Sumantha Rathore
Media

Men's Health India goes digital on its fifth anniversary

The magazine has launched India's first moving magazine cover to mark its entry in the digital world.

If you rubbed your eyes twice when you saw Bollywood actor Prateik, who adorns the latest cover page of Men's Health India, smile shyly and move, you are not hallucinating. The men's title from the stable of India Today Group launched India's first moving cover for the digital editions of the magazine.

Breathing some life into the otherwise mundane magazine cover is the digital edition of Men's Health, which completes its anniversary this month. The digital team of the group has been working on this for almost a year now, with two trial covers shot in January and May.

Men's Health India goes digital on its fifth anniversary
Men's Health India goes digital on its fifth anniversary
This is a first of sorts for Men's Health India, the first edition of the magazine that features a Bollywood celebrity on the cover. Jamal Sheikh, editorial director, Men's Health India, says, "Celebrities on our cover will help us reach out to newer audiences, but the focus will not be on gossip or film publicity, but will continue to be on the lessons stars have learnt that can help our readers upgrade their own lives."

The digital version of the magazine can be experienced on www.menshealthindia.com, and is available on iPad, Android tablets, PC and Mac. Going forward, it will also be available on BlackBerry, iPhone and Android phones.

To promote the digital edition, the group has tied-up with Magzter and Zinio platforms, and is in the midst of building a dedicated Men's Health magazine app for Apple newsstands. The group is promoting the digital version through its other print, television and digital properties, apart from newsstands, through display schemes across eight major cities.

As far as the revenue model for the digital edition is concerned, the magazine will be available for a subscription of $0.99 for a single copy, and $11.99 for a yearly subscription.

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the magazine has come up with a 32-page booklet on muscle-building, titled Personal Trainer+, apart from the main edition which is 128 pages strong. The issue will have a new and simpler design and presentation format. The new design will have more emphasis on easy navigation.

Though the tablet version of the magazine will be a replica of the physical version, going forward, the team aims to make it more interactive and tablet-friendly.

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com