The 46th FIPP World Media Congress held in Cascais, Portugal gathers leading figures from the global media industry to share insights, foster collaborations, network, as well as explore future trends. In the fifth instalment of our series leading up to the event – which is just three weeks away (tickets here) – we talk to Xia Fan, Vice President of Huasheng Media in China (Beijing pictured above).
There are just three weeks left before the 46th FIPP World Media Congress kicks off in the pretty Portuguese seaside town of Cascais. As the excitement continues to build for the must-attend event from 4-6 June, we have asked some of the speakers to sit down for a quick interview to introduce themselves to delegates.
This week we catch up with Xia Fan, Vice President of Huasheng Media in China, who will be joining a panel hailing from three continents on the Auditorium Stage on 5 June to discuss how luxury publishing is thriving on exclusivity, high-quality content and bespoke experiences – catering to affluent readers’ desire for prestige and tactile engagement, while innovating with digital integration and diverse revenue streams.
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us more about your role in media?
Having been working for Huasheng since 2018, I have always been taking care of the company’s international collaborations and strategic expansion. We started as a small-medium media start-up, focusing on luxury and lifestyle content. The first brands we ran include Kinfolk China edition and The New York Times Style Magazine China edition (T China), which we are still proudly publishing. Now within Huasheng’s portfolio, all lifestyle verticals – from fashion to design, culture to arts, are represented. Before joining Huasheng, I used to work as a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek China, and a VC investor for CMC INC., which were good training to understand the core of the media industry, from reporting to the business aspects.
How has the media landscape in China changed over the last few years? What are the biggest challenges and what are you excited about?
Digital has been a dominating trend in China as it is all over the world. Luxury media is comparatively stable since the value it provides has to be reflected in high-quality production and presentation, which for many brands still works better with paper and ink. However, with technology taking over at light speed, no doubt that will change too in the near future. The challenges come in as both sides, the brands we serve, and the creators like ourselves, have to explore and together invent the new genre of luxury publishing, in an omni-media age. That’s also where the excitement is.
How would you sum up the enduring appeal of luxury media brands?
Exquisite, insightful, sophisticated expression with appealing visual creatives.
What would you say are the key trends in the media in 2024?
Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) in more forms of media product.
What is the best business advice you have ever received?
As a media start-up, you have to be profitable from Day 1. That’s a proof for the value of content you create, and a proof for the business capability the management owns in the fast-evolving industry. There’s never a good excuse to burn any investor’s cash.
Come and listen to Xia Fan as well as meet an unparalleled global network of industry colleagues from more than 40 countries at the 46th FIPP World Media Congress. See the list of speakers here and the agenda here.
