Adobe Levels the Playing Field in March with #HackTheBracket

For the first time ever, and just in time for the college basketball tournament, Adobe is opening its best-in-class analytics solution, Adobe Analytics, to the public. This is a big deal! Starting today, individuals can go to http://exploreadobe.com/hack-the-bracket and play with the tool to analyze match ups better than ever before.

Last year, 70 million people created a bracket. March is a time when people who don’t watch college basketball regularly suddenly become super fans. Adobe is putting the power of data science in the hands of the public. Whether you are an analytics expert or novice, the experience will be illuminating because Adobe is giving you the power to be an expert – even if you haven’t watched one game this season. #BraggingRights

Let me give you an idea of what kinds of data you could look at with this solution: height, conference, offensive rating, free throw percentage, and a whole lot more. The beauty of Adobe Analytics is that you can go as deep as you want with this experience. Almost instantly, you can answer questions that, previously, you only dreamed about when filling out your bracket.

That said, don’t expect the tool to create a perfect bracket. That is practically impossible. In fact, the odds of picking a perfect bracket are one in 9.2 quintillion (that’s a nine with 18(!) zeros). However, using Adobe Analytics to #HackTheBracket you’ll have a much better chance of winning your office pool than picking which mascot would win in a fight or “going with your gut.” You have about a 75% chance of picking the right team if you go by seed alone. But, in order to win, you need to take risks: this is where we come in. Adobe Analytics will help fans be smarter about choosing upsets, leveraging data.

Using data from SportsRadar, we have game data from 56,000 games loaded into Adobe analytics across more than 100 key metrics that can be used to predict winners. Everything from three-point shooting and effective field goal percentage to offensive and defensive rebounding to blocked shots and fouls drawn. The real value here isn’t just the data – it’s the fact that with Adobe Analytics, you can slice and dice the data in a unique way. The way you look at the data will be vastly different from the next fan that goes in.

Adobe Analytics is the analytics engine for some of the biggest and most powerful companies on the planet. Two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies rely on Adobe as the backbone of their reporting needs.

For those interested, Adobe is launching multiple experiences today that will help you #HackTheBracket.

Data is revolutionizing both business and basketball. Adobe happens to be an expert in data, so why not apply it to what everyone is thinking about this morning – basketball!