Google Cloud nailed its March Madness predictions

Eleven turned around TV spots during Final Four halftime breaks

Published On
Apr 03, 2018

Editor's Pick

Last month, Google rolled out March Madness spots touting the number-crunching capabilities of its cloud computing services. What better dataset to dig through than NCAA game stats?

Now that the tournament is over, it's clear that Google wasn't overestimating its own predictive prowess. At halftime during the Final Four games, Google fed data from the first half into its algorithms to create a prediction about how the second half would play out. Then, along with creative agency Eleven, they had 10 minutes to create a 30-second spot that ran on CBS before gameplay resumed. The accuracy is impressive.

During the Loyola vs. Michigan game, Google Cloud predicted 29 rebounds in the second half. There were 29. During the final game between Villanova and Michigan, the Cloud predicted a 76.4 percent chance of at least 21 three-pointer attempts. Final count: 24. Now as long as Google Cloud can't start placing bets on its own, we'll be all right.

Credits

Date
Apr 03, 2018
Agency :
Eleven Inc.-San Francisco
Chief Creative Officer :
Mike McKay
Creative Director :
Chad Leitz
Creative Lead :
Jason Rosenberg
Creative Lead :
John Friedman
Creative Lead :
Tyler Coonts
Creative Lead :
Matthew Klug
Art Director :
Fabio Benedetto
Art Director :
Tom Zukowski
Copywriter :
Mike Lars White
Copywriter :
Sarah Bengard
Art Director :
Mike Butler
Art Director :
Tufan Guzeloglu
Designer, Motion Graphics :
Michael Fortunato
Business Director :
Jessica Huffman
Business Associate :
Caitlin OMalley
Executive Integrated Producer :
Jenny Hardin
Head of Content and Digital :
Dave Evans
Tech Director :
Chuck Nelson
Tech Director :
Celso de Melo
Executive Digital Producer :
Julie Notaro
Executive Digital Producer :
Ciaran Rogers
Digital Producer :
Sarah Betts
Executive Producer :
Paul Golubovich
Content Producer :
Luke Rzewnicki
Content Producer :
Ilene Kramer
Content Producer :
Rachel Saxon
Live Producer :
Melanie Murphy
Associate Producer :
Kevork Demirjian
Head of Activation :
Gary Stein
Director, Analytics :
Joel Kleinman
Social Strategist :
Jessica Gast
Director, Strategy :
Orit Peleg
Print Producer :
Mary Pestell
Print Producer :
Jeannine Giordan
Art Producer :
Analisa Payne
Production Partner :
Cloneless
Production Partner :
Gentleman Scholar
Production Partner :
Lime Studios

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