Simon is the Director of Print Operations & Strategy at BurdaLuxury. Simon is responsible for implementing strategies that innovate print media and provides print with a competitive edge in a digital world.
Can you tell us about your career journey at BurdaLuxury?
My career started ten years ago as Publishing Director for the Indian portfolio of magazines which was considerable at the time and included MAXIM, Sports Illustrated, Travel+Leisure India, Better Homes & Gardens to name a few. My background is largely editorial and editing, so it was interesting to couple those skills with the other side of the business. In 2019 I applied for the role of Director of Print Operations & Strategy: Asia which, as the title suggests, took in all of BurdaLuxury’s territories and also countries where we license Prestige such as Indonesia, Taiwan and, most recently, Cambodia.
What’s the most exciting part of your job?
I think the diversity of the cultures I work across, the nuances between the same title in a different territory and then there’s the variety of product I’m lucky enough to span. I spoke about Prestige, but I’m also part of a team that has developed a very successful in-flight magazine portfolio – currently Air India and Vistara, but looking to expand. Of course, everything comes with its highs, lows and challenges, but as the job title suggests, if it’s in print, then I’ll be somewhere not too far away which is great as I’m still completely fascinated by Asia.
What’s a milestone that you’ve been proud of achieving?
Toughie. I think recently developing the business for inflight has been quite something. It’s a tough area of customer publishing and airlines are demanding on management time, but if you get your numbers right, there’s a great deal of positivity, belief and buoyancy in the Indian aviation market and its clients.
What inspired you to work in publishing/media?
Gosh, you’re taking me back here. I was a big comic fan as a pre-teen (I used to draw and write my own and sneak them into my local news agent) and fine art something I later studied, so the marriage of words and images have always been close to me. I also did a work experience with my local newspaper in England at about 15 and that was a big trigger as something I’d like to do with my life as playing for England at football was never going to happen.
Who were some of your biggest influences growing up?
Probably career wise it may have been my 3rd Grade teacher at primary school. She had a massive leaning towards the arts so introduced me to another form of creative writing as she created her own interpretation of Alice In Wonderland as a musical for the class to produce and ‘act’ out. I recall submitting my own take on the Mad Hatters Tea Party scene. It never made the cut, but then it wasn’t meant to. It did inspire me, though. Outside of that I’ve always been a big fan of David Bowie then it’s a lot of writers – too many to list here, but just recently I dug out HG Wells, The Time Machine and it was just as brilliant as it was when I first read it age ten. In our world of media, the editor of Esquire US David Grainger was a big influence during the mid-2000s.
What is a project that you’re currently working on (if you’re at liberty to say)?
Not sure if this should have been a milestone answer, but we’ve just closed the fourth print edition of Travel+Leisure South Asia, Hong Kong & Macau and I think it’s some achievement from everyone on the team to bring it back in a printed format so successfully.
Why BurdaLuxury?
We have a portfolio that’s going from strength to strength, led by teams of people who are incredibly talented and dedicated. From a bigger picture, I think that we, BurdaLuxury, have developed a very progressive approach to media versus other players in Asia. As much as anything, though, it’s all about the people.
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