GUANGZHOU: The competition to grab more and more expatriate readers has prompted a Guangzhou-based magazine to move to Shenzhen.
"Shenzhen has enormous potential and is a huge growth market," says Shane Qin, editor of That's PRD (Pearl River Delta), which was previsouly from That's Guangzhou.
"An increasing number of expats are moving to Shenzhen, and the economy is booming so we feel it's the right time to open there."
The market in South China's Guangdong Province has never been easy. "We have a smaller expat presence here, so there's a smaller market," Qin says.
"Shanghai has the biggest events. It has the fashion shows, attracts all the big movie stars and entertainers and stages the biggest parties. A lot more is happening there. Hence, there's a lot more to write about."
"Guangzhou expats don't tend to spend so much on shopping, fashion and entertainment. The lifestyle's there, but it isn't as obvious."
Shenzhen means moving to a new market, but it also means more staff, more content and more print runs. In an ideal world, the next stops should be Dongguan, Zhuhai and Zhongshan, but will that add to business growth or just transpose the same risks on another city?
One publication with a strong following up north is in no hurry to find out.
"We've been studying Guangzhou for a while, and so far we've refused to jump in," says City Weekend managing editor Collin Crowell. The successful entertainment and services guide enjoys a leading share of Beijing and Shanghai expats, and is making its presence felt in Shenzhen with its online portal for Guangzhou.
The difficulty with hardcopy publications is that "time and production costs always act against them", Crowell says. "If we can reach users and provide the services they need in another form, we'll do it. We're in no hurry to push another title just for the sake of it."
Most lifestyle magazines have one issue a month. With a two-week allowance for editing, design and printing, events that occur after the middle of a month may never make it to print.
But with the Internet, "we can get more content faster and in a more timely manner", he says. "Plus, we have interactivity with the users and venues. Anyone who has an event or item he wants others to know about can submit it online. Also, we have forums that allow expats and locals to communicate with each other.
"A website carries more listings and information than any magazine," he says. To survive, "a new magazine today would have to have more in-depth and better-written stories."
But a younger, tech-savvy audience is finding less and less time to read and is getting increasingly used to receiving information rather than seeking it. Hence, magazines, local- and expat-focused, have a fight on their hands, Crowell says. But even then, "there'll always be a place for print".
But "magazines will have to adapt", he admits.
