AIM members meet to bring magazine industry issues under scanner

If numbers are anything to go by, the Indian market place seems to be a tough one for magazines, given the continuous drop in readership that the genre has shown. However, research findings have not hindered the addition of new titles in the genre, and magazine publishers today are more active than ever to uplift magazines as a medium in India.

In accordance to this objective, the Association of Indian Magazines (AIM) has been busy with various steps in the recent past, like voicing industry opinions on the present research systems and providing platforms like the annual magazine congress which give the short term and long term picture of the magazine scenario in India and globally.

Taking this further, the AIM has organised a meeting on June 11 that will see all its members bringing some pressing issues of the genre under the scanner. Ashish Bagga, CEO, India Today Group, and the President of the AIM, informed that some points that would be discussed are readership research for magazines, and issues related to postal and railway systems that facilitate magazine distribution, among others.

Bagga informed that in addition to the AIM activity update, the meeting agenda will also include the upcoming Indian Magazine Congress 2007, which is to be held on September 27 and 28 in Mumbai this year.

AIM was formed in February 2003 to promote the magazine industry in India and to create a forum of Indian magazine publishers to represent the interests of Indian magazines and periodicals with consumers, advertisers, advertising agencies and the government.

AIM was originally started with just eight members, and in three years, it now represents 32 publishers with over 110 publications. The association is aggressively looking at inviting new members to the organisation as well.