FT launches marketing campaign to grow U.S. audience

Lucia Moses of Adweek writes that the Financial Times has launched its first full-scale marketing campaign in the United States in an attempt to increase its readers.

Moses writes, “The multimedia campaign will launch Sept. 6 and appear in publications like the Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Fortune, on cable channels including MSNBC and BBC World, and in outdoor placements in New York and Washington. The ads, created by DDB London, will also run in the U.K. and Europe.

“The campaign seeks to present the financial broadsheet as a trusted source of news in rocky times — one of the ads, for instance, portrays a St. Bernard carrying a rolled up FTon its collar. The goal is also to emphasize its credibility as a global news source in the U.S., said Caroline Halliwell, director of brand and B2B marketing for the FT.

“‘It’s very much about engaging with the U.S. audience so they understand what it stands for,’ Halliwell says. While the FT is pleased with the progress it’s made in the U.S. 14 years after launching here, she says, ‘It’s fair to say we’re not as developed in the U.S. market, to compare that to the UK and European market.’

“With the campaign, the FT is offering a 4-week free trial subscription to its print edition.”

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