Press release:

Consumers Defer Back to School Shopping in Favor of Purchases for the Home, IBM Reports

Social Channel Sales Up Nearly 70 Percent for Students Seeking Early Back to School Deals; Mobile Commerce Rises Again

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Armonk, N.Y. - 18 Sep 2012: While U.S. consumers shopped this July and August, they were not buying clothes and notebooks for their children but rather items for the home. According to findings from IBM (NYSE: IBM), the biggest retail gains this back to school shopping season came from home goods purchases which increased 30 percent in July and more than 25 percent in August over their respective months in 2012.

While experts speculate that consumers were holding off on back to school purchases to eye the choices of their peers, social networks appeared to drive purchases with social sales increasing 69.7 percent. The social influence was especially apparent when it came to apparel, where shoppers referred to online stores through social networks generated a 2.2 percent of all sales in August, an increase of more than 113 percent over 2011. 

Mobile commerce also continued to grow with sales increasing 15.7 percent in July and 15.4 percent in August. For home goods mobile sales reached a high of 20.1 percent. 

The growing influence of both mobile and social media further validates the need for a Smarter Commerce approach that helps retailers attain, understand, and act – in real-time – on deep insights about their customers in order to meet the unique needs of each. 

“Back-to-school season is proving to be a trigger event that spans across categories beyond just notebooks and backpacks. Retailers that are cashing in are those who understand how this trigger drives sales for home furnishings, as well as for apparel, and can target their inventory levels and promotions accordingly,” said Jill Puleri, Global Retail Leader, IBM. “This year's winners were the companies that successfully connected consumers with the right products, at the right price, and through the right medium–whether in a store, a mobile device or through popular social media channels." 

"When I speak to executives at the leading companies, one of the discussions that continues to come up most frequently is around harnessing big data and their efforts to try and understand how to take all the noise and word of mouth that is being generated and make sense of it," added W. "RP" Raghupathi, Professor of Information Systems, School of Business, at Fordham University. "Today, with so many consumers shopping and sharing their opinions online, we are seeing more and more retailers tap into the power of sophisticated analytics technology to help them react faster to evolving trends and customer needs." 

Part of IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative, the IBM Benchmark is the only analytics-based, peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results from the web sites of more than 500 leading U.S. retailers. 

The IBM benchmark reveals the following back to school trends that are critical to chief marketing officers (CMO), e-commerce leaders and customer service professionals: 

·   July and August Online Sales: Overall sales for July increased more than 11 percent over July 2011 while August slowed with sales up 3.9 percent compared to last year.

·   Social commerce: In July, shopper referrals to retailer sites from social networks generated 1.6 percent of all sales, an increase of 25.1 percent over last year. This trend continued in August reaching 1.8 percent, an increase of 69.7 percent over the previous year.

·   Mobile commerce: Mobile commerce remains strong with sales from mobile devices reaching 15.7 percent in July and 15.4 percent over the month of August. 

As for vertical industries the following categories experienced success over this timeframe: 

·   Home goods: In July online sales grew by just over 30 percent and 25.5 percent in August with consumers shifting some back to school purchases toward the home. Over this period mobile sales also thrived, reaching 19.1 percent in July and topping out at 20.1 percent in August.

·   Department stores: Online sales grew 22.1 percent in July and 28.7 percent in August. Over this period mobile sales were strong, hitting 19.2 percent in July and 18.9 percent in August.

·   Apparel stores: Online sales were up 9.2 percent in July and 9.8 percent in August. Over this period mobile sales reached 15.1 percent and 16.4 percent in August. Apparel stores also experienced strong social commerce with shoppers referred to their sites from social networks generating 1.4 percent of all sales in July and 2.2 percent in August, up more than 113 percent over 2011, more than any other industry.

·   Office Supplies/Electronics: Online sales grew by 6.3 percent in July while dropping by .92 percent in August. Mobile sales reached 5.7 percent in July remained steady in August a 5.9 percent. 

Part of IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative, the IBM Benchmark provides intelligence on how consumers are responding to the products and services being offered to them. With these insights CMOs and teams gain deeper insight into each customer which they can use to present personalized recommendations, promotions and other sales incentives across the wide variety of channels—including social networks and mobile devices. 

More information on Smarter Commerce can be found atwww.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_commerce/overview/. 

Press release:

IBM Helps Cities Worldwide Measure Public Social Sentiment on Critical Issues

IBM Social Sentiment Index: Analysis of Traffic in India’s Three Largest Cities Reveals What Citizens Feel is Impacting Congestion in Their City Most

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Armonk, N.Y. and New Delhi - 13 Sep 2012: Today at the IBM Smarter Cities Forum in New Delhi, India, IBM (NYSE: IBM) unveiled a new social sentiment capability based on sophisticated analytics technologies to help cities around the world better measure and understand public opinions on key city issues and services such as public transportation or education.

The company also unveiled findings from the latest IBM Social Sentiment Index on traffic, which looked at public sentiment across India’s largest cities -- Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai. Analysis of publically available social media showed that the worst congestion is primarily caused by accidents and bad weather (three out of four times) when looking at the three cities together. It also indicated some interesting variations between the cities analyzed. For example, social conversation in Mumbai about stress around traffic is about half as high as Bangalore and New Delhi; references to the impact of rush hour on congestion in New Delhi are between five and seven times more negative than in Bangalore and Mumbai. 

With a wealth of online content and public commentary on social channels such as Twitter and Facebook, city officials need new ways to measure positive, neutral and negative opinions shared by citizens regarding important city issues. IBM’s advanced analytics and natural language processing technologies used to analyze large volumes of public social media data in order to assess and understand citizen opinions are now available to city governments around the world via new capabilities delivered with the IBM Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities. The IOC – which combines IBM software and services to integrate city operations through a single dashboard view to help cities improve efficiency – is now augmented with social media analytics capabilities that will help city officials make more informed decisions by looking at unfiltered citizen attitudes and actions, distinguishing between sincerity and sarcasm and even predicting trends as they surface online. 

Combining the knowledge that population will rapidly increase in Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai in the coming years, with sentiment on commuters’ preferred mode of transportation, could help these cities more accurately plan for needed investments in transportation infrastructure and its potential impact. City officials could also gauge where public awareness campaigns need to be administered to shift commuters to different modes of transport in order to alleviate growing traffic congestion. 

The IBM Social Sentiment Index on transportation in India’s three largest cities surfaced several insights including: 

·     The top three factors impacting traffic congestion that citizens in each city talked about most online were diverse. Delhites chattered about public transportation, weather and the stress of commuting, while Bangaloreans show more concern for their overall driving experience, construction and parking issues, and Mumbaikars are talking about private transportation, accidents and pollution more often.  

·     Conversation in Bangalore around parking is viewed three times more negatively than in the other cities. 

·     Despite recent infrastructure improvements, less pollution and a solid public transit system, Delhites are experiencing a far higher amount of stress (50 percent) than those in Mumbai (29 percent) or Bangalore (34 percent). Most likely, this can be explained by an uptick in rallies and weather events this year, as well as the recent power outage. 

·     Surprisingly, sentiment on the topic of construction was relatively positive in Bangalore and New Delhi, and positive and negative sentiment on infrastructure in each was relatively even. Together, these may suggest that the transportation infrastructure improvements being made over the last two years in each city are beginning to positively impact citizens. 

·     Analysis shows that the relative negative sentiment for rush hour (35 percent) is one of the key drivers impacting traffic in New Delhi, which may explain why citizens talk about stress significantly more than commuters in Mumbai or Bangalore. 

By applying analytics capabilities to the area of social media sentiment, organizations are able to better understand public opinions, and city officials can gain additional insights in order to draw logical conclusions about where they should focus their attentions and resources. For example: 

·     Take Bangalore, the technology hub of India. Understanding that most commuters prefer private transportation despite negative sentiment around parking and construction may indicate that city officials should consider if it makes sense to advocate for more commuters to use mass transit and invest in infrastructure that will keep up with demand as more companies locate there. 

·     Since Dehlite’s indicate that public transportation is the preferred mode of transportation, city officials could use this insight to study which areas have high ridership and less road traffic and then implement similar actions in highly congested areas.  

·    In Mumbai, negative sentiment around traffic and weather at the peak of monsoon season (August) generated 5.5 times more chatter than in November. If the city could measure the fluctuation of public sentiment on these potential causes over time combined with specific weather data like rainfall or temperature, it might be able to better prepare to divert traffic during monsoon season or determine areas where a public safety campaign is needed. 

“Like all rapidly growing cities across the world, there are infrastructure growing pains in many Indian cities,” said Guru Banavar, vice president and chief technology officer, Smarter Cities, IBM. “However, when city officials can factor public sentiment – positive, negative or otherwise -- around city services like transportation, they can more quickly pinpoint and prioritize areas that are top of mind for their citizens. This could mean more targeted investment, improving a particular city service, more effective communication about a service that is offered, and even surfacing best practices and successful efforts that could be applied to other zones of a city.” 

Methodology

Public social media content was analyzed by IBM Cognos Consumer Insights, which assessed 168,330 online discussions from September 2011 to September 2012 across social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Forums and News Sources and derived 54,234 High Value Snippets through a series of advanced filtration techniques for insight analysis. The IBM Social Sentiment Index helps companies tap into consumer desires and make more informed decisions by looking at unfiltered consumer attitudes and actions, distinguishing between sincerity and sarcasm, and even predicting trends. 

About the IBM Social Sentiment Index

The IBM Social Sentiment Index uses advanced analytics and natural language processing technologies to analyze large volumes of social media data in order to assess public opinions. The Index can identify and measure positive, negative and neutral sentiments shared in public forums such as Twitter, blogs, message boards and other social media, and provide quick insights into consumer conversations about issues, products and services. Representing a new form of market research, social sentiment analyses offer organizations new insights that can help them better understand and respond to consumer trends. For more information about IBM Business Analytics, please visit: www.ibm.com/analytics. Follow the conversation at #IBMIndex on Twitter. 

For more information about IBM Smarter Cities, visit www.ibm.com/press/smartercities. Follow the conversation at #smartercities on Twitter. 

Registered journalists and bloggers can view and download video and images here.

Press release:

Primerica Turns to IBM for Social Business Transformation and Improved Customer Experience

IBM software to help representatives reach and engage 2.3 million policy owners

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ARMONK, NY - 12 Sep 2012: IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced that Primerica, the largest independent financial services marketing company in North America, is using IBM social business software to transform the way its over 90,000 independent sales representatives will engage with their 2.3 million policy owners and prospective new clients, on the fly, to provide increased value for its customers.

As part of the organization's social business transformation, Primerica has engaged with IBM to adopt social business practices and embrace software as a way to improve customer care and insight, drive a competitive edge, and stay on the forefront of innovation in the financial services industry. 

Financial services firms are constantly evolving amidst increased levels of regulatory scrutiny and competitive pressures. In spite of those issues, firms are beginning to use enterprise social networking technology to improve the customer experience and provide the workforce with access to new information, expertise and insight. These institutions are challenged with managing risk and complying with global regulatory policies while transforming into a social business to better service clients and gain a competitive advantage.  

Facing intensifying competition and a continuous demand for new services, Primerica needed to help its independent sales representatives quickly access, analyze and share information with clients in order to be more responsive and customer-centric. Using a social business solution built on IBM software, Primerica's over 90,000 independent sales representatives, as well as its employees, can gain access to Primerica Online which provides a wealth of information to registered users. 

Today, the site provides insight into sales figures, commission data, production reports, compliance requirements, earnings statements, multimedia presentations, and motivational messages. With the integration of new IBM social business solutions, members will now be able to engage in online community building, expertise location and active information sharing. 

For example, today a representative can drill down and interact with sales data to reveal valuable insights, and also better understand which products and resources move the business forward. With the new software, new sales representatives will have access to a guided training plan about how to earn  certification and collaborate with peers to achieve their certification status, and increase their sales productivity for winning and retaining customers. 

“Working with IBM, we will be in a position to capitalize on our growing representative and client base, helping to ensure our representatives can deliver value to our clients no matter where they're located,” said David Wade, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Primerica. “Becoming a Social Business will enable us to respond to client needs immediately, find help and leverage expertise to solve problems, share knowledge, and ensure our clients have positive, personal interactions with our people and our company culture. 

Primerica Online will use IBM social business software which includes the IBM Customer Experience Suite, IBM Connections enterprise social networking software and Cognos Business Intelligence analytics software.The company is implementing IBM Rational Jazz to help employees more easily track projects to completion. By enabling email eDiscovery, Primerica will be able to collect and retain email beyond its existing capability, to enhance the support of compliance initiatives. Primerica is already using IBM Content Manager  software to better manage the documents created by and distributed to the Primerica workforce and its clients. 

The social business software is also integrated with the Actiance Vantage compliance solution, ensuring that Primerica continues to remain compliant with local laws for producing materials and data as needed. As a result, Primerica's solution will automatically address regulatory considerations while reducing compliance-related and legal e-discovery costs. Actiance Vantage also helps prevent sensitive information from leaving the corporate network in order to protect confidential data and help employees comply with governance requirements. 

An organization that has turned to IBM for its expertise in technology for over three decades, Primerica was spun off from Citigroup in 2010 through an initial public offering. 

About IBM
To learn more about IBM's Social Business initiative, participate in a simulcast on September 13, 2012 at 1 PM ET at bit.ly/Pn9sqd or sign up to attend IBM's Connect conference in January 2013. For additional information, please visit www.ibm.com/socialbusiness or follow #IBMSocialBiz on Twitter. 

About Primerica

Primerica, Inc., headquartered in Duluth, GA, is a leading distributor of financial products to middle-income families in North America.  Primerica representatives educate their Main Street clients about how to better prepare for a more secure financial future by assessing their needs and providing appropriate solutions through term life insurance, which we underwrite, and mutual funds, annuities and other financial products, which we distribute primarily on behalf of third parties. In addition, Primerica provides an entrepreneurial full or part-time business opportunity for individuals seeking to earn income by distributing the company’s financial products. We insure more than 4.3 million lives and approximately 2 million clients maintain investment accounts with us. Primerica is a member of the Russell 2000 stock index and is traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PRI.” 

About Actiance

Actiance helps organizations manage, secure and ensure compliance across unified communications, collaboration and Web 2.0 applications such as blogs, wikis and social networks. Actiance’s award-winning platforms are used by 9 of the top 10 US banks and 284 FINRA regulated firms globally. For more information, visit http://www.actiance.com.

Press release:

IBM Redefines Social Business with the Power of Analytics

Fortune 100 Clients Tout Returns on Social Investments

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ARMONK, N.Y. - 12 Sep 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled new software and services that bring the power of big data analytics into the hands of today's social savvy workforce anytime, anywhere. Now, organizations can apply analytics to their social business initiatives, allowing them to gain actionable insight on information generated on networks and put it to work in real-time.

As part of today's news, IBM is announcing the availability of its industry-leading social software platform, IBM Connections. IBM Connections incorporates sophisticated analytics capabilities, real-time data monitoring, and faster collaborative networks both inside and outside the organization, whether on premises, in the IBM SmartCloud or using a broad range of mobile devices. View the demo today.

In support of today's news, IBM also announced leading companies around the globe, including Bayer MaterialScience, Colgate-Palmolive Company, LeasePlan, Primerica andTeach for America, are using its social software to achieve real returns on their social business investments.

Today's news builds on IBM's leadership in social software and analytics. For three consecutive years, IDC ranked IBM number one in enterprise social software. Today, more than 60 percent of the Fortune 100 have licensed IBM social software to activate their workforce to improve productivity, and gain insight on data to anticipate individual customers needs. IBM's leadership role in analytics has been established through a thoughtful strategy that required the expansion of R&D, acquisition and business initiatives across its hardware software and services portfolio.

The rise of social media is prompting business leaders, from the CMO to the chief HR officer to the CIO, to evaluate how to create opportunities that drive business transformation through the use of social technology, creating real business value. According to Forrester Research, the market opportunity for social enterprise apps is expected to grow at a rate of 61 percent through 2016*.

At the same time, business leaders lack the tools to gain insight into the enormous stream of information and use it in a meaningful way.  According to IBM's CEO Study,  today only 16 percent of CEOs are using social business platforms to connect with customers, but that number is poised to spike to 57 percent within the next three to five years. A recent IBM study of more than 1,700 chief marketing officers reveals 82 percent plan to increase their use of social media over the next three to five years.

"To truly realize the full potential of a social business, leaders need to empower a company's most vital asset - the information being generated from its people," said Alistair Rennie, general manager, social business, IBM. "Now is the time for business leaders to embed social into their key business processes to shift their business from the era of 'liking' to 'leading'."

Global Ecosystem Touting Returns on Social Investments

Today, more than 60 percent of the Fortune 100 have licensed IBM social software. There is strong demand for IBM's social business platform in regulated industries, with 41 percent of Connections 4 beta participants in banking, finance and healthcare institutions. 

For example, Primerica, a leading distributor of financial products in North America, will utilize Connections and WebSphere Portal, to transform how its agents engage with its 2.3 million policy holders on the fly, to provide increased value for its customers. The company plans to use social business software to improve the overall client experience, drive competitive edge and stay on the forefront of innovation in the financial services industry.

LeasePlan, one of the leading vehicle leasing and fleet management companies in the world, is using IBM's social software platform across the organization's 40 subsidiaries, in 30 countries and over 6,000 employees. With nearly 800 communities formed, 400 blogs, and over 800 forums, the platform has become an integral component to business operations for the organization, increasing efficiency, enhancing knowledge retention, increasing innovation, and helping to improve customer care and insight. By socially enabling its business processes with IBM's social platform, the organization is seeing significant improvements in workforce effectiveness.

"By collaborating with IBM we've been able to transform our business processes. Our internal social network allows employees to find experts faster, leading to better customer service, superior workforce effectiveness, and enhanced product and service innovation," said Wim de Gier, Senior Global Project Manager Corporate Strategy and Development, LeasePlan. "It's allowing us to transform our organization into a social business."

To support the burgeoning demand for social business solutions in growth markets, in the fourth quarter of 2012 IBM will open two social business customer support centers to serve IBM's Asia-Pacific and Latin American clients. Located in Manilla, the Philippines, and Sao Paolo, Brazil, these centers will support the rapid adoption of social business tools in these growth markets. The Philippines and Brazil centers join a roster of IBM social business centers in North America, Dublin, Japan, China and India.

IBM's growing business partner network of more than 39,000 business partners are bringing new, cutting-edge capabilities to IBM's social platform every day in areas including gamification, video, compliance, project management and mobility. For example, Actianceprovides leading compliance capabilities to thousands of organizations globally, SugarCRMhelps sellers use social networking and analytics for effective selling, and Bunchball provides gamification capabilities to IBM Connections.

IBM Connections, a cornerstone of IBM's social platform

Available on premises, in the cloud, and on a broad range of mobile devices, IBM Connections integrates activity streams, calendaring, wikis, blogs, a new email capability, and more, and flags relevant data for action. It allows for instant collaboration with one simple click and the ability to build social, secure communities both inside and outside the organization to increase customer loyalty and speed business results. The new Connections mail capability provides simplified access to email within the context of the social networking environment.

Now, organizations can integrate and analyze massive amounts of data generated from people, devices and sensors and more easily align these insights to business processes to make faster, more accurate business decisions. By gaining deeper insights in customer and market trends and employees' sentiment, businesses can uncover critical patterns to not only react swiftly to market shifts, but predict the effect of future actions.

"I am thoroughly enjoying the ability to engage with a variety of employees through micro-blogging," said Patrick Thomas, CEO, Bayer MaterialScience. "I can get information out quickly, but even more importantly I can encourage two way communication and stimulate an open communication culture by breaking through barriers."

The new capabilities empower employees from every line of business, such as marketing, human resources and development to gain actionable insight into the information being generated in their social networks. 

For example, the Connections landing page features a single location that allows users to view and interact with content from any third party solution through a social interface, right alongside their company's content, including email and calendar. The embedded experience of the news feed, also known as an activity stream, allows employees from any department inside an organization to explore structured and unstructured data such as Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, weather data, videos, log files, SAP applications, electronically sign documents, and quickly act on the data as part of their everyday work experience.

To learn more about IBM's social business initiative, participate in a simulcast on September 13, 2012 at  1 PM ET at bit.ly/Pn9sqd or sign-up to attend IBM's Connect conference in January 2013.

For more information, please visit www.ibm.com/press/socialbusiness.

*Source: Social Enterprise Apps Redefine Collaboration," Forrester Research, Inc., November 30, 2011.

Logitech Shareholders Approve Resolutions, Including Dividend, at Annual General Meeting

Press Releases

Logitech Shareholders Approve Resolutions, Including Dividend, at Annual General Meeting

LAUSANNE, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Logitech International (SIX: LOGN) (Nasdaq: LOGI) announced that at its annual general meeting held here today, the Company’s shareholders approved a one-time dividend, to be distributed out of capital contribution reserves, in the amount of CHF 125,650,814. Logitech shareholders eligible for the estimated CHF 0.80 per share dividend must own shares at the close of trading on Sept. 12, 2012 on the SIX Swiss Exchange or the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The dividend will be distributed on Sept. 18, 2012. Shareholders will find information about the dividend on the Logitech corporate website at http://ir.logitech.com.

Also at the meeting, Logitech’s shareholders elected to the board of directors Didier Hirsch, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Agilent Technologies. Re-elected to the board were Erh-Hsun Chang, former Logitech senior operations executive, and Kee-Lock Chua, president and chief executive officer of the Vertex Group.

The shareholders approved all other resolutions put before them.

About Logitech

Logitech is a world leader in products that connect people to the digital experiences they care about. Spanning multiple computing, communication and entertainment platforms, Logitech’s combined hardware and software enable or enhance digital navigation, music and video entertainment, gaming, social networking, audio and video communication over the Internet, video security and home-entertainment control. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).

Logitech, the Logitech logo, and other Logitech marks are registered in Switzerland and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information about Logitech and its products, visit the company’s Web site at www.logitech.com.

(LOGIIR)

Reddit Thrives Under Hands-Off Policy of Advance Publications

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Monday, September 03, 2012

Reddit Thrives Under Hands-Off Policy of Advance Publications

By DAVID CARR

There are many ways to measure the traction of a social media platform: time spent, page views or unique users. But it might be useful to add one more metric: if the leader of the free world stops by to answer questions from your users, you’re probably doing O.K.

On Thursday, President Obama signed up for an “Ask Me Anything” (A.M.A. in geekspeak) session at Reddit, a vast social site that is a staple of digital life for the young and connected, but less well known among grown-ups.

The president answered a few benign questions — Michael Jordan is his favorite basketball player! — along with a few tough ones, including a request to explain his administration’s approach to Internet regulation. He even posted a picture to prove he was the one at the keyboard when he typed, “Hi, I’m Barack Obama, President of the United States. Ask me anything.”

While the Republicans were celebrating the potential and might of American business at their convention in Tampa, Mr. Obama was validating one example of business success on an entirely different platform. Reddit, which was founded by two fresh graduates of the University of Virginia in 2005, has just 20 employees, but serves up more than three billion page views a month.

With its basic graphics, endless links and discussions, Reddit can seem like peering into a bowl of spaghetti, but it has surpassed better-known aggregating sites like Digg to become a force on the Web. Occasionally, as in the instance of the Colorado shootings, it takes control of a news story early. Built on open-source software and guided by the ethos of its community, estimated by Quantcast to be 20 million users a month, it is a classic Web start-up in which opportunity seems mixed with barely controlled anarchy.

So who are the silky venture capitalists or young lions of Valley technology who own this vast unruly kingdom? That would be Advance Publications, the home of Condé Nast, the magazine company that bought Reddit back in 2006 for a reported $20 million. That kind of deal is usually a signal that a ritual sacrifice was about to begin in which a clueless old media company snaps up a hot Web property and proceeds to squeeze the life out of what it just bought.

But that is not what happened. Steve Newhouse, the chairman of Advance.net, decided very early on that his company would not be the blob that ate Reddit, and for the most part, left well enough alone.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Press release:

IBM and USTA Serve an Interactive Experience to US Open Tennis Fans

Mobile Apps Bring Fans to Center Court
Analytics Technology to Determine Fans' Social Media Champion

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FLUSHING, N.Y. - 29 Aug 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) today introduced new technologies that will immerse fans in the action at the 2012 US Open tennis tournament. During the two-week event, IBM will apply its predictive analytics, cloud computing and mobile technology expertise to connect tennis fans -- no matter where they are -- to what's happening on the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.

IBM has created a unique digital environment that provides US Open spectators, athletes and media uninterrupted access to data, facts, stats and content via their tablets, smartphones, PCs and other devices. This enhanced, interactive fan experience uses new technologies that thousands of businesses worldwide are embracing to up their game by uncovering insightsfrom Big Data. 

New for this year's tournament is an iPad app that serves accurate streams of match data, access to live video, highlights and in-depth statistical information. Enhanced social media features enable fans to communicate with other fans around the world. The app also delivers an insider's view of who's gaining the edge on the court and most likely to win -- well before the final score tells the story. It complements iPhone and Android apps that mobile fans can access to connect to US Open action in real-time from around the world.

Off the court, IBM's analysis of the US Open action will extend to the social media arena by determining the Twitterverse's favorite male and female players. IBM is applying advanced analytics software to millions of public tweets generated throughout the tournament to assess which players are the social fans' favorites. The IBM Social Sentiment Index will analyze buzz around the US Open, providing a better understanding of fan sentiment. The analysis will also illustrate how analytics technology can identify important, and otherwise non-obvious trends, to help businesses make better decisions about how to connect with customers.

On site at the Tennis Center, IBM has built the IBM Game Changer Interactive Wall, which extends many of the USOpen.org and mobile app features, providing greater insight into the US Open, both on- and off-court using the power of analytics. Fans can interact with the wall to access live scores, match analysis and data visualizations from the IBM Social Sentiment Index analysis, as well as information about local weather and its effect on player nutrition and hydration, and more.

“We continue to look for new ways to  innovate and strengthen our leadership position in the sports industry, and one of the ways we will do this is by delivering content and information about the US Open to fans in the way that they want to consume it, no matter where they are,” said Phil Green, Senior Director of Advanced Media, USTA. “Working with IBM is a winning partnership because it allows us to create a unique digital environment that delivers stats, video and information to our fans whenever they want it on all devices.”

Delivering insights into what's happening on the courts at the US Open requires an ability to capture and analyze each serve, volley and point. The same kind of analytics technologies that IBM is using to deliver insights to tennis fans, players, coaches, media and sports event organizers are being used to monitor babies in prenatal wards, help police departments prevent crime and enable financial services firms to improve customer service.    

“Big Data is impacting so many aspects of sporting events, that it's no longer a stretch to say that it is changing the way fans watch and enjoy sports,” said Rick Singer, vice president, Sports Sponsorship Marketing for IBM.  “Whether  on the court or in the board room, Big Data is being leveraged to achieve similar goals, such as keeping operations up and running seamlessly, having accurate data readily available for quick decision making, and improving productivity.”

Analytics and Cloud Computing Power USOpen.org

IBM, in its 22nd year of partnering with the USTA, is enhancing the digital capabilities ofUSOpen.org to give users a front-row access to the action on the court.

One of the most insightful features of USOpen.org is IBM's SlamTracker. Based on predictive analytics technology, it leverages historical and real-time match data to deliver a better understanding of what's going on during a match. SlamTracker's 'Momentum' feature maps player momentum throughout a match in real-time, visualizing key turning points such as aces and winning shots, allowing fans to interact with the data to learn more about why a player is winning. In addition, SlamTracker's 'Keys to the Match'  feature analyzes seven years of  historical Grand Slam data to determine the top three things a player must do in order to perform well in a specific match. 

During the two-week tournament, USOpen.org transforms into a massive, data hungry environment that demands unhindered access to accurate and reliable content to serve the demands of millions of tennis fans. Each year, IBM helps the USTA expand its infrastructure to meet these demands and then scale back to support regular operations following the tournament. This elasticity is made possible by the IBM SmartCloud, which enables the rapid creation and dynamic allocation of resources while offering transparent and real-time access by a multitude of devices, such as smartphones, tablets and televisions.  This cloud environment -- powered by IBM servers and storage in three geographically dispersed locations virtualized as one --  ensures continuous availability and scalability required to support such a high profile event. The benefits include reduced costs and reliable operations. 

For more information about how IBM is helping the US Open tap into Big Data to transform the fan experience, visit www.ibm.com/sports

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Tech Firms in Manhattan Trade Trendy Lofts for Midtown Bargains

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tech Firms in Manhattan Trade Trendy Lofts for Midtown Bargains

By C. J. HUGHES

A decade ago, in the dot-com boom, technology companies flocked to the neighborhoods along Broadway in Manhattan, with most ending up south of an unofficial cutoff of 23rd Street.

Today, though, that Rubicon is being regularly crossed by a new generation of digital businesses that seem willing to trade Lower Manhattan and its perceived hipness for the more button-down precincts of Midtown.

More than 100 Internet-based marketing firms, retailers and social networking companies are based in the area between the Flatiron Building and Central Park, out of about 1,400 similar businesses across the city, according to data compiled by NYC Digital, an initiative started last year by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to promote the city’s technology industry.

“The boundaries of Silicon Alley are definitely pressing outward,” said Jonathan Serko, a broker with Cushman and Wakefield who has worked to bring tech companies to Midtown. He added, “some of the companies are moving out of necessity.”

In pockets of downtown Manhattan, commercial rents have spiked in recent years as increasingly fashionable neighborhoods like Chelsea, Greenwich Village and the financial district have welcomed a surge of new businesses. Residential conversions have also gobbled up the types of industrial buildings that tech companies once favored.

At the same time, fledgling tech companies have become more cost-conscious than their predecessors, many of whom burned through their seed money in a short time, brokers say. Significant savings are possible in Midtown, where rents can be $40 a square foot compared with up to $70 a square foot in trendier areas, according to Cushman data.

GSI Commerce, which provides online services for retailers like Toys “R” Us, was subletting a 10,000-square-foot loft on Broadway in SoHo in 2011 when the company was acquired by eBay, prompting the need to expand.

“There are many spaces out there that are beautiful, don’t misunderstand me,” said Jan Dobris, a senior vice president of GSI Commerce. “They just weren’t good ways to expend dollars.”

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Press release:

IBM to Acquire Kenexa To Bolster Social Business Initiatives

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ARMONK, N.Y. - 27 Aug 2012:  IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Kenexa Corporation (NYSE: KNXA) today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Kenexa, a publicly held company headquartered in Wayne, Pa., in a cash transaction at a price of $46 per share, or at a net price of approximately $1.3 billion.

The acquisition bolsters IBM's leadership in helping clients embrace social business capabilities while gaining actionable insights from the enormous streams of information generated from social networks every day.

Kenexa, a leading provider of recruiting and talent management solutions, brings a unique combination of Cloud-based technology and consulting services that integrates both people and processes, providing solutions to engage a smarter, more effective workforce across their most critical business functions.

Kenexa complements IBM's strategy of bringing relevant data and expertise into the hands of business leaders within every functional department, from sales and marketing to product development and human resources. As a result of this synergy, clients will be able to attract and develop the right skills to build the right teams, for the right projects, the first time.

The adoption of social business technology is supporting the growth of big data and the need for analytics in the enterprise. A recent global IBM study revealed that 57 percent of CEOs identified social business as a top priority and more than 73 percent are making significant investments to draw insights into available data.

The survey also reveals that 70 percent cite human capital as the single biggest contributor to sustained economic value. The combined strengths of IBM and Kenexa are key differentiators at a time when organizations of all sizes are looking to increase workforce efficiencies and gain more insight from their business information.  

Social media has pervaded the lives of consumers, helping them connect with each other in new ways. However, a shift is occurring in the enterprise as business leaders look for ways to generate real value through the use of social technologies to evolve their front-line business operations. According to Forrester Research, the market opportunity for social enterprise apps is expected to grow at a rate of 61 percent through 2016.*

"Every company, across every business operation, is looking to tap into the power of social networking to transform the way they work, collaborate and out innovate their competitors," said Alistair Rennie, general manager, social business, IBM. "IBM is uniquely positioned to help clients generate real returns from their social business investments, while helping them gain intelligence into the data being generated in these networks to be more competitive in their markets."

"The customer is the big winner in all this because the combination of our two organizations will deliver more business outcomes than ever before," said Rudy Karsan, chief executive officer, Kenexa. "Together, Kenexa and IBM will be unmatched in the industry, offering solutions that extend from strategy to the technology platform to the delivery of services for clients."

Today, Kenexa supports more than 8,900 customers across a variety of industries, including financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail and consumer, including more than half of the Fortune 500.

With Kenexa's world-class front-office process solutions, IBM will be able to offer strategic consulting, a social technology platform, and expertise on a global scale to help clients enable a smarter workforce and gain a competitive advantage in any market. By creating a smarter workforce, employees can resolve problems before they arise to improve customer service, drive innovation to bring products and services to market faster, and increase sales by building new skills -- linking the right experts to the right clients.

The Kenexa acquisition will complement IBM's social business and HR business servicesleadership. More than 60 percent of Fortune 100 companies have licensed IBM's solutions for social business. Through its combination of social software, analytics, content management, and deep industry expertise, IBM is uniquely positioned to help organizations capture information, create insights and generate interactions that translate into real business value.

With operations in 21 countries worldwide, Kenexa has approximately 2,800 employees. Consistent with its strategy, IBM plans to continue to support Kenexa clients and enhance Kenexa technologies while allowing these organizations to take advantage of the broader IBM portfolio.

IBM expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2012, subject to Kenexa shareholder and regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

About IBM
For more information visit www.ibm.com.

*Source: Social Enterprise Apps Redefine Collaboration," Forrester Research, Inc., November 30, 2011.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this communication regarding the proposed transaction between IBM and Kenexa, the expected timetable for completing the transaction, benefits and synergies of the transaction, future opportunities for the combined company and products and any other statements regarding IBM and Kenexa's future expectations, beliefs, goals, or prospects constitute forward-looking statements made within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and (collectively, forward-looking statements). Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates" and similar expressions) should also be considered forward-looking statements. A number of important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including the parties' ability to consummate the transaction; the conditions to the completion of the transaction, including the receipt of shareholder approval, court approval or the regulatory approvals required for the transaction may not be obtained on the terms expected or on the anticipated schedule; the parties' ability to meet expectations regarding the timing, completion and accounting and tax treatments of the transaction; the possibility that the parties may be unable to achieve expected synergies and operating efficiencies in the arrangement within the expected time-frames or at all and to successfully integrate Kenexa's operations into those of IBM; such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected; operating costs, customer loss and business disruption (including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, customers, clients or suppliers) may be greater than expected following the transaction; the retention of certain key employees of Kenexa may be difficult; IBM and Kenexa are subject to intense competition and increased competition is expected in the future; fluctuations in foreign currencies could result in transaction losses and increased expenses; the volatility of the international marketplace; and the other factors described in IBM's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 and in its most recent quarterly report filed with the SEC, and Kenexa's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 and in its most recent quarterly report filed with the SEC. IBM and Kenexa assume no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as otherwise required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed acquisition of Kenexa by IBM. In connection with the proposed acquisition, Kenexa intends to file relevant materials with the SEC, including Kenexa's proxy statement in preliminary and definitive form. SHAREHOLDERS OF KENEXA ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING KENEXA'S DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the documents free of charge at the SEC's web site, http://www.sec.gov. Documents will also be available for free from Kenexa by contacting Kenexa Investor Relations at (866) 888-8121 or Kenexa IR InvestorRelations@kenexa.com. Such documents are not currently available.

Participants in Solicitation

IBM and its directors and executive officers, and Kenexa and its directors and executive officers, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the holders of Kenexa common shares in respect of the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of IBM is set forth in the proxy statement for IBM's 2012 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 12, 2012. Information about the directors and executive officers of Kenexa is set forth in the proxy statement for Kenexa's 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 3, 2012. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interest of such participants by reading the definitive proxy statement regarding the acquisition when it becomes available.