How Sacramento Bee is Using Data Visualization to Extend the Utility of Big Data Sets?

Darrel Kunken, Director of Marketing, Sacramento Bee, talked about data visualization for advertising and marketing at the Big Data for Media conference on May 8 in London, sponsored by World Newsmedia Network and Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism,

The Sacramento Bee is part of The McClatchy Company, which is a 157- year old newsmedia chain in the United States. The company is on the digital transition road for positioning itself to the future. The company uses data visualizations to reveal more and quicker from the existing data sets in advertising, circulation and corporate level, Kunken said.

One good example in using data visualization in advertising is ‘auto dealer share of sales’ shown in visual charts, which are based on different filters (multiple years, dealership, make/model, unit sales). The advertising reps use the visual dashboards, when negotiating with the ad clients e.g. they talk and show ‘needs analysis to consumer path-to-purchase tool’. The tool shows who is consuming the content and where and what kind of needs the reader has, which is valuable information to the ad client.

Circulation department uses data visualization, when e.g. making survey about the former subscribers.

“Data visualization helps to move the legacy staff to digital," Kunken says.

The Sacramento Bee asked, what readers want from them. The readers answered, that they want to be informed. Sacramento Bee wants the readers to come back and engage, so they have created an individual content profiling and tracking system in project with Stanford University. The system helps to customize the user experience. The system ads metadata to the content and constructs a user profile to recommend content to the reader.

Setting up for learn and actions in using data:

1.     Data sourcing and integration

2.     Analyst and marketing talent, the staff skills

3.     Utilizing analytics, how to use the data?

The Sacramento Bee has programmers inside the newsroom.  Research analysts are becoming data miners and the company is opening up Beelabs and beginning a Linkedin group.

Transparency is one of the cornerstone components of collecting data, e.g. readers can manage their own profiles.

The company is also having innovation projects, like a high school sportshow build in partnership with Concast.net. There are also plans to engage the schools, which could sell the subscriptions for the channel and get funds for their sport programs.

Next generation journalists need to be savvy in databases, multimedia, do some coding and engage readers.