Pearson's strategy is to boost FT's worldwide recognition

Carolyn Murphy of TheDeal.com wrote Wednesday that the sale of the Financial Times edition in Germany shows that Pearson plc is retreating from an eight-year attempt to be the dominant German financial daily to concentrate on what it sees as a more attainable goal — boosting the FT brand worldwide and improving its digital financial information business.

Murphy wrote, “It seems some consumer research returned the result that nonreaders and younger managers perceived the FT as inaccessible and old-fashioned, the company said.

“So, in April, the company launched a new ad campaign aimed at ‘capturing the energy and excitement of modern business,’ as well as a direct marketing campaign. At the same time, the FT unveiled a facelift, with plans to add more color pages and execute design and content changes to its magazines. The company also hired some new editorial blood. The next month, the FT launched a sponsored magazine focused on the business of sports and premiered with America’s Cup and Formula One racing. It was the first launch by the FT’s then-new strategic development unit.

“On the Web front, Pearson in October came down on both sides of a strategy many media companies have experimented with: paid content. The company unveiled plans to open up FT’s online content for free, sort of, with a ‘light touch’ registration fee for readers who want access to more than 30 articles per month.”

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