Speaking at the Guardian Advertising Summit, the man tasked with mining the FT’s "entire brand and product spectrum to find new revenue streams" provided a rare voice of support for the traditional newspaper business in the digital age.
"Print isn’t dead," he said, despite recognising print advertising had fallen from 85% of the business during the last recession in the early 90s, to total just 40% today.
The commercial leader highlighted that print ads at the group had actually increased 20% year on year, and stressed: "The good news as far as we’re concerned at the FT, is that the newspaper business isn’t dead, it’s just adapting."
He went on to identify a number of revenue streams now vital to the FT’s publishing operation, including subscription and digitally focused businesses, with the promise of the emerging tablet market commanding specific attention.
"The FT iPad app has had over 400,000 downloads since launch in May, and the iPad owners who downloaded the app have driven 10% of all our new digital subscriptions since its launch," he said. "Advertising revenue on the back of that launch is already close to £1 million."
Revenues generated by cover prices, events and sponsorships were all cited as significant contributors as well.
But talking at a media conference dominated by talk of all things ‘digital’, Hughes provided a decidedly measured perspective on the current landscape.
"Maybe all this talk of 'shift' and 'migration' is just ever-so slightly exaggerated," he said. "There is an enormous advance in digital for sure, but it is important to remember it is just another channel to add to all the others that we all already operate across."
He added: "Media owners are just having to find ways of making all of these exciting propositions work together. And the fundamental point is that it’s the content that matters. Media owners need to think like Martini – anytime, any place, anywhere."
The FT’s media sales team was singled out as playing a pivotal role in this transformation, by doing "more than just selling space".
Last year, the team created a commercial partnership for Jaeger-Le-Coultre that resulted in more than 40 watches being filmed in 3D to form "an interactive timeline" of the company’s history.
The initiative produced an eight-minute video documentary on the manufacturing process and interactive games and quizzes around fine watchmaking.
"All this from an ad sales team," Hughes noted.
He added: "Put simply: media owners now need to be platform agnostic and provide content to all channels where their customers want to consume it.
"We should never forget that the fundamental rules and methods for consumer engagement haven’t changed a bit even in the digital age."
"Print isn’t dead," he said, despite recognising print advertising had fallen from 85% of the business during the last recession in the early 90s, to total just 40% today.
The commercial leader highlighted that print ads at the group had actually increased 20% year on year, and stressed: "The good news as far as we’re concerned at the FT, is that the newspaper business isn’t dead, it’s just adapting."
He went on to identify a number of revenue streams now vital to the FT’s publishing operation, including subscription and digitally focused businesses, with the promise of the emerging tablet market commanding specific attention.
"The FT iPad app has had over 400,000 downloads since launch in May, and the iPad owners who downloaded the app have driven 10% of all our new digital subscriptions since its launch," he said. "Advertising revenue on the back of that launch is already close to £1 million."
Revenues generated by cover prices, events and sponsorships were all cited as significant contributors as well.
But talking at a media conference dominated by talk of all things ‘digital’, Hughes provided a decidedly measured perspective on the current landscape.
"Maybe all this talk of 'shift' and 'migration' is just ever-so slightly exaggerated," he said. "There is an enormous advance in digital for sure, but it is important to remember it is just another channel to add to all the others that we all already operate across."
He added: "Media owners are just having to find ways of making all of these exciting propositions work together. And the fundamental point is that it’s the content that matters. Media owners need to think like Martini – anytime, any place, anywhere."
The FT’s media sales team was singled out as playing a pivotal role in this transformation, by doing "more than just selling space".
Last year, the team created a commercial partnership for Jaeger-Le-Coultre that resulted in more than 40 watches being filmed in 3D to form "an interactive timeline" of the company’s history.
The initiative produced an eight-minute video documentary on the manufacturing process and interactive games and quizzes around fine watchmaking.
"All this from an ad sales team," Hughes noted.
He added: "Put simply: media owners now need to be platform agnostic and provide content to all channels where their customers want to consume it.
"We should never forget that the fundamental rules and methods for consumer engagement haven’t changed a bit even in the digital age."
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