Why do Parents shy away from investing in E Magazines?

Why do Parents shy away from investing in E magazines!

Recently, at the café, with a group of parents who were eager to put their children into any engaging activity, they were discussing over the possibility of hiring a fitness expert to keep the youngsters on their toes for at least 3 days a week.

Mrs. Saini who is the most proactive in the group, sipped her coffee and said, “It is a brilliant idea, at least for an hour and a half they will be out of home and will come back tired and hungry.”

Prabha, the worrisome parent interrupted. “ But what about Omicron? How can we let children work out together? And the fitness teacher has to come from outside, I can’t imagine the danger I will put my child through. Why don’t we ask this fitness person to stay in the colony and we pay for his rent?”

“How stupid of you Prabha”, said Sarala ma’am. “Let’s be practical here. Children cannot be caged or protected like this forever. They have to learn to face it and fight it.”

While the conversations were in full swing and they all agreed to look at the possibility of a person who can help their children learn discipline and a good exercise regime, I decided to introduce my new E magazine to them.

The Kampaigners Klub is an E magazine for youngsters who like to read about interesting information which we don’t usually find in news. Let’s say, in the science class, we learn about the Jellyfish, its properties, habitat and features. In The Kampaigners Klub we do not pour in content, instead we talk about things a child wouldn’t have learnt at school about the Jellyfish.

In our recent issue, we had a page titled ‘Jellyfish, Jellyfish, Jellyfish’ and we inculcated some facts in a way kids love to read. There was ‘Do you know quiz’ followed by discussion on how Jellyfish made their first trip to space in 1991.

When the parents were silent and still looking at me, I went on, hoping they are keen to understand the actuals of off-school learning through an E magazine we have wholeheartedly brought out.

When it came to subscriptions, everybody raised one question like it was pre planned: “Doesn’t it come free?”

“Does pizza come free Shalini?”, I asked her back.

Why content is no more the ‘King’ with Parents????

Ordering another coffee to prolong the conversation so as to tell them how beautifully we have crafted our magazine, most of them ended their bit with phrases like, ‘very good’, ‘I am proud of you’, ‘good luck’, until Neha from the corner asked, ‘What’s the age group for the E magazine?”.

It’s from 7-12 Neha, thank you for asking, at least I can go home with the contentment that someone from the crowd of 20 actually thought it was a nice one for children.

But…

Mrs. Saini had to speak. “When there is so much content available online, who will buy your monthly E magazine for their child, that too paying 150 Rs per month? Firstly, its too expensive. You get all types of magazines for 20, 30 Rs, we shouldn’t waste this money on kids and they won’t read it too, I know.”

“Will they be interested to exercise three times a week by missing out on their cricket/tennis or other playtime?”

“That we will have to force them, they do not know, it’s for their own good. Once they get into it, children will slowly get adapted to it.”

“Can’t you use the same principle with the E magazine, if you find it worthy for your child?”

“Hmmmm… I will let you know, alright. It is very good but….”

“Mrs Saini, see the E magazine once before you decide, I am sure you will appreciate it.”

“Of course dear, I will share it too in the group and on Facebook, Insta, everywhere. Don’t you doubt.”

As usual our parting photo session vibrantly culminated in more photos and fun.

While walking back I noted the key points in the compartment of my mind.

·??????Too much of content has worked against the creative knowledge of US

·??????Marketing any content has degraded the quality of language and literature of writing

·??????When selling becomes the key, quality is compromised

·??????Earlier people had the creative instincts to recognize good/bad content, today there is a cloud of fanciful marketing techniques projected in front of them which leads to the concept of ‘make-believe quality assurance’

·??????Not the cost, but winning over the faith through aggressive, instinctive marketing is the key, not well written content

·??????‘Content is the King’ has definitely taken a back seat

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By noting these eye openers, there hasn’t been an attempt to humiliate ‘marketing’ or the strategies companies adopt in marketing, it’s an art itself, an art of convincing through data analysis, presentations, discussions and teamwork.

Last Monday, as the fitness trainer joined the kids for 3 days of class a week, there were many happy faces in the crowd, but not a single call to view the complimentary copy of the magazine.

On the other side,

·??????A government school teacher subscribed for the whole class for one year and we gave her a good discount for her big heart

·??????Many grandparents came forward to gift our E magazine to their grandchildren during the Diwali season

·??????We are distributing free E magazines to children who are keen to read and follow what other kids browse through

·??????Some schools have come forward to accept us and understand what we like to achieve through The Kampaigners Klub

·??????Parents from tier 2 and tier 3 cities, where over exposure to content is lesser, came forward to subscribe the E magazine

·??????We have a good following outside India

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As we grow day by day, step by step, we learn with our Kampaigners who interact with us and let us know what they like to read. Our 1st edition had to take off with a blog on online gaming as most boys opted for it while the girls wanted a blog on how something is done and we went with cartoons, telling them how cartoons are made.

As we believe, it’s all about trying out a new E magazine in the market, we are sure, youngsters will find something to hold onto and keep going. Will parents help????

Our website : The Kampaigners Klub - The Alcove Publishers

Our mail id : [email protected]

insta handle : thekampaigners

facebook: thekampaigners

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