Gadget mag Stuff comes to India

The Indian edition of Stuff will hit the stands on November 20, priced at Rs 100

International magazines are making a beeline for India. The latest one to join the league is UK's gadget magazine, Stuff, from the Haymarket Media Group.

This is not the first publication from the Haymarket Group to hit the newsstands in India. It has launched Indian versions of many of its products, including Autocar, Autocar Pro, Campaign, PrintWeek, What Car? and What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision.

The Indian edition of Stuff will hit the stands on November 20, priced at Rs 100.

Talking to afaqs! about the launch, Rupert Heseltine, director, Haymarket Media Group, says, “The desire to know more about the latest gadgets is increasing in the Indian market because the rising middle class here is taking a keen interest in technology and becoming more tech savvy. With a whole new class of nouveau rich Indians being created recently, it was the right time to launch Stuff in India.”

Despite the increasing newsprint costs, the company decided to go ahead with its launch plans. “Though the economic conditions are not so great around the world, we found that the market in India is still growing and the timing was apt. The rising newsprint costs were not a deterrent for us,” says Heseltine. Haymarket is present in eight countries, including China, the US, India and Europe.

To ensure that the magazine has a connect with its readers, the publishers are giving it an Indian spin.

Being a male-centric magazine, Stuff covers peripherals which interest men, including gadgets, cars, apparel, accessories and fashion gear. The content will include first tests, exclusive news, reviews, gadgets-against-gadgets, adventure and gadgets, and the top 10 gadgets.

“We don't talk about the technical aspect of any product and tear it down, but we discuss the look and feel of the products. Stuff is the iPod of magazines, simple to use and uniquely desirable,” adds Heseltine.

Nishant Padhiar is the editor of Stuff in India. He has been associated with the group for the past one year as editor of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision. He will handle both magazines now.

Padhiar says, “The major challenge for the Indian version will be to replicate the look and feel of the international edition. We'll keep a keen eye on the availability of products in the local market. The Indian edition will have a slight bent towards lifestyle features.”

Stuff has 22 established international editions. The Indian edition will have 120 pages, of which 90 will be dedicated to editorial content and the rest to advertising. The initial print run is planned at 30,000 copies. Stuff’s target audience is men in their 20s and 30s.

The photographs in Stuff and its cover page will be tailored to the Indian market. “There will be a certain degree of synergy in the content of the two magazines (What Hi-Fi and Stuff),” says Padhiar.

The monthly magazine will be produced from the Mumbai office of the group. According to Padhiar, the magazine is just the beginning of bigger things. “It will be followed by a state of the art website, exhibitions and events in the future,” he says.

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