The Telegraph faced surging demand for consumer insights, driven by Commercial’s data-backed advertising operation and the broader business needs in Product and Editorial. However, a lean insights team of five, with only two dedicated researchers supporting 130 Commercial colleagues, was struggling to meet the escalating volume of request (+56% YoY).

This challenge is compounded by the complexity of data cleansing and formatting, as well as the time-intensive nature of customised first-party studies. Shared industry datasets - accessible only via costly, limited subscriptions – fail to properly reflect premium consumers and cannot be filtered to their heartland subscriber audience base.

Commercial Insights identified the research outputs were the best candidates for automation, and then collaborated with teams throughout the business to build a pipeline that pushes structured datasets into their central repository.

Longitudinal (regularly repeated) subscriber studies and commercial-focused consumer intention trackers were identified as functions that would benefit from rapid processing and improved accessibility. And with the travel category generating the largest SOV in partnerships revenue, The Telegraph Traveller – a monthly consumer sentiment and intentions tracker – was selected as proof of concept for the initiative.

Restructured data warehouse tables, which receive and ‘clean’ research datasets, have replaced manual formatting processes, creating notable efficiencies in workflows. Results from The Telegraph Traveller, and similar longitudinal studies – are now able to flow into The Telegraph’s central data warehouse. And as a result, respondent can be mapped by their unique IDs, connecting results with behaviours in the Telegraph’s digital platform. This bridges claimed behaviour with actions, providing unprecedented insights.

This pioneering data-fusion project has helped the team realise a blueprint for further category-specific data tools, supporting commercial goals. Director of Client Sales, Joe Doherty, attests, “Telegraph Traveller’s real-time insights fuel our multi-million pound strategy which differentiates us in competitive pitches.”

This proof of concept has been pivotal in the commercial success of Compass Trackers, with a bespoke version empowering BA Holiday’s UK marketing strategy. BA Holiday’s Taylor Collins explain “by having access to tracked consumer preferences, we can create impactful and engaging campaigns that align with an evolving audience.”

By offering this partner bespoke sentiment tracking as a key incentive, this team secured a 234% YoY increase in advertising spend, exceeding their pledged target by £658k. In seeking to create efficiencies and further enrich The Telegraph’s central data warehouse, this initiative has democratised consumer insights for the business, empowered advertisers, and actively driven revenue growth.

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