FT marketer leaves after £2m relaunch
Financial Times marketing director Tim Ward is to leave the company just days after the launch of an advertising campaign to support an overhaul of the newspaper.
It is not know whether Ward, who reported to global marketing director Gordon Willoughby, has a job to go to.
The Pearson-owned publication has put &£2m into a marketing campaign to trumpet its relaunch and attract new readers. The campaign, created by Delaney Lund Knox Warren, includes television, radio, press and outdoor activity.
The advertising features an updated version of the old “No FT, No Comment” strapline. It now reads: “New FT, New Comment”.
The FT introduced a new design and new sections, including the culture-based FT Magazine, to the weekend edition on Saturday April 26 and to the weekday paper on Monday April 28. The overhaul is intended to give the newspaper a broader appeal.
The FT made a second-half loss of &£6m last year and has warned that advertising revenues “deteriorated significantly” in March. The newspaper’s circulation is sliding – for the October 2002 to March 2003 period, average net circulation was down 6.33 per cent year on year to 457,332.
Recently, the FT axed its global advertising director, David Walsh (MW March 27).
Ward’s departure also follows a recent shake-up at Mirror Group Newspapers which saw marketing director Alisdair Luxmoore leave the company (MW April 24).
