MxMIndia

Tag: Tarun Rai

  • Tarun Rai speaks to MxM India about raising the profile of the magazine industry, and other plans for AIM

    Magazines deserve more: Tarun Rai (with video)

    Story by Akash Raha and video by Shruti Pushkarna

     

    [youtube width=”325″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhPNt1g3SXU[/youtube]

    Mr Tarun Rai, CEO of Worldwide Media, recently donned the role of President of Association of Indian Magazines. In a conversation with MxM India, he spoke about the development and the role of AIM in the magazine industry.

     

    Reacting to the development Mr Rai said, “It’s an honour… I have been a part of AIM for four years now, pretty much as soon as I joined the industry. For me it has been a fantastic experience. I come from advertising and I had no idea about the magazine business. Thanks to my membership of AIM, very quickly I was co-opted to the magazine industry. I have learnt a lot from my peers in AIM and I owe a lot to them.”

     

    Mr Rai was earlier the Vice President of AIM and took over from Mr Pradeep Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, Cybermedia. He said, “Mr Pradeep Gupta the outgoing President, has had a terrific run in the last two years and as I take over from him I hope to continue the good job that AIM has done over the last two years. We are a small organization but I think we have learnt a lot to collaborate and make sure that we do things that are beneficial to the entire industry. Right now we are too small. We are just 3 percent of the total ad spends. We deserve more, but just by saying that we deserve more we are not going to get it. So we have to do things to convince the advertisers about the strength of our media. That is the reason we instituted the engagement survey and we are going to take it to its right conclusion by having a proper campaign around it and material which will convince the advertisers. That’s just one of the things. Generally speaking, the magazine industry can do with a higher profile.  So my attempt will be to raise the profile of the magazine industry by doing activities. One of the things it will do is to bring more talent to our business. The way our industry is growing we need a lot of people very fast. We need different kinds of people; with this digital opportunity that has come up we need different and varied kinds of young people to come to our business. By raising the profile of the industry we will also attract new talent to the business. That is going to be one of my important priorities.”

     

    The AIM names were announced at the annual general meeting of the apex association of magazines, held soon after the proceedings of Day 1 of the World Magazine Congress concluded. The current office bearers are Mr Mitrajit Bhattacharya as Vice-President, Mr Rajmohan as General Secretary and Mr Paresh Nath as Treasurer. Mr Rai and his team will hold office until 2013.

  • BBC TopGear celebrates its sixth year in India with a mega 214-page October issue.

    TopGear marks 6th anniversary

    By Akash Raha

    BBC TopGear celebrates its sixth year in India with a mega 214-page issue. The October anniversary issue has hit the newsstands at a price point of Rs 150. The rising price of fuel has not deterred the hottest cars of the world from descending on Indian shores. Moreover, with the Indian GP around the corner, the sentiment around is all for performance.

    Commenting on the anniversary issue, Mr Tarun Rai, CEO Worldwide Media, said,

    “The last six years have been an exciting ride for TopGear. And this year has been exceptional. We went in for a redesign, added lots of new sections in the magazine but kept the price at Rs 100, even though the others increased their cover prices. We believe with so much action in the car market, including the top end glamour segment and the F1 contributing its bit, the time is just right for TopGear. We are gunning for the number one position.”

    The anniversary issue of the magazine from the Worldwide Media group drives Koenigseggs, Aston Martins, and Jags with an India exclusive drive of one of the most exotic – The Maserati GranTurismo.

    Mr Girish Karkera, Editor, TopGear India said “In the increasingly crowded segment of auto magazines, TopGear has been growing from strength to strength with its hot cars, cool features, great photography and striking design. The magazine, thanks to its unique approach to cars and bikes, has managed to stand out from the rest of its ilk. And while conventional wisdom would suggest that the current environment is that of high fuel prices, high interest rates, and higher cost of living, TopGear, with its unique style of writing and presenting has managed to rise above the mundane and keep the readers engaged with cars… by providing dollops of entertainment, humour and information to maintain itself as an engaging and exciting read; irrespective of the world around it.”

     

    Mr Debolin Sen, Publisher, TopGear India said “2011 is the year for BBC TopGear in India. The year has seen the magazine perform exceptionally well in a crowded marketplace and we aim to build on the momentum that’s been generated. Together with the magazine redesign in April, the launch of www.topgear.com earlier this year, the magazine’s ready to host the TopGear Awards on November 25 in Mumbai.  With BBC TopGear the excitement and passion never ends. It just gets bigger and better. The sixth Anniversary Special is yet another reflection of the TopGear spirit.”

     

    Since TopGear is celebrating, the readers reap the benefits with a free DVD worth Rs 599 of XXX-2, an exclusive small car directory along with the TG Lifestyle supplement.

    Since it’s the flavour of the season, readers stand a chance to win Rs 1.5 lakh worth of Indian F1 GP tickets by participating in the TopGear Air-drive to F1 contest. More details are available in the issue and on www.topgear.com/india.