frameworks: Focused on designing features that could be expanded post-demo for a full product release.
"The Watson demo was truly impressive—showing how AI can revolutionize marketing workflows. A game-changer for the industry."
Conference Attendee, IBM Amplify 2016

Media Highlights

Social Media

"Impressive Watson demo with IBM Marketing Cloud. Natural language + creating a lookalike audience from existing data. #IBMAmplify #WOW"
— Evan Carroll
"Amazed at #IBM Watson capabilities in sorting thru #bigdata via verbal commands."
— Jeff Sheehan

Launch Video

Conclusion

This project exemplifies the power of combining strategic foresight, AI technology, and user-centric design under tight deadlines. It positioned IBM Watson Marketing as an innovative leader, paving the way for a groundbreaking product in marketing automation.

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