Karangkraf expects new magazines to boost ad revenue

WHILE the trend for digital advertising expenditure has been on the rise, Malay-language media publishing company Kumpulan Media Karangkraf Sdn Bhd believes that demand for print will always remain strong with the right products.

The company can certainly attest to this, having recorded a RM5mil increase in advertising revenue for its print publications last year.

“Worldwide, magazines are shutting down, especially since print advertising is slowly dropping. But we are going against the tide,” says Karangkraf's publishing executive director Firdaus Hussamuddin.

According to Nielsen, ad spending in magazines in Malaysia fell 3.7% last year although the overall media spending grew 11.9%. The only media that performed worse in 2011 was cinema, which saw a 9.4% contraction in ad spending.

“Our print advertising revenue grew last year and we're looking at 40% growth in 2012,” Firdaus says.

She says print ad revenue will be boosted by the new magazines launched by Karangkraf this year.

Earlier this year, the company launched Auto Maskulin (a magazine for car enthusiasts) and Umpan (a fishing magazine). Later this month, Karangkraf will be launching Hijabista, a magazine targeted at contemporary Muslim women.

“Hijabista will be the first of its kind and is mainly for those between 21 and 35 years old. Once they're over 40, they can't be changed any more,” Firdaus enthuses.

She says Umpan has been very well received.

“We did thorough research before launching the new magazines. Umpan, despite being a niche, was 90% sold when it was first launched,” Firdaus says.

She says the company was still awaiting feedback on how well Auto Maskulin was being received.

“It's a car magazine, but we're targeting the masses, namely owners with vehicles priced below RM150,000. We want to be realistic. Those who own BMWs and Ferraris will usually go for Top Gear.”

Firdaus believes that the outlook for the local Malay magazine segment was so bright, that it had become very competitive.

“This year itself there have been three or four new players in the market.”

Apart from coming up with new magazines, Firdaus says Karangkraf had to come up with other means of staying ahead of the competition.

“We have to stay competitive and need to do a lot of promotions. You have to stay visible in the market,” she says, adding that Karangkraf regularly participated at book fairs and carnivals to promote their products as well as their writers.

“We actually try to turn our writers into celebrities,” Firdaus enthuses.

The Karangkraf group was founded in 1978. Having started off from a tiny shop lot publishing Mingguan Kanak-Kanak, it now employs over 1,400 people and has nearly 30 publications to its credit.

Its business divisions are Grup Majalah Karangkraf (magazines), Grup Buku Karangkraf (books), Grup Sinar Karangkraf (newspapers), Grup Percetakan Ultimate (printing) and Grup Digital Karangkraf (digital).

Firdaus oversees the magazines and books departments. She points out that the company's long history also contributed to the rising ad revenue.

“I think people have started to recognise our brands. Our Nona magazine has been in the market for the past 25 years, while Mingguan Wanita has been around for 30 years. Our Remaja is 29 years old. So people know we are around and that we are still strong.”

In terms of market share, Firdaus says Karangkraf commanded about 50% of the total magazine market.

“Advertising has also grown probably because of our circulation. Some of our magazines have a circulation of about 80,000 a month. Our Mingguan Wanita, for instance, has a weekly circulation of 160,000. As we already have the traffic, the advertisers will come in,” she says, adding that some of its products were audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulation.

Realising that digital ad spend is constantly on the rise, Firdaus says efforts were being made to tap this segment.

“Our digital division, Grup Digital Karangkraf, is only a year old and still new,” she says, adding that the company was in the process of making some of its magazines available online as well.

“Our Pa & Ma (parenting) magazine recently went digital on the iPad and will soon be available on Android devices. Similarly, our Nona magazine will also be making the transition to digital.”

Firdaus says plans were also underway to have some of its books available online as well.

“We're going for e-books in the near future. We feel that people are more inclined to buy magazines instead of books, especially since the latter is heavier.”

She says there was a need to have more products online so as to be able to attract the younger generation of readers.

“Most youths prefer to go online these days and many of them don't even read the newspapers. But that's why we have to constantly innovate and produce content that people like. We have to create demand for it,” says Firdaus.