@markdd That didn't quite achieve what I wanted, it either reported the data attached to the contents of the symbol, or I had to open the group after placement and edit the record there.
@Boh's method worked for me, in that the linked text reported the record attached to the instance of the symbol placed in the drawing.
I've actually ended up with a bit of a hybrid approach, using a data tag inside the symbol to report say, the type of container that is represented inside the symbol, and the linked text to display the contents of each instance placed in the drawing.
@Nikolay Zhelyazkov I've had no issue with scaling so far, i've got a data tag inside a symbol, which is a group of shapes and labels.
Another thing, is it possible to make text visible or not based on a true / false record attached to a symbol?