THAILAND: THE WORLD'S MAGAZINE HUB?
I cannot imagine there's a country anywhere in the world where magazines are launching at faster rate than in Thailand. Perhaps the government should seriously consider making Thailand a magazine industry 'hub'. Media seems to be one of the few industries that has escaped from being associated with what is, to me, an increasingly irritating and overused word.
This month alone I've noted at least a dozen new publications appearing on the shelves, and during the last couple of years I've witnessed (and blogged about) an average of six new titles every month.
In common with elsewhere in the world most new titles struggle to make it through the first year. Magazine advertising ranks fourth in terms of spending in Thailand - behind television, radio and newspapers - and during 2009 ad spend in the sector was down around 10 per cent.
The most recent new magazines are pictured here. Prices range from 40 baht to 120 baht. Perhaps the most interesting, in terms of its title at least, is Thai Freedom. Photo Art Contemporary is also an interesting newcomer as it is a bilingual title - Thai and English.
The Magazine Association of Thailand came out with figures last month which noted 39 launches during 2009, two of which were local language editions of international titles. Although there is no official database of new magazine launches in the kingdom I know there were significantly more than 39 and at least four licensed versions of global magazines.
What is apparent with almost all of the new magazine launches is a lack of marketing and a lack of joined-up thinking in terms of the Internet. Many new titles don't even have a functioning web page, and almost all are not making use of social networking tools to generate buzz and attract readers.
For some of the Thai language titles the top-ranking search for their magazine name is my own post about the launch. That cannot bode well for the future of their titles.
1 comments:
Perhaps one reason for all these magazine launches is that it is relatively cheap to publish here.
I worked for an English-language magazine in Bkk once. The owner was Japanese, and published his magazine for Japanese residents in Bkk. The advertising was drawn mainly from restaurants, tailors and the like which catered for Japanese folk.
The owner leased office space in the heart of Silom, and employed a staff of about 12. The magazine folded after a matter of months, because he ran out of money, and the economy wasn't doing well back then.
The magazine looked good, and was put together entirely on someone's desktop computer. I was sorry to see it fold, as I lost a source of income, and enjoyed working with those folk, most of whom were Thai youngsters, including one or two who had studied Japanese at university.
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