The new office for Vogue India, at Ballard Estate here, looks every bit of the high-fashion hangout it is supposed to be. Reporters, many of whom look like the supermodels they will write about in the magazine, dash across the newsroom amid a generous sprinkling of fashion goodies that women covet. As the much anticipated 21 September launch date for Vogue magazine’s India version draws closer, tucked away in his cabin with a view of Port Trust land, Alex Kuruvilla, managing director, Condé Nast India Pvt. Ltd, is a rather busy man. He took time out to speak with Mint about the magazine and the publishing company’s strategy in India. Edited excerpts:
Why has it taken Condé Nast so many years to bring Vogue to India?
Condé Nast has been looking at the Indian market for a while now. Typically, when Vogue enters a market, it signals that the market has, in a sense, arrived—at least from a luxury and fashion point of view. A good case in point is that Condé Nast and Vogue chose to enter China only in 2005. We’re not the kind of people who rush into new markets and look for first-move advantage. In fact, we like to refer to our competitor’s move as first-move disadvantage. Because they moved here when regulations did not allow foreign direct investment in the publishing space, all of them are licensed brands. At best, they may be minority stake holders. So, if you don’t own it, you won’t invest in it. It’s a vicious cycle.
The second problem is that not all the big luxury players are here yet. Even the ones that are here are sitting on very small businesses. So people who came in 10 years ago, like our competitors, were forced to mainstream their brands and business. When you couple with that low investment, it means that editorial content and production values are pretty low. To top that, you have to build a business so you go after advertising that is more mass than you would in any other market. So the product ends up being a very generic, ‘me too’ product.
In a sense our timing has been right. It’s a bit of a cliché—about strong economic growth, and reports on the number of millionaires being added on each year—(but) there is a germ of truth in that. That is driving growth of the affluent set, which, in turn, will drive the consumption of luxury brands and that is where we are poised.
What other titles will Condé Nast look at bringing in?
Vogue was the easy one since that is our flagship brand. But, the group has 120 titles so you can imagine how hard it is for us to choose. Given, again the market, a lot of these titles are becoming relevant now. Glamour is a very successful brand across the world, it is appropriate at this point, as it is for a younger audience.
The men’s market is really hotting up. A lot of luxury brands in India are realizing that their men’s lines are doing much better than their women’s lines. Similarly with watches, leather goods, etcetera. So a GQ would do well in this market.