Adobe Analytics Student Challenge welcomes Disney

2020 was the first time in its fifteen-year history we held a virtual version of the Adobe Analytics Challenge. It was a sign of the times, as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed us to reimagine how our events could be delivered. Necessity bred opportunity as well, as we found a new format that allowed Adobe to make the competition available outside of the United States. With Nike as our 2020 brand partner, a standard bearer of digital transformation, the competition was a great success with triple-digit growth. Six finalist teams, narrowed down from thousands of applicants around the world, competed to deliver new ideas to Nike on how they could enhance the customer experience online.

Everyone in attendance beamed in from their home offices, watching as the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad took home the top prize. For students, this was yet another taste of a new normal, where digital has taken top billing. As we round out 2021, this dynamic continues to reshape how we work, learn, and transact. It has made digital literacy more important than ever, and we are excited to announce the next iteration of the Adobe Analytics Challenge.

This year we welcome The Walt Disney Company as our brand partner. Disney is a leading international family entertainment and media enterprise with an expansive portfolio that covers everything from theme parks and film studios, to direct-to-consumer streaming services, consumer products, and much more. Over the years, its digital audience has grown substantially, as customers engage digitally to research, transact, and be inspired by Disney magic.

The 2021 Adobe Analytics Challenge will be streamed virtually on Tuesday November 9, 2021 at 9:00 am PST on AdobeAnalyticsChallenge.com.

The central theme of this year’s Adobe Analytics Challenge will be about nurturing loyalty online, looking for insights that can better profile customer intent. The student teams have been asked to use Adobe Analytics to conduct deep analysis of Disney’s online experience — on everything from the online shopping cart to the mobile experience. The best ideas will be ones that ultimately help Disney deliver a magical experience online.

The 2021 competition has set new records, with over 8,300 student applications representing over 700 institutions across 22 countries. The six finalist teams come from schools including Willamette University, Yale School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, University of California (Davis), Brigham Young University, and Université d’Angers.

After 16 years of the competition, we’ve seen that a student’s field of study doesn’t limit them in setting their team apart: the best ideas are ones that can bridge intuition with hard numbers. We’ve seen how creative ideas have taken students far beyond the competition itself, helping jumpstart careers in data science, marketing, consulting, product management, and more. It is a good reminder that while the $60,000 cash prizes are enticing, the skills that students come away with from the Adobe Analytics Challenge are invaluable.

Don’t forget to tune in to the Challenge stream Tuesday November 9, 2021 at 9:00 am PST.