Eclectic Times will now be Eclectic Northeast

Taking pride in its identity, the six-year-old magazine wants to reach out to the people from North East outside the region. It will cover current affairs.

Current affairs and cultural magazine Eclectic Times has rebranded itself as Eclectic Northeast. To reflect the change, the magazine has adopted a new masthead that sports a clean, bold and stylish look, with the letters written in white on a red and black background. While the old masthead's tagline read 'Inspired by Northeast India', the new tagline is more confident in its approach and states 'We speak for our region'.

The decision to change the name came after the management felt it was time to establish instant connection with the readers by using the word 'Northeast' in the title. The Assam-based publication states that rebranding "ensures that our genre is clear to our target audience". The magazine, earlier perceived as a lifestyle magazine, is now consciously making efforts to come across as a current affairs publication. Towards this end, it will now have more research-based stories such as opinions about the region, analytical views and information about the cultural heritage of the Northeast.

Tanushree Hazarika, managing director, Eclectic Group, says, "We decided to undergo rebranding now because we wanted to reach out to the wider Northeastern community residing outside the region. Through the magazine and supporting events, we want to break the negative mindsets of the society and reach out to the new age thinkers. The idea is to bring out wholesome growth and prosperity for the region together."

The six-year-old English publication has a circulation of 64,000 copies and is priced at Rs 40. The magazine has only one edition in Guwahati but is available on Magzter, the digital bookstore. The Eclectic Group also offers another publication, Eclectic Vibes. The magazine, with a print run of 35,000 copies, was started in 2009. It covers music and entertainment and is targeted at young readers.