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Timepass, a weekly from the Rs 175 crore, Chennai based Vikatan Group is being referred to as 'the Facebook of the offline world.' The Tamil magazine, launched in October 2012 is selling an estimated 225,000 copies. If that number is right, then Timepass is already ahead of Sun Network's Kungumam which, going by Audit Bureau of Circulation numbers, sells over 128,000 copies at Rs 10 every week .
The Vikatan Group, say insiders, is gunning for 400,000 copies in three years. This will place the magazine firmly in number one position ahead of market leader Kumudam and its own Ananda Vikatan. "It will be a couple of more IRSes (Indian Readership Surveys) before we start figuring on the top ten list," says Srinivasan B, managing director, Vikatan Group. He doesn't however share revenue targets. The Rs 1,700 crore Indian magazine market has been pretty slow, with the only action coming from foreign brands such as Vogue or Forbes.
Vikatan's flagship, the 87-year-old Ananda Vikatan, is one of the largest selling Tamil magazines. It is about caustic, witty writing which targets a more intellectual palate. However to take on popular titles such as Kungumam and Kumudam, "We needed a flanking brand," says Srinivasan. He likens Timepass to a product that caters to the audience in the front stalls in a single screen theatre, while Ananda Vikatan talks to those sitting in the balcony.
Timepass clicks because of its irreverent mixture of glamour and humour. Its film reviews usually, "tear a film apart frame by frame," says Srinivasan. In one of its first issues a cartoon, 'Periyannan and co' shows Barrack Obama as a kirana shop owner and Manmohan Singh as his shopboy (See picture). This visual satire was used as campaign material by the political parties during their agitation against the UPA govt and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) bill outside of Parliament. "We are not for or against FDI, we are 'in touch'," clarifies Srnivasan.
The brand launched with a marketing budget of Rs 3.5 crore, unheard of for any magazine these days. The clear slotting has however helped reach out to a completely different audience. "More than 90 per cent of Timepass readers do not read any of my other (nine) magazines," says Srinivasan.
Just under half of Vikatan's Rs 175 crore top line comes from its print business. These include magazines such as Junior Vikatan which does scoops and investigative stories and Aval Vikatan, a magazine for women, and 500 book titles. The remaining comes from its television production arm. Many of the top daily soaps in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam come from Vikatan. The biggest hit on Zee Television some time back, Pavitra Rishta, is a remake of Vikatan's Tamil soap, Thirumathi Selvam, that aired first on Sun TV.
