Media Q&A – SWA Media Inc., Indonesia

Media Q&A is a series of interviews with media insiders about big shifts that currently reshaping their industry, so that PR and marketing people can better understand and engage them.

SWA (pronounced “swah”, not S-W-A) Media Inc. started out with a business magazine, SWASEMBADA—literally means “self-supporting”—which was first published in 1985. At that time, the Indonesian government initiated an economic program to curb imports by increasing domestic production.

Since then, SWA—its present and shortened name—has been considered as the country’s largest business magazine with over 200,000 readers, according to the latest Nielsen Media Index.

Moreover, it now has several sister publications, such as MIX MARCOMM, book publisher, research units, and business events under SWA Media Inc. I recently sat down with Kemal Effendi Gani, SWA Media Inc.’s Chairman and Group Chief Editor, to talk more about publishing business, content strategy, and where SWA is headed next. Here’s an edited excerpt from our conversation:

Q: How do you cope with a falling trend of print readership?

A: First of all, we’d like to think that our products & services have now gone beyond the magazine. We have organized major business events and awards. Not only that, we also conducted business-related research and surveys. But beyond-the-magazine strategy doesn’t mean that we will abandon the print business. Thanks to our corporate subscribers, we can still maintain the print copy sales. In fact, some companies purchase a quite large number of our print copies on many occasions.

Q: So you still can’t abandon print—yet?

A: Well, it’s really a matter of choice. Some of our consumers still prefer to read our print copy. But some prefer the digital edition, or even online. For example, I love to read Fast Company on my iPad. As for local magazine or newspaper, I still prefer the print version.

Q: Where does the digital innovation take place at SWA?

A: For recent years, our digital editions have been available at the local digital newsstand. In near term, we plan to revamp our website. The new web design will be more responsive, and work well across all devices. Also, there will be more new channels. We’re going to feature our business surveys and corporate ranking onto the websites. These will be reference guides to Indonesia’s business landscape. What’s more, we will be opening up for more content partnerships. In recent months, we have established content syndication with Tempo, one of the leading media group in Indonesia. Nowadays, collaboration is the key to a sustained success.***

SWA is our current content partner in Indonesia. Visit their website at www.swa.co.id for further reading.

Patrick Hutapea is the Audience Development Executive in Indonesia for PR Newswire.