STORM CLOUDS LOOMING: With a slowing economy and the dotcom dollars drying up, the future for Asia's regional print titles doesn't look too rosy. But they're fighting back with a series of relaunche

<p>The heady adspend days of last year are over. It was only a few </p><p>months ago that Asia's publishers were popping the corks on a bumper </p><p>year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Revenues on regional print titles were up by as much as 50 per cent in </p><p>some cases and ad directors were licking their lips as the cash rolled </p><p>in. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But, fuelled as it was by the free-wheeling, free-spending internet </p><p>boom, it was all bound to unravel sooner or later. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Telecoms, IT, banking and finance were the darling categories of the new </p><p>millennium. But when technology stocks came crashing down, venture </p><p>capital dried up, and dotcoms closed down, spends retracted across the </p><p>board. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>All media had benefited, and all media has suffered - not just </p><p>print. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Outdoor was a favourite in some markets," says CIA International Asia </p><p>general manager Tess Caven. "We worked out that at the height of the </p><p>madness, nearly 50 per cent of bus advertising in Singapore was taken up </p><p>by dotcoms." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Towards the end of 2000, media owners had begun to look over their </p><p>shoulders. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And their fears have been realised. In contrast to 2000, when research </p><p>company CMR's ad revenue figures showed Time Asia up by 31 per cent from </p><p>US$49 to 65 million, and Newsweek Asia up 34 per cent from </p><p>US$33 to 44 million, first-quarter figures for this year show </p><p>that total advertising revenue in Asia has increased by just three per </p><p>cent - with Time Asia showing 0.9 per cent year-to-date growth and </p><p>Newsweek Asia one per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As well as technology, telecoms and finance, other categories like </p><p>travel and consumer electronics are down, says Caven: "Overall, I think </p><p>that a lot of clients are holding back and spending on a piece-meal </p><p>basis." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>No category is spending heavily. It is not that they don't have the </p><p>budget, more that they're waiting to see what the US economy will do </p><p>before they start spending. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>There is always hope in an economic downturn that companies will use the </p><p>opportunity of discounted rates to build their brands. More often, </p><p>advertisers focus on specific local markets in an attempt to concentrate </p><p>on territories where they feel they can get most value for their </p><p>advertising dollars. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"There is a tendency for clients to retract their spend back to local </p><p>market advertising in tough times, because pan-regional advertising is </p><p>less quantifiable results-wise, and an easy thing for country managers </p><p>to take pot-shots at," says Caven. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"If media owners are in a position to split their feeds or localise, </p><p>they can at least chase local dollars as well as regional." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>She adds that clients are increasingly looking for local-language </p><p>options too, particularly in less English-friendly markets like Taiwan, </p><p>Japan and Korea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MindShare business director, Ralph Szeto, agrees that some clients are </p><p>moving away from regional media: "In Q1 and Q2, clients selected target </p><p>markets and local media, not pan-regional media. Regional is seen as </p><p>being for an elite group. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Budgets are down because of the overall gloom, which has made clients </p><p>concentrate on individual markets. Driving sales is more important in a </p><p>downturn. Companies still want to build a brand but they don't want to </p><p>spend on it now." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to CMR, the revenues of Asiaweek, which relaunched on May 11 </p><p>as a technology and business lifestyle publication, rose by just 11 per </p><p>cent last year compared to 2000, and dipped 15 per cent in the first </p><p>quarter of this year. Its rival the Far Eastern Economic Review rose by </p><p>42 per cent in 2000, and a further 25 per cent in the first quarter. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Asiaweek's new look has attracted mixed reviews. "It is a big change, </p><p>and it's now much more differentiated from Time Asia," says Szeto. "It </p><p>is more Asia-focused and will interest our clients more. It's a good </p><p>direction to go in because it can attract both local and pan-regional </p><p>spends. The editorial is attractive, and in terms of flexibility it is a </p><p>split buy." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>By contrast, another media director claims that the title had abandoned </p><p>its brand equity as a respected regional news magazine, and gone too far </p><p>down the "dotcom-Wired meets George meets Red Herring route". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He adds: "There was even an article in one issue about how to tie a </p><p>Windsor knot - how insulting to their existing upscale audience that </p><p>they have hitherto flouted so proudly." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, Asiaweek associate publisher, Rick Gates, says he's confident </p><p>that the relaunch will contribute to meeting the magazine's year-end </p><p>targets, despite the economic climate. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is in response to changes in the Asian consumer. There is a whole </p><p>new group of entrepreneurial Asian consumers. These people are breaking </p><p>the mould. They are driven by technology and business, not </p><p>politics." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other publications have tried to tap into the technology lifestyle </p><p>trend, but none as wholeheartedly as Asiaweek. "We are now more of a </p><p>technology and business read," says Gates. " We're different because </p><p>we're talking to Asians about Asian personalities and Asian trends." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Another title that has changed, albeit subtly, is The Economist. While </p><p>not making any radical editorial departure or deliberately aligning </p><p>itself more closely with Asian markets to attract split-buy spends, the </p><p>158-year-old title has, in its own conservative way, made a break with </p><p>the past. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It has been so well implemented and accepted that it's hard to remember </p><p>what it was like before," says CIA's Caven. "It certainly makes it more </p><p>approachable for many new and existing readers." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Economist still has ground to make up on competitors such as </p><p>BusinessWeek. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But its first-quarter figures are tentatively encouraging: a 0.7 per </p><p>cent fall in advertising, compared with BusinessWeek's 20 per cent </p><p>drop. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>BusinessWeek has been hit by the fall in US technology and automotive </p><p>advertising. The title is trying to grow its non-traditional clients, in </p><p>areas like travel and finance, and introduce new sections, one-off </p><p>reports and incentives to book. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We are trying to hold our rates, but flexibility is built in where </p><p>necessary," admits Business Week Asia managing director Alan Lammin. </p><p>"Currently we are 10 to 15 per cent down on 2000, and about the same </p><p>amount up on 1999." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Time Asia and Fortune are also looking at adding Asia pages. "The </p><p>slowdown hasn't hit Asia so badly, so we are making up shortfall through </p><p>Asian pages," says Time and Fortune president, Andrew Butcher. He adds </p><p>that the company is looking for new sources of revenue in China and </p><p>India. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Time Asia also publishes a trimmed insert, On, that focuses on </p><p>technology. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It is developing as a reader franchise, and we are beginning to </p><p>increase it," Butcher says. "There is no question that technology will </p><p>be the driver of both business and lifestyle for the next quarter of a </p><p>century." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Newsweek Asia, like its rivals, is looking at its editorial product </p><p>closely. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This month, like last year, it is publishing a special edition dedicated </p><p>to what it calls "the key issues in Asia". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It has been received well. It is very collectable and is one of the </p><p>ways we can grow our business," says Newsweek Asia advertising director </p><p>Teresa Yeung. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>She added that with Asiaweek trying to reposition itself as a </p><p>technology-focused title, and Time going in the same direction, it had </p><p>strengthened Newsweek Asia's positioning as an international </p><p>magazine. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Yeung is cautiously optimistic about the future. "I don't think we'll be </p><p>seeing another 20 per cent year, but we shouldn't be seeing a fall - and </p><p>that's without revising my revenue targets," she says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While the drop-off in revenue from internet companies has affected print </p><p>media, the internet is still around, and it's an increasingly powerful </p><p>competitor to print for ad dollars. In the context of a less-than-robust </p><p>regional economy, it's just one of the threats that makes the future of </p><p>pan-Asian print media an uncertain one. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The year may be on-par, plus or minus five to 10 per cent, if the US </p><p>and Japanese economies don't belly-flop," says CIA's Caven. "If these go </p><p>and Europe wobbles, I think that budgets could be held back, and the </p><p>back-end of the year could be bad." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This might be unduly pessimistic, and what we're feeling now might just </p><p>be a necessary counter to the unsustainable, technology-fuelled growth </p><p>print titles experienced during 2000. Whatever happens, one thing's for </p><p>sure: it won't be as good as last year again for quite a while. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>