The newly-launched English-language daily Hong Kong iMail is the
latest combatant in a long line who have dreamed of carving market share
off the all-powerful South China Morning Post.
Hong Kong iMail is the reincarnation of Hong Kong's only other English
daily the Hongkong Standard, under new leadership and new ownership
since a circulation scandal broke more than two years ago virtually
brought the owning company, Sing Tao, to its knees.
Another English-language daily, the Eastern Express, launched by the
powerful Oriental Press Group, folded in 1996 after two years.
The Post, although seemingly confident that its position is
unassailable, has already shown the first signs of concern by announcing
the launch of a Friday magazine, one of the iMail's launch products.
Meanwhile, Mr Nigel Oakins, formerly Asia-Pacific chairman of the
International Herald Tribune, has been named publisher of iMail and a
board director of Sing Tao.
He told MEDIA that in recent history "the Post has had 99.99 per cent
market share in display advertising. We're going to change that."
Mr Oakins is also confident that the iMail's classified programme with
Sing Tao, still known as the JobMarket and which appears every Friday in
both newspapers, will make an impact.
IMarket was aiming for 120-pages of classifieds during the first week of
its launch and is gearing up for a regular classified section ranging
from 40 to 160 pages.
The Friday magazine in iMail had its display space booked out for the
first three issues, an unheard of development for the former Standard
which found it almost impossible to attract display advertising.
"It's just a question of getting the ball rolling," said Mr Oakins. "If
the newspaper is being read by the audience we're pitching to then the
advertisers must follow."
IMail's rates are enticingly low - HK$30,000 for a full-page
four-colour and $20,000 for the weekly magazine. The SCMP's page
rate is more than five-times that. But the SCMP has a proven circulation
track record, something that iMail must move on rapidly.
The iMail bills itself as a quality tabloid aimed at the 20-40 year old
Hong Kong audience who may or may not currently read English
newspapers.
The aim is to hold on to the current Hongkong Standard audience plus a
new audience that can and would read English newspapers if they were in
tune with their needs.
The main section of iMail will be 48-56 pages, the second section 56
pages and the classified section 40-160 pages, along with the Friday
magazine.
Mr Oakins commented on stories published in the Chinese press that the
investment bank Lazards, the 51 per cent owner of Sing Tao was already
looking for a way out of its involvement.
He pointed out that Sing Tao was a strong company with no debt and
HK$200 million in cash. Lazard's intention was to first turn the
newspapers around and then sell at a substantial profit.
Meanwhile, Sing Tao faces restructuring and manpower problems as it
attempts to boost its recently-revamped Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily
and the new iMail.
IMail had a launch print run of 80,000 and sold 50,000, according to Mr
Oakins, who added that its predecessor, the Hongkong Standard, had been
selling around 15,000 copies in its final days.
News-stand sales for iMail were five times that of the Standard and it
had more display advertising revenue in its first week than the Standard
had in the previous two years.
