Suparna R Motwane, Editor-in-Chief, Seventeen

In a turbulent teen readership landscape, Seventeen is perhaps one of a kind. The magazine is targeted at young women between the age of 12-24 years across India. In conversation with Anushree Madan Mohan of exchange4media, Suparna R Motwane, Editor-in-Chief, Seventeen, discusses the strategy behind introducing Seventeen in the country. Excerpts:

Q. Can you tell us something about the magazine?

Seventeen is every young girl’s definitive guide to an exciting lifestyle. It’s their big sister and best friend. It is targeted at young women between the age of 12-24 years across India and we have created a niche for ourselves, since our launch in February 2002. The brand is quite popular in the international market. The magazine identified and created the young women’s market in the United States in 1944, and even today it retains the highest market share in its category with a circulation of 2.5 million copies per month.

Q. How are you priced in India? What do female readers seek from the magazine?

The price is Rs 30 and its great value for money as far as the reader is concerned. Only the biggest celebrities have graced the cover of Seventeen since its launch issue. We don’t really face any kind of competition within the print media scene. The magazine is the go to source on fashion, beauty, relationships, entertainment, school, health, sexuality as well as many other topics, which are important to girls during their teen years.

Q. Is Seventeen really a magazine suitable for teenagers?

That’s because we are more of an international magazine, and we don’t look upon teenagers as ‘kids.’ ‘Target’ spoke to teenagers in kiddie tongue, and even when it branched out into a more mature version, it was still afraid to take up taboo subjects or to look beyond college or school life. We look upon them as adults. The biggest difference is that we talk to the young woman, in the way that she wants to be spoken to. We have target groups (10-15 girls) whom we chat and discuss with them the issues that are close to their heart. They have high expectations, and they are aware of the world around them. They don’t want to be spoken to like children. We might offer advice, but we don’t sermonise .

Q. Who would you classify as competitor in the current day?

In India, Seventeen faces no competition in the print media. The magazine has a perfect mix of Indian and international content.

Q. What about Femina Gurl?

Femina Gurl is nothing like Seventeen, though perhaps it is trying to capitalise on the same target group. If you flip through the pages of Femina Gurl, the content is mainly about beauty and apparel tips. We on the other hand address a variety of teen subjects, be it education, sports, books, dating, boyfriend troubles, sex, etc. Femina Gurl has the advantage that it comes from the Times stable, and for that reason will always be respected in the market. But it is nothing close to the main Femina magazine, which talks to older woman.

Q. Do you outsource most of your content?

A lot of our content is outsourced because Seventeen is a big name globally. But we pick and choose our content and try and take stories or features, which are tailored for our kind of audience. So, if it’s an interview with Drew Barrymore, we accept it right away. As we know that there are Barrymore fans in India. Or for that matter, Joey Tribuyani from Friends. We pick sitcoms, which are currently running in India, and speak about characters which the Indian audiences have been exposed to. On the other hand, we have started using locally produced content as well. We have featured Bipasha Basu, Jassi, John Abraham, etc, on our cover.

Q. How are you building your brand further?

We do advertise a little bit but honestly, it’s just a drop in the ocean. We have done some TV advertising in the past, and a few billboards, but our brand building events have been centered around direct interaction and below-the-line. In sync with our target audience, we partner with a lot of youth festivals and events. We also do a lot of promotion, in partnership with our advertisers. Revenue wise, we would be looking to target youth brands and lifestyle categories more aggressively.

Q. A lot of matter in the magazine could be put in the ‘mature’ casket. How do parents react to a magazine like Seventeen?

Actually, a lot of moms actually recommend our magazine for their girls. We get good response from towns like Ahmedabad, Ludhiana. Small town residents are a lot more pro-active towards a magazine like ours, because they don’t have access to the same kind of lifestyle as in big cities. We have various target groups, featuring Mums as well. And they tell us what they like and what they don’t. While they are fiercely protective towards their teens, they also want to make sure that they are worldly wise and capable of handling situations adequately.

Q. How much of content comes from outside?

20-30 per cent content comes from outside. That’s more like international celebrities or international fashion and beauty trends. The rest of it is produced in-house.

Q. What’s your opinion on advertorials?

I see nothing wrong with it. It gives a viable opportunity for our advertisers to spread their brand message further.

Q. Is any of your content tailored for males? Even with a name like Seventeen, doesn’t your magazine primarily talk to the girl child?

Which magazine doesn’t? It is questionable if teen boys read much in the first place. I would think that they are into a lot of other things like sports, hang-outs etc. We are competing in a big way with internet, movies and mobile games too. While girls are also into these things, somewhere along the way, they need a magazine that acts like a friend. Seventeen does that.

Q. Are agony aunt columns really in?

I should think so. But we give genuine advice as opposed to pure lip-service. In our case, it’s always a doctor or a professional counselor that gives advice. Teen years are the most confusing years of your life. It’s the phase where you are hovering somewhere between childhood and adulthood and everything starting from education opportunities to pimples to boy troubles could be upsetting. Our agony aunt columns help teens make some sense of their transition years.