Adgully Exclusive | The experience of BBC TopGear in its new avatar!

The automobile industry has evolved in the last five years at a tremendous rate. The industry has witnessed a lot of changes and with the entry of new players and better technologies; this continues to be a very dynamic sector. To keep up with this change, BBC TopGear, a highly reputed automobile magazine had recently undergone a revamp, bringing in a smarter and a snazzier look and feel. This redesign has taken place for the first time after the magazine had launched in India, five years ago.

Talking exclusively to Adgully, Debolin Sen, Publisher, BBC TopGear further elaborates on the need for this facelift among other things. Sen said, "It's been 5 years since the brand launched in India. A lot has changed since then -the automobile market, the consumer, our editorial outlook. All this necessitated a redesign and hence the evolution to a sharper, a slicker and a more reader focused product."

He further explained, "How our advertisers and our readers perceive us is important. And this redesign will only add to the positivity that already exists around the brand. Moreover it's also part of a Global Redesign exercise that was recently initiated in the UK. So from both aspects, it's an opportune moment for us to refocus on the brand."

With the launch campaign of this new look, BBC TopGear hopes to bring back the love men have for machines. "We want to make cars and machines conversation starters. Men should discuss cars just the way they discuss music, wine and women. Their relationship is a lot utilitarian and practical now. If we are able to achieve what we want to, it'll have a positive impact on all the auto magazines in the market. We want to make auto magazines interesting and exciting, starting with BBC TopGear," Sen further explained.

There also has been content modification and additions along with this redesign for the magazine. Although the magazine remains true to its DNA with its inspirational, irreverent and authoritative presentation style, it has become a lot easier to the eye, making it a far richer and satisfying reading experience according to Sen. "While the architecture stays the same, the magazine sections have expanded and have a new look about them," stated Sen

First Drives, has become one of the new core sections of the magazine. "It's the litmus through which we put all our cars so that our readers can make informed buying decisions," Sen added. Features which are the heart of the magazine now have the most lush, indulgent photography, story writing and layouts. "Planet TopGear captures the experiences of ordinary people and their extraordinary achievements with machines," Sen said, urging readers to read the May issue to rediscover BBC TopGear in its new avatar.

The response of this new look have been positive according to industry reports. "Initial market feedback from our retail partners is also positive. We've had encouraging off takes in the first week of launch and that's not surprising," Sen added further.

Sen then adds on that the magazine is differentiated from others in the same space on its style of journalism, tonality, content presentation and photography. "All of these contribute to making the brand what it is - the world's # 1 motoring media brand. No one comes close," Sen said with pride.

Talking about plans for the upcoming months, Sen said, "2011 is the year of BBC TopGear in India. We are investing hugely behind this redesign across all fronts ' editorial, marketing, business alliances, partnerships, digital. So in addition to a refreshed magazine, the India page of the website www.topgear.com has also gone live. On the anvil are mobile and tablet applications. This business and brand push should deliver encouraging results."

The magazine will continue to deliver the best on the automobile front and readers can look forward to and experience the brand new BBC TopGear this month. | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]