30 April 2018: 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 creative concept and execution of Open Minds have been developed in partnership with The Brooklyn Brothers. The visually striking phase-one adverts were designed by a variety of illustrators and inspired by a range of thought-provoking FT Weekend articles:

Financial Times chief communications and marketing officer, Finola McDonnell, said: “We have created this campaign with editorial content at its centre to have strong visual and intellectual impact, sparking debate and conversation - exactly what FT Weekend aims to do. We're positioning the FT Weekend as an essential read for those interested in arts, culture, ideas and lifestyle, just as the Financial Times and ft.com are essential to our core business readership."

FT Weekend editor Alec Russell said: “This campaign goes to the heart of my ambition for the journalism in FT Weekend each week. It is sharp, provocative, probing and embraces the big ideas of our age - yet it is also tinged with mischief.”   

The campaign will be supported by social media activity on the FT’s Facebook, Twitter (@FTWeekend and @FTLifeArts) and Instagram (@FT_Weekend) accounts with the hashtag #FTOpenMinds. The articles which inspired the campaign can all be found outside the FT’s paywall at FT.com/OpenMinds.

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For further information contact:

Vicky Taylor -  vicky.taylor@ft.com, 0207 873 4961

Notes to editors

Can we separate the art from the artist? was designed by La Boca
Is age a disease we can cure? was designed by Alex Trochut
Is mind control the tech industry’s greatest invention? was designed by Max Dalton
 

About the Financial Times
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy.  The FT marks 130 years in 2018 with a record paying readership of more than 930,000. The FT is now a majority digital content business, with digital subscriptions up to 739,554, representing more than three-quarters of the total paying audience. Content revenues represent almost two-thirds of total revenues, double the share of five years ago.

About FT Weekend
FT Weekend brings together an intelligent mix of news, insight, compelling stories and global lifestyle journalism. Each section offers world-class photography and writing from our award-winning columnists. Gain the clearest view of global news and politics, uncover the new and noteworthy in art, food, culture, style and travel and catch up on life's ultimate luxuries in How To Spend It.

Life & Arts is published worldwide every Saturday in FT Weekend, with additional podcasts and video online at ft.com/life-arts.  

About The Brooklyn Brothers
Founded in 2001 in New York and 2008 in the UK, The Brooklyn Brothers expanded to Los Angeles in 2012 to create its Hollywood writing room, an alliance with seven of Hollywood’s most renowned scriptwriters and an office in Brazil in 2013. In 2016, the agency joined Golin, part of Interpublic Group of companies. The Brooklyn Brothers’ new approach – Blockbuster Branding – blends PR, social, brand advertising and strategic thinking with the creativity of Hollywood to create work that entertains and generates its own audience. Not in the thousands but in the multi-millions. They have been European Effies Agency of the Year, Advertising Age Small Agency of the Year and last year were named as one of Europe’s top three agencies at the Euro Effies 2017. They have been widely awarded including Cannes Gold and the European Effie Grand Prix for Promote Iceland’s ‘Inspired By Iceland’ and a Cannes Silver and US Effie Gold for NBC’s ‘Coach Ted Lasso’. Clients include MINI, Land Rover, Jaguar, Lancôme, Inspired by Iceland, Icelandair, NBC, Castrol EDGE and Pepsi.