Fairfax Media is "seeing a positive return" from its investment in Big Data, Andrew Lam-Po-Tang says.

The chief information officer, chief technology officer and director of group services says the Australasian publisher is working to increase reader engagement, make subscriptions more attractive and increase advertising inventory.

In one of the 17 case studies in INMA's 'Making Big Data smarter for media companies' strategic report, released in December, Lam-Po-Tang says Fairfax uses data to guide an array of interactions with users. Specifically, it is building "propensity models" to improve content recommendations, with the goals of increasing reader engagement and satisfaction; making subscriptions more appealing; and increasing its advertising inventory.

He told INMA correspondent Jeremy Fox the publisher had also experimented with different means of surfacing those recommendations to readers. As potential subscribers moved through its acquisition funnel, Fairfax analysed their behaviour to optimise conversion, and used uses both multivariate and A/B testing for optimisation. It is developing churn analysis and predictive modelling for existing print and digital subscribers to help reduce churn.

Data is also part of the Fairfax strategy to improve ad targetting and provide advertisers with an array of targeting options. The company is performing a yield analysis of its online inventory to optimise sales and pricing. It has launched a data services business providing an array of data and analytical services to advertisers.

Fairfax also has launched new businesses in events and content marketing. It plans to expand its data analytics by using its propensity models to drive growth in those revenue streams.

Two key lessons have been to have a defined mission from the start, and to have patience as you embrace new digital opportunities. A pilot to analyse subscriber churn five months after the launch of its main digital subscription packages and bundles, proved too early because of insufficient data.

Lam-Po-Tang says Fairfax is careful to ensure customer privacy, using its information security policy and security actions to safeguard customer data throughout its network; it is transparent with users about what data it will collect and works to secure their informed consent.

Some of Fairfax's more modest data strategies have been active for a considerable period. More ambitious efforts are relatively new, but have still succeeded in generating a positive return on investment within just a few months.

Visit the website for details of how to obtain a copy of the report