The Financial Times today announces the appointment of Jon Slade as its first chief commercial officer (CCO) with immediate effect. In this newly created role, Slade takes on the FT’s global advertising, circulation and Financial Publishing business in addition to leading digital subscriptions operations for B2C, an executive board position he took on in December 2014.
Financial Times CEO John Ridding said: “Jon has shown exceptional leadership in our subscriptions business and his appointment to the new role of chief commercial officer reflects a commitment to continuing the integration around audience data across the FT, to the benefit of both readers and advertisers”.
Jon Slade said: “I am delighted to take on the role of CCO, which reflects the digitally-driven convergence of content and advertising strategies and the vital role of audience data and intelligence in both.”
The FT’s award-winning commercial teams have innovated boldly and taken market share globally during challenging conditions under the strong leadership of Ben Hughes, who will be stepping down later this year. The Financial Times pioneered the CPH (cost per hour) metric, which increases marketing effectiveness by measuring time and engagement with advertising, not just clicks. This innovation won best use of technology by a publisher at the 2016 Digiday awards. The FT’s paid posts offering, FT2 increased engagement with brand advertiser content by 30 percent since launch, while other innovations, such as Deepview provide real-time quality viewing data to advertisers.
The FT’s paid-circulation grew seven percent year-on-year to 793,000 – an all time record. Digital subscriptions are 587,000 up 12% (Deloitte assured, Q1 2016) and make up three-quarters of its total circulation. Digital content revenue grew 15% and the FT now makes nearly 60% of its revenue from content.
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For more information please contact:
Kristina Erikson
kristina.eriksson@ft.com
+44 (0) 20 7873 4961
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, the FT has a combined paid print and digital circulation of 793,000. Mobile is an increasingly important channel for the FT, driving half of total traffic.