WatchTime to enter India in July

Licensed by Malayala Manorama, the quarterly magazine will retail at Rs 100

Ananya Saha | Delhi | April 19, 2012

Counting on the way the luxury market in growing in India, Malayala Manorama group is planning to launch a premium title dedicated to luxury watches in India. Licensed from Germany-based Ebner Group, WatchTime will debut in July 1, 2012.

Varghese Chandy, Senior General Manager, Marketing Operations, Malayala Manorama confirmed the news, adding, “This is the first international collaboration that Malayala Manorama is entering into. The Ebner Group was looking to enter Indian market with their magazine given the way the interest in watches is growing, and we were looking at the best watch title. This collaboration is between the two groups who share equal legacy and same interest.”

“This is definitely the right time to enter the market when the premium watch segment is growing at 35% and the country is witnessing renewed interest in watches. Many luxury brands such as LVMH, Bvlgari are available in India and the brands know that India and China are the only two markets that are really growing,” he added.

The magazine, to be priced at Rs 100, will be published quarterly. While the initial print run of the magazine is yet to be decided, the magazine will be distributed across India, “though the focus will be on metros and upcoming metros,” Chandy informed. He said that the magazine will make use of the distribution channel used by The Week – the general interest weekly magazine published by Malayala Manorama group.

The magazine has also entered into tie-ups and will be available at airports, hotels and premium hotels. With an access to international edit pages and archives, the magazine will have about 30-40% of Indian content. The niche magazine will have over 25-30% of space dedicated to advertising.

Talking about if the group is looking at more international tie-ups, Chandy said, “If there is an interesting opportunity, we will definitely look at it.”

WatchTime was founded in New York City in 1999 by the Ebner Publishing Group of Ulm, Germany. Ebner is a diversified publishing company and Europe's leading publisher of consumer watch magazines. WatchTime, currently, has sister magazines in Germany, Poland, Korea, Japan and China.

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