The First Cognitive Dress

Millennials hold the strings for 43% of IT spending. How do you reach an audience that turns to pop culture to judge technology brands?

We partnered IBM Watson with fashion house Marchesa to create the world’s first “thinking” dress.

Watson processed social media conversations and changed the color of the dress according to the emotions gathered in real-time.

 
 

Making of The First Cognitive Dress

 
 

The dress made its debut at the Met Gala, Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology. It garnered widespread attention, securing a place in fashion’s most prominent headlines and re-established Watson’s presence in pop culture.

 
 

Live from the Met Gala

 
Watson is taking what the fans are saying in social-media about the dress and it’s understanding the emotions underneath.
— Jeff Arn (IBM Watson)
 
 

Results:

It was the most successful activation in IBM’s 112 year history.

712 million impressions earned in traditional media sources like Wired,
Fast Company E! News and Vogue. 

352 million earned social media impressions.

Exceeded Instagram brand metrics by 117%.

IBM was the leader among technology companies at the Met Gala with 75% share of social conversation over other brands, with 95% positive social sentiment.

 
 
 
 
 
 

The Cognitive Dress is now part of the permanent collection at the Henry Ford Museum of Innovation.