@ IMC'10 Day 1: Future of international magazines in India and custom publishing

The third panel on the first day of the IMC, (Indian Magazine Congress) organized by AIM held on 6th and 7th Spetember 2010, deliberated at length on "The Future of International Magazine Brands in India'.

The session was moderated by Maheshwar Peri, President & Publisher, Outlook. Other members of the panel included, Hoshang Billimoria, CEO, Next Gen Publishing; Nicholas Brett, Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Managing Director, BBC Worldwide Magazines; Rasina Uberoi, Vice-President, Media Transasia; and Sandeep Khosla, CEO, Publshing, Infomedia18.

Billimoria, CEO, Next Gen Publishing spoke about the issues of licensing and how the one with more resources have a better chance. "Licensing will take place only on merit in the future", he stated.

Rasina Uberoi was of the opinion that investment needs to be made heavily, because even if the brand is well established abroad, one must do what it takes to reach out to the local consumers.

Khosla from Infomedia insisted that one must have the edge over competition and it is time now to act.

Nicholas Brett from BBC Worldwide Magazines said. "India is a great market and the opportunities are good but one can't be too imperialistic and the consumer must be given prime importance". He was of the opinion that partnering with the right company is crucial. If something is being launched in India, one must look at it from the perspective of India. Content has to be relevant to the local audience.

The final panel discussion for the day reflected over "Drivers for Growth in Custom Publishing'. There are many niche magazines today in the market which adhere to custom publishing. The panel discussed the tools in increasing its growth.

Akila Urankar, President, Business Standard; Pradeep Gupta Managing Director, CyberMedia; Prakash Johari, CEO, Maxposure Media and Xavier Collaco, President, Media Transasia were part of the panel, with Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President & Publisher, Chitralekha Group as the moderator.

Prakash Johari, Maxposure media was of the opinion that in custom publishing, technology is an important factor in order to derive optimum results. According to Xavier Collaco, Media Transasia; this field is growing expeditiously only because it is a new territory for many. In India there is only 0.2 per cent spends in this field, which is nothing, compared to other countries. However this also enables a vast scope for growth. While Pradeep Gupta, CyberMedia; said that this field of business was least hit by recession, whereas Akila Urankar, Business Standar; said this constituted only a small percentage and one should work on the content for custom publishing. She also said companies must start paying premium, if there should be a growth in this division.

Resources and expertise is required to obtain adequate knowledge pertaining within the sphere, to make it more attractive. | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]