MUMBAI: It's beginning to kick in! International men's lifestyle magazine Maxim, which had its inaugural India issue out on the stands in January, is off to a solid start, according to its publishers.

The magazine is published in India through a deal with Media Transasia. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com Maxim India CEO and associate publisher Piyush Sharma says that since the launch it has managed to attract 20,000 subscribers. "The edition sold over 75,000 copies in the first month. While magazines normally start with a print order of 35,000 - Maxim's 80,000 print orders was a break from the past. The magazine deals with issues that men are interested in - women, travel, gadgets, fashion trends etc.

"While the broad template layout is global the content is very much local. It is 70:30 Indian. As is the case abroad, the aim is to maximise the world's hottest women by featuring them on their covers. We featured Priyanka Chopra on the first issue and Kareena Kapoor on the second issue. The magazine will have the biggest names from Bollywood gracing the magazine covers in the months to come."

Sharma says that the monthly magazine will comfortably cross the 100,000 circulation mark in the first year. On the advertising front it has managed to get 15 annual deals worth Rs 25 million. The magazine's front / back gate advertising are already sold out till January 2007 adds Sharma. "Each issue has 50 pages of ads. I think that it would be fair to say that we have exceeded the circulation expectations of our advertisers.

"Four months before the launch we did a road show across the country and we brought down representatives from Maxim US and Maxim UK for this. We offered a special pre launch price to agencies. Brands like Guess, Tommy Hilfiger have been featured in Maxim already."

As far as marketing is concerned Maxim spent Rs. 35 million on the launch. Print ads have appeared. A 30 second TVC is running on channels like MTV and VHI. Going forward, Media Transasia is planning to launch a couple of more titles in the lifestyle section this year. One of these will be dedicated to travel.