Asian Dragon: Why not go Digital?
What is Asian Dragon?
History of Asian Dragon
Mission, Vision and Objective
Asian Dragon is the first bilingual business and lifestyle magazine in the Philippines (Asian Dragon). As described in its official website, it is a “prestige business and lifestyle publication that caters to the respected elite in our society today,” (Asian Dragon). It presents the efforts and achievements of the Filipino-Chinese community and also the mainstream business community in the development of our nation (Asian Dragon). Its official website also adds that the magazine features in-depth profiles of the community's movers and shakers, their character, their ideas and legacies, and entrepreneurial genius.
Audience Demographic
Olivia Limpe-Aw admitted that they cater specifically to the Filipino-Chinese community particularly the Filipino-Chinese businessmen. Given that they cater to this specific demographic, it can be said that they cater to the upper class which explains why their magazine is priced at Php 250. According to Limpe-Aw, they also cater to those with a high economic strata and a high level of intelligence. She explains that this is why they are written in long form. According to Limpe-Aw, their reason for this is because people who have high levels of intelligence or success prefer long form since they would like to go in depth in a story. Businessmen in particular like to get enough information in a story which is another reason why Asian Dragon has kept with their long form (Limpe-Aw)
Ten years ago, Louie Cruz proposed an idea to Olivia Limpe-Aw about publishing a magazine that catered to the Filipino-Chinese business community. This idea was made by Cruz’s curiosity behind why there was no publication that catered to that particular demographic. He viewed the Filipino-Chinese community as an important demographic in the Philippines given that plenty of businesses in the country were run by Filipino-Chinese. Limpe-Aw later accepted this idea and this was the birth of the Asian Dragon.
Why haven't they completely embraced digital?
Their mission is to bring great stories, which are told by by great people, and by doing so, they achieve their vision which is to inspire people to succeed and contribute to the development of the nation (Limpe-Aw). Limpe-Aw explains that there are so many products that people do not know are run and owned by the Filipino-Chinese communities. This is because most people are unaware of the brand names that are part of their everyday lives (Limpe-Aw). This situation helped form the Asian Dragon’s objective which is to make them known. The magazine’s aim was to let them share their success stories, the lessons they learned, how they rose to the top, and so on and so forth.
At present, like what the print media’s dilemma which is the rise of digital media, Limpe-Aw was asked as to what her insights regarding this rising dilemma of the print media since they too have a publication and if it affected their sales. Limpe-Aw indicates, “Well, I think the online versions do better in more developed countries.” She also shared that it really did not affect Asian Dragon since their stories are not usually published in websites or other online sites. Thus, if a reader wants to read or follow the story of the person featured in Asian Dragon magazine, the will have no choice but to buy the magazine.
What are their plans for the future?
Asian Dragon caters to an elusive market and according to Limpe-Aw, Filipino-Chinese businessmen are not fond of sharing their stories to the media. However, they are willing to share their stories to Asian Dragon because they have learned to trust the magazine. Because of this, Asian Dragon is confident with maintaining their long form and staying in the traditional aspect because they know that their content cannot be found elsewhere. In addition, their audience demographic also prefer long form and in-depth stories since their audience are those who are not only in the A market in terms of financial resources but also in terms of intelligence. For this reason, they currently have no plans of going digital.