IBM’s Watson gives the real insight on brand personality

How do you get to the heart of a company? How do you really understand what they are all about?

You go to the ‘About Us’ section of the website, of course. But what does this corporate nonsense really say about a business?

We decided to give IBM’s new ‘Personality Insights’ tool a spin to find out. Powered by Watson, the tool uses ‘a spectrum of cognitive and social characteristics’ to analyse a block of text in order to determine the personality of the author (or in this case business).

We popped in the copy from the ‘About Us’ section of the top five B2B brands (and the top upcoming B2B startup for good measure) and saw what Watson had to say.

Thought IBM wasn’t compassionate? Thought Microsoft wasn’t there to help you out? Thought UPS lacked imagination? Think again.

IBM

https://www.ibm.com/ibm/uk/en/?lnk=fai-maib-uken

“You are heartfelt, rational and restrained.

You are philosophical: you are open to and intrigued by new ideas and love to explore them. You are empathetic: you feel what others feel and are compassionate towards them. And you are driven: you have high goals for yourself and work hard to achieve them.

You are motivated to seek out experiences that provide a strong feeling of self-expression.

You consider both achieving success and independence to guide a large part of what you do. You seek out opportunities to improve yourself and demonstrate that you are a capable person. And you like to set your own goals to decide how to best achieve them.”

Microsoft

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/about/companyinfo/

“You are rational, generous and genial.

You are altruistic: you feel fulfilled when helping others, and will go out of your way to do so. You are dutiful: you take rules and obligations seriously, even when they’re inconvenient. And you are energetic: you enjoy a fast-paced, busy schedule with many activities.

You are motivated to seek out experiences that provide a strong feeling of connectedness.

You consider helping others to guide a large part of what you do: you think it is important to take care of the people around you. You are relatively unconcerned with tradition: you care more about making your own path than following what others have done.”

GE

https://www.ge.com/about-us/powering

“You are rational, heartfelt and inner-directed.

You are self-controlled: you have control over your desires, which are not particularly intense. You are self-assured: you tend to feel calm and self-assured. And you are calm-seeking: you prefer activities that are quiet, calm, and safe.

Your choices are driven by a desire for self-expression.

You are relatively unconcerned with tradition: you care more about making your own path than following what others have done. You consider independence to guide a large part of what you do: you like to set your own goals to decide how to best achieve them.”

UPS

https://www.ups.com/content/gb/en/about/index.html?WT.svl=SubNav

“You are inner-directed, skeptical and can be perceived as insensitive.

You are adventurous: you are eager to experience new things. You are imaginative: you have a wild imagination. And you are solemn: you are generally serious and do not joke much.

You are motivated to seek out experiences that provide a strong feeling of self-expression.

You consider achieving success to guide a large part of what you do: you seek out opportunities to improve yourself and demonstrate that you are a capable person. You are relatively unconcerned with tradition: you care more about making your own path than following what others have done.”

SAP

https://go.sap.com/uk/about.html#sapseglobal

“You are inner-directed, restrained and strict.

You are empathetic: you feel what others feel and are compassionate towards them. You are philosophical: you are open to and intrigued by new ideas and love to explore them. And you are driven: you have high goals for yourself and work hard to achieve them.

You are motivated to seek out experiences that provide a strong feeling of prestige.

You are relatively unconcerned with both tradition and taking pleasure in life. You care more about making your own path than following what others have done. And you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment.”

ZoomCharts (StartUp)

https://zoomcharts.com/en/about/

“You are rational, heartfelt and inner-directed.

You are driven: you have high goals for yourself and work hard to achieve them. You are self-assured: you feel you have the ability to succeed in the tasks you set out to do. And you are trusting of others: you believe the best in others and trust people easily.

You are motivated to seek out experiences that provide a strong feeling of self-expression.

You consider helping others to guide a large part of what you do: you think it is important to take care of the people around you. You are relatively unconcerned with taking pleasure in life: you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment.”

Give it a spin for yourself here.