Magazine is not a one-trick pony. It has so much more potential: B Srinivasan
As consumer preferences evolve, magazines too will have to leverage various streaming platforms to remain relevant. Magazines, with their valuable IPs, can leverage their existing brand and content to create original shows, documentaries or series, says B Srinivasan, Managing Director of Vikatan Group. In the upcoming Indian Magazine Congress, hosted by the Association of Indian Magazines, B Srinivasan will elaborate how magazines can leverage their content on different streaming services.
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He shares, “As a magazine, we create so much content. That content can be recreated and taken to other mediums to monetise it more effectively.”
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According to him, the issue is that most publishers don't yet know the full potential of utilising their content on other platforms. “There is a lot of homework and research that goes into almost everything that gets published because magazines generally offer perspective, So, when something is so well-researched, it is a shame to just have it published once and then forgotten and moved on with,” Srinivasan further added. He opines that there are opportunities for such content to get repurposed for multiple mediums. Because at the end of the day, customers are customers, no matter where they consume the content from. “We are not a one-trick pony and the original work that we do has got so much of depth and detail that it automatically lends itself to social media, digital media, podcasts, and probably OTT channels as content.” Another advantage that magazines have is that it is a medium not necessarily restricted to print. It brings about journalistic values, it brings about a certain beauty in storytelling and it brings about certain clarity in delivering content. In 2005, Vikatan Group instituted Nambikkai Awards that honours real-life heroes. Srinivasan shared, “Cinema is reel-life heroes and Nambikkai is real-life heroes. These awards celebrate those who have gone above and beyond their calling to do good for their society.” The media house realised that just publishing about these people and their work was not doing justice to them. So, they decided to institute the awards. With the awards, they were able to monetize the content with their advertising partners. They also showed the stories on television and subsequently social media. “Studios like Applause Media or platforms like Hotstar, Sony or Colors are always looking for good content, be it on the TV space or the OTT space. And where else do you get the maximum content, but magazine publishers,” he explains. For nearly 25 -26 years now, Vikatan Group has been using their stories from the magazine in multiple ways to create content for television. And, the possibilities are endless. Srinivasan added, “Given that there are multiple languages and multiple genres, the kind of content that you can actually come out with that is unlimited.” There is a lot more that as magazine publishers should be doing with studios and channels. This will help them recreate their work to reach much larger audiences, says Srinivasan.
Tags : B Srinivasan Association Of Indian Magazines Vikatan Group Indian Magazine Congress Magazine Print Media