Britain’s ‘OK!’ comes to India

You might soon see Jennifer Aniston’s face peering at you from your local news stands, for Britain’s famous celebrity weekly, ‘OK!’, will hit the stands in India in the next two days. The magazine’s publisher in India is VJM Media Pvt. Ltd, which is promoted by Vijay Mallya. The publishing company already has magazines such as ‘Hi! Blitz’ and ‘Cine Blitz’ in its portfolio.

Unlike in Britain where it is a weekly, the Indian edition will be a monthly. Priced at Rs 100, ‘OK!’ will contain 116 pages of glossy entertainment. The target group is SEC A1, A2, men and women. The magazine promises to reach other parts of the country beyond the metros.

In the UK, the magazine claims to have a circulation of over two million copies per week. In India, the team expects a circulation of about 55,000 per month, which, according to them, will be equivalent to the two million mark attained in Britain considering various parameters.

The magazine’s editor in India is ex-‘Mid-Day’ columnist Sonali Kamat, who will head the local operations.

The first issue boasts of an exclusive interview with Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston as the cover story. In addition, it will have interviews with Bollywood stars John Abraham and Ayesha Takia, amongst others, and interesting photographs, too pages. It will have news from across the world and not just from India.

As a marketing promotion, the magazine plans to give away designer kurtas (designed by Tarun Tahiliani initially) to two subscribers every month. A new designer will be roped in every month for the promotional offer.

Kamat clarifies, “We don’t want the kurtas to be the sole reason for the people to buy our magazine. We want the content to drive people to subscribe to the magazine. The designer wear will be just a bonus. And the magazine’s content will ensure that the reader comes back for the next issue.”

Isn’t the magazine priced too high? Won’t the price deter prospective readers? Kamat says, “We are aware of the difficulties we might face because of the price factor. But we are providing a heavy introductory discount of 40 per cent on subscriptions, which, effectively, makes it cheaper.”

Well, now all we have to see is how the Indian ‘OK!’ performs in the midst of the numerous glamour magazines already on the news stands.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!