Dennis Publishing has entered into a joint venture pact with Media Transasia to launch a slew of niche magazine titles and websites targeted at urban male readers in India.
Will launch three niche magazines and several websites in India
MUMBAI: UK-based magazine company Dennis Publishing has entered into a joint venture pact with Media Transasia to launch a slew of niche magazine titles and websites targeted at urban male readers in India.
This is for the first time that Dennis has entered into a publishing JV for any country. It usually prefers licensing and distribution partnerships in the US and Australia, the other two markets where it has a presence. Till now, Media Transasia India had a licensing arrangement with Dennis, under which it published Maxim and Blender.
The JV, Dennis Media Transasia India Ltd, will first bring Blender into its fold. Later, it will launch other magazines such as Men’s Fitness, evo and Monkey and also some of its e-magazines.
Dennis Publishing digital initiative includes e-magazines such as iGizmo, iMotor and Den of Geek.
These magazines will join a deluge of international titles that have hit the Indian newsstands in the last one year. Most of these titles such as Vogue, Rolling Stone, OK!, Hello, FHM, Golf Digest and People are targeted at the young urban readers.
James Tye, chief executive officer, Dennis Publishing, said the company’s entry will grow the market for men’s magazines and also the company’s digital media presence.
“Over the next six months, we will launch several websites. Almost 20% of the traffic on our existing websites comes from India. We hope to grow this digital media consumer base and our digital advertising revenues to Rs 750 crore in the next two years,” he said.
A key reason why so many international magazine titles are hitting the Indian stands is the saturation in print media in markets abroad.
According to industry estimates, the Indian magazine sector will be worth Rs 3,800 crore in 2012, fuelled by a 20% growth in advertising revenues every year. It’s a stark contrast from the magazine publishing scene in the US and the UK, where newsstand sales of publications have been dipping constantly and advertising revenues have nosedived, giving way to digital editions.
“About 40% of our revenues in the UK come from our digital media,” said Tye.
Media planners say that the entry of more magazines in the luxury and lifestyle space will not only create competitive ad rates but also give a fillip to retail and luxury advertisers by enabling them to gun for their target groups better.
Ravi Kiran, chief executive officer -South Asia, Starcom Mediavest Group, said it is exciting time ahead for advertisers and magazine publishers. “Each publisher researches the market thoroughly before entering it. The ad pie surely must be big enough or else they wouldn’t be coming to India,” he said.
c_arcopol@dnaindia.net
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