Why the closure of People isn't bad news for the mag industry

Yesterday, we learnt that Outlook group pulled the plug on three of their international titles, People, Marie Claire and Geo. Social media quickly interpreted this development as the harbinger of the death of the magazine business in India, and a warning to all of print, including newspapers.

BestMediaInfo, which broke the news, joined the dots they saw and linked the closure of these three titles to the closure, last week, of The Times of India Crest edition, as if, in some way, these were connected.

My colleague at Firstpost wrote: “This latest development, say industry insiders, is a reflection of the dwindling fortunes in the lifestyle magazine space. Says Aekta Kapoor, former editor at Atelier and Atelier Diva - both magazines shut down a month ago, “It came as a shock to us when we got an email telling us it was our last working day. The magazine simply ran out of money.” Kapoor is now consulting editor at a lifestyle wedding-oriented magazine called_Wedding Vows_.”

[caption id=“attachment_991555” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A magazine vendor in India. AFP.[/caption]

All these titles have shut down not because magazines don’t work - but because the titles didn’t. For too long, Indian magazines have refused to get their circulation certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulation, pushing un-trusted bespoke research or just a certificate from a chartered accountant in an attempt to lend credibility to highly exaggerated circulation claims. When trusted readership studies such as the Indian Readership Survey are published, these claims are shown up for the fabrications that they often are, and the advertiser and the media agency, in the last couple of years, have been asking tough questions on performance.

It is not as if there is no impact on magazines thanks to the internet. For lifestyle publications in particular, the internet makes the viability of magazines much more difficult, as superior and more timely content is easily at hand. In addition, media agencies are able to listen to conversations about media titles on social media - and the absence of conversations or low decibel noise is a pointer to exaggerated circulation claims.

It might have helped The Times of India Crest if they had a vibrant digital offering - which they didn’t. In the cases of People and Marie Claire, their digital offerings paled in significance to international digital products - and indeed, some home-grown competition, including blogs.

To suggest that magazines are in trouble after hearing of the death of Marie Claire, People and Geo is like having suggested that the auto industry was in trouble thanks to the closure of the Premier Padmini.

The auto industry, we know decades after the Padmini died, is vibrant and a massive opportunity - for those who makes cars that are needed and which address consumer needs and aspirations. So it is with magazines. As long as they are relevant to the market, we could see new titles being launched even after this news. The form will certainly go increasingly digital. What will cause them to succeed or fail, whatever the form, will be relevant content.

None of the titles we speak about here had relevant content. As a consequence, they had to die. Not many will mourn their deaths, except, sadly, all those who lose their jobs with the closure.