FT Weekend / Open Minds

After winning the account from incumbent adam&eveDDB, we worked closely with FT Weekend editor Alec Russell to define a core communications challenge: people deeply respected the FT’s daily paper but the strength of this publication was compromising the cultural credibility of its Weekend offering.

FT daily is primarily a reductive, decision-making tool, but FT Weekend is the opposite;  a chance for readers to pause, look up and open their minds to art, science, history and cultural affairs. We developed a strategic proposition that ended up becoming the central CTA on the campaign: ‘Subscribe to an open mind this weekend’.

However, instead of creating layers of advertising construct, we put the editorial front and centre - taking mind-opening articles from the magazine and drawing provocations from them which became the hero lines on our assets. They were accompanied by bespoke illustrations from a selection or artists, designed to bring to life the curious and challenging subject matter.

The resulting campaign ran across OOH, digital and social. In only three months, Open Minds delivered a 900% increase in conversions vs the previous 2016/17 FT Weekend campaign.