Foreign women's magazines with local twist

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): A beautiful blond model, clad in a sexy tank top which accentuates her slim waist, stares seductively from the center of the glossy purple cover of a women's magazine.

It could be mistaken at first glance for a copy of a foreign edition available at many bookstores in the city. A closer look finds the model sharing the cover with such enticing headlines as 50 Trik Seks Yang Tak Bisa Ditolak Pria (50 Sex Tricks That Men Cannot Refuse), or Gaya Selingkuh Baru Para Lelaki (Men's New Style of Having Affairs).

Only the magazine's name is Kosmopolitan, not Cosmopolitan, the U.S. magazine which is available in local versions in more than 20 countries including neighboring Thailand and the Philippines.

It is only one of the many foreign magazines targeting women readers which have launched local editions here. Also on local newsstands is Harper's Bazaar, which is published in 11 countries. It's likely that other foreign magazines for women, like Her World, Elle or Vogue, will soon test the publishing waters here.

Readers say they are pleased about the greater choice.

"I only buy a magazine if I find some of the articles are interesting to me," Utami Sukmaningsih, a 28-year-old married working woman, told The Jakarta Post of her July edition of Kosmopolitan.

She defined "interesting articles" as those providing relationship tips.

"Some magazines are reluctant to give tips, such as on marriage or sex life. I find such articles worth reading."

For her "additional" reading, and buying the magazine at the newsstand instead of subscribing, she is willing to pay Rp 19,500.

Newcomers to the country's media business, the magazines are vying to win over as many readers as possible.

Kosmopolitan, for instance, targets the "Fun Fearless Female", while Harper's Bazaar is trying to attract fashion-conscious women.

Kosmopolitan's deputy chief editor Reda Gaudiamo told the Post that the magazine -- which she called a "service" magazine -- began publishing here after seeing the need of modern Indonesian women for information about relationships, fashion, career, beauty, health, emotional health and behavior.

In Indonesia, she added, the magazine targeted young women who were starting to develop their careers and wanted to follow their dreams of a good life.

"It's Cosmo's philosophy to be a reader's best friend. A good friend that will tell the whole truth about anything you want to know. So if they want to know more about sex or any relationship issue, we will give them the solution ... We want our reader to be a very positive person," said Reda of the magazine, which was first published here on Aug. 27, 1997.

Cosmopolitan was founded in 1886 in Rochester, New York, by the firm of Schlicht and Field, which then published the magazine for "first-class families". The magazine changed ownership several times before being acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1905. The magazine was marketed as a literary publication which mixed articles of general interest with fiction. It was not until the 1960s, under Helen Gurley Brown and her "Cosmo Girl" philosophy, that the magazine focused on young and career- oriented women.

Hot on Kosmopolitan's heels is Harper's Bazaar, which was founded in 1867 and acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 1912.

"As a fashion and lifestyle magazine, Bazaar will be a perfect solution for those who need leading fashion and lifestyle information, locally and internationally," said the magazine's managing editor Fitriandini Wiana. She added that Bazaar's target readers were fashion conscious and appreciated contemporary art and culture.

Content

Of its 210-page July edition, Kosmopolitan includes about 30 percent advertisements and several articles translated from its international editions.

Reda said Kosmopolitan did not merely rely on the foreign contributions. The magazine's local contributors and five journalists also do interviews, write news pieces and adapt some articles in an Indonesian format.

"Our local content is now around 30 percent to 40 percent of the total and we're targeting to have more ...," Reda said.

She said the readers' response to Kosmopolitan was good. The magazine recorded sales of 64,891 copies in January this year but the number soared to 115,674 for the July edition.

"So far, the sales are very good, with our return copies at less than 3 percent," Reda said.

Bazaar is relatively new as its first issue was launched on May 31 at a cover price of Rp 21,500. The magazine is currently being introduced to the market with 50,000 copies per edition.

According to Bazaar's managing editor, the content of the magazine here is in line with the original material provided by Hearst Magazine International while its local content, which is about 50 percent from the entire materials, is prepared by its seven journalists and contributors.

Competition

The prices of the Indonesian editions of the magazines are much higher than local women's magazines, although they are cheaper than local prices for their international sister publications -- Rp 66,800 for Cosmopolitan and Rp 48,300 for Harper's Bazaar.

"I only provide at most five Kosmopolitan per edition. The magazine is expensive," said Ahmad, who sells magazines, tabloids and newspapers at his newsstand in Bendungan Hilir market, Central Jakarta.

He said most of his customers sought news media like Tempo magazine or weekly entertainment tabloids like Citra. The weekly Femina magazine and Nova tabloid are still popular items among women, he added.

"For magazines or tabloids that sell well, I can provide more than 20 per edition," Ahmad said.

Femina is sold at Rp 10,000 while Nova is Rp 3,000.

As new magazines enter the market, the competition is bound to heat up. Femina's general manager Widarti Gunawan found positive aspects to the competition.

"First, the competition with new magazines is positive since it will make sure we're not careless. The second thing is that joint publication with foreign magazines has its own price, in an economic sense," Widarti told the Post by phone.

She said local partners in joint publications paid "rent fees", similar to a franchisee's payments, resulting in high retail prices compared to local magazines. Moreover, local partners must pay for technical assistance and for articles sent here.

"In this case, local magazines, which don't have to pay for all the expenses, are at a 100 percent advantage," Widarti said.

She also played down the possibility of local magazines losing out in competition to the new magazines.

She said that media history, either in Britain, Australia or America, proved that local magazines would win in such competition. She said that in the United States, Good Housekeeping remained the top selling women's publication despite the presence of many competitors.

"We're optimistic, but should always be careful," Widarti said, claiming that Femina averaged sales between 120,000 to 125,000 copies per edition.

She believed that Indonesian readers preferred "local flavor", such as reading about people they knew about.

"It's true that, in a way, a joint publication with foreign magazines is good, such as in getting fashion articles ... But readers here will certainly look for local content. They are not only looking for fashion or beauty articles, but also those with human interest."