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MHT's Jim Connolly: Social network sites focus on niches, sports
MHT Editor Doug Banks on NECN: How companies are using social media
An MIT spinout wants to use its artificial intelligence software to help sports teams — and companies — draft the right athletes.
Cambridge-based Buzzient develops social network analytics that focus on sports. CEO Timothy Jones presented at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference last weekend.
The company uses artificial intelligence software delivered through a software-as-a-service model to analyze millions of online conversations about sports teams and athletes and sells the information to companies. Buzzient uses the info to compile a “giant sentiment score” about the brand, Jones said during the conference’s “Improving Sports Franchise Success Through Social Media Analytics” presentation.
The software recognizes trends and maximizes search engine optimization to increase the effectiveness of targeted advertising, Jones said.
The company can show a client comments about its brand from blogs and social networks, including the commenter’s pseudonym -— but it doesn’t share e-mail addresses or any other private information, Jones said.
“The CIA was one of the first entities that became interested in Buzzient. I’ll leave it there,” he said.
Jones said sports executives could tap a well of “thought leaders” in the blogosphere to inform their decisions. He said the Philadelphia Eagles, for example, may not have chosen Donovan McNabb with the second pick of the 1999 draft if they had known the Eagles fans in the crowd, who preferred running back Ricky Williams, would boo the McNabb choice. Buzzient’s technology could alert team executives to such fan sentiment, Jones said. The company is now using its technology to monitor candidates for the 2009 NBA draft.
After it ran Reebok through its AI for an ad agency, Buzzient found social networkers thought of the sneaker company as more of a fashion brand than an athletic brand. Once a vertical industry is scanned, it doesn’t need to be done again for another customer — RSS feeds continually update the profile.
“We are lazy. This is all automated,” Jones said.
See also: NBA, sports execs use tech, analytics to gain edge in player picks
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