Tobacco Asia Publisher Glenn Anthony John
By Thomas Schmid
This issue marks the silver jubilee of Tobacco Asia. Our contributing editor Thomas Schmid (TS) interviewed publisher Glenn Anthony John (GAJ) for a little retrospective.
TS: 25 years of Tobacco Asia, that’s a quarter century. What is the secret for this longevity?
GAJ: Actually, as far as global tobacco industry trade magazines go, longevity is not that unusual. Although Tobacco Asia has witnessed two long-term competitors cease publishing over the past years, there are two remaining – and they both have been around longer than we have. But, where we stand out in that illustrious group is our focus and reach into the Asia region, arguably the most dynamic region in the world for tobacco especially now with the burgeoning vaping and new generation products industries.
TS: Why was Bangkok selected as headquarters? Why not Indonesia or India, for example? After all, both countries harbor extensive tobacco sectors.
GAJ: Tobacco Asia started out in New York City in 1996, but we quickly realized that we needed to be on location in Asia if we wanted to effectively report on - and for – Asia’s tobacco industry. To get ourselves up and running, we decided upon Bangkok as a lower-cost place to set up first. The plan was to eventually move on to somewhere more recognized as an inter- national or regional hub like Hong Kong or Singapore. But as time went by, Bangkok itself rapidly developed into exactly that hub. So, the moving plan was discarded. Another point of consideration to remain in Bangkok was how incredibly conveniently located the city in fact is. We are just a one to five-hour, non-stop flight to anywhere in Asia; there also are easy flight connections to pretty much everywhere else in the world. The Bangkok location has turned out beautifully for us and I wouldn’t want to be based anywhere else.
TS: How has the magazine’s readership developed over the years?
GAJ: At first we strictly reported on our core knowledge base which was tobacco leaf and tobacco manufacturing. But, before long we also began dedicating a portion of our pages to the wholesale and distribution segments, which captured additional readership. Nowadays we of course also devote a lot of attention to vaping and new generation products. The gradual expansion of our coverage is reflected in our growing readership and subscriber base that we have been able to accumulate. I would dare say that there is hardly anyone in the global tobacco industry today who hasn’t at least heard of Tobacco Asia. We have become a familiar “industry” name.
TS: Why is each magazine issue published in both English and Mandarin Chinese editions?
GAJ: With over a quarter of our readership and subscribers being in China, it was imperative for us to begin publishing in Chinese. We need to get the information to our readers in their preferred language. No other competitor does this - and so they don’t have the reach into China that we do.
TS: Why is Asia garnering so much attention among tobacco industry professionals? Is this a relatively recent development or has Asia always been at the top of the attention scale?
GAJ: Since the late 1980s the tobacco industry has paid keen and prescient attention to Asia. Long-time Asiaphiles like myself remember when much of the region was run by tobacco monopolies that basically disallowed foreign products in their respective markets. If you can believe it, it was the US government that eventually forced open these markets, such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and, to a lesser extent, Thailand. The US succeeded with a bit of trade sanction threatening to disallow imports, such as cars, electronics, etc. unless markets were opened to US cigarette imports.
TS: Care to share some of the high points the magazine experienced in its 25 years?
GAJ: Moving from NYC to Asia was a biggie for us, of course. And then there was the acquisition of Tobacco Asia by October Multimedia in 2009. From then on, we became consistently stronger, our reporting more solid – and that certainly is one of the main reasons why we today are regarded as one of the leading industry publications around. Not too long after coming under the October Multimedia fold we also embarked on building a strong relationship with Germany’s Messe Dortmund, with us representing InterTabac and subsequently also their InterSupply exhibitions in several markets in Asia, including China exclusively.
TS: If there were high points, there surely also must have been certain low points or crises the publication had to master. Care to share?
GAJ: Of course this year has been one of the toughest so far for the magazine. We are thankful for all our customers who, for the most part, have remained on board with us. But we still had to deal with the exponential rise in distribution costs to deliver Tobacco Asia print copies to our subscribers around the globe. And the postponement of InterTabac 2020 also was difficult to digest. Let’s just say together with our customers and supporters in the industry, we likewise are looking forward to a better year in 2021.
TS: In your opinion, what is the future of the global tobacco industry in light of progressively tighter regulations and restrictions in a growing number of countries?
GAJ: I believe more and more smokers of traditional cigarettes will find vaping and HNB products acceptable, even prefer- able. And, as they are thought to be substantially less harmful [than traditional combustibles], then that’s a great development. Cigars and OTPs will continue to be desirable and less harmful pleasures. The anti-anything-tobacco forces do a disservice to those they purportedly claim to be out to help by opposing the roll-out of less harmful products. This encourages smokers not to switch. And it is my opinion that if they make something so taboo when it really isn’t, that is bad; they encourage experimentation, not stifle it.
TS: What are you predicting for Asia, and how is China with its ever-growing influence going to impact that picture?
GAJ: I doubt that China is anytime soon going to open its borders in a meaningful way to foreign tobacco products. Yes, one can purchase foreign premium cigarette brands in China, yet it is not an equal playing field [for foreign brand owners]. However, even if the market opened and the playing field leveled out, there still is the question how well foreign cigarettes would do in China. It seems Chinese consumers overall prefer Chinese cigarettes over foreign ones. At least that is the situation in today’s restricted market. Cigar manufacturers do have opportunities in China, but getting their products into China… that remains quite tough.
TS: Where is Tobacco Asia headed in the years to come? Is there still a place in our increasingly digitalized world for what is foremost a physical print publication?
GAJ: There have been voices from different directions predicting the demise of print media for years now. But, the trade magazine segment is still going strong, especially in niche markets like the one we operate in. So, the print issue will remain our mainstay for the foreseeable future. But that doesn’t mean that we have been neglecting digital media. The tobaccoasia.com website has seen quarter-by-quarter visitor traffic growth. And our semi-monthly Tobacco Asia Newsletter is being emailed out to thousands and thousands of verified tobacco industry personnel globally and getting engagement from readers.
TS: A silver jubilee is a special occasion. Are there any particular individuals – or companies – that you would like to thank because they have helped the publication reach that milestone and navigate the sometimes stormy, sometimes calm waters over the decades?
GAJ: There are quite a few companies to thank for their support, especially those who advertise throughout the year and have been with us since our inception. I’m not naming names here, as there are too many and I would hate leaving anyone out. I also had the pleasure of having personally met many wonderful people in the industry over the years. Some have come and gone. But there are two individuals I am inclined to mention, because they have been with Tobacco Asia practically from the start. One of them is Allen Liao of Tobacco China Online in Beijing. Allen has been a collaborator and mentor. His group currently produces most of our reporting from China and translates our content into Chinese. And the other person I feel compelled to mention is the indefatigable Arun Hitkari of Hitkari Multifilters. Arun was one of the first people to call me in my then two-person office on the outskirts of Bangkok to congratulate me upon the move to Asia. Though the occasions are rare, it’s always a great pleasure to meet Allen and Arun, no matter where in the world that may be. And I really look forward to another opportunity for that in 2021.
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A Passion for Anything “Tobacco”
Born and raised in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, Glenn Anthony John has been a resident of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, for two decades. A trained journalist, he was closely involved with a number of periodicals and cable TV in his younger years. He also dabbled in book publishing for a while. That all has become a distant past for John, as for the past 25 years his main business focus has been on tobacco industry trademedia and exhibitions. John is the founding editor and current publisher of Tobacco Asia, the only trade periodical dedicated to Asia’s enormously dynamic tobacco industry in all its many facets. In addition, he also is the founding editor and publisher of STiR, a leading business magazine for the global coffeeand tea industries.