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How the FT plans to turn its content studio into a full-service agency

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The Financial Times has big plans for expanding its content studio into a full-service agency. Until now, it’s been adept at the delivery and distribution side of branded content, but not creative production. That’s all set to change with last month’s acquisition of content-marketing video specialist Alpha Grid.

Jon Slade, who was promoted to the new role of chief commercial officer two months ago, said cultivating the advertising department into a full-service agency and consultancy is a top priority, “we need to take our ad business away from the middle ground of ‘how many impressions do you want to buy?’”

“We understand what motivates a reader, what draws them to a piece of content, and deeper thoughts on their media consumption,” said Slade. “We can tell a client what the lead stories are, if it’s something around Brexit, for example, and we can tell them what people are reading and when, how much of it each reads, and what the optimum length of video or text article their content should be.”

The end goal is to have advertisers regard FT.com as a marketing platform, not a place to buy space.

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