Adgully Exclusive | On It's 15th year Outlook is introspective

Outlook magazine is the most well known title published by the Outlook Group amongst its various other publications like Outlook Traveller, Outlook Money, People, Marie Claire, the Hindi Outlook Saptahik etc. Outlook as a magazine has always been known for its straight-forward coverage and de-glam observations. The magazine broke into the monopolistic magazine space and not only proved its market worth over the years but also has emerged as an inspirational leader for many a publishing houses to enter the market.

The magazine's 15th anniversary issue is full of articles and interviews which includes some of the very big names like Noam Chomsky, Sir Harold Evans, Tim Sebastian, Pankaj Mishra, Sumir Lal, Patrik French, Robin Jeffrey, Mark Tully, Christophe Jaffrelot, Peter Roebuck, Ravi Dhariwal and Roy Greenslade.

Adgully spoke to Maheshwar Peri, Publisher of Outlook magazine and President, Outlook Publishing India Pvt Ltd, to understand the high-spirited vibe and the response to the mega-issue.

Talking about the positive response the issue has received from the readers, Peri says, "The response to the 15th anniversary issue has been fantastic. We more or less expected this kind of a positive response. Moreover, because all our earlier special editions have been well-received. However, this issue has been the biggest of all the special editions that we have come out with so far."

Peri further adds that the team at Outlook was looking forward to come out with an introspective issue. "This was the opportunity we saw to evaluate and introspect. We wanted to see and check if the path that we have taken is the right path. We wanted to know why people like us and if they hate us then what do they hate us for? We at Outlook don't shy away from criticism and thus we are open to people telling us where we falter. The idea was to come out with a media-centric issue, the issue speaks about media, and which are the areas where the media has gone wrong or done tremendously well," he says.

The advertisers have responded very well to the phenomenally well-planned issue and it can be made out from the 160 pages that contain ads out of the 300 plus pages in the issue. Elaborating over the months of deliberations and planning that went into the making of the issue, Peri says, "I would not say we put in a lot of efforts and glorify the whole procedure. Besides we come out with issues through out the year, so this time it was the same. However, the thinking and planning started a few months back, much in advance."

The special issue was marketed and promoted through reader shows like debates that were conducted in six Indian cities and was covered on Times Now. The reader shows were planned and executed to gather reader's feedback about the magazine. "It was probably the first time that Outlook's Editor-in-Chief Vinod Mehta was out on the streets interacting with the common masses and garnering their thoughts and opinion about the magazine," Peri contends.

Though the issue has more than 300 pages, the issue has been modestly priced and retains the patent "Outlook cover price" of Rs.25. When asked if the Group contemplated increasing the price for the anniversary special edition, Peri says, "Not at all. In fact we were thinking of reducing the price. But then we thought Outlook is available for Rs.25/- throughout the year, so let's go ahead with the same pricing. The reader is a very important strength to our Group." | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]