Exclusive | Padhiar's Mantra: Bring Gadget Joy to People's Life

In the last few years, the electronics and telecom revolution coupled with the growth of internet and mobile has seen the market for gadgets exploding. Higher disposable incomes and easy loan schemes have helped millions to fulfill their aspirations for buying the latest in consumer electronics. In fact it would not be wrong to say that we are more dependent on gadgets than ever before. Be it computers, smart phones, internet or driving a car. Or take a simple pleasure like photography or task like doing calculations for that matter.

While the gadgets market has grown beyond leaps and bounds, so has the market for technical magazines that specialized in gadgets review & coverage. Confirming this Nishant Padhiar, Editor of STUFF India and What Hi-Fi?, says, “Readers are evolving rapidly, thanks to the influx of multiple international titles as it increases the appetite for better production, better writing, better photography and eventually, better quality. You simply cannot assume any longer that a reader won't be able to catch a defect in a picture or spot an error in your writing. The readers have helped raise the bar with their awareness and I appreciate that.” Padhiar told us while speaking exclusively to Adgully.

A veteran with over 15 years of experience as Editor, Web Publisher, TV Co-Anchor and Brand Consultant Nishant Padhiar is one of the leading authorities in the country for verdicts on the latest technology. He has been at the forefront of expert product reviews after establishing AV MAX, India’s first magazine dedicated to high end home theatre and audio systems in 1999. Later on Nishant moved to head T3, an international gadget magazine that created a new niche in the Indian market for tech hungry gadget-o-philes.

The reporting standards too have improved significantly from the early days. The competition is no longer from a single medium or channel. It's everywhere and that makes reporting more challenging and immediate. Padhiar adds, “One has to create a differentiation based on style and production rather than the content because the content is more or less similar since everyone has the same access point. The latency has become almost non-existent in bringing a news story from its point of origin to the customer with the help of micro-blogging and notification apps. It's all much more dynamic and exciting than before but keeps me on my toes more than a decade ago for sure.”

Since its launch in 2008, STUFF has grown exponentially. Its content is virtually 100% Indian even though the mother ship is docked in the UK. “This has opened up a lot of portals and many successful brand partnerships across TV, print and radio, partnerships with NDTV, Economic Times, 94.3 Radio One and many more established players across the industry have been launched.” The STUFF Gadget Show, first of its kind brand extension held recently received an overwhelming response, Padhiar went on to say, “More such STUFF SHOWS are planned for 2013 on an even bigger scale and we will be participating in like-minded events and exhibitions to increase our reach.” As for STUFF, he further adds that “It is poised to be more than just a magazine. We are aiming to create the ultimate gadget experience around the brand, be it in terms of print magazines, live shows, TV or anything else that might get us closer to our audience. The STUFF mantra of bringing GADGET JOY to a person’s life is what I'd like to work towards.”

As the editor, Padhiar keeps a bird’s eye view over the production, designing, writing quality, photography and also gives his inputs with regard to marketing of the magazine. For the past four years, he has been ensuring readers a seamless reading experience by maintaining extremely strict quality standards over the editorial and production of STUFF and What Hi Fi.

Overall it has been a wonderful journey admits Padhiar, “The journey so far has been almost like a dream run. Being in the company of talented peers, hallowed industry honchos and the finest tech in the world has spoilt me to an extent, but who am I to complain!”

On his style of leadership, Padhiar prefers letting individuals be their own boss. “Not only does it harvest more ownership towards the brand but also raises the stakes and always yields better results from the team.” A hands-on leader he believes in contributing equally or more to the team effort towards the common goal - to make the best tech/lifestyle magazine in the country. The success of the magazine is due to the hard work of his team of talented writers and designers who operate as a homogeneous unit.

On the opportunities for STUFF going forward, the magazine is exploring or rather testing the waters in the regional language space. In a country like India with its huge geographical and demographical spread, there will always be a market for regional language special interest publications. Padhiar says, “The only stumbling block for gadget magazines specifically is the translation of text because technology and its terminology has originated in the English language for which there are no regional substitutes. Even so, we are experimenting with a few publications like Dainik Bhaskar and others to test the acceptability factor.”

“However the biggest challenge is from the internet and instead of trying to overcome it, we choose to join it.” Today STUFF is available across IOS and Android based tablets, a completely new website would be online soon. There is also an active Facebook and Twitter community with more than 17,000 fans. “So, the challenges lie in maintaining consistency across these platforms and delivering the same STUFF experience on all devices and mediums while keeping its identity aloof from the competition,” concludes Padhiar.