Meet you in Frisco / Rome / Tokyo

January 3, 2012 7:51 PM

A TV commercial with two high-flying business consultants talking back and forth from different cities -- what was it?

I think it was an ad for IBM. It consisted of alternating shots of 2 consultants, each with a laptop and a phone. Split screen? They were in different cities, Then new cities. "Hey, I'll be in Paris on Friday! Handball?" "Sure, but I'm leaving for Hong Kong at 2 ... did you get the spreadsheet?" "Yes, great, let's talk in London..."
The purpose was to show IBM's global, speed-of-business service (or hardware, but I think it was service).
Anybody?

posted by LonnieK to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Best answer: I also remember an IBM commercial with a very similar theme, and found a video of this: "IBM - Change of Plans (2004) 0:30 (USA)." Apparently it was part of IBM's "On Demand" advertising campaign from Ogilvy & Mather. The commercial isn't an exact match with your description, but it has quick cuts during a phone conversation while the characters reference multiple global cities and send/receive a document electronically -- could it be the ad you're remembering?

In case you're interested, here are two articles about the campaign: "Changes are 'the usual' in IBM's On Demand ads" (according to this, it sounds like the "Change of Plans" ad debuted in 2005), and "Ogilvy Turns It 'On' for IBM" (about the start of the campaign in 2004).
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 5:50 PM on February 18, 2012

Response by poster: Rangefinder, that's it! And many thanks for the bonus. I always thought that was a well-done ad.
posted by LonnieK at 10:14 AM on March 20, 2012