Biography
Alex Kuruvilla is the managing director of Condé Nast India. He has successfully launched four Condé Nast titles: Vogue India, GQ, Condé Nast Traveller and Architectural Digest, all of which have seen a year-on-year increase in readership.
Although Vogue India, Condé Nast’s biggest title on the sub-continent, has “moved up from a print run of 50,000 to 60,000 copies,” Kuruvilla’s gaze is firmly fixed upon digital prospects. “In most digitally savvy markets, including some in Asia, digital accounts for 20 to 22 percent of revenues. India should do better than that.”
India’s vast population and landmass is at the heart of Kuruvilla’s digital focus. “Part of the role that Vogue [India] has played since its launch to demystify fashion.” This is a role Kuruvilla envisages the brand to play for ever-increasing numbers of consumers, “while there is distribution in more than 100 towns, digital can spread the reach further.”
Prior to his appointment at Condé Nast, Kuruvilla served as managing director of MTV Networks India, as well as executive vice president of MTV Networks Asia. Kuruvilla transformed MTV from a single channel into a network including Nick, a children’s channel, and VH1, India’s only international music and lifestyle channel. Whilst at MTV, Kuruvilla and his team were the recipients of over 80 international awards.
Kuruvilla believes, “in India, with reach [and] circulation growing, both digital and print revenues can grow; this is the time, I think, for us to ring fence our business; to make it tougher for others to come in.”