C-level business leaders, IT decision makers, and developers see data everywhere. We learned this through a deep dive into data and a series of focus groups. They look at the world and imagine the wealth of data that flows, thinking about what they could do if they could only capture it and use it. They think about data for their companies, of course— but also in all other aspects of life, especially sports.

Our creative idea came from that insight—that capturing and using data can lead to great insights and great experiences. And from there our “Know what your data knows” tagline and the notion to use data to drive the heart of the ads.

Implementation

These commercials were live product demos of Google Cloud, performed during the March Madness Final Four. We analyzed first-half data and made predictions about what was to come in the second half. The predictions became the basis for our real-time commercials.

Timeline

The campaign was a multichannel effort that ran through the tournament and culminated with our real-time, predictive spots during the semifinals and championship game.

Placement

We ran our real-time predictive in-game commercials during the March Madness Final Four and championship game. The spots ran at the beginning of each game, and right before the start of the second half.

Scale

Even casual sports fans watch March Madness. And our C-level audience was 35% more likely to be watching than the general population. The live ads running immediately before the start of the second half gave us massive scale through a big idea in a key advertising spot.

1.) Data enhanced consumer experience

We built a live product demo of Google Cloud technology, generating six (6) accurate predictions and six (6) unique real-time ads. All six delivered a data-enhanced, relevant experience for the audience.

2.) Data driven behavior change

7x engagement on Twitter when our prediction ads aired (vs. when paid media went live prior the prediction spots) source: Google Internal Search Metrics, April 17, 2018

3.) Business impact

The campaign drove a 91% lift in product interest and $930K in immediate pipeline impact, a 42% increase in brand search volume, and 30% more new site visits-with a 19% increase in time spent. Source: Google Analytics, 4/17/18, Google Internal Metrics, 4/18/2018