L'Officiel begins second innings

L'Officiel India that went off stands in May 2013 was re-launched by the Maxposure Media Group at an official launch party in Mumbai. The French magazine began operations in India in 2002 and was earlier published by Apricot Publications.

The monthly magazine will be priced at Rs 100 and is aimed at well-heeled and well travelled Indian women who like to dress and are not short of spending for it. L'Officiel India aims to be an ultimate fashion, style and luxury destination for the elite Indians and be an authoritative voice of the Indian fashion industry. The magazine is targeted at 35-year-old, educated women.

The initial print run will be 45,000 copies and will target luxury lifestyle brands for advertisements. It refrained from revealing its ad:edit content ratio as it prefers to wait and watch how it fares in its second innings.

It will now be led by a new editor, Juhi Dua, who has completely changed the content patterns and will follow the French counterpart style.

Dua says that earlier, the magazine did not have a specific format but from now on, it will have each issue divided into seven segments of content such as Good Life, Style, Culture, Glam Nights, Beauty, Fashion and Color Chart.

She adds that it is not a new magazine to India and was present even when most fashion magazines had not entered India. People trust it and it already owns the loyalty of advertisers. Maxposure Media plans to revive the position and continue its legacy.

The magazine was launched with an official party in Mumbai. The brand is currently being promoted through social media. Dua adds that L'Officiel India plans to have a big presence on the social media platform in due course of time.

The October issue has Jacqueline Fernandes as its cover girl. It plans to launch an outdoor campaign with the next issue to create noise about its presence in Mumbai and other markets. To create buzz among its targeted SEC, it aims to launch every issue with a party hosted by the cover girl.

It has also tied up with Toni&Guy, a UK-based salon chain and will promote short videos of two minutes on the magazine.

For the record, Maxposure Media Group is a full service media company spread across publishing, creative solutions, events, custom publishing, ambient media, international representation and outsourcing. It publishes magazines such as Andpersand, Estetica, FHM, Diabetic Living, Parents India, Parents India Advice, Spiceroute, Mercedes-Benz magazine, Shubh Yatra (Air India's in-flight magazine), Fly Africa, Nissan, Smarttrucking, Milestones, Hamburg, High 5 (DLF Phase 5's magazine), DLF Promenade, Axis Bank's Homecoming, Priority Pages & Ascend; Crossing Insights, Credai Times, Young Stars, Watts up, Badhte Kadam, Citywalker (Select Citywalk mall's magazine) and Hair Say.

It also forayed into the international market with the launch of Fly Africa. Maxposure Media Group is a subsidiary of Gruner+Jahr, which owns 78.25 per cent share in the venture; the other 21.75 per cent is owned by Prakash Johari.

The French title is owned by Les Editions Jalou Media Group, and is known for its focus on high-end fashion and luxury lifestyle. It advises women on how to dress and directly supports the retail activity of international fashion and luxury brands. The title is currently distributed in about 70 countries.