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Tuesday, September 01, 2009

WHICH? is the RIGHT CHOICE!

Have you ever heard about a magazine which doesn't accept any advertisement because they want to build the credibility in reader's mind that they are unbiased? They don't even ask manufacturers/dealers to send their products for the review instead they buy all the products and then they test on their well researched benchmarks!

This is RIGHT CHOICE magazine, launched 50 years ago in UK by a consumer organization- WHICH? and now it is launched last month in India with the name- WHICH? RIGHT CHOICE.

RIGHT CHOICE is essentially a consumer buying guide which is to help consumer to make a smart decision of buying any product or service available in the market. The product & service range this magazine covers is not limited up to one special interest or genre but it covers each and every possible aspect our lives.

Content
This magazine is just perfect buying guide which you can trust for its impartial advice on any product. Yes, comparisons & reviews of products are done by several magazines also but the RIGHT CHOICE really impresses by its wide range of selecting the products. It covers right from electronics gadgets, life style products, auto, home appliances, lipsticks, washing powders, wines, batteries… up to comparing phone service providers, holiday packages, fast foods, loans, investment plans, banks, cinema, properties and what not!

And its not only reviewing and rating a product but other important information also is given as an extra tip in the articles, like- how to get most of…, how to save… Cleaning…maintaining…using… etc!

A few of interesting numbers which shows their efforts behind their ratings & make their researches an 'Icon of Trust'-
  • 1033- The number of upper-income professionals they interviewed about their Cinema preferences.
  • 600- The total number of days they spent applying lipstick to test how long it lasted.
  • 20,000- Number of times they switched light bulb on and off.
  • 30,00,000- Number of characters they struck on type writers.
Since, this 80 pages magazine covers a variety of products, it is failed to communicate the structure of magazine to the reader, and in fact the magazine doesn't have any editorial structure. Reader gets the information across the magazine, page by page, but he can not browse this magazine section viz. as it has no prominent structure in entire magazine.

Design
RIGHT CHOICE has got a class! It seems very disciplined & planned magazine which appears very clearly though its design & layout. The color scheme chosen, the fonts and the design elements selected are very disciplined and consistent throughout the magazine.

That consistency in design, in fact adds to the credibility of research results published in the magazine by showing clarity of thought of people behind the magazine.

Because of nature of subject, this magazine has lots of infographs, illustrations and tables and all are neat & looking good. Even small & tiny elements those are created to add value in the content, are looking good.

There are places where design & layouts have some errors which are though ignorable but they seem much bigger when it is very close to the perfection… then it pinches more! At some places, some basic things are neglected which can be taken care. Anyway, things can be improved all the time.

Printing
Printing as excellent as the content & design is! Cover of volume 1 issue 1 has got nice photograph and colors are printed very well. Inside pages are also printed very sharp & clear. Very rare pages have registration problem that may be in initial copies only.

Because of good printing and good prepress job, products carried out in the magazine, are appearing in true color which is great achievement for this kind of magazine. Only a few photographs taken/used in some articles are poor.

Product
RIGHT CHOICE is a perfect bound magazine in regular size. Paper used for inside pages as well as for the covers is just perfect for this magazine.

As of now, this magazine is not available on the news stands and first three issues are available though their controlled distribution only. Initial issues are not even disclosing the cover price.

After a long time in such a wonderful product is available for Indian magazine reader that is a complete package in terms of content-design-product, everything! WHICH? RIGHT CHOICE is already known as a trusted magazine in UK with a subscriber base of 10 lakh consumers and now it is ready to impress Indian consumer by its unbiased advice on buying goods & services.

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Content ......................: ●●●●○
Design & Layout .........: ●●●●○
Printing ........................: ●●●●
Product ........................: ●●●●
Value for Money ..........: NA (Until price is decided.)
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‘VIRDI’CT ...................: ●●●●○

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How to use ‘VIRDI’CT..??
○○○○ Browse & leave it
●●○○○ Borrow & Read it
●●●○○ Buy it occasionally
●●●● Buy regularly
●●●●● Subscribe it now!!!