FT looks to retailers to boost subscriptions
The Financial Times is taking inspiration from online retailers as it looks to adopt a new marketing strategy in the hope of increasing its consumer subscription base and associated revenues.
The “cultural change” within the business will involve the development of a wide range of external marketing activities designed to bring new audiences to the Financial Times across print, desktop, mobile and other channels, according to a job ad.
Such activity, which aims to emulate campaigns from “successful online retail operations”, will include search promotions, sampling, developing new partnerships and building communities around the Financial Times’ brand and content.
The title will employ its first head of business to consumer marketing and sales to lead the strategy. The incumbent will report at a board level to Rob Grimshaw, managing director of FT.com, and will become a member of the FT.com executive team.
A spokeswoman for The Financial Times confirmed the head of business to consumer marketing and sales role is newly created but would not give further details on the wider marketing strategy.
The Financial Times attracts an average daily global audience (ADGA) across its print and digital properties of 2.2 million, according to the latest PwC approved figures for November 2011. This is up 4.8% year-on-year.
Of this number, The Financial Times had a combined paid print and digital circulation of 604,856 for the first quarter of 2012, up 0.6% on the previous quarter, according to Deloitte.
In the full-year 2011, FT Group’s underlying revenues grew 7% to £427m, while underlying profit rose 17% to £76m.
