Advertising Age: What Brands Can Learn From Baseball

Besides the World Series title, the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians have a lot in common. Both teams’ have a data-driven approach that created a winning franchise, according to a recent Advertising Age article. The analytics departments on each team take data into account for every game scenario—pitcher matchups, at-bats, and building roster lineups.

By looking across the board at stats and metrics instead of focusing on only a few, brands can create their own winning roster for success.

While there will always be superstars on a roster or within a company, building out the rest of the team that will successfully support these top performers is the challenge. Kris Bryant and Corey Kluber were investments the Cubs and Indians knew they needed to make, but they couldn’t stop there.

After superstars, a brand also needs specialists that thrive in certain areas, like a pitcher who can close a late-inning lead, such as Andrew Miller from the Indians. For brands, a specialist can drive top notch engagement when creating one particular type of content.

Every team has veterans that keep everyone level-headed with their “been there done that” attitude. Their consistent play and performance motivate those who haven’t been in the tough situations before. The Cubs signed Ben Zobrist and the Indians signed veteran Mike Napoli last year—both great pick-ups to help their teams come through when they needed it most.

Fan favorites also play a key role on any team’s roster. With their personality and charisma, they bring joy to the fans with or without top stats in their performance. David Ross from the Cubs or Coco Crisp from the Indians both have bonds with the fans that brands should try to emulate.

To get into the big leagues, brands will need to use their data to create the best possible lineup day in and day out.

Check out the full article here.