Page 176 - DMGT507_SALES AND PROMOTIONS MANAGEMENT

Sales and Promotions Management

Notes

Case Study Cosmofem Magazine

ahul Jain, the Vice President circulation of Cosmofem, was talking with some of
his juniors about magazines and related problems in India. “You very well know
Rthat magazines are a different product altogether. They don't buy magazines the
way they shop for TVs or buy cold drinks. The best selling magazines bring back the
customers into the bookstores. People specifically ask for their preferred magazines because
they know what they want. The readers cannot be fooled into buying just any magazine
that they have no inclination to read, and if they don’t want to read a magazine they will
not buy it regardless of the price. If they don’t want a magazine for one hundred rupees,
probably they will not take it for seventy rupees also.”

Marketing magazines is a very different ball game. Ask any publisher and you will learn
there are at least four different prices; subscription, news stand, subscription renewal and
test prices. There might even be a variation in these prices in different markets.
Cosmofem is a women fashion magazine launched in India about five years ago. Alpha
Media Line, an American publisher, promotes the magazine and its American version is
one of the most popular magazines around. The foreign version, by the same name, is also
available in India and is priced at 350. The Indian version of Cosmofem is priced at 80
and that makes it one of the most expensive magazines in the market. During the last five
years of its presence, the magazine has been through several phases of market fluctuations
and competition. Cosmofem’s strongest competitor is a well-established magazine
promoted by on of the largest media house in India. The magazine, named Femifeel, is in
the market for the last nearly 20 years and was market leader in women fashion magazine
segment till the last two years. The reasons for losing market leadership, as pointed out by
analysts, were the absence of any serious competition and the magazine’s quality left
much to be desired.

Interestingly, even the editors of Femifeel believe this to some extent. The editor of
Femifeel said in a recent discussion about the market and competition. “We pioneered the
concept of a fashion magazine related to fashion and personality and relatively new
concepts of fitness and accessories, etc., for women of upper and upper-middle class. The
magazine stayed clear of other cookery and story magazines and we positioned Femifeel
as the magazine for modern woman. There was no other magazine positioned this way
and we could retain all of this market. The entry of Cosmofem and other magazines
during the last five years has changed the market equation completely. We had to seriously
rethink about all the aspects such as content, look, price and circulation in the wake of new
competition. Though our Femifeel and Cosmofem are very different on one crucial aspect,
the price. Femifeel is priced at 30 and Cosmofem was initially priced at 55, which was
considered quite a high price for a magazine four years ago.”
All India circulation figures of two magazines

Year Femifeel Cosmofem
1992 80,000 8,000
1993 72,000 14,000
1994 63,000 20,000
1995 55,000 32,000
1996 48,000 44,000
Contd...

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