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he Melbourne Storm have announced a partnership with Gemba, with the sport and entertainment agency set to review the Storm’s data and analytics strategy.

Storm chief commercial officer, Nick Haslam, said the club still has room to improve its use of data to drive off-field results, and Gemba will help implement priority recommendations to do so.

“We’re fortunate to have one of the largest supporter bases of any professional team in the country who have stuck by the club through the highs and lows to help us achieve great success on and off the field,” Haslam said.

“We’re looking forward to working with Gemba to improve the way we use our data and systems to talk to and deliver outcomes for our members and partners well into the future,” he said.

Gemba managing director, Andrew Condon, said the deal further highlights Gemba’s data and analytics capabilities, after signing a partnership with another NRL club, the Parramatta Eels, in August for a similar purpose.

“As an agency we have evolved along with our clients as they place more emphasis on improving ROI from their data investments,” Condon said.

“COVID has put added pressure on everyone but it’s probably increased the importance of getting the most from first-party and third-party data sources to find opportunities for growth,” he said.

Gemba head of strategy and insights, Craig Roberts, said the deal will see a Gemba data strategy consultant partnered with the Storm for an initial nine-week period, similar to the deal with the Eels, and the club will be backed by the wider Gemba insights, strategy and data services divisions.

“Melbourne Storm are a highly respected sports organisation, and we know they take their data strategy seriously and have some well-established capabilities in this area,” Roberts said.

“We’re proud to be able to work with them to help them to the next level with their data,” he said.

Gemba recently announced a restructure into holding company, Tenka Group, with a new management restructure for Gemba itself, seeing Andrew Condon lead the agency, click here to hear what Condon had to say about the move.