Client
Large Federal Agency
Overview
A large federal agency had commissioned IBM to build a specialized analytics platform for its analysts but when the program was defunded following a change in administration, the technology risked being shelved entirely. With no active champion and no clear path to generating new interest, The IBM sales team needed a way to quickly get the platform in front of the right people across the agency. I was brought in to develop and execute a creative strategy – designing the narrative shaping the story around a real user needs and producing the videos that would carry the message to the right audience.
Tools Used
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Mural
CHALLENGE
The Project Alpha platform had been purpose built for a federal agency’s analysts but with the original program defunded, the technology had no active champion. The IBM sales team needed to reposition it to other parts of the agency – but there was no polished narrative, no sales collateral, and limited direct access to end users. The challenge was to create something compelling enough to generate real business interest, with incomplete information and a tight timeline.
PROCESS - STEP 1
Stakeholder Alignment
I opened with a structured kick off session bringing together IBM sellers, platform engineers, A business technology leader, and an internal data scientist. In that session I captured: the delivery timeline, the key messages the audience needed to walk away with, who the target audience was, and the specific pain points project Alpha addressed. We aligned early on two primary personas to highlight: a data scientist and an analyst
*Some details are redacted below for client confidentiality.
PROCESS - STEP 2
Technology Immersion
Because this was a business development context- not an active client engagement – I didn’t have direct access to end users. To close the gap, I requested a dedicated demo session with the engineers who built the platform. Rather than soley relying on their framing, I took screenshots of the demo and wrote a caption for each screen, building an initial talk track that mapped the technology’s capabilities directly to user relevance. From there, developing the talk track became an iterative and collaborative process- working closely with the engineers and business technology leaders to refine the narrative until it was both technically accurate and compelling to the audience. This became the foundation for the first video.
PROCESS - STEP 3
First Video: Data Scientist Persona
With the talk track developed, I produced the first cut of the video. During review, the team identified that the narrative was heavily weighted toward the Data Scientist persona. This led to a broader discussion about how best to serve both audiences, and the team ultimately decided to split the concept into two videos, each with its own focused narrative. I then translated that direction into two distinct creative executions, giving each story more room to resonate with its intended audience.
PROCESS - STEP 4
Second Video: Analyst Persona
For the analyst video, the engineers provided a more role specific demo. I used what I was shown to develop a demo story flow – a structured narrative of the tasks that a fictional analyst persona "Geoff" would perform. Before finalizing it, an IBM seller surfaced a valuable resource - a contractor and former analyst from the agency who agreed to a feedback session. I walked through my proposed story flow with this person, gathering direct feedback on whether the pain points and tasks resonated with their real world experience. With their input I refined the narrative and talk track into something authentically grounded in the role. The result landed immediately – the first cut was a hit.
OUTCOMES
The two videos were used by the IBM sales team to generate interest across the agency. The approach worked. Two new opportunities emerged for the Project 'Alpha' platform.
Opportunity 1: 1.7 million
Opportunity 2: 750K
Total pipeline generated 2.4 million
A program that had been written off became the foundation for nearly 2.5 million dollars in new business – driven entirely by a clear, user centered story told through video.
DELIVERABLES
Two videos. Two distinct personas.
Each video was designed to give the sales team a focused story they could use to introduce the Alpha platform and support conversations with prospective clients.
*Due to the confidential nature of the project, the final videos are not available to share publicly.
PORTFOLIO
IBM Quantum for Federal
IBM Quantum for Federal
IBM Quantum for Federal
Creative Strategy
Video Design
Motion Design
Scheduling Optimization
Scheduling Optimization
Scheduling Optimization
Workshop Design
Discovery
UX