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www.dramitrangnekar.com
Dr Amit Rangnekar
www.dramitrangnekar.com
Case coverage
Successful management of vernacular
newspapers across different states
Marketing strategies used to change reading
habits through a customer centric approach
Growth strategy lessons in India's print media
industry
Importance and application of market research
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Media ad revenues
Print (Newspapers + magazines), largest ad
revenues 40%
TV largest ad media 38%, Newspapers 28%,
Magazines 12%
Newspaper advertising revenues in India @ -1%
Internet ad revenues- not just newspapers online,
@ 32%
NA internet ad revenue 20x (EU +SA + ) revenue
generated in central and eastern Europe, Latin
America, the Middle East and Africa. combined
Search- largest online advertising market
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2006
2010
CAGR
(Rs Cr)
Driver / Resistor
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19
TV
1500 43000
0
24
7000 20000
12
32
Radio
it
300
1200
900
1,750
14
Fragmented, likely to
evolve
Event Mgt
800
1,800
18
Affluence, westernisation
Music
700
740
OOH
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Conglomerate
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Presence
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The Family
Ramesh Agarwal- Chairman,
Non media businesses
Sudhir- MD, Editorial content
Girish- Director, Sales and
marketing
Pawan- Director, Technology,
HR and new initiatives
"In every city we have gone
after that, our approach has
been to be No. 1 from day
one
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Newspapers
Habit-forming products, difficult to change
Readers used to certain format & style with
morning tea
Dainik Bhaskar- India's No. 2 Hindi daily (32 mn)
Dainik Jagran No. 1 (57 mn)
Kolkata- The Telegraph (ABP) fought for years to
pip The Statesman, the city's dominant English
daily
Trade unions did not allow The Statesman to
modernize
Delhi- The Times of India v Hindustan Times (HT)
Chennai- The Hindu has beaten back its
challengers
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Vernacular media
Vernacular readers taken for granted
Publishers assume readers want certain things but
give that through least expensive means
Static approach to market and consumers- their
changing needs, wants, aspirations and desires
"Indian newspapers ignored readers until the advent of
the internet, when they started to serve the computersavvy market slightly better by creating and
maintaining a website. However, they still continued to
neglect the bulk of the market, mainly the rural areas.
This rural market suffered because of lack of content,
and distribution and pricing issues" Sridhar Samu, ISB
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ND
Academic, language
focus
Scholarly, regional focus
Hawkers not treated
well
ND- never treated ad
agencies well during
monopoly
ND learnt fast from DB
Failure
1992- National Mail
Bhopal edition, only 18,000 copies
No growth despite surveys and customer
feedback
Key- No editorial and marketing network across
the country
Hindi preferred strongly then
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Rajasthan Launch
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Rajasthan
1997- Ajmer & Jodhpur
Patrika retaliated- discounts & supplements in all
editions
Differentiation shifted to quality
1998- Bikaner, Udaipur, 1999- Kota
Price war subsided in 2 years
Patrika & Bhaskar launched free-chair scheme with
subscriptions
We had captured Rajasthan GA
The way we operate, we go all out, or we just
don't
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2001
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Divya Bhaskar
2003- launched Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar
Divya Bhaskar put the reader on center stage thro
research
Gujaratis- business minded, so business should
dominate Page 1
Research- Gujaratis as keen on movies & cricket- which
are religions in India- as readers from other Indian states
Pure Gujarati language is important
Research- Readers prefer English + Gujarati mix than
pure Gujarati
Learnings from Bollywood- language is Hinglish
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Divya Bhaskar
Gujarati papers- Company stock market quotes
listed by Gujarati names not English acronyms,
extremely difficult to find a company
Divya Bhaskar started English listings, everybody
followed
2008- readership 6mn, Sandesh- 7mn, Gujarat
Samachar 9mn
Divya Bhaskar is No. 1 in most markets, it is
available in
By getting your readers involved in the creation
process, you create a sense of ownership GA
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Times strategy
Reigning for 150 years in Mumbai
Marketing tactics- invitation price and price bundling
Out-flanked Mid-day by combining Mumbai Mirror
and Bombay Times with Times of India
Initially free, now at minimum invitation price or
bundled
Result- Mumbai Mirror piggybacks TOI, grosses 7.5L
copies daily, Mid Day trails at 5.5L copies
Combination subscription prices for various
publications
Same concept for ad rates across publications /
geographies
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Mumbai
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Customer-centric approach
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Market Research
In-house market research than outsource
Massive reader surveys
1996- Dainik Bhaskar, Jaipur launch- surveyed
200,000 potential readers
DNA Mumbai launch- surveyed 600,000 potential
readers in round one
"If 500,000 people were surveyed by an outside
agency, interviews alone would cost Rs 1.25 crore,
number crunching would further inflate the bill"
Bijoor
"I can call upon 500 people and they'll be there"
Ramesh
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Market Research
Core research team- from media arm, and other group
businesses
Trained and committed
Surveys spread a over a couple of months, less strenuous
Questionnaire administered by a well informed and
product aware company official is easily accepted than
from a college student making some pocket money Girish
Create awareness, get readers involved in designing the
newspaper
Potential readers- interviewed twice
Consumers identify with a brand if they feel company is
responsive to their suggestions
Reminding readers that they have done it- equally
important
Brand community- approach- Harley Davidson
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MR insights
"The Dainik survey is an awesome experience. They build
their own teams of part-timers from scratch. In Ahmedabad
[Divya Bhaskar launch], they used 1,050 surveyors, 64
supervisors, 16 zonal managers and 4 divisional managers.
They surveyed 1.2 mn households-- possibly the single
biggest consumer contact program in history. And they met
each household twice. Erehwon Innovation Consulting
"Intense training was conducted on grooming, etiquette,
body language, social skills and methods of engagement....
The surveyors did so well that when they went back for the
second round, they were greeted like long-lost friends and
offered refreshments.... Their morning begins with a
prayer... with over 200 people standing in straight lines and
singing in unison... Then after a short briefing, they hit the
road. GA
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Launch innovations
An invitation price lower than the normal rate
Consumers more likely to buy the product if at a low invitation
price. After a few purchases, they may like it & continue to
purchase it even after the price reverts back to its normal level.
But there is a significant drop-off if regular price is much higher
than invitation price. Samu
Six-month subscription offer at a discounted rate, 1 st newspaper
"Pre-selling is a price bundling or a discounting strategy. This
helps a publications working capital requirement, costs less than
market-borrowed funds, ensures 6-month loyalty period in
individual homes, ensures reader lock-in, helps facilitate an
environment of sameness of publication in that home, repeated
use reduces brand dissonance, creates an entry barrier for other
publications into the home." Bijoor
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CRM or intrusive
"I consider increasing involvement levels of consumers
with any product or brand as part of a relationshipbuilding process which can lead to higher commitment
levels to the product and a continued engagement
with it." Samu, ISB
"This is intrusively marketing the paper and its appeal
from Day 1. It is a way of interactive marketing as well.
The reader gets involved in putting together the
formula for her paper, right in her own home. This
becomes a talking point. The newspaper gets created
amidst large sets of consumers and not dipstick
sample sizes. To that extent it is intrusive, interactive,
involving and lowbrow. Readers and consumers love
this. The first one that does this gets remembered and
gets away with it. If someone else repeats it, the
benefit is less. Bijoor
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Advertising insights
We are not fighting TV head-on because
fortunately, our markets are not very TV-heavy,
like, the south. There are no particular regional
channels for these markets only. Otherwise, I
would have had a real problem. In my markets, it
is still Zee, Sony, STAR. TV is eating into the
overall ad pie anyway. When an advertiser has
budgeted for TV and made a Rs 30-lakh film, he
has to run it. Only then you look at what money is
left and come to print.
However threshold level TV costs have gone up
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Targeting Magazines
Why not take money off magazines? Print offers better
reach
After reading Bombay Times, most readers hardly need
to read film magazines. Only some categories of
magazines of special-interest, show growth. Supplements
in vernaculars are read more than even the main
newspapers. We are working on our film magazine
(supplement)-- Navrang- so people don't have to read any
other film magazine. My film magazine is surely read
more than my main paper among a particular segment.
We have 4 magazines supplements now - Navrang (edited
by Mahesh Bhatt), Rasrang (Sunday supplement),
Madhurima (women's magazine) and Bal Bhaskar (for
kids).
Magazines unlike newspapers have repeat reads
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Ad revenues
Mastermind- smart way to support weaker editions
But DB has no weak editions, so charge by markets
Key to rate card design- What a market can take
(what advertiser will pay for that market), our
feasibility & no extra padding
In MP we charged < the No. 2 as we knew market
wont take it
For us the reader is king. Governments deny us
ads for long periods if we speak against them, but
we dont bend. For the Jaipur launch, the
government would have helped us had we asked
for but we got their advertising only 2 years after
launch.
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PR
For our advertising innovations for marketers
(PR), we make sure our readers enjoy it. The ad is
to attract reader's attention but bugging the
reader can only affects us. Helping the marketer
in editorial coverage does not harm the reader as
we are only putting forth information, not
influencing anything. It is like any other press
release. I see no harm in that.
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Ambition
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Flexibility is key
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Expansions
DB investing Rs 125 crore in expanding
operations
Rs 20 crore investment in flagship
Rs 105 crore in the Gujarati editions- Surat,
Baroda and Rajkot
Ahmedabad readership- 11.83 lakh
DB 4.74 lakh circulation in 3 months
Consolidate DB from Mumbai also planned
Independent printing units in Ujjain (MP) & Sikar
(Rajasthan) upgrade printing facility in Jaipur
Not dependent on national advertisers, attract
many local advertisers, hence not affected by
Hindi news channels
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Concerns
Marketing turned DB into a business, lost core
value- journalism
Insignificant in UP and Bihar- key Hindi belt
Metros like Delhi & Mumbai? unknown in RoI
Negligible presence in the lucrative English print
media
Focused only on print- Electronic, virtual?
Vernacular presence- limitations to international
growth
Ad revenues? Margins?
Alliances?
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References
Developing Story: Global Publishing Houses See New Potential in Indian Media
In Brazil, Roberto Civita Applauds New and Old Media, a Free Press and the
Coming Tide of Investors
Wikipedia on the Bhaskar Group
http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/feb/18spec.htm
Girish Agarwal | February 18, 2005
http://www.contentsutra.com/entry/dainik-bhaskar-group-valued-at466-million/
Dainik Bhaskar Group Valued At $466 Million
By Sahad PV - Wed 07 Jun 2006 05:07 AM PST
Business Standard:
www.bhaskar.com
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4328
Newspapers: Indian Language Readers Are Making Their Voices Heard
Published: October 30, 2008 in India Knowledge@Wharton
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