• by Michael Shields , June 13, 2004

YIN Magazine, which launched quietly a few weeks ago, celebrated its debut with a swanky party last Thursday at a New York City art gallery. The magazine--a fashion, beauty, and entertainment book aimed at 20- to-30-something Asian-American women--will likely celebrate for only so long, as it enters an emerging market that has a high rate of failure and shaky advertiser support, say several of YIN's potential competitors.

Despite the risks, this category of Asian-American, English-language magazines has become more crowded as publishers recognize this growing segment of the population, and as a new generation of American-born, English-preferring Asian Americans cries out for its own media. Whether the advertising world is listening remains to be seen.

YIN, the brainchild of Hoc Poeng, joins a group of titles aimed at Asian women, including similarly fashion-focused Audrey magazine out of California and the more serious Jade magazine, out of New York.

These magazines, each with small circulations and infrequent publishing cycles, are carving their way just two years after the death of the well-respected A. magazine, a general interest Asian-American title that went defunct after 13 years in 2002.

Despite A.'s failure, these small publishers are banking on potential. "Basically, it's the 2000 census," says Sam Lau, advertising manager at Audrey magazine.

According to the 2000 U.S. census, approximately 11.9 million people identified themselves to be at least part Asian, representing just 4.2 percent of the population. However, that group grew 72 percent since the 1990 census, the largest jump of any ethnic group during that period.

Greg Oehler, YIN's national sales director, points to the multiethnic Hispanic market, which had shown similar growth in the 1990 census, as one that offers a strong model for YIN. "This is much like when Latina was launched," he says. "All of a sudden they are a 300,000 circulation book."

YIN's, which has doled out roughly 125,000 copies of its first issue (featuring Kill Bill's Chiaki Kuriyama on the cover), lists its goal as: "To redefine the term Asian women," according to Oehler. "Our audience is young, affluent, and educated. They all speak English."

"I have seen all the titles," Oehler adds. "We are completely different. We have a much broader appeal, and are much more national."

Despite Oehler's enthusiasm, YIN enters a marketplace that has yet to be proven lucrative.

"It's definitely a tight market," warns Lau. "It is still a struggle. We are dependent on advertising, and if there is an ethnic budget, it usually goes to Hispanics first, then African Americans, then maybe in-language Asian media."

Traditionally, when targeting Asian Americans, marketers turn to 'in-language' titles--i.e., magazines published in native Asian languages.

Audrey Panichakoon Crone, of the New York-based Jade, which began as a popular Web site, says lack of advertising limits how often her magazine is published. "Publishers have a budget for multicultural, which always goes to in-language," she says.

Jeff Yang, former publisher of A. magazine, knows what YIN is facing better than most. He warns that YIN will need its own capital. "It's increasingly crowded," he says. "It stands to be seen if they have the pockets."

Still, he is rooting for them. "More power to them," he says. "The Asian-American community is in desperate need (of this). It's a demographic that has long flown under the radar."

Some question the cohesiveness of this demographic, and the need for Asian-focused publications written in English, in general. Saul Gitlin, executive vice president-strategic services/new business at Asian-American specialty agency Kang and Lee, says the term "Asian American" is a product of the U.S. census, and means something to demographers, not people.

Rather, he says, Asian Americans don't think of themselves as Asians, but as Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and so on. He points to the fact that there are over 600 in-language publications catering to the top six Asian-American groups as evidence of this demographic's fragmented nature.

"Whether (the Asian-American) identity is relevant enough to incentivize people to consume media, the jury is still out," he says. "The Asian-American market needs a lot more research and understanding."

If any segment of this population is likely to embrace such publications, it is younger Asians who have grown up in the United States, admits Gitlin. But he isn't sure that these books have a place. "I can't tell you yes," he says. "These magazines are blazing a trail."

Audrey's Lau, who is 30, thinks agencies like Gitlin's are behind the times. "[Asian-specialized] agencies have been preaching that you have to advertise in-language to justify their existence," he says. "They don't recognize my generation."

Many of the publishers express this sentiment--that the younger end of the Asian-American community has grown up in the United States, speaks English, and shares a common Asian-American experience that crosses individual ethnicities.

Jeff Yang is one who agrees. "Those that are born in America, and are educated here--that group has definitely grown up with a sense of community," he says. "It is too easy to dismiss this market. Ultimately, (the in-language market) is not the market of the future."