Madhumita Chattopadhyay, Editor, Sananda

Other magazines like Savvy and Femina also try to empower women. Sananda is for a woman with roots and wings. It talks to a woman with an international bent of mind but with a Bengali heart… The readers feel that every section is relevant. There is no feeling of wastage. Many feel that it has given them the courage to overcome hurdles and work towards fulfilling their dreams. The magazine, they feel, has become much more interactive and, therefore, more credible and useful.

Madhumita Chattopadhyay, Editor of Sananda, the popular women-oriented Bengali fortnightly magazine from the ABP Group, interestingly has no journalistic antecedents. Having done her electrical engineering from Jadavpur University, Chattopadhyay worked in mainstream engineering for a while before switching over to market research. She has worked with both IMRB and MODE during her stint in market research, prior to joining ABP in 2001.

At ABP, Chattopadhyay initially worked in brand management, and was involved with all the five Bengali magazines – ‘Desh’, ‘Anandalok’, ‘Sananda’, ‘Anandamela’ and ‘Unish Kuri’ – and subsequently took over as General Manager for the portfolio.

In conversation with exchange4media’s Indrani Sinha, Chattopadhyay discusses her editorial stance for Sananda.

Q. Was Sananda modelled on any other magazine?

No, it is one of its kind.

Q. What kind of advertising does the magazine attract?

Any product, which is targeting the East, is bound to have Sananda in its media plan. High-end advertisers like L’Oreal, Lakme and Nestle regularly advertise in Sananda, to name a few.

Q. What was the idea behind the Sananda festival last year?

The Sananda festival was an event for the woman and her family – a weekend of fun and frolic with food, various workshops, competitive games and entertaining programmes.

Q. Was it ahead of its time at the time of its launch?

Yes. Sananda initiated the thought process of looking beyond home.

Q. Who is the target audience for Sananda?

The target audience is any woman in the age group of 25-45 years who can read Bengali. However, in real life, Sananda, like any other women’s magazine, has a significant male readership.

Q. What about the competition?

Other magazines like Savvy and Femina also try to empower women. Sananda is for a woman with roots and wings. It talks to a woman with an international bent of mind but with a Bengali heart.

Q. How has the proliferation of TV affected its readership?

If at all, it has helped Sananda. Women are being exposed to a global lifestyle. The exposure is increasing the need to succeed. And in that context, Sananda is helping them fulfill that need.

Q. What are the other ground activities you are planning to increase your interactions with readers?

We propose to have interactive events / workshops in apartments, colleges, schools, and shopping malls.

Q. How has Sananda changed with the changing woman?

Rather than changing with the changing woman, it has always been a mission for Sananda to change women. Sananda has always helped women to dream – to dream of being ‘complete’. At one point of time, working outside meant a lot for the average woman. Sananda then helped her to balance both worlds. The dream of yesterday is a reality today. Therefore, the mission that Sananda now has is to empower women – to empower her socially, intellectually and economically. The objective is to make her a leader in her home as well in the outside world.

Q. What are the dominant changes you are finding in the reader’s attitude from the feedback that you receive from letters to the editor?

The readers feel that every section is relevant. There is no feeling of wastage. Many feel that it has given them the courage to overcome hurdles and work towards fulfilling their dreams. The magazine, they feel, has become much more interactive and, therefore, more credible and useful.

Q. What do you have to say on building the brand further / new or novel circulation drive?

The objective is to strengthen the bond that the brand / product shares with the readers. The brand is becoming much more interactive, so the product is trying to move beyond print. Readers were invited to join makeover sessions, and the series of metamorphoses that followed were captured in the cover story of one of the issues. Q&As on relational issues, other problems are also dealt with in the cover stories. The magazine is trying to become the ultimate in interactivity.

Further, the increasing number of members of the Sananda club speaks volumes about the bond. Workshops and grooming sessions are resulting in strengthening this bond.

Q. What kind of cover stories do you go for? What have been some of the very popular cover stories last year?

We try to do cover stories on things that are relevant, critical to today’s woman. Those that empower her and help to relieve her tension as well as equip her to handle her world much more efficiently. Some of the very popular cover stories we did last year dealt with keys to a successful married life, survey on sexual habits of Bengalis – both teenagers and adults. The idea was to make today’s woman aware of what was happening in the world around her and how fast things were changing. Then we had done a cover story on the various problems in bringing up children and how to tackle them effectively, manners, maids – their problems and solutions.

Q. Apart from the usual topics covered in a woman’s magazine, such as cookery, housekeeping, beauty tips, etc, what are the other subjects you attempt to cover?

Apart from the standard sections, we have regular columns on manners, relational problems and their solutions, debates on contemporary issues, legal rights as a woman and as an Indian. We discuss problems faced by men in the family, which ranges from skin problems to psychological and sexual. Then we have a section where we interview a non-celebrity on how hard work and endeavour has brought her success. Apart from this, we do a profile of an empowered woman. Plus we have Doctor’s Chamber, health of children. We also do book, art and music reviews. We are planning to launch a new section from April end where we will talk about earning opportunities for housewives.

Q. How has the nature of advertising changed over the years?

There has been an increase in advertising from personal care, including beauty and haircare, FMCG, branded jewellery, garments, publishers, travel, healthcare, food brands. We have moved from selling space to ‘selling solutions’. The approach is to understand the client’s marketing needs and work out a solution involving print, ground events and innovations to suit the client’s budget. This has been worked out for various clients and has yielded results.