Financial Times initiates a global media review

The Financial Times (FT) has kicked off the hunt for a new global media agency.

EssenceMediacom X is officially the incumbent on the account, but following the absorption of the agency brand by sister agency EssenceMediacom the account has been handled by teams at GroupM since September last year.

The review comes at a time of change for the FT as on March 6, chief executive John Ridding announced he would be stepping down in June after nearly 20 years.

A spokesperson for the FT confirmed the review to Campaign with the following statement, "The FT launched a tender earlier this year to appoint a new global media agency. While the FT has enjoyed a successful partnership with EssenceMediacom X since 2014, the decision to transition reflects a desire for fresh thinking to achieve its ambitious growth objectives for 2025 and beyond.”

The FT account was initially won by Essence in 2014 and consolidated further with the agency in 2022 prior to its merger with MediaCom.

A spokesperson for Group M told Campaign, “After 10 brilliant years of working together, FT and EssenceMediacom X have made the decision to part ways. EssenceMediacom X has closed, as you know. The team that worked on the business wish the FT all the best.”

The FT's 2025 global media review process is being supported by Ingenuity+.

On the creative side the FT employs a roster of agencies on ad projects. Last year, Orange Panther Collective was appointed as the lead agency for the brand’s global audience acquisition campaign, producing work for the UK, US and Germany.

Campaign understands that the FT’s work with the Orange Panther Collective is ongoing and the agency has not been affected by the brand’s decision to review its global media account.

For Cannes Lions 2024, the brand worked with Motel on the ‘Reach our readers’ campaign to encourage adland to consider placing more ads in the paper.