Ex | Anant Nath of Delhi Press is all set to race with BS Motoring

Delhi Press, one of the leading publishing house with the most varied genres of magazines in its kitty, has some time back acquired one of India’s longest running auto magazines, BS Motoring, from the Business Standard group. The magazine was initially started as a page exclusively devoted to automobiles in the paper in 1995. It was later turned into a standalone quarterly magazine in 1998 and a monthly in January 1999. Editorially, the magazine has a dedicated following that has been attracted by its writing style which combines subject expertise with an edgy attitude, and passion for cars with a sense of fun.

To know more about their plans ahead and also to get an understanding of the current acquisition, Adgully caught up with Anant Nath, director, Delhi Press.

Speaking about the rationale behind acquiring BS Motoring and how does it fit into their scheme of things, Nath said, “We saw the segment of automobiles growing and we thought we could nurture the magazine going forward and they were also looking for a buyer. The best part is this magazine would expand our portfolio and would help getting a holistic approach. Since we did not have automobile in our kitty, we are really excited to take it ahead.”

On asked how this will be done, Nath explained that since the magazine is old and well established, the content too seems quite settled. He says, “Leaving the content aside what would be under concern would be the packaging and the design of the magazine. I personally feel that there the magazine lacks and there is a gap that can be filled but editorial wise the magazine is fairly edgy and we would want to maintain that.”

Over the years Motoring has carved a well-placed niche for itself as a publication devoted to the interests of auto-enthusiasts and lovers. Delhi Press hopes to continue to shape the magazine such that it stands apart by it cliquish flavour, bold visual representations, innovative columns, nuanced writing and varied topicality, serving as an authentic forum for satisfying the interests of worthy auto – aficionados. In the coming three four months the magazine would see some different titer design and more bold visual presentation, new website and more marketing emphasis too. 

On the marketing front Nath highlighted the fact that it was too early to reveal the plans since the team would want to get their hands on to the magazine first and then would take it ahead. After seeing the growth of niche magazines and content, when asked Nath to share his view point on this, he said, “the acceptability of the niche content is quite visible in our country and the scope also seems fairly good. According to him, distribution and marketing of niche magazines is a challenge and a matter of concern. On one side the scope is really increasing but limitations are also taking a toll.”

On the strategy that they would follow to market the add-on in their kitty, Nath said, “There is no set pattern actually but we would want to evolve the kind of distribution network we have as in the mornings are still full of newspapers and the distributors still find hard to distribute a magazine so we are still not sure that the magazine would reach to our reader.”

Over the years Motoring has carved a well-placed niche for itself as a publication devoted to the interests of auto-enthusiasts and lovers. Highlighting the market outlook for automobile magazines going forward; Nath said, “The sector did see a steady growth and is expected to grow more rapidly in the coming years. The magazine has already carved a niche for it in the automobile market hence all we would wish to do is to maintain that position.”

“One more challenge is that we have competitors and also the automobile enthusiasts are moving to internet and hence magazines are losing their charm somewhere but Motoring as magazine has an edge here. The kind of response the magazine is getting because of content is really motivating for our team,” he adds.

The editorial and business teams of BS Motoring will move along with the magazine to Delhi Press. Mr. Pablo Chatterji, who has been with the magazine for last ten years, will be the Managing Editor. The magazine will be published by Delhi Press from the May issue onwards.

With 35 magazines in nine languages, Delhi Press publishes one of the most diverse portfolios of magazines in India and has a collective readership of more than 30 million. Delhi Press publishes the largest read magazine in India, Saras Salil, the most popular women’s magazine, Grihshobha, and the largest read children’s magazine, Champak. It also publishes the leading narrative journalism magazine of India, The Caravan. Delhi Press was established in 1939 and is a full-service publishing house with its own printing facilities and its own distribution and logistics company that reaches out to more than 3,000 magazine distributers and agents.