TAKEAWAY: It creates an unparalleled team to serve our Indian clients: Garcia Media and Apparatus Media Lab have created a strategic alliance which will allow their teams to take clients into the world of multiplatform rethinking. ALSO: Still time to apply for Poynter’s The Power of the Tablet conference, set for June 14-15
New alliance for Indian publishing: Garcia Media and Apparatus join forces
Mario Garcia and Shiva during their meeting at Apparatus headquarters in Bangalore to finalize details of their alliance
I am personally happy to announce our alliance with India’s Apparatus Media Lab and its fantastic team of talented designers and technical wizards. Spending time in their office, on the outskirts of bustling Bangalore, is to witness a passionate group at work. My team and I first worked with Shiva Kumar and his group as part of a collaboration in Hyderabad, creating the then new and now very successful (12 million daily readers) newspaper, Sakshi, which publishes in the Teluga language. What started as a professional collaboration turned into friendship and long discussions about everything related to design and the role it plays in a fast changing technical environment.
“We at Apparatus usually find ourselves at that junction where a print product, not necessarily a mass media one, finds itself seeking ways to take the next step using available new technology. That is what we do best,” Shiva told me over lunch. “Our team is young, highly educated, and we have the ability to conceptualize and to work with clients in a variety of areas, from print to digital to branding and rebranding.”
For us at Garcia Media, India has always been a fascinating place in which to work, and we have been privileged to assist as consultants with various titles across that vast country, such as the creation of Mint, the newest financial daily, now distributed nationally; also the Hindustantimes of Delhi, and Chennai’s The Hindu and its sister publication SportsStar; also in Kerala, Malayala Manorama, The Week; in Mumbai, Midday, in Pune Saakal Times and, of course, Hyderabad’s Saachi..
Presently, through our alliance with Apparatus, we are prepared to start a new chapter in Garcia Media’s work with Indian media houses. It is also the era of the tablet, which should arrive in India around mid June. We are prepared to guide clients through specific workshops that will allow their publications to tabletize through a smooth process.
Following is the press release that has been published today.
We welcome Apparatus to the Garcia Media family.
Offering unequaled services for the Indian media market
Bangalore, India —-Garcia Media today announced a strategic alliance with Apparatus Media Lab the Bangalore-based team of communication design and technology professionals.
We believe that India is already one of the world’s most exciting markets for publishing and communication, and this alliance with the young team of AML will enhance our ability to expand our participation in projects throughout India, while sharing expertise and synergies to take India Inc. into the digital revolution from mobile phone and Internet to tablets.
Of course, both firms are internationally recognized for their work in print design, and that will continue to be a centerpiece of our alliance.
“It is a time for alliances,” said Mario Garcia, CEO/Founder of Garcia Media. “We live in an exciting and unparalleled period of constant change for the media, for the way we receive information and how we disseminate it. Few, if any, consulting firms can provide all of the services that are needed, so we at Garcia Media believe strongly in forging team work that assembles the best and most talented group to tackle each project. We worked with Apparatus before and found the experience to be mutually beneficial, thus our joy as we announce this new professional collaboration between our already well established firms.”
“India as a market is at the cusp of using technology towards development,” says Shiva Kumar, executive director of Apparatus. “Obviously, Garcia Media is a global player in the fields of communication, publication design and taking media companies to the next level. We at Apparatus understand the cultural nuances of the Indian market, something which is key to successful rethinking and branding. Garcia Media brings decades of expertise to the table, and ,together with Apparatus’ track record, we will create unsurpassed opportunities for our clients.”
One of the first joint efforts of the two firms will be the planning of a seminar about Publishing/Branding in the Era of the Tablet, to be held in Bangalore in October 2010. More details to be announced at a later date.
For more information : Garcia Media (www.garciamedia.com), Apparatus Media Lab (www.apparatus.in)
Apply for the Poynter The Power of the Tablet conference
Many calls and emails are coming in rather late inquiring about the Tablet conference, so Poynter has extended the deadline to apply until May 26.
The Power of the Tablet conference will take place June 14-15 and includes a thorough discussion of all aspects of getting a newspaper/magazine ready for the iPad or other tablet editions.
Go here to apply:
http://www.poynter.org/seminar/seminar.asp?id=5515&catid=