The Time Out magazine brand finally comes to Hong Kong, with some speculating about an April launch. Whenever it launches, Time Out faces an uphill battle. Time Out has prospered in its foreign locations when there has been a lack of local English-language media to fill the critical/cultural void. While HK magazine may not be perfect, it is established and has improved in recent months.Distribution will be key – TO HK’s distribution model will be different to that of its competitors and that could shift the balance in its favour. Asia City (HK magazine publishers) are in a bit of a flux right now with the departure of their editorial director and with a dearth of quality writers, it remains to be seen if they can compete. While it does come up with decent editorial ideas, the execution is usually poor and with a reluctance to pay freelancers, decent contributions are non-existent. That said, TO HK might not succeed – the fact that many larger publishing companies in HK had no interest in bringing out TO HK says it all. With approximately 8% of Rubicon’s advertising going back to TO London, Rubicon needs get working on brand recognition and distribution if they are going to survive.
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Frank Proctor’s Muse magazine, Hong Kong’s answer to the New Yorker? // March 2, 2008 at 3:05 pm
[...] In summary: Muse will have a tough time creating a new market space, but Proctor presumably did enough homework to identify a niche wealthy enough to sustain the publication. The arrival of Time Out could help by building a critical mass of advertisers being solicited by local culture-focussed magazines. (More thoughts on Time Out in Hong Kong from a new blog here) [...]