The second half of February saw The National Basketball Association (NBA) link up with its data analytics partner SAP on an initiative offering four hoops fans a chance to prove they have what it talks to succeed in the front office in a co-branded reality TV show ‘GM School’.
The ‘GM School’ show sees the German-based European multinational software corporation team up with the league on an original reality show where four stat-savvy fans try to prove they have what it takes to work within the league.
Promoted socially through video,
and the spot and supporting content is amplified across the brand and the league’s social channels.
School's in session. Watch #GMSchool — an original reality show we've created with the @NBA. https://t.co/jCQAlkWTua pic.twitter.com/iUTCbP2XfF
— SAP Sports (@SAPSports) February 21, 2019
The programme asks fans simply ‘Do you ever go over your fantasy basketball lineup and think, I bet I could be a general manager in the NBA’?
The show, which is hosted by TNT sportscaster Ros Gold-Onwude, puts four fans through pretend post-game press conferences and fake drafts.
Hall of Fame player Kevin McHale, plus former general manager David Griffin and NBA senior vice-president of basketball strategy and analytics Evan Wasch all act as judges.
#GMSchool premiers tonight! Make sure to tune at 8PM on @NBATV. pic.twitter.com/AvENZRO1jf
— SAP Sports (@SAPSports) February 20, 2019
The winner of GM School will even earn an exploratory interview with the NBA with the possibility of a league/team front office job.
The first episode debuted on NBA TV on 20 February and it is distributed on the NBA’s YouTube channel.
The branded content series sees SAP and the NBA work with the Players’ Association and creative agency Momentum Worldwide.
Dan Fleetwood, SAP global sponsorships VP said that the TV show was a chance to amplify its existing NBA stats platform in a new, fresh way to a hoops audience that values analytics.
“How do we tell the story and make it digestible for not only the people who are interested in the technology but people who are interested in the NBA overall? For us, the idea behind GM School was to touch on how we’re partnering with the NBA from a data and analytics perspective, but also how that helps the fans,” explained Fleetwood.
“We like to make fans smarter, solve questions and debates around who’s the better player…and so the idea of GM School was born,” said Fleetwood.
While Fleetwood recognizes that most fans wont just watch the show and then head out to purchase SAP products, he beleives that GM School is an opportunity to raise brand awareness and awareness of its NBA data aliiance.
“We’re trying to establish and make sure people…know our brand and know who SAP is and know what we do in terms of the technology that we provide. We’ve been partners with the NBA for a long time and it is a global brand that is beloved around the world,” he continued.
“There is a reason why we partner with these guys, and so we want to make sure people understand that association around the world.”
Comment:
‘GM School is the NBA’s first reality TV show and the first piece of long-form campaign from SAP.
The series builds on the existing, ongoing SAP/NBA statistics-based official partnership.
SAP has been the official data analytics partner to the NBA since 2012 and in 2013 it began the task of compiling the league’s entire statistical history.
Links:
SAP Sport
https://www.facebook.com/SAPSports
https://www.youtube.com/user/SAPSponsorships
https://www.instagram.com/sap/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap
NBA
https://www.youtube.com/user/NBA
https://www.instagram.com/nba/
Momentum Worldwide
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