LaunchPAD: Condé Nast Traveller India

After the successful launch of Vogue and GQ in India, the Condé Nast group launched the Indian edition of Condé Nast Traveller this month.

The Launch Edition of Condé Nast Traveller India is currently on the stands in 20+ towns across India and is priced at Rs.100.

The launch cover features Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, photographed by Pascal Chevallier in Paris as she takes us on a tour of her favourite European capital.

Following the launch, the magazine will publish a bi-monthly issue.

Cover: New Yorker Escher Style Cover

July 5, 2010 edition of The New Yorker once again highlights the Gulf oil spill issue its M.C. Escher style cover illustration done by Bob Staake. To see the June 7, 2010 edition on the same issue, click here.

LaunchPAD: Home Trends, India Edition

Home Trends, a magazine aimed at architecture and interior design professionals, enters the Indian market this month. A flagship title of the New Zealand headquartered Trends Publishing, this magazine is being launched by Worldwide Media (a 50:50 joint venture owned by the Times of India Group and BBC Worldwide).

The CEO of Worldwide Media, Tarun Rai, in an interview to Campaign India called Home Trends a ‘bookazine’ highlighting the reference value of the magazine. Priced at Rs 250, the magazine will be available at select outlets and bookstores across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

LaunchPAD: Lonely Planet India, INC. India

Two weeks, two new magazines!

Lonely Planet India makes an entry into the India market with its February 2010 issue. A product of Worldwide Media (Times Group and BBC Worldwide joint venture) this magazine was launched by actors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor in a in a star-studded Bollywood party in Mumbai. See video of the magazine launch here. [Do not miss Arshad Warsi playing with his moustache as he talks about travel and LP :)]

Priced at Rs 100, LP magazine is aimed at the affluent, urban couples who like to travel. The launch issue also has a 2010 calendar with pictures of some choice destinations and is nice.
[But who uses wall calendars these days? Definitely not the affluent, urban Indian couples!]

The Indian edition of INC. magazine, Inc. India made a relatively quieter entry into the Indian market in the last week of January. The magazine is brought to India by 9.9 Mediaworx and is priced at Rs 150.
[I have long been an admirer of INC.’s design and style of writing and was a tad disappointed to see that the launch issue looked a bit hastily put together and lacked a coherent design!]

Video: 2000-2010 through Magazines Covers

Magazine Publishers of America and the American Society of Magazine Editors have put together an amazing video that tells the story of the last decade (2000-2010) through 92 iconic magazine covers.

LaunchPAD: Witness

Witness, a magazine targeted at India's large legal fraternity (advocates, educators, attorneys, judges, and government officials), became available on select newsstands from July 16.
Priced at Rs 50, Witness is by the newly formed Srigro Interactive and is distributed through Central News Agency.

The magazine will be formally launched on August 1, 2009 by AR Lakshmanan, Chairman, Law Commission of India.

LaunchPAD: OPEN Magazine

This week saw the launch of OPEN, a weekly news and features magazine from RPG Enterprises. The magazine is modelled on the lines of 'Time' and 'New Yorker', and will initially have about 60 pages of editorial content and 10-15 pages of ads.

The launch issue featured an opinion poll in Pakistan as the cover story.

To get a taste of OPEN, read the first issue online at http://www.openthemagazine.com/

LaunchPAD: Harper's Bazaar India Edition

This week, 'Harper's BAZAAR' launches its 29th international edition in India, with India's first ever 'crystallised' cover (on limited editions only). With a tagline ‘Where Fashion Gets Personal,’ Harper's BAZAAR will be published every month.

The inaugural issue, with more than 200 pages, is an encyclopedia of fashion and targets the sophisticated and stylish Indian woman. The masthead on 18,000 limited edition covers is studded with sparkling 'XILION CRYSTALLIZED - Swarovski Elements' in order create the ultimate inspirational experience that marries fashion and luxury.
The limited edition magazine also has a ‘Made with CRYSTALLIZED - Swarovski Elements tag verifying its authenticity and exclusivity.

Ediorial: Esquire Feb 2009 cover-Innovation or a Threat to Editorial Integrity?

The February issue of Esquire blurs the boundary between advertising and editorial in new ways: right in the middle (see on Obama's shoulder) of the cover is a window, or peel-back flap with an invitation to “Open here”.

Opening the window reveals quotations from articles inside the issue and an advertisement for “One Way Out,” a new series on the Discovery Channel cable network. Those who leave the window unopened do not see the ad or the quotations.

New York Times reports that the concept was the brainchild of the editor-in-chief of Esquire, David Granger. “Everybody keeps talking about how print is an old medium. It is an old medium, but it doesn’t mean it’s a wrung-out medium or a tired medium,” Mr. Granger said to NYT.

However, the 'flap' cover issue has sparked much debate and is being viewed as being in contravention of guidelines put forth by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). ASME has invited David Granger to justify himself before his peers at a member's lunch (Feb 24) where the proposed topics of discussion is: "Is the cover window on the Obama issue of Esquire an exciting print innovation -- or a threat to editorial integrity"

LaunchPAD: Femina Hindi

Femina, one of the earliest Indian magazine for women (all the smart aunties read that as opposed to Sarita, Women’s Era, etc when I was growing up), celebrates its golden jubilee this year and has announced a Hindi edition to mark the occasion.
Priced at Rs 40, Femina Hindi is a monthly and will offer pretty much the same content--health, career, beauty, fashion and relationships—though modified for the Hindi readers. The initial print run is 1,00,000 copies and the magazine will be on the newsstand this week.
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Did you notice the Femina October cover with an oval mirror (ad of Tanishq)? I bought the issue and google search got me to this link. Below is an extract from this newsstory that apparently highlights the 'thought' behind this 'interesting media innovation':

“A mirror is not a mere looking glass for women, but a reflection of what they perceive themselves to be. One would remember the evil stepmother of Snow White who would admire her reflection in her mirror for hours, asking often ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?’
Tanishq’s media innovation doesn’t have any sinister connotation of that magic mirror of the fairy tale of yore. But it does seek to bring out women’s intimate association with her mirror, especially when decked in all her finery.”

Disgusting!!!