KONE - MACHINE CONVERSATIONS
| Title | KONE - MACHINE CONVERSATIONS |
| Brand | KONE OYJ |
| Product/Service | KONE ELEVATORS |
| Category |
B12. Launch / Re-launch |
|
Entrant
|
HASAN & PARTNERS Helsinki, FINLAND
|
|
Idea Creation
|
HASAN & PARTNERS Helsinki, FINLAND
|
|
Idea Creation 2
|
KONE Espoo, FINLAND
|
|
Media Placement
|
SPOON Helsinki, FINLAND
|
|
PR
|
THE WHITEOAKS CONSULTANCY Farnham, UNITED KINGDOM
|
|
PR 2
|
THE HONEY PARTNERSHIP London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
|
Production
|
HASAN & PARTNERS Helsinki, FINLAND
|
|
Production 2
|
COCOA MEDIAPRODUCTIONS Helsinki, FINLAND
|
|
Production 3
|
TRE FILM Helsinki, FINLAND
|
|
Production 4
|
INTO DIGITAL Helsinki, FINLAND
|
Credits
| Tobias Wacker |
hasan & partners Oy |
Creative Director |
| Timo Huopalainen |
hasan & partners Oy |
Senior Creative, Art Director |
| Rasmus Stoltzenberg |
hasan & partners Oy |
Copywriter |
| Vesa Markonsaari |
hasan & partners Oy |
Production AD |
| Mia Sirkiä |
hasan & partners Oy |
Head of BtoB |
| Ketsia Anttila |
hasan & partners Oy |
Account Manager |
| Anna Nurkse |
hasan & partners Oy |
Digital Officer |
| Dean Clatworthy |
hasan & partners Oy |
Lead Developer |
| Turo van Liere |
hasan & partners Oy |
UI/UX Designer |
| Luca Rossi |
hasan & partners Oy |
Web Designer |
| Anja Boxberg |
KONE Oyj |
Director, Maintenance Marketing Global Communications & Marketing |
| Max Alfthan |
KONE Oyj |
Executive Vice President, Marketing and Communication |
| Anna-Kaisa Ehnqvist |
KONE Oyj |
Marketing Communications Manager Global Marketing & Communications |
| Henri Laurikka |
Cocoa Mediaproductions |
CG Supervisor and Artist |
| Niko Kuurne |
Cocoa Mediaproductions |
Producer |
| Aleksi Koskinen |
Tre Film Ab |
Photographer |
| Mark Terry-Lush |
The Honey Partnership LLP |
Partner, managing director |
| Antti Rasi |
Into Digital Oy |
Managing Director |
| Antti Lassila |
Into Digital Oy |
Head Developer |
| Jarno Kontkanen |
Into Digital Oy |
Frontend Developer |
| Janne Ahvenlampi |
Cocoa Mediaproductions |
Motion Graphics |
| Markku Mäkelä |
Cocoa Mediaproductions |
Sound Design |
| Jonas Bohman |
Cocoa Mediaproductions |
Digital Artist |
| John Broy |
Whiteoaks |
Associate Director |
| Lena Barner-Rasmussen |
Spoon |
Agency Director |
The Campaign
Talking about AI, IoT and Machine Learning would get us nowhere. We had to make a true impact for KONE. So we asked a simple question: has anyone ever HEARD machines talking to each other — in real-time? We knew the new KONE service would be able to read vast amounts of real-time sensory data from up to a million elevators — every second. We devised a way to tap into the real-time data feed between KONE elevators and the IBM Watson IoT cloud, and create an intelligent, human-language discussion from these. Human-language equivalents were created for each elevator and environmental variable and Watson IoT action. Thus creating a language, tone-of-voice, and personality for our elevators & AI — and making it possible for them to have conversations that people could eavesdrop on. In few days, Machine Conversations became a pop-culture phenomenon. Nobody had ever translated machine-to-machine conversations.
Execution
One day prior to launch an internal event was held at KONE locations across the globe. On launch day, we went live with our Machine Conversations site. We kicked our social media campaign off, conducted numerous interviews and PR activities with hand-picked media and made the PR kit and additional information on 24/7 Connected Services available on our global site and a few country-specific websites. One week after the launch, we appeared on stage at the IBM Genius of Things event in Munich, to fan the flames, and create an ever growing cycle of exposure, which duly followed. After a second PR drive in March, Machine Conversations phenomenon was even picked up by and used as part of IBM Watson’s own TV Commercials in the US. 1,5 months later, the story was given a second round of PR, targeting the creative technology field.
In days, Machine Conversations became a pop-culture phenomenon. It reached 755 million listeners and viewers — with e.g. over 1300 media articles ranging from USA Today to Forbes to Financial Times to Quartz to BoingBoing. Over 7 million € in earned media. The sentiment of coverage was highly positive and helped KONE to sharpen its position as an innovative company vs its competitors. Proactive demand creation for the service with clients wanting to know more about it – very unusual for the very low-interest elevator maintenance business. People waited for an average of 10 messages on the website – and gathered a good understanding of a complex service in very short time. Even our cloud services partner, IBM picked up the Machine Conversations phenomenon, amplifying campaigns reach even further.
The Situation
Using PR and relying on media and social media amplification — without any paid advertising — Finnish elevator maker KONE was able to launch its IBM Watson-powered, predictive, elevator maintenance services successfully, reaching over 755 million listeners and viewers worldwide.
The Strategy
Reaching the right target media would be crucial. We targeted the world’s leading newspapers and sites, from USA Today to Forbes to Quartz to Financial Times and even the World Economic Forum, by tailoring our info packs to each media (including making our videos available for them to upload themselves), by giving CEO level interviews to chosen media and more. The PR plan was optimized to help the story spread organically, including seeding to carefully selected news outlets, discussion boards, blogs, twitter and other social media. A second PR round, targeting the creative technology field followed in late March, sparking even more exposure.