Domain launches in-house data and insights unit
Domain has added a new data and insights unit to its content and audience division, Domain Research House.
Led by newly-appointed content and data director Tobias Johnstone, the unit will provide clients and readers with insights based on internal data from Domain’s various assets and external data.
Domain Research House is led by content and data director Toby Johnstone
As part of the launch, Johnstone has appointed former Reserve Bank economist, Trent Wiltshire,as economist, Dr Nicola Powell as senior research analyst, and Eliza Owen as a research analyst.
“Our data-driven stories and research pieces perform exceptionally well because Australia wants to know what is happening in the property market,” Johnstone told Mumbrella.
“Domain is sitting on an extraordinary amount of data. We have sale and rent data constantly flowing in from all around Australia, we have behavioural data based on the millions of people who use our app and our site, we have data that comes in from agent facing products like Pricefinder, but we know that a massive amount of data isn’t really useful to consumers. The key here is turning data into insights to allow Australians to make the best decisions about property.
The new division this week launched a report by Wiltshire, which looked at Western Australia’s property renaissance. Next week Powell will present an analysis of seller success and the next few months will feature a piece on the state of the market and a study in partnership with Deloitte and Tract Consultants.
Johnstone said the new division was an “evolution” of what Domain is already doing, adding clients had a “huge appetite” for the division’s work.
Johnstone said the division offers Domain a ‘key competitive advantage’
“This team works with multiple other divisions of Domain. They work closely with the data science team, we work with the collections team, we work with products and tech and the idea is to bring together the wealth of talent and data we have across multiple divisions of Domain, which is now a very large business,” he said.
He described the division as a “key competitive advantage” for Fairfax Media’s Domain, which is awaiting ACCC approval to merge with Nine.
“Unlike other publishers that play in the property space and rely on third party property data, we have the data and the experts in house and readily available. That’s the main competitive advantage,” he said.
“I’ve been at Domain for ten years now. It’s clear that there is an incredible amount of momentum in the business. There’s huge excitement about our new CEO Jason Pellegrino and the direction he’ll take the business.”
