Into the Blue

A look of apoplexy seizes an IT exec as she answers an urgent call during a meeting. There is a system crash and she must run. “So how long do you think that excuse is going to work?” asks a man in a waiting car. “Hopefully until Labor Day,” she says, blissfully casting off her suit jacket.

Such insouciance would hardly have been associated with the IBM of a decade ago. But during eight years of creating advertising for the technology giant, Ogilvy & Mather, New York, has helped redefine IBM, giving the company a distinct—and far less staid—personality.