Firstly, Manifest is the new kid on the block when it comes to trade publications covering advertising, marketing, and media. We’re in a cluttered, crowded place, but hopefully will make our mark. The 'kids' behind this product aren’t particularly new. As founder and editor, I come with close to 14 years of experience. Sanjyot Jayawant who joins me as the business head has around 18 years of experience. We’re joined editorially by Noel Dsouza and Riya Sethi who have a combined experience of seven years in the industry. The marketing team is relatively fresh, with a couple of years of experience between them, but both Nishika Karmani and Unnati Jadeja’s hunger to learn is infectious. Our lead designer Kaushal Gandhi has more than two decades of experience. We’re seven for now and should be at nine by the end of May, with two very experienced personalities joining us. 

What’s going to differentiate us? Well for starters it’s the content. We’re looking at unbiased coverage of the industry. And we’re not going to scratch your back if you’re going to scratch ours. So. for those who are advertising with us, or are potentially going to advertise with us just for that editorial coverage, we’re not the publication to reach out to. We really want to change that perception of the industry, so those who are indulging in these practices, let’s work together to stop it. Let’s offer real value to advertisers instead.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s put out what we plan to do and how we plan to make our money. Events and in particular awards are big money earners for the industry. That’s not on the agenda (for now). Before we enter that space, we know we’ll need to command a certain amount of respect, which we’ll work on. However, we’re not totally turning our back on events. We’re creating bespoke events for clients – if you’re looking to host one of them with us – mail raahil@manifest-media.in or sanjyot@manifest-media.in and we’ll be back with ideas.

Along with this, we’re offering a subscription model for both print and online. The payment gateway goes live on 17 June 2024, but those who register before that have a year’s subscription free for both our website and the magazine. Not all our online content will be gated. It’s only the features and interviews and it’ll come at a price for the year that competes with a cup of coffee. The magazine subscription will be a little higher than that and a combined offering will also be thrown in. More details on this in our next issue.

For now, as a challenger brand in this highly cluttered space, we want to stand out with integrity. And that’s what we’ll focus on. And we hope to have you as part of this journey.

The author is founder and editor, Manifest.