Financial Times launches Transact, a video-only page

The Financial Times has launched a video-only page called Transact covering the future of money.

Transact is also on a YouTube channel and a Facebook page and is aimed at corporate decision makers, institutional investors and wealth managers.

The site includes a mix of FT editorial and UBS-branded content, produced by Alpha Grid.

“We are in an exciting new era of storytelling, FT Transact brings the extensive knowledge and experience of our journalists to life with high-quality video production,” said FT chief commercial officer Jon Slade in a statement. “We are pleased to have UBS as a launch partner for FT Transact as we help our audiences navigate complex subject matter through new and engaging formats.”

A 2015 survey of senior decision makers by Alpha Grid found that the three most popular reasons for global business decision makers to click on a web video were its relevance to their industry, its entertainment value, and it being referred by a trusted contact.

The 2016 version of the same study found increasing trust of video news and YouTube in particular as a source. More than 40 percent of those surveyed used YouTube as a daily news source, and roughly the same percentage called the video platform a trusted news source.

Revenue from paid posts within the FT’s branded content division FT² increased 400 percent in 2016, and the division acquired a controlling stake in Alpha Grid in 2016.