'Tiao Wang' magazine taps into Chinese community

Media & Marketing: The true size of the Chinese community is likely to be revealed when a national census takes place next year. Most observers expect it to reveal there are between 120,000 and 130,000 people of Chinese ethnic origin working or studying in the country, with the majority based in Dublin.

Inevitably, a population of this size is going to prove attractive to advertisers and the first Irish magazine aimed at the Chinese community here is now into its second edition.

Tiao Wang (which translates as "looking forward with hope") is a general interest magazine retailing in Irish shops for € 2.80. It is published by Ethnic Media and the company's managing director Niall Kehoe describes the magazine as a cross between "Ireland's Own and the Reader's Digest".

"The Chinese are highly discerning, with keenly developed consumer tastes," says Kehoe. He previously worked as business development manager with Mike Hogan's Hoson publishing house.

"The idea for the magazine came from just looking around at the amount of Chinese people in the country. I realised there was no media there for them," said Kehoe.

While Tiao Wang, which has a print run of 20,000, is the only specialist magazine for the Chinese community, Anna Livia radio is now producing a special programme for the community in Dublin. Reaching the Chinese community has proven relatively easy, according to Kehoe, who says most of them live in Dublin 2 and Dublin 6 postal areas. The language used in the magazine is Mandarin, which Kehoe claims is now spoken by more people than Irish.

So far advertisers like Western Union, Bank of Ireland and several private colleges have decided to take space. For whatever reason the drinks companies do not appear to be particularly interested and Ethnic Media has not sought them out. Kehoe's sense is that the Chinese community tend to socialise with each other, rather than with Irish people.

He says karaoke is particularly popular with the Irish Chinese community. If the magazine finds its commercial feet, there are plans to take it into the UK market.

Ironically, this week FÁS, the State-owned training and employment agency, announced it was developing a campaign aimed at informing and preparing EU workers for life in Ireland.

Five EU presenters from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, currently living in Ireland, have been headhunted by FÁS to feature in a new DVD entitled Know Before You Go.

The DVD is just one thread in a campaign which comprises posters, information leaflets in the respective languages and an interpretative service available through FÁS offices.

'Star' challenge

The Star has responded to last week's figures in this column concerning the impact of the Metro on Ireland's main tabloid titles.

The Star denies suggestions that a fall in its October sale is related to arrival of Metro. The Star's sale did fall in Ocotber by 1.6 per cent, but the paper says there are other short-term explanations for this.

"The Star increased its cover price by 7 per cent in October and a marginal reduction in sales always follows in the immediate aftermath of a cover price increase, but historically circulation shows it recovers," said the paper this week.

The paper added that its readers were prepared to pay extra for their content. "This proves the robustness and strength of the Star brand," a spokesman stated. While the promoters of Metro believe at least half of its readers are new to the newspaper-reading habit, the Star claims recent US research indicates that readers of freesheets are also buying paid newspapers.

Christmas awards

Maybe it's because Christmas is coming, but there has been a sudden surge in the amount of advertising and public relations accounts being awarded.

One of the biggest is the National Consumer Agency, which includes among its membership Eddie Hobbs and Celia Larkin. The public relations contract has gone to Q4, while Owens DDB & Mediaworks have been awarded the contract for the advertising campaign to promote the agency.

Meanwhile, National Irish Bank has appointed a series of companies to service its advertising needs.

Among the companies working with the bank will be Cawley Nea. Meanwhile Ogilvy & Mather has won the advertising account of Axa Insurance.

Clare's paper wars

For many years the local newspaper scene in Clare was pretty drab. The 102-year-old Clare Champion was the unrivalled leader and nobody dared to challenge its supremacy.

Now, however, a new title, the Clare People, is encroaching on its space. Ironically, it is edited by Gerry Collison, who worked for the Champion for 25 years, including eight as editor.

The Clare People this week announced it has a circulation of 10,703 copies recorded in the period June to August. The paper claims this translates into a readership of 33,000. It has deliberately set out to poach younger readers in what it calls "one of the fastest growing and most affluent markets in the country".

The Champion's last recorded ABC circulation was 21,695, so it will be interesting to see if this changes in the period ahead due to the new arrival.

Emmet Oliver can be contacted at eoliver@irish-times.ie