N Radhakrishnan, Publisher and Editor, Man’s World

If you want quality, then content, photography, presentation and production value each has to be given equal weightage. Man’s World is a premium product and people have expectations. To deliver, one must excel in each of these inputs. We give equal attention to each factor to beat any kind of competition.

Man’s World, a monthly magazine came at a niche space where it aims at targeting the contemporary Indian man. Based on international models, the editorial responsibility of this magazine lies with publisher and editor N Radhakrishnan. Bringing in experience from Business India, where he was executive editor, Radhakrishnan expresses how Man’s World is not such a different ball game after all. In a candid conversation, he speaks to Noor Fathima Warsia on what content means to a gender centric niche magazine and the evolution in the Indian readers’ preferences today.

Q. On other mediums like websites and television as competition… Yes, they can be competition too. But there is no clinched study or report to state that websites or television eats into magazines. As a matter of fact, if you see on national and international levels, magazines are still doing very well. There are new products coming up in good numbers and that really takes off any threat coming from the Internet or television.

Q. On whether Man’s World changed content to suit its women readers… No, but we already have many sections that interest women readers. Then there are special sections where women talk about men, so these also keep getting substantial eyeballs from the female section.

Q. On how topics like films, sports and politics that are covered in other magazines as well are treated differently by Man’s World for content differentiation… With the same kind of writers, it cannot be vastly different, but yes we do treat it differently. For one thing, these articles are consistent to the tone of the magazine. There is a serious note to the way people are profiled than say a film magazine or even a sports magazine. The main difference comes from our work model, which is a slightly different one from most regular magazines.

Q. On the ratio given to other ingredients like photography, design and layout that make a winning media product… Equal. If you want quality, each has to be given equal weightage and has to be very good. We are a premium product and people have a perceived notion about us. They have expectations. So we have to excel in each of these to deliver. Each requires equal attention to beat any kind of competition.

Q. On how, nonetheless, what he is dealing with in Man’s World is more flexible than business writing, which can be a very rigid subject… It is a very wrong notion people have that business is rigid. It can be very flexible and very interesting. That is the challenge of the writer. Irrespective of the kind of content you cover, whether it a star producing a film or an industrialist turning a company around, there is human drama in both. If people don’t find business writing interesting, it is the failure of the writer, not of the subject. In that way, Man’s World and Business India are the same. You are still writing about people, you are still writing about issues and presenting them interestingly.

Q. On what puts Man’s World in a separate stand… The positioning itself to begin with, a magazine meant for men. Then the accumulation of content that you could find in different magazines but it is the best of everything in one package. So in that sense, Man’s World stands differentiated from any other media product today…

Q. On the positioning of Man’s World in the market… Its primary positioning is that of a man’s magazine. But in that category itself it is a premium product. It comes in the same class as glossy women’s magazines but we have a male focus. Man’s World is a niche upmarket product targeted at the age range 25 to 45 years.

Q. On the proportion of 25 to 45 yr old men who are interested in reading a magazine for these kinds of things… It is very difficult to say but I would imagine there would be a sizeable number of men who would be interested in reading such things. This is not a concept limited to Indian market. Men’s magazine is a strongly growing section of magazines internationally and Man’s World is modelled on established international magazines. So this is a tested formula working worldwide from Europe to Korea. As we change, economy grows and we globalise it applies to us just as much and more.

Q. On how well does this model of outsourcing content works for Man’s World… It works very well for us. There is a limit on the number of writers one can have. And we cover a vast area. I can’t have the same person to cover subjects that range so different. Outsourcing like this allows me to have specialists whether it is cricket, films, politics or style.

Q. On Man’s World positioning, as a ‘Friend, philosopher, guide’ and the percentage of men he thinks would consider a magazine as a friend… Well, given the kind of information that we provide, we are like a friend, philosopher and guide. I am not saying that we show the reader how to lead life but we do help in many ways in their daily life. For instance, the service section, we offer them help in choosing cars, using gadgets, making an interesting cocktail and other such things. Style is another area where we are strong. So a friend philosopher and guide in that sense.

Q. On the ‘international sensibility’ ingredient of Man’s World mixture of international sensibility and local content… International sensibility means taking concepts that are global and then fashioning them to local tastes. So it is talking about Indian things but looking at it with an international perspective. Apart from the content, in other attributes of the magazine as well like design, photography and layout the quality is based on the international standards like that of Esquire.

Q. On more about this work model… Our set up is a small one. So instead of having someone who is a jack of all and master of none, we depend more on outside contribution. We get specialists in the areas we cover and ask them to write. Necessarily then our writers are experts on the subject. The writer has much more feel of the person or subject and so the articles are more comprehensive.

Q. On other content benefits of this model… Yes of course, the biggest benefit perhaps is value addition. We come in the end of the month, when all your dailies, weeklies fortnightlies have already told the reader all that is there to possible speak about in that month. So we have to add value, say something that has not been said before.

The key benefit to this set up is that by getting these professionals to write for you, you add value. There is something new to say. So in this ingredient of producing a premium product, you assure quality.

Q. On who he identifies as competition… Well from the men’s magazine point of view, there isn’t much competition. But in terms of content, we do cover a lot as other magazines so we are in competition with all the other magazines.

Q. On the difference in his experience as executive editor for Business India and Man’s World … It’s different and yet not different. Not different, from the point of view that even in Business India, I got others to write in the manner that made simple reading for complicated matters. The idea was that business writing should be accessible to everyone. We covered a range of subjects, maybe not as wide as Man’s World but there was substantial variety there as well. The germ of most of the ideas that we are doing here came when I was in Business India. We covered it in one form or other. The content might be different but the basic philosophy is the same.

Q. On how gender centric is considered niche in its space, but given the evolution in tastes and preferences today, if the term is archaic… If we say niche per say, then that is an idea, which is going to catch on. The readers are getting more segmented everyday and more specialised content is coming up, hence very niche magazines or media products are finding their way in the market. This makes sense not just from the reader but also from the advertiser point of view that are looking at specific targets.

But yes when it comes to gender centric, there is a sizeable amount of women readership that we have and we were always aware that we would even when we conceptualised the magazine. So in that sense, yes gender centric per say really does not apply.

Q. On the pointers the magazine keeps in when they select the content for the month… It begins with topicality, rotates around it and for 60 per cent of our content, everything else follows. We think of the people in that month, the international trends, the flavour of the season, style, launches in cars, gadgets – all these things, which form an essential part of our content. So essentially this 60 per cent is special and relevant to that month alone. You look back at the month, add to what is already said and leave some points about the future as well. The rest 40 per cent revolves more around relationships, adventure travel and such aspects that could be carried even a month later perhaps.

Q. On how the magazine evolved in past three years of its existence… We evolved in perfecting the quality of the magazine and delivering that consistently. Man’s World was conceived as a magazine for very strong content. Bringing forth, good writing, good photography and good design. By good I don’t mean serious or academic but interesting articles by some of the good writers in the country. So in that sense, we have maintained that quality from issue one and the content has remained consistently good and only bettering on those lines.

Q. On changes that did come in content based on reader feedback… Yes, of course those kinds of changes keep happening. Sometimes sections are added, sometimes pulled off. We were told that we have a lot of long articles. So we reduced that in number. Right from the first, we provided a huge variety in the magazine. There were various sections on personality and attitude, new gadgets, food, movies, books and music. Now based on the interest level we noticed, we have more of these ‘service sections’ as we call it in the magazine now, giving the magazine a role of helping the reader.