suave magazine - professionals and entrepuneurs

LadyDay · (#1 (**permalink**))

saw these guys on dragons den. so i googled them being it was 2 brothers

check their site out

they didnt get any funding from the den though

http://www.suavemagazine.co.uk/

Le Moor · (#2 (**permalink**))

LadyDay wrote:

Quote:

saw these guys on dragons den. so i googled them being it was 2 brothers

check their site out

they didnt get any funding from the den though

http://www.suavemagazine.co.uk/

Hmmmmm.

Didnt they say they market to black entrepeneurs and businessman.

There are two million black people in this country and i estimatethat less than 5% of usare wealthy entrepeneurs and businessman. Thats a target market of 100,000 UK people at best. This number should be the weekly sales count andnot the audience potential. The figures just dont stack up enough for advertisers, salesor the publishers high overheads, which come standard with this business.

In the States these businesses can work. Here its severely niche. Not impossible but as good as.

Dada · (#3 (**permalink**))

I read GQ from time to time so a cross over may be possible, I used to love "Untold" Magazine.

Maybe they should read my Post on Private Equity but judging from the number of post I dare say the interest they like the rest of the Community in businessare well capitalised.

Le Moor · (#4 (**permalink**))

Dada wrote:

Quote:

I read GQ from time to time so a cross over may be possible, I used to love "Untold" Magazine.

Maybe they should read my Post on Private Equity but judging from the number of post I dare say the interest they like the rest of the Community in businessare well capitalised.

A cross over to white people can only happen significantly imo, if you no longer target black people. That changes the entire dynamic and you are then competing with the established big boys.

Niche markets can work but the figures have to stack up and the stratergy has to be perfect. They may have other ideas such as an overall business plan which inludes an e-commerce proposal for e.g.

Thats not how they presented it on the show though.

Black Lion · (#5 (**permalink**))

Looks intresting, I'd buy it.

Dada · (#6 (**permalink**))

La Moor,

An example of a good cross over into the main stream has to be Mr Dennis's Kung Fu magazine from the 70's it was not only Hong Kong people buying into that.

Black people are famous for our sense of style and culture which has always been very leading edge and turns into main stream. Many of the Fashions and Music and etc is lapped up by the mainstream so provided one simply presents in an assumptive manner which Europeans do all the time, one may get a way with it depending on how it's marketed.

Many brands may see the publication as place to place their brand to give it credibility etc. ..........must dash I am cooking.

Le Moor · (#7 (**permalink**))

Dada wrote:

Quote:

La Moor,

An example of a good cross over into the main stream has to be Mr Dennis's Kung Fu magazine from the 70's it was not only Hong Kong people buying into that.

Quote:

Kungfu is a good example of a niche market, but even these type magazines are Ltd in potential and commercial attraction. Large publishers with several titles can entertain these type magazines as they have the funds to brand the mag etc.They can sellglobally orat least nationallywhich would hit the right numbersfor it to be anywhere near successful. Anything else outside of this is hardly going to set the world allight in terms of revenue potential and actual return. Wouldnt surprise me if some enthausiatspublish and distribute the mag, and break evenjust for the sheer love of it.

Quote:

Investors want more than thishowever, a lot more..

Quote:

Suave Magazine is targetted to black business and black enterpeneurs. Somehow i dont see the white business sector being ready to concern themselves with our business issues more so than their beloved Forbes Magazine or Money Marketing Magaazine etc. There is no cross over there and ill just call that an instinctive observation. How many white people buy Pride magazine or the Voice or the New Nation?. So why because its targeting businesses would the result be any different? confused3Its still a target market consisting ofblack people. The only way you would possibly do so is to take away the BLACK target market and make it for the business fraternity. However then, as i said earlier, you have entered the playing feild of stern competition.

Quote:

Black people are famous for our sense of style and culture which has always been very leading edge and turns into main stream. Many of the Fashions and Music and etc is lapped up by the mainstream so provided one simply presents in an assumptive manner which Europeans do all the time, one may get a way with it depending on how it's marketed.

Quote:

Yes we are but this is not a fashion magazine it is a business publication as far as i was aware. Plus alsothe reality is, we are not renowned in the same way for our business acumen, are we?

Quote:

Many brands may see the publication as place to place their brand to give it credibility etc. ..........must dash I am cooking.

Quote:

Bet its nowhere near as nice as the Stew Chicken i just boxed down from WestGreenRoad.

Quote:

Dadacredibility is all important to brands. When a publication is new the brands often give it credibility and not the opposite. This iswhy newpublications can take time, and deep pockets, before a profit is returned. Before a medium has built up a verified audience and a credible reputation it struggles tocommand a high commercial value and often gives away its advertising at a loss.

Quote:

The biggest reason i feelthese guys never got the funding they were seeking was because every Dragon instantly knew that publishing is a very high cost/overheads business, therefore massive potential for failure. Unless they were walking in saying that they already had 100,000 subscriptions or sales it was never going to happen. Even a mainstream publishing idea woould probably not cut it with them for the exact same reasons, unless there was a unique selling point that caught their attentions.

balboa · (#8 (**permalink**))

[align=left]i have 2 say, it looks gud tho. id propably buy it
[/align]

Judge J · (#9 (**permalink**))

I might have to venture to the head office of this magazine and purchase a copy

Dada · (#10 (**permalink**))

There is a BIG drive at the moment within the Advertising industry and Media Buyers for targeting Ethnic Minorities. This drive started to gather momentum about four years ago, and is still being waged. So in respect to advertisers they are there and are willing.

In respect to Business and the Black Community. I reluctantly have to agree with you. As black people, our presence as successful business men and woman is woefully low. Being out paced byminstrels in sport and entertainment.

However, the point I make is that when reading the likes of GQ or Forbes neither states it's a white publication it is assumed that the publication is judged on it's content and the pictures thatare in are coincidental (that most are white male and middle aged).

In regards to investment please read the topic I made on Private Equity. If such a business plan came acrossa Private Equity Company'sdesk provided they could "Show them the Money" they would assist them in trying to reach out through content to a broader audience.

Quote:

Investors want more than thishowever, a lot more..

That needs to be qualified. For example it depends on the amount of investment V.C investing Â£100 Million pounds, yes. A Business Angel investing Â£100,00 not really, if they are from a Publishing background, God know theres money in it ( Murduch, Black, Heseltine , Dennis etc) then that investor will be prepared to give mentoring and experience in equal measure.

Trust me you would be amazed who get money and how they select.

Your point about the Publication Pride is valid but New Nation or Voice not as both proclaim to be "Black" Newspapers for a strictly Black audience. Pride Magazine is a quality one but as you point out there is much competition in the Womens sector to keep it firmly in "it's place".

The old adage: "The Medium is the Message" holds true and provided it fits a brands profile it will advertise in it. This was happening in UNTOLD magazine just before the plug was pulled. Probably not capitalised well enough. That is also why many mainstream advertisers used to use fly posting to advertise to give thier brand "Street Cred" the same goes for the Major brands advertising on "Youtube" .

In respect to Black Business. There are many great opportunities in Africa that Western Businesses would love to be aware of but the mainstream doe's not allow it on the radar. A publication that highlighted such opportunities that are in Africa or the Carribbean even would be a source of great interest to those looking for a high yield on a low investment.

Maybe what I am talking about is not apart of Suave Magazine's

remitt but we must refrain from pigeon holing ourselves and business to our community only, The asians don't damn they even have the market wrapped up selling our food & cosmetics back to us.

Back to publishing. In publishing their are two Universities in my book.

The EMaps, and Conde Nest of this world and the Old School Stirling Publications. One is aboutStyle and Content, the other about Good Media Salesman or Women.

If one is in Publishing and your are generating sales revenue you had better have a clear message to the person on the other end of the Table\Board room or telephone.

When you say:

Quote:

Wouldnt surprise me if some enthausiatspublish and distribute the mag, and break evenjust for the sheer love of it.

That's one very good reason to start a business. Too many budding entrepreneurs waste time trying to reinvent the wheel, the BIG Idea etc. What's starbucks but a coffee cafe, nothing new in that save the concept of a lifestyle.

While the Dragons den is entertaining. It's not real life.

Dada · (#11 (**permalink**))

There is a BIG drive at the moment within the Advertising industry and Media Buyers for targeting Ethnic Minorities. This drive started to gather momentum about four years ago, and is still being waged. So in respect to advertisers they are there and are willing.

Quote:

Marketing industry catering to non-white communities in UK

Quote:

Feb 10, 2004: The Asian and black communities in Britain have disposable incomes worth 32bn pound, and the mainstream advertising industry is slowly recognising this. The number of advertising campaigns using ethnic minority actors trebled last year as the marketing industry woke up to the power of the â€˜brown poundâ€™ â€” the purchasing power of the non-white communities. One of the most visible black figures is Halifaxâ€™s Howard Brown, but NatWest and KFC campaigns have also recently featured Asian or black actors. In January â€˜03, only 2% of campaigns featured black and Asian people, but that rose to 7% by November last year, according to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).

Quote:

The IPA said ethnic minorities had more disposable income than ever before. Peugeot is another advertiser that turned its attention to the brown pound, using an Indian to help attract Asian buyers for its 206 model. The IPA said it had been campaigning to encourage advertisers to include ethnic minorities in campaigns in the same way it had pushed the â€˜pink poundâ€™ or â€˜grey poundâ€™. Anjna Raheja, managing director of Media Moguls, a marketing group that helps brands reach ethnic minority consumers, said advertising agencies still had to be more inclusive when creating campaigns. The institute is also trying to encourage more people from ethnic backgrounds to consider a career in marketing. At present, only 4% of employees at marketing companies are from ethnic backgrounds and 70% of that total work in supporting roles, rather than the more glamorous creative field.

Quote:

Back to my own words:
In respect to Business and the Black Community. I reluctantly have to agree with you. As black people, our presence as successful business men and woman is woefully low. Being out paced byminstrels in sport and entertainment.

However, the point I make is that when reading the likes of GQ or Forbes neither states it's a white publication it is assumed that the publication is judged on it's content and the pictures thatare in are coincidental (that most are white male and middle aged).

In regards to investment please read the topic I made on Private Equity. If such a business plan came acrossa Private Equity Company'sdesk provided they could "Show them the Money" they would assist them in trying to reach out through content to a broader audience.

Quote:

Investors want more than thishowever, a lot more..

That needs to be qualified. For example it depends on the amount of investment V.C investing Â£100 Million pounds, yes. A Business Angel investing Â£100,00 not really, if they are from a Publishing background, God know theres money in it ( Murduch, Black, Heseltine , Dennis etc) then that investor will be prepared to give mentoring and experience in equal measure.

Trust me you would be amazed who get money and how they select.

Your point about the Publication Pride is valid but New Nation or Voice not as both proclaim to be "Black" Newspapers for a strictly Black audience. Pride Magazine is a quality one but as you point out there is much competition in the Womens sector to keep it firmly in "it's place".

The old adage: "The Medium is the Message" holds true and provided it fits a brands profile it will advertise in it. This was happening in UNTOLD magazine just before the plug was pulled. Probably not capitalised well enough. That is also why many mainstream advertisers used to use fly posting to advertise to give thier brand "Street Cred" the same goes for the Major brands advertising on "Youtube" .

In respect to Black Business. There are many great opportunities in Africa that Western Businesses would love to be aware of but the mainstream doe's not allow it on the radar. A publication that highlighted such opportunities that are in Africa or the Carribbean even would be a source of great interest to those looking for a high yield on a low investment.

Maybe what I am talking about is not apart of Suave Magazine's

remitt but we must refrain from pigeon holing ourselves and business to our community only, The asians don't give a damn,they even have the market wrapped up selling our food & cosmetics back to us.

Back to publishing. In publishing their are two Universities in my book.

The old IPC, and Conde Neste of this world and the Old School Stirling Publications. One is aboutStyle and Content, the other about Good Media Salesman or Women.

If one is in Publishing and your are generating sales revenue you had better have a clear message to the person on the other end of the TableBoard room or telephone.

When you say:

Quote:

Wouldnt surprise me if some enthausiatspublish and distribute the mag, and break evenjust for the sheer love of it.

That's one very good reason to start a business. Too many budding entrepreneurs waste time trying to reinvent the wheel, the BIG Idea etc. What's starbucks but a coffee cafe, nothing new in that save the concept of a lifestyle.

While the Dragons den is entertaining. It's not real life.