Virtual Glass City brands
 Financial Times in Asia

The Financial Times' Glass City landing site targets nonsubscribers in Asia

The Offer: Visitors to The Financial Times' Glass City landing site "gain deeper insights into world business" by experiencing the London-based newspaper's news analysis and commentary distilled into a microcosm of onscreen interactive elements that link back to FT.com.


The Data: The campaign, which launched in September and is running only in Asia, targets nonsubscribers, with the aim of selling both print and online subs and encouraging engagement with The Financial Times' website.


The Channel: Direct mail pieces were sent to prospective subscribers and an online push included advertising via LinkedIn, email and geotargeted search and display messages on Google and Yahoo. Billboards were placed in the business districts of Hong Kong and Singapore. Ads ran in The Economist and on Bloomberg TV. All channels promoted the Glass City microsite and FT.com.


The Creative: An extension of The Financial Times' "Cityscape" campaign, Glass City sought to create a snapshot of global news events to demonstrate the paper's value to readers. Visitors navigate through the microsite, zooming in on various scenarios that "explore the diversity of business." Embedded links take users to explanatory articles and related analysis on FT.com.


Verdict:

John Gagné is SVP and executive creative director at Proximity Canada. Gagné, who joined Proximity in 2006, leads one of the largest creative departments in Canada. He is based in Toronto. 

I kept trying to find more and do more with Glass City. No. It's a landing page that directs you to different articles on FT.com. Far too much overhead for far too little payout. Jocelyn Cripps, regional marketing director of The Financial Times in Asia, is quoted as saying the objective is to improve engagement at FT.com. Unfortunately, Glass City works as a turnstile.