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Kalli Purie at ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash
New Delhi: India Today Group vice chairperson Kalli Purie announced on Sunday the launch of MO, an English, millennial-focused, Instagram-first platform, along with a new health and well-being vertical on August 27, coinciding with the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Purie announced the latest offering from the India Today stable in a podcast with ANI’s editor-in-chief, Smita Prakash.
Purie explained that the timing of the launch was deliberate, saying she believes in aligning important milestones with auspicious days, such as Ganesh Chaturthi.
According to Purie, MO draws inspiration from her teenage children, whom she described as her “focus group.” The name is derived from the term “mobile,” reflecting the platform’s digital-first identity.
Earlier conceptualised as News MO, the brand has now been shortened to simply MO. While the platform has already been soft-launched, Purie said it has now reached a “tipping point” where the group is ready to scale and experiment with new features and formats.
Explaining the positioning, Purie said, “It’s a brand for whom Instagram is its first platform, designed for urban, English-speaking millennials.”
She contrasted it with Lallantop, which was originally launched to engage Hindi-speaking millennials in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets but has since broadened its reach. “While Lallantop is Hindi and mass-focused, MO is English and urban-focused,” she said.
Purie added that her children’s perspectives have directly shaped the product. “My kids are the perfect focus group. I just have to sit at the dinner table and I get 10 new ideas,” she said with a laugh.
On the target audience, she explained that MO is aimed at students in premium educational institutions, many of whom are likely to study abroad and carry a global outlook.
Purie also announced the launch of a dedicated health and well-being vertical, for which the group has already appointed an anchor. Recently, India Today Group onboarded Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor, a senior journalist who previously worked at Moneycontrol and is also a Harvard-certified nutritionist, to lead the initiative.
“The health space is growing rapidly as everyone aspires to be fitter and healthier,” Purie said.
“The vertical will cover all aspects of health and wellness, bringing forward verified voices who can guide people through the process of well-being,” she commented.