Initiative further strengthens FT’s focus on universal publishing
The Financial Times is today launching the FT Global Commercial Academy (GCA), a new learning and development programme for the FT’s commercial team, bringing staff the latest insight and skills in digital advertising and development from a range of in-house and external experts.
The investment follows a strong year for the FT’s advertising team, with double digit growth in digital, mobile and video advertising, the global roll-out of its semantic advertising service FT Smart Match and a promising performance in its programmatic trading marketplaces. The curriculum will include tailored programmes on the advertising industry and emerging products that benefit both media owners and advertisers.
Jon Slade, the FT’s commercial director of global digital advertising and insight, said: “The FT continues to lead innovation in advertising with products such as FT Smart Match, and we take every possible measure to offer clients the most valuable proposition. With an increased focus on content-based advertising, programmatic trading and HTML5 formats for mobile, the Global Commercial Academy is a vital part of our strategy. It will ensure our team remains at the forefront of developments in advertising.”
Lauren Henderson, global head of learning and development for the FT, added: “With a growing focus on education, the FT is uniquely positioned to offer staff industry-leading professional development. The GCA is an important addition to our award-winning employee training programme, including FT Digital Learning Week, which helps attract and develop the industry’s sharpest talent.”
GCA courses will take place in the FT’s offices in London, New York, Hong Kong and Paris.
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For further information please contact:
EMEA
Kristina Eriksson
T: +44 (0)207 873 4961
E: kristina.eriksson@FT.com
US
Ryann Gastwirth
E: ryann.gastwirth@ft.com
ASIA
Gemma Terry
T: +852 2905 5519
E: gemma.terry@ft.com
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 652,000 across (Deloitte assured, Q4 2013). Mobile is an increasingly important channel for the FT, driving 62% of subscriber consumption, 45% of total traffic and almost a quarter of new digital subscriptions. FT education products now serve 37 of the world’s top 50 business schools.