At a time when media owners the world over are wondering whether they will ever be able to make money from online content, the Financial Times’ decision to slap a price tag of nearly US$3,000 on its new China Confidential e-newsletter and website certainly raised eyebrows.
But the man behind that decision, FT.com’s newly promoted managing director Rob Grimshaw, is not afraid of taking risks. Early in his career at the paper, he took a gamble by applying for a job - head of client sales and key accounts - that was, in his view, out of his reach.
“I knew I was short of the experience I needed to do the manager’s job, but I felt I had nothing to lose,” he says, reminiscing back to when he was 28 years old and holding a junior display-sales role at the company. “I pitched for the role and got it. It was a big stroke of luck but I worked very hard to repay the faith that was shown in me and I learned quickly.”
Part of his pitch for the job, made during the dotcom boom, was a plan to expand the responsibilities of the website’s sales team at the expense of marketing and a scheme to leverage the domain to be more than a company website. With the dotcom world about to crumble, his vision may have taken longer to realise than he imagined. But a decade later, the Financial Times is arguably one of the few properties to have found some sort of balance between online ad sales and paid-for content.
According to Grimshaw, now 37, there are three ways to make money from news sites: through subscriptions, display ads and an expansion into different channels.
It’s the third option that Grimshaw says has the most capacity for creativity, and he has been exploring this to drive profitability. China Confidential, which reports on investment trends in the market, is the latest example. But can the FT really expect subscribers to spend so much on the product? Grimshaw insists it can, arguing that China Confidential is valued according to demand.
“The key is that consumers will pay for what is valuable and unique. If it’s content they really need and they can’t find it elsewhere then they will certainly be willing to pay provided that it’s fairly priced and the payment mechanism is easy,” he says. “China Confidential is a specialist intelligence service for professionals focused on China and is priced accordingly. We’re very encouraged by the reception we’ve had for the launch of the product.”
Many media buyers are reserving judgment on the project, arguing that if the FT can provide something unique, people will pay for it. However, one warns that, with coverage of China expanding in the mainstream press, China Confidential will have to be very impressive indeed to justify its price tag. “One thing we have learned is that audiences will pay for premium content; but the ‘premiumness’ of the content needs to be held to a very high standard to maintain most subscriptions,” he says.
That said, the FT’s approach at least displays a willingness to experiment with its online business. It’s not the first time the FT has sought to innovate. Unlike other publications, FT.com relies on a multi-tier subscription plan to buoy the site long-term. Implemented by predecessor Ien Cheng, who left the company to become Google Europe’s director of product management for advertising, a graded monetisation model offers 30 free stories a month for casual readers. There is then a regular subscription plan to read news articles each month, and a premium subscription for content including analysis and videos.
Grimshaw knows FT.com’s revenue strategy is unique and defends the website’s position. “It’s very difficult to make money from your website if you give your main product away. I don’t know how the internet will progress in the future but I imagine that will prove to be a bad strategy,” he says. “The web is no different than any other business, and the FT has a pragmatic approach for profit. Many publishers seem to have squandered that opportunity.”
There are plenty of advertisers interested in its Asia properties. Rolex recently ran a series of sponsored video interviews on the FT Chinese site.
Grimshaw is certainly convinced the Financial Times should be more than a text-based newspaper. He points to the introduction of new interactive tools, smart graphics, video and social media to build the property. The title’s most recent experiments online include an iPhone application, and Grimshaw is keen to find new methods of connecting audiences with the Financial Times’ content.
“If we want to create a compelling web experience for our readers we need to ‘unlearn’ the constraints of print media and embrace the many possibilities that the web offers.”
In person, Grimshaw belies his conservative, business-focused demeanour. A keen snowboarder when not in the office, he is also a trustee of Anti-Slavery International, an organisation he became interested in via his wife, who works for Amnesty International. He is hoping to make his first trip to Africa next year to find out more. “In an age when personal freedoms are taken for granted by so many of us, it’s astonishing that so many still do not have even the most basic of rights,” he says.
In his work with the NGO, Grimshaw has gained experience of lobbying governments to eradicate slavery worldwide and implement strategies to educate the public about child labour and human trafficking. He is especially interested in the issue of bonded labour - when a person is trapped into slavery to repay others for a loan.
Ending slavery is a far cry from the pitfalls of online business publishing. But it seems like a suitable second act for a man with a history of reaching beyond his grasp.
Rob Grimshaw’s CV
2008 Managing director, FT.com
2006 Advertising strategy and global online director, Financial Times
2004 Head of global advertising strategy and operations, Financial Times
2000 Head of client sales and key accounts, Financial Times
1999 Display ad sales, Financial Times
1998 Recruitment classified sales, Financial Times
