In a country whose millionaire list is rapidly expanding, there’s enough money to go around for big-name luxury brands seeking new customers. But the battle in India is to change mind-sets, to encourage guilt-free conspicuous consumption. And that’s what the international fashion glossy Vogue intends to do when it launches here later this month, the nearly 400-page issue packed with ads from the magazine’s favorite global advertisers, ranging from Gucci to Jimmy Choo to Louis Vuitton.
Conde Nast, whose portfolio has 127 magazines in 23 markets, will be launching its 17th Vogue with the India edition, which will include photo spreads from Indian and Western designers, travel stories and celebrity-authored pieces. This is its first foray into South Asia. Vogue launched in China in 2005.
Vogue is the latest international name to launch in a lifestyle magazine market that’s already home to brands like Cosmopolitan, Maxim, Hello, Marie Claire and Time Out. Foreign brands are allowed only 26% ownership in news ventures. In 2005, India leveled the playing field for global media brands when it came to non-news publications, allowing them 100% foreign direct investment. Vogue says it is the first foreign magazine to capitalize on that opportunity and is going it alone in the country.
If it succeeds, there’s plenty of money to be made. The Asia/Pacific magazine market excluding Japan is projected to grow by 7.2% annually, reaching $20.7 billion by 2010, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers. Advertising is slated to rise by 5% annually to $8.1 billion in 2010. That means there’s plenty of potential for India, where advertising spending is a mere 0.34% of GDP.
In a country with a billion-plus population, only about 6 million subscribe to magazines, according to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation, which tracks 65 publications. Admittedly that’s not an accurate figure because several regional magazines in particular may not be listed with the bureau.
But the best-selling women’s magazine, Meri Saheli (My Friend), has a circulation of only 352,000. The largest English-language women’s magazine, Femina, boasts of a circulation of about 145,000.
However, Alex Kuruvilla, managing director of Vogue India, calls the figures exaggerated, saying the top women’s magazines in English have a circulation below 50,000. Vogue plans to start with 50,000 copies and will soon increase it, banking on word-of-mouth advertising and the big pockets of global advertisers and Indian names like designers Tarun Tahiliani and JJ Valaya and the jewelry chain Mehrasons.
In a chat with Forbes.com, Kuruvilla and Vogue Managing Editor Priya Tanna spoke about Indians’ fashion sense, the country’s large untapped market and, of course, the color of the season.
Forbes.com: What kind of market research have you done and what unique traits has it thrown up about Vogue’s potential Indian audience?
Priya Tanna: Indians have been surrounded by a certain sense of luxury for a long time, so it’s not a cultural revolution that’s been thrust upon us. This is a country where women have worn the national garment [sari] for 500 years.
What’s changed, though, is that the Indian woman has moved from a ‘we’ culture to a ‘me’ culture. She’s come into her own, is more exposed to the world, has a great job and spending power, so consumption patterns have changed. She’s started paying a lot more attention to herself.
The Indian woman has begun identifying her style, one that doesn’t simply ape the West, or stick to traditional Indian wear. We want to monitor that change.…Indians are colorful people. We’re never going to shy away from color. I dread to think of a day when we become a gray country. But we’ve moved away from a phase when more was good, when attire was all about ornate embellishments.
Alex Kuruvilla: India now doesn’t even feature in luxury statistics across Asia, but that’s changing rapidly as wealth increases. People with household incomes higher than $100,000 are at 1 million-plus, and that’s a number growing at around 15% annually. We saw there wasn’t really a magazine that catered to this population. Indians were learning about global fashions through word of mouth, from their experiences while traveling abroad. In the domestic market, all the excitement is still in television.
But when we did research, we found awareness was 100%. Potential customers relayed back our fashion messages to us, like that of Vogue being the fashion bible. Advertising dollars will be spent on reinforcing this message. We’re limiting ourselves to a small chunk at the top of the readership pyramid in India …people with disposable income for luxury brands. That’s a sizable chunk now.
Priya, you’ve been in this media for several years. What is key to succeed for a fashion magazine?
Tanna: Our lives aren’t ruled as much by seasons as they are ruled by celebrations and festivals. Weather plays the all-encompassing role of being the greatest fashion designer. But we’re seeing a gradual change to a more Western way of fashion, with stores now stocking two big collections a year.
We’re targeting both the old moneyed and the young butterflies who’ve recently come into riches. We’ll bring fashion from runways like Milan and New York to them in a language they relate to.
What’s your color for the season?
Tanna: I do see us being purple. It’s the color of Indian royalty, it’s elegant and timeless.
Can you share with me some anecdotes that to you are characteristic of a classic response of an Indian reader?
Tanna: We were interacting with potential readers from New Delhi and Mumbai. One of them saw a Louis Vuitton bag in the magazine and said she would buy it for a wedding. But the same woman saw a Tarun Tahiliani sari, and she said she’ll get her tailor to design that. I have to make sure we keep things like that in mind because the Indian woman will not stop going to her neighborhood tailor.
Vogue is known for being risqué. How much do you plan on toning that down for India?
Tanna: Vogue takes on the personality of the country where it launches. If I talk about Goth, whips and leather, I don’t think a woman sitting in New Delhi is going to buy that copy. We’re going to carry features that are relevant to her, and they’ll be a mix of global and Indian content.
Why did you decide to go it alone in India instead of in a joint venture?
Kuruvilla: We see this as our business, our money. Vogue has been hovering around the Indian market for a while, waiting for the right time to enter. Earlier, none of our big global advertisers were here. Now they’re slowly coming into the country, though luxury growth numbers still aren’t very encouraging. For our first issue, we’ve got a very encouraging response from global and domestic advertisers.
Indian women’s wardrobes are still dominated by Indian brands, but what is changing dramatically are their accessories, and that’s where international brands are making rapid inroads.
We have one partnership--we’ve tied up with India Today for distribution. We are going out to 40 major cities and towns as soon as we launch. There will be that odd woman in Patna [the capital city of the eastern Indian state of Bihar] who wants the magazine, and we’ll be sure she gets it.
What are your plans for other Conde Nast magazines in India going forward?
Kuruvilla: Vogue’s the flagship brand; now we’re poised to take on a second or third title quite soon. In a rapidly growing market, with a huge untapped audience, we see great potential. We hope to have five titles in three/four years. [They’re looking at introducing Gentleman’s Quarterly, Glamour and Traveler.] The India Vogue will be priced at 100 rupees [approximately $2.50].