UK Volume 22

uk.superbrands.com Superbrands UK Vol. 22 The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. It serves as a trusted independent guide to a fragmented world; essential for the ambitious, the curious and the champion of better business Market The liberal capitalist model has delivered peace, prosperity and technological progress for the past 50 years. But in the decade since the global financial crisis, the model has come under strain. Growth now comes at the cost of the environment, social inequality and a fracturing global economy. The world is at an inflection point – economically, socially and politically. The demand for independent, authoritative and accurate business, financial and political news is greater than ever. Financial Times (FT) readers want a guide to the risks and opportunities that disruption brings. But they also want to be challenged: the FT has the authority and credibility to ask fundamental questions of business and highlight the choices that will determine the future of the economic order. Competing in a cluttered and complex environment against a combination of free and paid-for news services, the FT aims to differentiate itself not only through the quality of its journalism, but as the champion of better business. Product The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community. With 700 journalists in 40 countries, the FT provides high quality reporting and insight across a number of key themes including economy and governance, social and political change, climate, technology and investment. Its products, therefore, play an important role for its audiences as a trusted, independent guide to a fragmented world; essential for the ambitious, the curious and the champions of better business. However, the subject matter of the FT isn’t limited to business news. Its sub brands, FTWeekend and How To Spend It (HTSI), comprehensively cover the arts, food and drink, fashion, travel and more. Achievements Since joining forces with Nikkei in 2015, the FT’s reach has never been stronger, with a record paying readership of more than one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. Through the partnership, the FT and Nikkei have worked together to open a joint Houston bureau. The bureau produces news covering energy, the US economy, politics and culture. In 2019, the FT launched its most substantial brand platform since the 2008 crisis. ‘The New Agenda’ puts the FT firmly on the side of responsible business and underlines the role of the FT as a trusted guide to an increasingly fragmented world. The brand platform provokes global debate about the rights and wrongs of modern capitalism, suggesting that the pursuit of shareholder value above all else is bad for society and, ultimately, bad for business. The FT is a multi-award-winning organisation. A recent notable achievement was being named Europe’s leading business publication for the sixth year running by the Global Business Influencers survey (GBI) from Ipsos in 2021. The FT was also named News Provider of the Year at the 2020 Press Gazette British Journalism Awards for ‘exemplary’ coronavirus coverage and ‘brave and dogged’ multi-year investigation into Wirecard. The FT’s coverage of the collapse of Wirecard also saw it win an additional two awards later in 2021 at the Gerald Loeb Awards in the US, in the ‘Breaking News’ and ‘Investigate’ categories. Recent Developments The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in FT Live, the events arm of the FT, to pivot from offering in-person events to exclusively digital events. FT Live’s digital transformation was hugely successful, bringing in a total of 250,000 people in 2020, 70% of which were completely new to the FT. Following the pandemic, FT Live will focus on hybrid events to provide both opportunities to connect in person while also increasing global accessibility. In 2021, Elaph launched HTSI Arabic in association with the FT. HTSI is the multi-award-winning luxury “A RETURN TO LIFE AS IT WAS WOULD BE DEVASTATING FOR OUR CLIMATE” When thepandemic finallyends,almostnothingwillbe cravedmore thana return tonormality.Yet the relentlessphysicsof climate changemeana return to lifeas it waswouldbedevastating. Toomuchof thewaywe travelled,worked,ateand livedwaspoweredby fossil fuels andotheractivities thathave raisedgreenhousegas concentrations to levelsnot seen inmillionsofyears.The scorchingheatwaves,deadly floodsandviolent storms that climate scientistswarnedofyearsagonow ravage livesaround theworldwith unnerving regularity. There isnomysteryaboutwhatneeds tobedone. Carbonemissionsmustnearlyhalveby2030and reachnetzeroby2050 tohavea good chanceofkeepingglobalwarming to 1.5C, saida2018UN science report that haspermanently reshaped the climatediscourse. Thismeans fossil fuelusemustbe curbed fast, startingwith thedirtiest formof it: coal.Thedeathnotice foruntrammelledoilandgasusealso looms.Countrieswith themeans to switch to cleanerenergymusthelp those that lack it.Morebroadly, theburdenofendingemissions cannot fallon those leastable tobear it. Thevirusdeliveredabrutal lesson in theperilsof ignoringobvious risksand itmay benoaccident that thepublic’sappetite for climateactionappears tohavegrown during thepandemic. Governments, companiesand investors should seizeon this. Today’s leaderswere sorely letdownby theirpredecessors.Theymustnotdo the same to thosewho follow them. LifeonEarth can recover fromadrastic climate shiftasnew speciesand ecosystemsevolve,butasadraftof the latestbigUN climate reportbluntly stated: “humans cannot”. PILITACLARK,FTBUSINESSCOLUMNIST The film Wolf of Wall Street featured a character based on the editor of the FT, Roula Khalaf DID YOU KNOW?