WPP and IBM announced the launch of a new B2B solution that will be integrated into WPP Open and powered by IBM’s AI and data platform watsonx. The latter is specially designed for B2B marketers.  

Among other tasks WPP Open for B2B will help marketers accurately identify and engage buying groups—a process that the firms say has been less than optimal in the past.  

As part of the effort, WPP and IBM said they will collaborate with LinkedIn to help brands better understand buying groups so they can market more effectively and reach target buyers. 

Stephan Pretorius, Chief Technology Officer 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 has a so-called AI-powered “Buying Group Brain” – a WPP AI model that can more accurately identify target buying groups in a B2B client account. It’s built with IBM watsonx.ai and trained on data from clients and third parties through IBM's watsonx platform. 

Using the “Brain” marketers can generate recommendations for channel mix and content and can help clients track marketing effectiveness with a buying group and adjust messaging or influencer targeting on demand. 

There’s also an AI assistant that serves as a “command center” for senior marketing executives to plan and model scenarios, predict results, make more data-driven decisions and more.  

The new alliance was announced last week at Cannes.