The FT Weekend has enrolled artists to draw attention to its arts, culture and lifestyle coverage with its vivid Open Minds campaign. Marcy Richardson, global brand director of Financial Times believes such initiatives can help to reach young readers.
Following on from the publication’s 2017 rebrand, FT Weekend worked with creative agency The Brooklyn Brothers and independent artists to develop work causing a stir around FT Weekend features. In short, FT Weekend is promoting both its content and itself with the bespoke artwork.
Richardson told The Drum: "We wanted this campaign to have an intellectual impact and spark debate and conversation – exactly what FT Weekend aims to do. The bold, visually striking creatives showcase the breadth and scope of FT Weekend and help to distinguish it from the FT as the home for lifestyle, arts and culture."
She said the campaign will support the FT’s readership growth drive by "building brand reach and engagement with FT Weekend’s award-winning journalism", adding that running creative featuring questions helps drive an intrigue around the features in question and sparks debate.
On the purpose of these efforts she added: "We believe that strong creatives and targeted media opportunities will enable us to reach new audiences, including a younger demographic of readers.
"Our aim is to position FT Weekend as an essential read for those interested in arts, culture, ideas and lifestyle, just as the weekday Financial Times and FT.com are essential to our core business readership."
Driving the work will be out-of-home ads at high profile placements in central London, Hong Kong and New York’s Times Square. This will be coupled with experiential efforts to come in the summer when the weather is agreeable to more active marketing.
On the digital side, the company is running its work on "content-driven publishers who have thought provoking content and an audience demographic that matches the FT Weekend’s target audience."
Partners include Vox Media, CNBC and Flipboard.
On the back of the 2017 rebrand, the FT Weekend has enjoyed an uplift in both print and digital subscriptions increasing its readership by 19% year on year. Those exposed to the first wave of creative were 10% more likely to buy or subscribe.
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The Brooklyn Brothers: Financial Times 'Open Minds'
The Financial Times has today launched a new global brand campaign for FT Weekend. The Open Minds campaign, inspired by its colourful and provocative journalism, aims to encourage stronger engagement with FT Weekend by the FT’s core business audience, while attracting new readers to its world-class coverage of arts, culture, ideas and lifestyle.
The campaign, which builds on a 2017 refresh and rebrand of FT Weekend under editor Alec Russell, will have two phases. The first will include out-of-home, digital display, online video and retail elements in high profile locations in London, Hong Kong and New York's Times Square. The second phase, in the summer, will have a major experiential focus, marking a new direction for the Financial Times.
The Brooklyn Brothers
