Introduction:

Every person normally starts his day by reading the Newspaper in the morning. In these modern
days; instead of having many other options like 24x7 News Channels, Online news, Mobile
updates etc. The importance of the newspaper is not yet changed in the life of people. Newspaper
always treated as most reliable, analytical, trusted news source but definitely the content of the
newspaper has been changed over the period of time.

Generally newspaper reading habit in the house starts with the traditional family newspaper. The
perception of the reader about newspaper start from writing style, editorial, layout, feel of the
newspaper & convenience of reading etc. Its make people to resistant to change their newspaper
brand from one to another unlike FMCG product or to replace it with the electronic news. Its
take years to cultivate a newspaper brand in to the family. Most of the time the family newspaper
or 1st choice newspaper of the family is the regional newspaper Marathi, Hindi, Gujrati etc.
Secondly is the English newspaper. The 1st and the 2nd choice of newspaper normally reflect into
their socio economic status.

The history of the newspaper starts from 1605. When first newspaper got printed in Europe. The
German-language ‘Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien’, by Johann
Carolus in Strasbourg, is often recognized as the first newspaper

James Augustus Hickey is considered as the "father of Indian press" as he started the first Indian
newspaper from Calcutta, the Calcutta General Advertise or the Bengal Gazette in January, 1780.
In 1789, the first newspaper from Bombay, the Bombay Herald appeared, followed by the
Bombay Courier next year (this newspaper was later amalgamated with the Times of India in
1861).

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English is an international language. Everybody not only in India but also throughout the world
wants to cope with English language. According to some facts and figure, approx 400 million
people speak it as a secondary language and 350 million people claim as their native language.

In Mumbai, being metropolitan city & the financial capital of India over 25 million population.
Analyst says that 3.5 million people read English in Mumbai but only 2.1 million buy English
newsprint of any kind. This study put lights of many of the facts & figures.

Today morning’s newspaper publishing is a competitive and became a very complex market. The
morning newspapers compete with each other and with other media such as TV, radio, the
internet and other on-line services. In order to be competitive in the media landscape of today,
morning newspapers need to improve the production and the distribution of newspapers as well
as other processes within the newspaper companies. This study has been undertaken to
understand the newspaper industry majorly concentrating on Mumbai region analyzing the Three
major market players; The Times of India, Hindustan Times & DNA. Two are the new entrant in
the Mumbai market & other is the Old & the leader in the market. Other English dailies will also
be the part of the studies as the established player in the market.

Metrics

Newspapers in India are measured on two parameters, circulation and readership.

Circulation

Circulation referred to the actual copies sold every day. Circulation is certified by the Audit
Bureau of Circulations (ABC) which is an industry body. ABC audit for circulation of the
member newspaper companies & publishes periodic report on the circulation. ABC audits starts
from the actual production of the copies from purchase report of newsprint to sale of the last
printed copy. ABC is the non bios body therefore this reports are referred by the company itself
& stakeholders of the company also by the advertisers, advertising agencies & competitors too.

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Readership

Readership is estimated by two different surveys, The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) and the
National Readership Survey (NRS). Both are the independent agencies who conduct the surveys
across the region by different methods of survey i.e. one to one interview, observation etc. IRS &
NRS also publishes periodic report on the readership. This reports also referred by the company
itself & stakeholders of the company also by the advertisers, advertising agencies & competitors
as well. The readership no is always greater than the circulation nos.

Significance of the Study:

The Indian Media market has been on an upswing in the last 5 years. New media have grown at
high rates in line with their expected potential. However, traditional media have not been
disadvantaged by this, and they have continued to show strong growth, though their share of the
total media pie has expectedly shown a slight dip. The main reasons for this are: Willingness of
emerging advertisers to pay for impact
• Expansion of traditional media into new markets and formats, which is
helping them demand value
• A strong business environment that supports this growth
• Increase in advertisers’ spends on traditional media to maintain status quo and
their willingness to look at new media (which also tend to be cheaper options) to create
differentiation and grab attention
• Shift in focus from conventional target consumers (Housewife, aged 25-45
years), to include the Male and the Youth, who are the primarily being targeted through new
mediums like Mobile and Internet, and Radio and Niche Publications. What remains to be
seen is whether recent downtrends at the stock market will moderate media growth.

The newspaper is the most trusted media by the advertiser after the TV. 40% of the overall spend
on the advertising is on the newspaper. Newspaper is effective media than any other media. Its
about the mindshare than the pocket share. Its gives more top of the mind to the reader about any
of the advertisements

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Objective of the Study:

Objective of the Study is to find out consumer buying behavior of the particular brand of news
paper among readers & exploring new marketing strategies to attract new consumers. In this
study the aims at analyzing the following aspects:

• Current market players & their marketing strategies

• Readers psychology & Reading Habits
• Readers response towards product, Price, place & promotions
• Brand preference for newspaper.
• Different factors for preferring the particular brand.

• Preference of the consumers about the other newspaper brand

• New marketing strategies

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THE TIMES OF INDIA
The Times of India is the pioneer in Indian newspaper industry. The leader, The monopolist
player in Mumbai & Major player India. The Times of India held by the Bennett, Coleman & Co.
Ltd. since 1838. The story which was began with the Newspaper & now it’s become the largest
media services conglomerate in India. It reaches out from: 11 publishing centers, 15 printing
centers, 55 sales offices, Over 7000 employees,5 dailies including two of the largest in the
country with approx 4.3 million copies circulated daily, 2 lead magazines, 29 niche magazines,
Reaching 2468 cities and towns, 32 Radio Stations

The Times of India (TOI) is a popular English-language broadsheet daily newspaper in India. It
has the widest circulation among all English-language daily newspapers in the world, across all
formats. The Times of India is printed from the following places in India:

Ahmadabad, Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati,

Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Mysore, Nagpur,
Patna, Pune, Ranchi, Surat.

List of top 10 newspapers in the world by circulation

1. The Times of India (India): 3,146,000

2. The Sun (UK): 2,986,000
3. Daily Mail (UK): 2,311,000
4. USA Today (USA): 2,293,000
5. The Wall Street Journal (USA): 2,012,000
6. The Daily Mirror (UK): 1,494,000
7. The Hindu (India): 1,272,000
8. The Hindustan Times (India): 1,143,000
9. The New York Times (USA): 1,005,000

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 10. The Deccan Chronicle (India): 1,003,000

BCCL Business Structure:

MISSION STATEMENT OF COMPANY

“Create & build brands with differentiated content to capture relevant audiences and market the
value of these to advertisers to help them sell and strengthen their brands”.

The present management of The Times Group has been instrumental in changing the outlook of
Indian journalism. In India, as is elsewhere in the world, the Editor of a newspaper has
traditionally been considered as the most notable position in a newspaper set up. The Times of
India, however, changed this in the early 1990s, in keeping with the management policy of
treating the newspaper as just another brand in the market. The main newspaper and its many
sub-editions are now run by editors who are appointed within the ranks and the company gives

6
equal chance to everyone. The Times Group also places equal focus and importance to every
department and function - which has made it a professional entity and ensured its place as the
most profitable newspaper in the country.

TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: TOTAL READERSHIP (TR)

Publication 2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Name Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of
India 25.13 1 25.8 1 27.71 1
Mumbai Mirror 14.99 2 15.61 2 15.31 3
Mid Day 14.17 3 14.71 3 16.18 2
DNA 13.24 4 12.6 4 12.04 4
Hindustan Times 8.17 5 7.75 5 5.79 5
The New Indian
Express 0.96 7 1.26 7 1.9 7

TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: AVERAGE ISSUE READERSHIP (AIR)

Publication 2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Name Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of
India 15.20 1 15.53 1 15.53 1
Mumbai Mirror 8.65 2 8.73 2 7.19 2
DNA 7.05 3 6.76 3 6.03 3
Hindustan Times 5.48 4 5.26 4 5.16 4
Mid Day 4.79 5 4.80 5 3.54 5
The New Indian
Express 0.35 7 0.47 7 0.81 7

Source: IRS (Fig in Lac’s)

In 2008, the newspaper reported that (with a circulation of over 3.14 million) it was certified by
the Audit Bureau of Circulations as the world's largest selling English-language daily newspaper,
placing as the 8th largest selling newspaper in any language in the world. According to the
Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2009, the Times of India is the most widely read English
newspaper in India with a readership of 13.3 million. This ranks the Times of India as the top

7
English newspaper in India by readership. TOI Online is the world's most-visited newspaper
website with 159 million page views in May 2009, ahead of the New York Times, The Sun,
Washington Post, Daily Mail and USA Today websites]

Analyst says that 3.5m people read English in Mumbai but only 2.1 million buy English
newsprint of any kind. Two and a half years ago, Mumbai had only six English dailies. With the
new entrants HT and DNA, media planners and buyers began to believe that finally there would
be non-monopolistic print market in Mumbai. But till date TOI advertising rates have been four
times more than HT and DNA. Even today the circulation of TOI, which gives Mumbai Mirror
free of cost to its readers, is sold more than HT and DNA. With a turnover of Rs 20 crores and
yearly profit of Rs 8 crores

Future Plans:

• Adding up the new editions to spread all across

• Part of the circulation strategy continue with the combo subscription offers
• Same strategies had been implemented in advertising division where advertiser also place
advertisement in combo at lesser rates
• Introducing new customized products for media guys, it people like they have introduced
for weekend readers e.g. TOI Crest

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Hindustan Times

Hindustan Times is one of India’s most respected and leading English dailies. The flagship
newspaper of HT Media, the Hindustan Times was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in the year
1924. Hindustan Times has been pioneering trends in journalism, setting standards and breaking
new ground for the last 80 years. Spurred by the leading faces of Indian journalism, Hindustan
Times has evolved with the times, reflecting the changing India and is today the newspaper of
choice of over 3.3 million Indians. Hindustan Times, the market leader of the National Capital
Region has in the last decade rapidly expanded its footprint and today reaches readers across the
length and breadth of the country.

The newspaper has editions published from Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi and
Kolkata, thus dominating most of the country.

Hindustan Times’ Delhi edition continues to be the largest-circulated edition of English daily in
the country, with a readership of over 2.5 million. . It is also the largest circulated and most
widely read newspaper in Delhi.

HT Media belongs to the KK Birla group. Dr Birla, a

renowned industrialist, has established one of India's well-
known business conglomerates, spanning a wide spectrum
of key industries like sugar, fertilizers, chemicals, heavy
engineering, textiles, shipping and media. HTML has on its
Board of Directors eminent personalities like Shobhana
Bhartia (Editorial Director of HTML - 20 years of
experience in newspaper industry), Raju Narsetti (Chief
Editor - Mint, worked as Editor of the WSJ's European
edition), Mrinal Pande (Editor of Hindustan) and Vir
Sanghvi (Advisory Editorial Director, a prominent TV
anchor and journalist)

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HT Business Structure

Hindustan Times - A solid platform

Dating way back to 1924, HT Media's flagship publication Hindustan Times has established
itself as the second largest English daily in the country. Renowned for its editorial excellence,
today the publication has achieved a daily circulation of around 1.4mn copies (ABC JD 2006)
and a readership base of 3.3mn (IRS 2007 R2). Over the past several years, the daily has
enhanced its look (first smart-age newspaper in India to evolve into a new international size) and
has revamped its supplement offerings by introducing daily supplements catering to specific
target audience. Hindustan Times is published in six editions (Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Patna,
Ranchi and Kolkata) with a dominating presence in Delhi and the Northern regions. In July
2005, the daily successfully entered the biggest print market in the country - Mumbai. Apart
from its six core editions, it is also circulated in other regions like Punjab and Rajasthan through
its nine printing locations. The publication's Delhi key edition is also India's largest single-
edition daily in terms of circulation.

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 TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: TOTAL READERSHIP (TR)
2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Publication Name
Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of India 25.13 1 25.8 1 27.71 1
Mumbai Mirror 14.99 2 15.61 2 15.31 3
Mid Day 14.17 3 14.71 3 16.18 2
DNA 13.24 4 12.6 4 12.04 4
Hindustan Times 8.17 5 7.75 5 5.79 5
The New Indian
Express 0.96 7 1.26 7 1.9 7

TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: AVERAGE ISSUE READERSHIP (AIR)

2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Publication Name
Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of India 15.20 1 15.53 1 15.53 1
Mumbai Mirror 8.65 2 8.73 2 7.19 2
DNA 7.05 3 6.76 3 6.03 3
Hindustan Times 5.48 4 5.26 4 5.16 4
Mid Day 4.79 5 4.80 5 3.54 5
The New Indian
Express 0.35 7 0.47 7 0.81 7

Source: IRS (Fig in Lac’s)

We can estimate the Mumbai edition to achieve breakeven in FY2009 and start contributing
meaningfully to net circulation revenues. While leadership position and strong brand equity
remain HT's key strength in the Delhi market, we expect the Mumbai market also to witness
significant traction in ad revenues in the future owing to higher circulation/readership levels.

Going ahead on the new path…

Why the Six Sigma Way

•The primary objective being cost savings

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•Intense competition from TOI which challenged the “market-leader” status of Hindustan Times
in the capital city of Delhi.
•listen to the customer and measure self against what they want and when they want it
•Benchmark against the best in the class to sustain the competitive advantage.
•more organizations were adopting it to improve their business results

BENEFITS - SIX SIGMA

By adopting this strategy, immediate benefits were realize in the areas of
•Reduction in Newsprint- waste across locations
•Using Six Sigma projects to develop a new wage agreement.
•Overall reduction in consumables in the printing process

DNA

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DNA; Daily news and analysis are a 5 years old young English broad sheet newspaper. 5 years
back; when whole Mumbai was wondering with the teaser campaign running across the
Mumbai.. ‘Speak up! It’s in your DNA’. Many of the Boys across Mumbai interviewing people
for creating their own newspaper. Lot of buzz was created around the DNA brand. On the July
30 2005 The DNA revealed its identity. Different from other two Newspaper brand in Mumbai
Market Times of India & Hindustan times with the colorful master head DNA which stands from
Daily News and Analysis. DNA launched in Mumbai with heavy subscription within 5 years
DNA expanded its spread to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Jaipur and Bangalore & Major Cities
of India such as New Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow and Bhopal are also targeted for the
future edition of DNA News Paper.

Targeted at a young readership, DNA became India's fastest growing English newspaper.

DNA is owned by Diligent Media Corporation, a joint

venture between media industry majors – the D B Corp
Ltd. (Dainik Bhaskar) and Essel Group

The paper has a liberal outlook, and supports

reformists in Mumbai and across the world. DNA is
the first daily newspaper in India to introduce an all-
color page format. In Mumbai edition there are three
zone-targeted supplements for Thane, West Coast and
Navi Mumbai

DNA's first edition followed the Mumbai floods. The

general disruption of city life must have hit the pre-
launch operations of DNA But DNA Hit the stands as
on promised date.

The "best print media talent" cited by Simi Garewal and hired by DNA. There is lot of things to
read for a serious reader. The paper is broken up into sections. The main section includes an

13
interactive Speak Up page, and City, Nation and World news pages. There is also an Editorial
page, and a technology page (I Know). The other sections include Money, Sports and After
Hours. DNA Money is a section on Business & Economy. After Hours is a 10 page section with
news from Bollywood, Art & Fashion, and other such topics. Two magazines - a women's
magazine called Me, and a children's magazine called YA! a supplement called "YA! Young
Adults" in Mumbai and parts of Pune. It is mainly targeted towards kids from as young as 4
years to 18, but it is also read by many parents and people who are almost 50 years old. It is
published by editor Lubaina Badukwala and is delivered to children (subscribers or non-
subscribers) on every Sunday

TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: TOTAL READERSHIP (TR)

2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Publication Name
Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of India 25.13 1 25.8 1 27.71 1
Mumbai Mirror 14.99 2 15.61 2 15.31 3
Mid Day 14.17 3 14.71 3 16.18 2
DNA 13.24 4 12.6 4 12.04 4
Hindustan Times 8.17 5 7.75 5 5.79 5
The New Indian
Express 0.96 7 1.26 7 1.9 7

TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: AVERAGE ISSUE READERSHIP (AIR)

2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Publication Name
Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of India 15.20 1 15.53 1 15.53 1
Mumbai Mirror 8.65 2 8.73 2 7.19 2
DNA 7.05 3 6.76 3 6.03 3

14
Hindustan Times 5.48 4 5.26 4 5.16 4
Mid Day 4.79 5 4.80 5 3.54 5
The New Indian
Express 0.35 7 0.47 7 0.81 7

Source: IRS (Fig in Lac’s)

Being a new entrant in the Newspaper industry. In April 2008, the Indian Readership Survey
(IRS) Round I determined DNA’s readership to be 676,000 ranking DNA 8th amongst the Top
Ten English Dailies in India. DNA, Mumbai is the second most read English broadsheet in the
city of Mumbai.

According to the National Readership Study (NRS 2006) findings released in August 2006,
DNA’s readership in Mumbai city is 5,18,000. Meanwhile, the readership figures released by
NRS 2006 show DNA had the largest increase (29%) for any general English newspaper in
Mumbai, and indicates that DNA was by far the fastest growing newspaper in that city, giving it
the second largest circulation among Mumbai newspapers.

February 11, 2007, DNA announced that its paid circulation has crossed 400,000 in Mumbai. It
had crossed 300,000 in October 2006. In May 2006, DNA authorized Ernst & Young to certify
its circulation figures. E & Y submitted its report in July, putting its paid circulation at 270,000.

The Indian Express

The Indian Express is an English-language Indian daily newspaper owned by Ramnath Goenka
started in 1931 by Chennai based P. Varadarajulu Naidu. After Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991,
the group was split in 1999 among his family members into two with the southern editions taking
the name The New Indian Express, while the old Indian Express name was retained in the

15
northern editions based in Mumbai with a prefix "The". It is published in all major Indian cities.
It is a major and respected Indian newspaper with a worldwide circulation.

The Indian Express is owned by the Indian Express Group with Viveck Goenka as the Chairman
and Managing Director. The group also owns other newspapers in India such as the Financial
Express, a newspaper focused on the Indian economy, stock markets, and fiscal policies. The
group has other publications such as Screen weekly focused on entertainment news,[1] the
Marathi-language daily Loksatta, and the Hindi daily Jansatta.

The Indian Express is published from 8 locations — Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Ludhiana,
Chandigarh, Lucknow and Ahmedabad.

The Indian Express has often carried important

investigative reports that had significant consequences. Its
coverage of the murder of an engineer working on the
national highway project got the Indian Supreme Court to
force the Indian Government to commit to a
whistleblower law.

Its campaign also helped to enact the Right to Information

Act, passed in India in 2005.

The newspaper is known for its intrepid tone. During the

Indian Emergency the newspaper refused to subject itself
to censorship at the hands of the union government. On
June 26, 1975, there was no issue of the Indian Express and two days later when an issue did
come out, the editorial section was left blank as a sign of protest. The Indian Express also
exposed Sant Singh Chatwal when he received Padma Bhusan and started a debate on selecting
the right person for national honor.

The Express Group has a Mumbai-headquartered division, which should not be confused with
Express Publications Madurai, which brings out a South Indian chain of newspapers, including
The New Indian Express and is very much a separate corporate entity from The Express Group.

16
The Indian Express is considered to be far less focused on consumer preferences than its
upmarket-targeted competitor, The Times of India.

The newspaper saw falling profits between the years 2000-2002 but did not change its policies
and the nature of content it carried. The newspaper, however, appointed franchisees to run some
of its loss making editions including the Jammu edition (the model was also adopted to launch
the Chandigarh edition of The Financial Express - the business paper of the Express Group).
Under the franchisee model, the editorial control of the edition was to be retained by the editorial
staff appointed by the Express group. The franchise owner was given the control of with the
business side, including circulation and generation of revenues. In return the franchise was
expected to provide the operational expenses and a one-time fee to the Express group. The model
looked good on paper. However, it led to dilution of the editorial standards as the franchisees
sought greater say in the appointment of reporters and selection of content. The conflict between
commercial interests and journalistic ethics reached a flashpoint in The Financial Express,
Chandigarh edition, when the franchisee threatened to shut down the edition if he was not given
the editorial control. The franchisee ultimately emerged as the winner, leading to the resignation
of the Resident Editor of the edition. This was followed by fresh appointments to the Editorial
team and the franchisee assuming the role of the Managing Editor. The Express Group,
subsequently posted profits of Rs. 450 million in 2004. This financial turnaround has been used
as a case study in India's highly regarded Indian Institutes of Management in Ahmedabad.

TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: TOTAL READERSHIP (TR)

2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Publication Name
Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of India 25.13 1 25.8 1 27.71 1
Mumbai Mirror 14.99 2 15.61 2 15.31 3
Mid Day 14.17 3 14.71 3 16.18 2
DNA 13.24 4 12.6 4 12.04 4
Hindustan Times 8.17 5 7.75 5 5.79 5

17
The New Indian
Express 0.96 7 1.26 7 1.9 7

TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: AVERAGE ISSUE READERSHIP (AIR)

2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Publication Name
Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of India 15.20 1 15.53 1 15.53 1
Mumbai Mirror 8.65 2 8.73 2 7.19 2
DNA 7.05 3 6.76 3 6.03 3
Hindustan Times 5.48 4 5.26 4 5.16 4
Mid Day 4.79 5 4.80 5 3.54 5
The New Indian
Express 0.35 7 0.47 7 0.81 7

Source: IRS (Fig in Lac’s)

The Indian express newspaper readers are traditional readers. They stick to the brand over the
years. In this competitive market also Indian express has maintained their market share without
doing aggressive marketing activities

There are many of the initiatives have taken by the Indian express group & which are best of the
country like their product. Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, Ramnath Goenka
India Press Photo Awards is one of those.

MID DAY

Mid Day is an afternoon compact newspaper in Mumbai (Bombay), Bangalore, Delhi and Pune
(launched on August 18, 2008). It was established in 1979 as in a

MID DAY is owned by Mid Day Info media Limited, a subsidiary of Mid Day Multimedia
Limited, a publishing house listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock
Exchange. Presently, it publishes newspapers in three languages: English, Gujarati and an Urdu
newspaper called The Inquilab. The Inquilab, was the first paper of the group in Urdu, was born

18
in the fervor of idealistic nationalism in 1938. Mid Day was launched in 1979, in English. The
special Sunday edition of it, the Sunday Mid Day, began in 1981.

The Mumbai newspaper publishes two editions: An early morning and a noon edition. Its slogan
is, Make Work Fun. However, since April, 2009, only noon editions have been published and the
company has dropped printing a morning newspaper, citing positioning issues.

Mid day is always been a youth newspaper. The editorial, content & entire presentation of the
newspaper is targeted for youth. The college going
youth is the majority of the readers for the Mid Day.
This is afternoon newspaper paper and second choice
newspaper for majority of the young generation. The TG
of this newspaper is between 16 – 35 men & woman
both. The articles in the newspaper are address to the
said TG.

Mid Day has the range of pullouts unlike morning

dailies has the supplements on Real estate, Jobs, career,
entertainment & lifestyle. The compact newspaper
famous for the breaking News for the courageous
journalism. Mid Day always published many of the
scams & the issues which bother peoples. Mid Day also discussed the bold issues like sex,
corruption in his regular articles being blunt.

TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: TOTAL READERSHIP (TR)

2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Publication Name
Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of India 25.13 1 25.8 1 27.71 1
Mumbai Mirror 14.99 2 15.61 2 15.31 3
Mid Day 14.17 3 14.71 3 16.18 2
DNA 13.24 4 12.6 4 12.04 4
Hindustan Times 8.17 5 7.75 5 5.79 5
The New Indian
Express 0.96 7 1.26 7 1.9 7

19
 TOP DAILIES - MUMBAI: AVERAGE ISSUE READERSHIP (AIR)
2009 R1 2008 R2 2007 R2
Publication Name
Readership Rank Readership Rank Readership Rank
The Times of India 15.20 1 15.53 1 15.53 1
Mumbai Mirror 8.65 2 8.73 2 7.19 2
DNA 7.05 3 6.76 3 6.03 3
Hindustan Times 5.48 4 5.26 4 5.16 4
Mid Day 4.79 5 4.80 5 3.54 5
The New Indian
Express 0.35 7 0.47 7 0.81 7

Source: IRS (Fig in Lac’s)

Many of the marketing efforts have been taken by the Mid Day by introducing the tie up,
promotional activities in the Mumbai.

Mumbai Mirror

Mumbai Mirror is a largest compact newspaper in the city of Mumbai. Its first issue was
published on May 30, 2005 by the Times Group, the publishers of The Times of
India newspaper. Mumbai Mirror was launched by The Times Group after Hindustan
Times and DNA announced plans to enter the Mumbai market. Mumbai Mirror was advertised
and publicized in its own media networks like The Times of India, Bombay Times, and Radio
Mirchi.

The Times of India published a story which said that it had a circulation of 1.5 lakhs while Mid-
day's circulation had dropped to 1.24 lakhs. This led to a counter attack by Mid Day claiming
that Mumbai Mirror was an unqualified flop. It also filed a complaint with Audit Bureau of
Circulation, (ABC) of which both Mid Day and Times are members. The Mid Day complaint
says that the Times report has damaged its business interests.

20
Mumbai Mirror has launched as a stand alone copy initially. The response on the stall was to low
except the first day edition. Later on the add on to the consumer Mumbai Mirror id offered free
with the Times of India. Now reader gets Times of
India + Mumbai mirror for Rs. 5.

This was the strategy used by the Times group

called blockading strategy. We are going to discuss
this strategy ahead in the project. Generally people
who buy the newspaper from the newspaper stall
(Cash Sale Point) generally spend Rs. 5 - 6 for two
newspapers. Here reader will get two papers Times
of India & Mumbai Mirror at Rs. 5/-. This strategy
prevents reader to buy HT or DNA.

Now Mumbai Mirror sales whopping around

660,000/- per day in Mumbai.

Business Newspapers in Mumbai

The Economic Times

The Economic Times is an English-language Indian daily newspaper published by the Bennett,
Coleman & Co. Ltd., (The Times Group).The Economic Times, started in 1961, is India's largest
and among the world's top 3 English Business dailies with a daily circulation of over 620,000
copies. The Economic Times is published simultaneously from 10 Metropolitan Cities-Mumbai,
Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahemedabad, Chandigarh & Pune.
Its main rivals are the US-based The Wall Street Journal and London-based Financial Times,
both of the newspapers publishes several international editions.

Its main content is based on the Indian economy, share prices, prices of commodities as well as
other matters related to finance. The Economic Times is characterized by its salmon-pink paper,

21
which it as good as Financial Times. It is sold in all major cities in India. In June 2009, it also
launched a television channel called ET Now.

• Brand Equity (Weekly) - this is a weekly color supplement that appears every
Wednesday, which covers marketing, advertising, media and market research.
• Corporate Dossier is a supplement that appears every Friday, along with The Economic
Times aimed at the CEOs of corporate India, with a special focus on management and
strategy.
• ET Travel is a weekly all-color supplement which covers travel and tourism aimed at the
burgeoning band of Indians who want to see and know about their country and the rest of
the world -- through Indian eyes.
• ZigWheels is a weekly all-color supplement covering all aspects from the auto industry
from new launches and trends to ancillaries and personalities.
• "ET Realty"

Business Standard

Business Standard is an Indian financial daily newspaper published by Business Standard Ltd
(BSL) in two languages, English and Hindi. The main English-language edition comes from 12
regional centers - Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad,
Chandigarh, Pune, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, and Kochi - and reaches readers in over 1,000 towns
and cities across India.

Started in 1975 in Kolkata by the Ananda Publishers group, Business Standard was hived off as a
separate company in 1996. It was then bought by Mumbai-based financial investors led by the
Kotak Mahindra Bank, after which began a phase of rapid expansion with the launch of new
editions. Approximately 200 people are employed in the editorial team, including well-known
Indian journalists AK Bhattacharya, Sunil Jain and Shyamal Majumdar. In establishing a
pedigree of strong financial journalism, Business Standard also publishes articles by Bimal Jalan,

22
former governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Shankar Acharya, former chief economic advisor
to the Government of India

Business Standard sells 144,000 copies daily in English, mostly to the business and policy-
making élite. The Hindi edition sells 53,000 copies daily. ACNielsen's survey of the upper
middle and rich market in India places Business Standard next to The Economic Times in total
readership.

The paper has a reputation for reliable reporting and responsible journalism, as well as for its
stimulating page of analysis and editorial comment. It has pioneered the ranking of the wealthiest
Indians (the Billionaire Club) and provides an automobile magazine as a free monthly
supplement. In 2006, BSL began to produce a Sunday edition that is now published in four
centers.

The Hindi edition was launched in February 2008 from seven centers stretching from Mumbai in
the west, running across the Hindi Belt, and to Kolkata in the east.

BSL also publishes various periodicals, including BS Motoring, Indian Management and the
Asian Management Review.

The newspaper's website, business-standard.com, allows visitors to access the Business Standard
e-paper, with a choice of editions. The Business Standard website receives 1.5 million unique
users per month, the highest for any "stand alone" newspaper website in India.

In January 2010, it launched smartinvestor.in, an information-cum-trading website for those

interested in the stock market.

The Financial Express

23
is a daily newspaper published by the Indian Express group since 1961. It Launched in 1961,
India’s oldest financial daily, The Financial Express, is today one of the leading newspapers in
the country. Part of The Indian Express Group, the newspaper publishes eleven editions in
English from leading cities—Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad,
Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. It also has an edition in Gujarati, published from
Ahmadabad. The newspaper has offices across the country and is headquartered in Delhi.

Mint

is a business newspaper from HT Media Ltd, launched in collaboration with The Wall Street
Journal on 1 February 2007. It is a premium business news publication aimed at decision makers
and policy makers of the country and it is the first newspaper in India to be published in the
Berliner format The current Editor of the newspaper is R. Sukumar.

The design of the Mint newspaper is geared towards presenting business and financial
information in a compact format. The format itself was designed by Mario R. Garcia, who has
also been associated with the re-design of the Wall Street Journal.

Along with the print edition, Mint also has specialized online and mobile editions which can be
accessed at "www.livemint.com". Livemint.com is among the fastest growing news websites in
India and it attracts more than 1.5 million readers every month, majority of who are decision
makers in leading business organizations across the world. It is widely considered to be the most
comprehensive and technically evolved news portal in the country that has introduced many
multimedia enabled engagement platforms which give its readers the opportunity to express their
point of view and interact with Mint's editors and columnists.

The weekend edition of the publication is called "Lounge" and it features columns on travel,
fashion, arts, personal technology, parenting, and health.

Mint is now India's 2nd most widely read national business daily. It has a readership of over 1.75
lakhs in Delhi and Mumbai [Source: IRS 2009, R1], with the average reader belonging to the age
group of 35 to 44. It also has editions in Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Pune.

24
The paper is progressively earning a loyal readership base and continues to hold the No. 2
position in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. The Company plans to expand its geographical
presence by introducing the paper in other cities and leverage revenues of Mint through its
presence as a national business daily and a quality product.

Newspaper Marketing Strategies

Analyst says that 3.5m people read English in Mumbai but only 2.1m buy English newsprint of
any kind.

Strategic Alliance:
Two and a half years ago, Mumbai had only six English dailies. With the new entrants HT and
DNA, media planners and buyers began to believe that finally there would be non-monopolistic
print market in Mumbai. But till date TOI advertising rates have been four times more than HT
and DNA. Even today the circulation of TOI, which gives Mumbai Mirror free of cost to its
readers, is sold more than HT and DNA. With a turnover of Rs 200 million and yearly profit of
Rs 80 million

Four dimention strategies :

25
The Times of India and Hindustan Times, bitter rivals in the national capital, joined hands in
Mumbai to take on DNA. The strategic alliance between two of the country’s biggest media
empires — Bennett, Coleman and Co Ltd (publishers of The Times of India) and Hindustan
Times Ltd – were seen in the areas of advertising, printing and human resources. HT began
advertising its planned debut in Mumbai in The Times of India and Radio Mirchi, Bennett’s FM
radio channel. In return, HT shared its newly set up printing facilities at Airoli in Navi Mumbai
with Bennett, coleman’. It was a barter deal with HT not paying for the space it is buying in The
Times of India, and offering its printing facility to the group. The third aspect of the
collaboration was a no-poaching agreement — a rare move in the media industry & the growth
remain continues. The both newspaper were suppose to eat away the pie nut the entire market got
expanded everyone got his space.

Blockading strategy:
Times of india used blockading strategy. Times group launched Mumbai mirror. A tabloid before
the launch of the HT & DNA. Mumbai Mirror is the first newspaper to hit the newspaper market
among the three new entrants. The Times machine went on overdrive much in advance, beefing

26
up its supplements, rolling out Mumbai Mirror, dishing out several value additions and stuffing
its journalists’ pockets.

Mumbai Mirrors goal was to eat away MID-DAY consumer pie. Hence their strategy has been to
attract the rival readers to it. But it did not sell much, so The Times of India started distributing it
free with the main newspaper. Now, for Rs.4, The Times of India reader gets more than 100
pages. It adopted a `blockading’ strategy that is you flood the reader with so much that he/she
does not feel the need for another newspaper. That is exactly what happened when TOI began
giving Mumbai Mirror free along with Times of India newspaper. In the same time TOI and MM
went on a massive recruitment of journalists and media executives at high salaries, mopping up
manpower and making it more expensive for their competitions to recruit. But advertisement
rates are as expensive as ever; around four times that of DNA or Hindustan Times

Consumer Segmentation & Differentiation

Same approach has been taken towards Readers subscription drives by all three newspapers in
the Mumbai.

DNA did a pre-launch survey covering a staggering 11-lakh households, which increased
anticipation and helped it lay the ground future way.

27
HT on the other played safe. The only aim of HT was to provide Mumbai a replica of TOI at
cheaper rate. Therefore the target consumers where that of TOI.

Mumbai Mirror came up within three months after the official announcement made by TOI.
Obviously so there was no pre launch survey conducted by the TOI. The only aim being hitting
market before the new entrance did.

TOI applied the Delhi model of subscription with combo offer to the readers as well as to
advertisers.

Trade schemes:

The no of combinations were worked out at attractive rates when this DNA & HT were working
on their subscription schemes. TOI+ ET, TOI + MT, TOI+NBT [ET= Economics Times, MT=
Maharastra Times, leading Marathi daily, NBT= Navbharat Times, leading Hindi daily]. Same
time they offered more commission to the trade

Times always been the highest payer towards trade commission which helped TOI to tighten the
trade relation & to create obstacles to the new entrant from the trade.

Times of India have always taken care of the trade. They always keep paying good commission
to the vendors. Vikreta Suraksha program [sellers insurance Scheme]; Insurance for the
Newspaper Vendors. Scholarship programs for the Brilliant Newspaper vendors kids.
Merchandising with the Jackets, Umbrellas in rainy days. Diwali gifts & many more trade related
schemes keep TOI connected to the vendors around the year. And why not?? 70 - 80% part of
the total sale of the any vendor covered by the times products [ Times of India, Mumbai Mirror,
Economic Times, Times crest, Maharashtra Times (Marathi), Navbharat Times (Hindi), many
more magazines e.g. Femina, Filmfare, Top gear, BBC Good Homes, Grazia etc. ] Times of
India is Dominant in the Market, Dominant in Trade & a truly monopolist player in print media.

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Current Marketing Strategies

Selling newspaper in new market becomes more competitive like FMCG market. There are too
many brands there are to many consumers too. It is not the same old story ‘people need it they will
buy it’. Now we need to create a product that we want particular people should buy it that people
should like it. Now newspaper industry also changing their strategies as per the modern value
chain toward creating a value of the product.

Modern Value Chain:

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• Customer segmentation, Differentiation & Positioning

In this stage i.e. before launching the newspaper in the market company first decides
which class of people they are targeting, Because as the different class of the people
there are different class of the newspaper are available, the style of language, way of
writing news are differ as per the class of the readers. This is the stage where potential
customers are found and evaluated. It is first necessary to identify that the potential
customer has the willingness, ability to buy the product. This would involve first
generating sales leads. In the case of newspapers customers could be Financial
Institutions, IT employees, students preparing MBA students and other institutions like
Hotels, Air lines or weather it’s designed for ordinary lay man etc.

Newspaper like Times of India which Target niche class of the people as well the
majority of upper middle & middle class people. DNA targeted at youth & the masses
also tries to cover masses as well. Hindustan times Launched as a replica of times there
for targets for class of the people who are the current times readers but now with the new
web look HT is trying to attract the youth audience as well.

• Product development, Production set up & Resource capabilities

At initial stage when your brand of paper is new in the market that time the numbers of
customer are not knowing to any one so at this stage to get the idea of 1st reader, and

30
 determine the exact amount of production of newspaper for the future and to avoid the
wastages. Therefore the product has to design as per the taste & the quality of that
particular segment.

Here we are particularly talking about the tapping the upper segment in the society
therefore to deliver to the there taste & quality the brand should have state of the arts
production facility. The brands like Times of India the leader & the new entrant HT &
DNA have spend huge amount on this capital investment to deliver the quality. Not only
the Capital expenditure it’s also requires huge amount to be spend on Human resource
which is most variable factor in the overall process. Setting up the distribution system &
maintaining timely delivery of this highly perishable product Therefore entry cost in this
industry is very high.

To deliver on time the systems & processes has to be placed & update regularly for the
smooth operation. From editorial to production, from o production to press & from press
to in the hands of the readers.

• Advertising, Promotion, Distribution & Sale:

At initial stage the branding are done through some social campaign and also some
advertisement campaign are adopted through media & other players in the market. Till
date the newspaper industry did not advertise in other media’s so heavily. Due to
competition they newspaper it self a media required to be advertise in other medias to
attract new readers.

Then various scheme provided to vendors so that they can keep their copies in their stall
give them proper visibility, also some incentives, gifts material are provided to them to
increase the sales. Also various campaign and program are adopted to reach the target

31
 audience which includes Schools, Social campaign, TV commercials, Radio adds, Media
partners etc.

Ultimately the product reaches to our targeted consumer everyday morning 7am.

4 P’s of Newspaper Marketing.

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Marketing Mix is the set of marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing
objectives. Marketing mix has a classification for these marketing tools. These marketing are
classified and called as the Four Ps i.e. Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
The most basic marketing tool is product which includes product design, quality, features,
branding, and packaging. A critical marketing tool is price i.e. the amount of money that
customers pay for the product. It also includes discounts, allowances, credit terms and payment
period. Place is another key marketing mix tool. And it includes various activities the company
undertakes to make the product accessible and available to the customer. Some factors that
decide the place are transport facilities, channels of distribution, coverage area, etc.
Promotion is the fourth marketing mix tool which includes all the activities that the company
undertakes to communicate and promote its product to target market. Promotion includes sales
promotion, advertising, sales force, public relations, direct marketing, etc.

Product:
In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or
need. It is of two types: Tangible (physical) and Intangible (non-physical). Since services have
been at the forefront of all modern marketing strategies, some intangibility has become essential
part of marketing offers. It is therefore the complete bundle of benefits or satisfactions that
buyers perceive they will obtain if they purchase the product. It is the sum of all physical,
psychological, symbolic, and service attributes, not just the physical merchandise.

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All products offered in a market can be placed between Tangible (Pure Product) and Intangible
(Pure Service) spectrum. Newspaper is the Tangible goods which you can buy but you
experience the product after using it. The experience sometimes helps you to take decision. To
create your views & perception therefore newspaper is the intangible product too.

Pricing:
A customer is price sensitive and shops for value. This is mainly because of his income levels
than his perception. Hence the marketer has to find ways of making the product affordable to the
consumer. Newspaper is the only product which offered to the consumer below the cost of the
production. The advertising revenue covers the manufacturing cost the product offered to the
lowest prices.
The product packaging and presentation offers scope for keeping the price low. In many paper
manufacturing company, the price is the assigned numerical monetary value of a goods, service
or asset. Price is also central to marketing where it is one of the four variables in the marketing
mix that business people use to develop a marketing plan. Pricing is a big part of the marketing
mix. Choosing the right price and the right pricing strategy is crucial to the marketing process.
The price of the product is not something that is fixed. On the other hand the price of the product
depends on many other factors. Some times the price of the product has got nothing to do with
the actual product itself. The price may act as a way to attract target customers. Newspaper is Rs
2 to Rs 5 but still everyone dose not buy the newspaper. The price of the product is decided
keeping many things in mind. These things include factors like cost incurred on the product,
target market, competitors, consumer perception about the produced.

Placement or Distribution:
Place is a term that has a variety of meanings in a dictionary sense, but which is principally used
in a geographic sense as a noun to denote location, though in a sense of a location identified with
that which is located there.
In marketing, place refers to one of the 4 P's, defined as "the market place". It can mean a
geographic location. Here the market place is where you buy your newspaper. Wither it’s been
its deliver at your home or kept on the newspaper stall that is the market place for the newspaper.
Reaching on time in your defined market is very crucial.

34
 ‘Jo dikhata hain who bikta hain’ as said in hindi the product to be placed properly. The
newspaper sale on CSP (cash sale point) has to be placed properly so can anyone wants to buy
can buy our product

Promotion:
Communication to consumer is through organized media like TV, Radio, Social campaign etc.
Media. The most common conventional media include: Print, Television and Print. The Non-
conventional media include: Free sampling, Posters etc. The conventional media have excellent
reach, less expensive and create a better impact. The way of approaching reader should be
customized as per the attitudes and behavior of the reader. An effective promotion should plan
for a proper mix of media. This is very important to create a mind share
Advertising / Promotion
Personal selling
Sales promotion
Publicity and public relations

The specification of these four variables creates a promotional mix or promotional plan. A
promotional mix specifies how much attention to pay to each of the four subcategories, and how
much money to budget for each. A promotional plan can have a wide range of objectives,
including: sales increases, new product acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning,
competitive retaliations, or creation of a corporate image. Newspaper promotion is not more
depend on the mind share then the wallet share.

35
4A’s of Newspaper marketing

Availability:

The first challenge in newspaper marketing is to ensure availability of the product or service.
Marketer should plan accordingly and strive to reach these markets n a regular basis. Marketers
must trade off the distribution cost with incremental market penetration.

Affordability:
The second major challenge is to ensure affordability of the product or service. With low
disposable incomes, products need to be affordable to the consumer, most of who are the daily
readers. A solution to this has been introduction of advertisement in newspaper. Large amount of
revenue is generated through this adds in newspaper, and so it is possible to reduce the cost of
paper. Even though the production cost of paper is huge i.e. approximately Rs. 15 to 20 it’s
available in the range of Rs. 2 to 5. For English dailies affordability is never an issue.

36
Acceptability:
The next challenge is to gain acceptability for the product in market. Therefore, there is a need to
offer products that suit the market. We need to develop a customized paper for various regions.
To accept the paper in the market we need to identify the tendency, capacity, likes and dislikes of
the target audience. Acceptability & adaptability of the segment of audience we are targeting is
more important.

Awareness:
The fourth important things in newspaper marketing are creating the awareness of the product in
the market. And for that various promotion tools are need to use such as advertising, trade
schemes, events, Free sampling, involvement of media partners, social awareness campaign etc.
are done to create the awareness.

Porter’s generic strategies model

37
Generic strategies were used initially in the early 1980s, and seem to be even more popular
today. They outline the three main strategic options open to organization that wish to achieve a
sustainable competitive advantage.

Overall Cost Leadership

In the case of media products, means they should be offered at a price lower than their
competitors’ but with as good benefits, or, the unique benefits the media products offer can over-
offset the premium. Times group enjoys the cost leadership at the all the levels in the market.

Differentiation
Differentiation in media refers to when a media organization provides unique benefits to the
media users through product innovation. This is to increase the probability of the media users to
choose the product. A media organization with a target user loyalty can concentrate more on how
to fully meet the target user’s needs rather than on product cost saving.

Differentiation Focus

38
Focus strategy is also known as a 'niche' strategy. The clutter of ads has now spilled out on the
number of channel availability due to which people are spoilt for choice. Thus Niche channels
are the only way to maintain viewer loyalty. Some premium-branded newspapers, a bit like The
Sunday Times is more niche-orientated.

39
Consumer Buying Behavior

Consumer decision making would vary with the type of buying decision. You would agree that
decision to buy toothpaste, a tennis racket; personal computer and a car are all different. There
are 4 types of buying behavior based on the degree of buyer involvement and the degree of
difference between buyers.

Complex buying behavior

This type of buying behavior is involved when the product is expensive, bought infrequently.
E.g.: Automobile the consumer will spend lot of time in discussing and planning about the
purchase of such a product.

40
Dissonance buying behavior

This type of buying behavior is involved when purchase is expensive, infrequent and risky but
there is not much difference between the various brands. But you will not buy that brand if there
is small problem because of risk involved. E.g.: planning to buy a flat in a particular locality.
That area near to the forest it might declare as forest land in future. When you come to know
about dustbin you would not have buys that flat.

Habitual buying behavior

This type of buying behavior is for the product, which have low involvement and the absence of
significant difference between the brands. These products are frequently purchased. E.g.: When
you want to buy product like salt you don’t even think when you go to store whatever brand is
available you would have pick it up.

Variety seeking buying behavior

This type of buying behavior is involved when low involvement is there but there are significant
differences between the brands. E.g.: Think about cookies, you may want to change the cookies
that you had last time not because they were bad but you want to change the taste.

Newspaper Buying Decision

41
Readers Survey Data Analysis

No of Respondent: 80
This study is undertaken to understand the reader’s preferences & the factors influencing
Newspaper purchasing / Subscribing decision of the English Newspaper in Mumbai. This was
the online survey (Appendices1 survey form). The results are as follows

Q.1. Which Newspaper do u buys / subscribe currently?

The 46% of the respondent purchase Times of India as their 1st Choice Newspaper. Followed by
the HT & DNA with 16% & 8% respectively. Being the afternoon newspaper many of the people
who don not get time to read newspaper in the morning they buy Mid day as their 1st choice of
the news paper with 12% followed by DNA.

42
The subscription offers by almost all of the newspaper expect DNA currently 44% people buy
their 1st choice of newspaper by way of subscription & 30% by way of monthly payment. Rest of
them is the daily purchaser on the move.

Q.2. How did you come to know about the subscription schemes of various publications?

The source of the authentic information about the various newspaper schemes offered is the
regular paper vendor 57% of the respondent got to know from the newspaper vendor about the
various schemes followed by the 20% from the company representative 14% of respondent came
to know from the different advertisements 9% from the word of mouth & the promotional
activities. Therefore the newspaper vendor is the most trusted & effective channel for the
subscription.

43
Q.3. Do you buy more than one English Newspaper?

52% of the total respondent buy more than 1 newspaper; among them 22% of the respondent
prefers to have times of India as their 2nd Choice of newspaper followed by HT & DNA 18% &
13% respectively. With the 18% share Mid day also the 2nd choice of the newspaper followed by
Times of India. This indicates the reading habit of the Mumbaikar’s.46% of the respondent buys
their second choice of newspaper move on the daily purchase

If YES than which is the Second Newspaper?

44
Q.4. Which English Newspaper you use to buy before the launch of HT & DNA?

This is the clear indicator that the HT & DNA have taken the Times of India’s share in the
market. 73% of the respondent was buying Times of India before launch of the HT & DNA. 15%
of the people was buying Mid day

45
Q.5. Did you find anything new in your Subscribed Newspaper compared to the Newspaper
which you buy?

The new entrant in the newspaper industry has increased the expectation of the readers. 74% of
the respondent doesn’t found something new in their subscribed newspaper compared to there
old newspaper

Q.6. How would you categories Overall Experience of your Newspaper?

Attributes TOI HT DNA IE FPJ MD AN MM
Good 54 12 2 4 2 4 0 12
Average 8 12 14 8 8 18 8 16
Need
improvement 8 14 8 4 8 10 10 4

Respondent rated Times of India is the Good paper among all newspapers. DNA, Indian express,
Free Press journal, Mid day are rated as an average newspaper whereas HT, Mid day afternoon
people finds some more improvement. This result surprises because in subscription Times is No
1 & HT no 2 thereafter people rates TOI Good & looking for improvement in HT

46
Q.7. How will you rate your newspaper on the scale of 1-5 on following attributes?

Respondent rated their current newspaper overall good, Very good on their satisfaction scale.

Q.8. Do you suggest any improvements / Changes in your Newspaper?

If YES then what are those changes?

47
English dailies market has been expanded with 3 new entrant; still people are looking for the
improved product. It means there is still cope for a new entrant in this market. DNA & HT
fighting for the No.2 position but still there is scope for the new entrant. 57% of the total
respondent is looking for the improvement in their current product. Majority 23% & 14%of the
audience wants the improvement to be made in the content of the newspaper. 17% looking for
the quality supplements 16% are looking for the netter price.

Q.9. Is your Newspaper purchasing / subscribing decision influenced by the Promotional

schemes / Offers?

48
55% respondent agrees that their decision is influenced by the promotional schemes & offers
offered at the time of the purchasing & subscribing newspaper. 34% of them look at the value
proposition 14% subscribe newspaper for the convenience. 12% for the gifts & the gift voucher
& does not consider the Brand which they are buying.

If YES then what are those things?

Q.10. Will you subscribe a Newspaper which offers you subscription at full cost but which
will give you equivalent value add in return? *

49
e.g. In full cost of Subscription of Rs. 999/- you will be entitled for Movie tickets/ Discount
Coupons / Gift voucher for the period of subscription

75% of the respondent is ready to pay premium on subscription if they get additional value return
for the period of the subscription.

Demography of the respondent

50
Gender

28% of the total respondent is the females. This segment is still unexploited. Newspaper is the
unisex product therefore still Female segment has a scope of expansion. Therefore there is
feminine newspaper or supplement will give the added advantage to the brand

Age

The majority of the respondents is from the age group of the 21- 40. 62% of this segment youths
are single. The brand should target this youths who are single, career oriented & who takes
decision of what to buy.

Marital Status:

51
 Single = 62%, Married 38%
Qualification:

53% of the total respondents are post graduates 37% are the graduates. Majority 82% of them are
employed & 15% are self employed. 90% of the respondent is well qualified.

Occupation:

Monthly Household Income:

52
28 among 80 respondents is having monthly household income group Rs. 50,000 & above with
small family 26 of the total respondents stays with min 3 family members & 40 are with 4 to 5
family members. It shows that high disposable income in had. Decision takers. More than one
person in the family is going to read any English daily which is delivered at home. This reflects
to higher readership in to upper segment.

Family Members

53
New Idea Marketing & Strategy

After doing so much of research many of the things can be noticed. Currently the Newspaper are
running on the subscription model where the subscription amount is from Rs 299/-
(Psychological pricing) for yearly subscription till Rs 599/- for 6 month subscription. This help
companies to retain the customer till 6 months to 1 year of duration. Meanwhile if the subscriber
unhappy with the product he switched to the other product in the exchange of the old
subscription scheme. The newspaper vendor also allows customer to do that so that he will not
loose the customer.

Newspaper vendor also feels up the subscription on the bogus name of the readers because of the
low investment high return on investment. They subscribe newspaper at Rs 299 for a year on
bogus name. The buy newspaper also & scrap it as raddi paper & makes handsome money on
that.

Hereafter actual problem begins for e.g. the company record shows the subscription of 100
copies but actual copies delivered are lesser than that. Company has already given the
subscription at rock bottom prices for the year in which Cost of the newsprint also can not
recovered & copies are also not delivered to subscriber.

Subscription at Full cost of Newspaper with equivalent value add in return

We asked the respondent that will they buy a subscription at full cost of newspaper against
equivalent value add in return?
75% of the respondents is ready to pay premium on subscription if they get additional value
return for the period of the subscription.
If cost of the newspaper is Rs. 3/-
Newspaper delivers around 357 days of a year
Yearly cost as per cover price = Rs. 1075/-.
If we offers a subscription at Rs. 1000/- per year & offers them a year long discount coupons,
promotional CD’s, Discount offers in nearby stores along with subscription newspaper, dining to
shopping till movie tickets as promotion. It will give subscriber add on returns other then reading
pleasure. This will help to tap the augmented TG of the product as well.

54
The promotion advertisers will cover the additional cost with equal returns.

Other Objectives
- It will help to bring down the unwanted subscription due to high investments
- It will help to tap Potential Buyer (TG) & Augmented TG
- Low cost of promotions to retail & local advertisers

Untapped Segment
Among the 80 respondents 28% is the females. Females are neglected in newspaper segment
even. There is no feminine product available only for females.
Same thing is with youth segment age group from 14 – 21. Few weekly newspapers like JAM &
JLT (Times group) are targeted at the young college audience but fails to create awareness about
the product. Products itself fails to appeal to mass audience.
We call then proudly senior citizens but 60 & above segment is also not much tapped. This
people have plenty of time they can be the genuine readers. No product especially for them even.

Forming common liking group

Those days are gone when marketers marketing one strategy to target all segment. We need to
customize the strategy as per the target audience.

Times group have targeted schools by way of NIE program. They have customized the times of
India for the school children. Creating the future customer from the young age. Few days this
scheme derived well but later on the unpacked paper lying in the schools.

We can offer school children’s, college students, housewives & common liking groups a
customized products. This will serve their interest. After expanding English dailies market with
so many players in the market still 54% of the respondents is looking for improved product 74%
respondents does not found any thing new in new players in the market. We should consider that
expectation of the readers is also increased.

55
As per the same concept we can offer a subscription for the Rs 1000/- per year & we can keep
common likings community programs which will be the part of the subscription.

For school students science exhibition or a local educational picnic, educational guidance
seminars.

For Housewife’s gatherings for Home décor, cookery shows etc.

For college students they can have career guidance programs, cultural events, educational picnics
etc

For senior citizens Doctors advice, spiritual meetings, life after retirement guide program etc.

Newspaper as product in the Mumbai is reached to the maturity stage. To get more readers & to
increase the readership base the newspaper must do the innovation & need to reach out to the
untapped markets. Going to micro level in the marketing will help the products to expand more.

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Conclusion

Newspaper is not remaining the source of information. It’s no more meant for news only.
Newspaper became the versatile product which can be marketed as the FMCG product. Reader is
looking towards Newspaper as a NEWSFOTENMENT.

NEWSFOTENMENT
News: Local, Regional, International
Info: Business: Domestic, International
Sports: Domestic, International
Entertainment: Bollywood, Hollywood, Lifestyle

Mumbai Newspaper market was monopolist market for Times of India is become the competitive
market with so many players still even today readers are looking for the a better improved product
which still creates the space for the new entrant.

Vital Status of Newspaper & Newspaper Marketing

• Newspaper marketing is not FMCG product marketing

• Each product is unique & not a alternative to each other
• Mind share > pocket share
• Brand Loyalty > Price sensitivity
• Highly perishable = Highly effective
• Cost of Production > Sales price

Marketing Strategies
Content
Niche channels are the only way to differentiate content and have a captive audience. The clutter
of ads has now spilled out on the number of players due to which people are spoilt for choice.
Thus Niche channels are the only way to maintain reader’s loyalty. Masses will help to add up to
the no’s. Times is delivering more than 100 pages of content everyday. People are looking at the
quality content & not the quantity content.

Consumerism

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Increased consumerism and Multiplication of players is leading companies to increase their ad
spend to create brand recall. This in return means more revenues for the media companies
fueling further growth. Experiment on new innovation to attract consumer as well as advertisers
in the long run.

Pricing

Prices in India whether it is for cable connection, film tickets or newspapers remain one of the
lowest in the world though huge volumes compensate for low prices. With increased purchasing
power of the India urban class as well as the rural people, and the expendable income, prices will
increase with increase in choice. Affordability is the negligible issue now but acceptability by the
TG is the concern.

Regulations

Print has already opened for FDI ranging from 26% to 100% equity stake. With more and more
players jumping on the bandwagon, even for abroad, the regulations will be relaxed and the
industry will be a much bigger one.

Technology

Use of technology for special effects, animation and other creative work leading to better quality
of media products. Digital technology is increasingly competing with print media by opening
access to endless sources of news. It may now seem that the need of the reader to buy a
newspaper for news and the need of the advertiser to advertise in it is slowly receding. Thus it is
for the newspapers to look at emerging options and to rework their traditional sources of revenue

Innovation

Continuous innovation & RND to be carried out to understand the readers buying behavior &
readers psychology behind purchasing the newspaper brand. It will help to reach out to the
untapped markets. Going to micro level in the marketing will help the products to expand more.

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Appendices

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