Project Final
Project Final
STUDENT UNDERTAKING
This is to certify that I have completed the project titled “SALES AND PROMOTION OF
THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWSPAPER” under the guidance of “MRS. KAAMINI
RAJOTIA” in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of degree of Bachelor Of
Business Administration at Lingaya's Lalita Devi Institute of Management & Science,
Delhi. This is an original piece of work done by me & I have not submitted it earlier elsewhere.
SAHIL SHARMA
This is to certify that the project titled “SALES AND PROMOTION OF THE TIMES OF
INDIA NEWSPAPER” is an academic work done by SAHIL SHARMA submitted in the
partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelor Of Business
Administration from Lingaya's Lalita Devi Institute of Management & Science,
Delhi, under my guidance & direction. To the bestof my knowledge and belief the data &
information presented by him in the project has not been submitted earlier.
(FACULTY, LLDIMS)
With profound sense of gratitude and regard, I express my sincere thanks to my guide and
mentor MRS. KAAMINI RAJOTIA , for her valuable guidance and the confidence he instilled
in me, that helped me in the successful completion of this project report. Without his help, this
project would have been a distant affair.
His thorough understanding of the subject and professional guidance was indeed of immense
help to me.
I am also greatly thankful to the faculty members of our institute who co- operated with me and
gave me their valuable time.
SAHIL SHARMA
BBA SEMESTER-V
OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
To hit back at Hindustan Times and take back the lost market share by offering different schemes
to Hindustan Times customers so that they shift from Hindustan Times to The Times of India.
To find out the reasons why subscribers are not renewing or discontinuing their subscription.
To gain as many subscription as possible to increase the market share of The Times of India in
different areas of New Delhi.
CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
Print media is one of the most powerful and cost effective medium to transfer information and
knowledge. The print media industry in India is more than a century old. Also it is a well established
industry. This industry mainly comprises of publishing newspapers and magazines. India has the
second largest population and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Along with these the
increasing level of income of peoples and the robust competition in this industry help print media in its
growth.
The first newspaper in India—Hicky's Bengal Gazette—was started in 1780 under the British
Raj by James Augustus Hicky. Other newspapers such as The India Gazette, The Calcutta Gazette, The
Madras Courier, and The Bombay Herald soon followed. These newspapers carried news of the areas
under the British rule. The Bombay Samachar, founded in 1822 and printed in Gujarati is the oldest
newspaper in Asia still in print. On May 30, 1826 Udant Martand (The Rising Sun), the first Hindi-
language newspaper published in India, started from Kolkata, published every Tuesday by Pt. Jugal
Kishore Shukla.
Currently India publishes about 1,000 Hindi Dailies that have a total circulation of about 80 million
copies. English, the second language in terms of number of daily newspapers, has about 250 dailies with a
circulation of about 40 million copies. The prominent Hindi newspapers are Dainik Jagran, Dainik
Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Navbharat Times, Hindustan Dainik, Rajasthan Patrika, and Nai Dunia.
The prominent English newspapers are The Times of India, founded in 1838 as The Bombay Times and
Journal of Commerce by Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd, a colonial enterprise now owned by an Indian
conglomerate; The Times Group. The Hindustan Times was founded in 1924 during the Indian
Independence Movement. It is published by HT Media Ltd. The Hindu was founded in 1878 by a group
known as Triplicane Six consisting of four law students and two teachers in Chennai, it is now owned
by The Hindu Group.
In the 1950s 214 daily newspapers were published in the country. Out of these, 44 were English language
dailies while the rest were published in various regional and national languages. This number rose to
3,805 dailies in 1993 with the total number of newspapers published in the country reached 35,595.
Newspaper sale in the country increased by 11.22% in 2007. By 2007, 62 of the world's best selling
newspaper dailies were published in China, Japan, and India. India consumed 99 million newspaper
copies as of 2007, making it the second largest market in the world for newspapers.
The Times Group is India’s largest media conglomerate, according to Financial Times as of March
2015. The Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in May 2014 that the Times of India had the largest
circulation of any English-language newspaper in the world, with 3,321,702 average qualifying sales. The
company remains a family-owned business as the descendants of Sahu Jain own a majority stake in The
Times Group. The Times Group has over 11,000 employees and revenue exceeding $1.5 billion.
HISTORY
The first edition appears on 3 November 1838, known as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerces
as a semi-weekly edition by Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath Velkar, a Maharashtrian Reformist. The
newspaper was published twice a week (Saturday and Wednesday) under editor J.E. Brennan. It is
basically a city paper reflecting the interest of Bombay's business community.
The newspaper changes hands and George Buist becomes the editor of the Times from 1840 to 1857.
In 1850, the shareholders decided to increase the share capital and the paper became a daily.
In 1859, Bombay Standard and Chronicle of Western India merges with The Bombay Times and Journal
of Commerce to form Bombay Times & Standard.
1861: Editor Robert Knight amalgamates The Bombay Times & Standard and Bombay Telegraph &
Courier to form The Times of India and gives it a national character.
1880: The Times of India Weekly Edition is launched, name later changed to The Times of India
Illustrated Weekly and finally to The Illustrated Weekly of India in 1923.
1890: Editor Henry Curwen buys The Times of India in partnership with Charles Kane.
1892: Following Curwen's death, Thomas Jewell Bennett becomes the editor and enters into a partnership
with Franck Morris Coleman to form a joint stock company - Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL).
1907: In the newspaper's first price war under editor Stanley Reed, the price is cut from 4 annas to 1 anna,
and circulation rises 5 times.
1946: For the first time, the paper transfers to Indian ownership. Ram Kishan Dalmia buys out Bennett,
Coleman & Co. Ltd for Rs. 2 crores.
1948: Sahu Jain Group becomes the owners of the company after Dalmia sells the firm to recover 2.5
crores he needs to pay back to an insurance company. Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain, son-in-law of Ram Kishan
Dalmia, becomes the first chairman of the group.
1950: Delhi edition is launched with K. Gopalswami as the first Indian editor.
1952: Filmfare launched and started by J.C. Jain, the first Indian to be the GM of TOI.
1986: Vineet Jain joins BCCL. Is not back in Delhi because finishing his education in Switzerland. All
Times of India Group marketing, advertising and promotional material is sent to him for his brand
orientation. The Economic Times celebrates its Silver Jubilee. It crosses circulation of 100,000 copies for
the first time in its publishing history. The paper is printed on white newsprint and becomes "pink" 5
years later
1986: "MASTERMIND", the Times of India Group consolidated and interlinked newspaper rate card is
launched. Causes stir in media circles because it is the country's first ever price positioning
exercise. Times of India and Navbharat Times, Patna edition started.
1987: "Saturday Times" is launched in color in February at the first ever Times of India Group
Management conference in Goa. "MASTERMIND" is run in color. The Times Group brand building
activity starts in earnest. Printing of The Times of India from Kandivili Press.
1988: The Times of India celebrates 150 years. Celebration is continued for 2 more years due to its
immense success in catalyzing art, music and fashion industries in India. The Times of India organised
debates rage around the country on role of media, advertising, cinema, journalism, print production and
mass communication, and become the precursor of India's economic liberalization.
1989: The Times Group wins its first ever advertising award (Best B&W Campaign in Print Category) for
The Times of India sesquicentennial campaign: "Good Times, Sad Times, Changing Times"
1990: The Times School of Marketing is established as an in-house training school to also cater to the
Times Group's need for young interns and personnel. Vineet Jain returns to Delhi.The Economic Times
launches "Brand Equity" as "News from the Marketing Battlefront" on Wednesdays. Takes marketing
fraternity by storm.Weekend "Corporate Dossier" is also launched by The Economic Times.
1991: BBC features The Times of India among the world's six great newspapers. The Economic Times is
launched on "salmon pink" newsprint distinguishes it from other business papers published on white
newsprint. Cover price of The Economic Times is dropped to Rs.2/- only. Circulation of The Economic
1992: Campaign commences to urge readers to read The Times of India and The Economic times together
to get a better idea of a vastly changing India. Combo subscription rate offered.
1993: BCCL starts production of television software. Prestigious but money losing magazines such
as Dharmyug and Illustrated Weekly of India ceased publication.
2003: Times Classifieds - Classifieds site catering to web audiences, the group publications and also
publications from other countries like Sri Lanka.
Television Business launched with the launch of a lifestyle and entertainment channel called z00m.
Radio Mirchi holding company ENIL (Entertainment Network India Limited) lists on the Indian stock
markets. It is the first Times Group Company to List on the bourses.
A new holding company by the name of TBSL is created. This company controls the
brands TimesJobs SimplyMarry (earlier called TimesMatri) and MagicBricks
Launch of Times of India - Goa, along with Goa Mirror. However, the Goa edition has relatively less
coverage of happenings in Goa.
2011: Launch of The Times of India, Coimbatore Edition and Madurai Edition and Trichy Edition and
Puducherry Edition.
2012: Launch of The Times of India, Kerala, Visakhapatnam and Raipur (Chhattisgarh) Edition.
Launch of "Alive App * Alive app " in partnership with Adstuck Consulting an Augmented Reality App.
2016: Launch of Bennett University, Greater Noida - Programs being offered are B.Tech, BBA, BA Mass
Communication, 5 Yrs. Integrated BBA - LLB, MBA, M.Tech - CSE and Pd.D.
The Times of India (TOI) is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Times Group. It
is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest selling English-language daily in the
world according to Audit Bureau of Circulations (India). It is the oldest English-language newspaper in
India still in circulation, with its first edition published in 1838. It is the second oldest Indian newspaper
still in circulation after the Bombay Samachar. Lord Curzon the then Viceroy of India called The Times
of India "the leading paper in Asia". In 1991, the BBC ranked The Times of India among the world's six
best newspapers.
It is owned and published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu Jain family. In
the Brand Trust Report 2012, The Times of India was ranked 88th among India's most trusted brands and
subsequently, according to the Brand Trust Report 2013, The Times of India was ranked 100th among
India's most trusted brands. In 2014 however, The Times of India was ranked 174th among India's most
trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2014, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory.
HISTORY
BEGINNINGS
The Times of India issued its first edition on 3 November 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of
Commerce. The paper published Wednesdays and Saturdays under the direction of Raobahadur Narayan
Dinanath Velkar, a Maharashtrian Reformist, and contained news from Britain and the world, as well as
the Indian Subcontinent. J.E. Brennan was its first editor. In 1850, it began to publish daily editions.
In 1860, editor Robert Knight (1825–1892) bought the Indian shareholders' interests, merged with
rival Bombay Standard, and started India's first news agency. It wired Times dispatches to papers across
the country and became the Indian agent for Reuters news service. In 1861, he changed the name from the
Bombay Times and Standard to The Times of India. Knight fought for a press free of prior restraint or
intimidation, frequently resisting the attempts by governments, business interests, and cultural spokesmen
and led the paper to national prominence. In the 19th century, this newspaper company employed more
than 800 people and had a sizeable circulation in India and Europe.
Subsequently, The Times of India saw its ownership change several times until 1892 when, Thomas
Bennett and Frank Morris Coleman, who later drowned in the 1915 sinking of the SS Persia, acquired the
newspaper through their new company, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
DALMIYA OWNERSHIP
Sir Stanley Reed edited The Times of India from 1907 until 1924 and received correspondence from the
major figures of India such as Mahatma Gandhi. In all he lived in India for fifty years. He was respected
in the United Kingdom as an expert on Indian current affairs. He christened Jaipur as "the Pink City of
India".
Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd was sold to sugar magnate Ramkrishna Dalmia of the then-famous industrial
family, the Dalmiyas, for Rs 20 million in 1946, as India was becoming independent and the British
owners were leaving. In 1955 the Vivian Bose Commission of Inquiry found that Ramkrishna Dalmia, in
1947, had engineered the acquisition of the media giant Bennett, Coleman by transferring money from a
bank and an insurance company of which he was the Chairman. In the court case that followed,
Ramkrishna Dalmia was sentenced to two years in Tihar Jail after having been convicted of embezzlement
and fraud.
But for most of the jail term he managed to spend in hospital. Upon his release, his son-in-law, Sahu
Shanti Prasad Jain, to whom he had entrusted the running of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. rebuffed his
efforts to resume command of the company.
In the early 1960s, Shanti Prasad Jain was imprisoned on charges of selling newsprint on the black
market. And based on the Vivian Bose Commission's earlier report which found wrongdoings of the
Dalmia - Jain group, that included specific charges against Shanti Prasad Jain, the Government of
India filed a petition to restrain and remove the management of Bennett, Coleman and Company. Based
on the pleading, Justice directed the Government to assume control of the newspaper which resulted in
replacing half of the directors and appointing a Bombay (now Mumbai) High Court judge as the
Chairman.
Following the Vivian Bose Commission report indicating serious wrongdoings of the Dalmia–Jain group,
on 28 August 1969, the Bombay High Court, under Justice J.L. Nain, passed an interim order to disband
the existing board of Bennett Coleman and to constitute a new board under the Government. The bench
ruled that "Under these circumstances, the best thing would be to pass such orders on the assumption that
the allegations made by the petitioners that the affairs of the company were being conducted in a manner
prejudicial to public interest and to the interests of the Company are correct". Following that order Shanti
Prasad Jain ceased to be a director and the company ran with new directors on board, appointed by the
Government of India, with the exception of a lone stenographer of the Jains. Curiously, the court
In 1976, during the Emergency in India, the Government transferred ownership of the newspaper back
to Ashok Kumar Jain (Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain's son, Ramkrishna Dalmia's grandson and the father
of Samir Jainand Vineet Jain). The Jains too often landed themselves in various money laundering scams
and Ashok Kumar Jain had to flee the country when the Enforcement Directorate pursued his case
strongly in 1998 for alleged violations of illegal transfer of funds (to the tune of US$1.25 million) to an
overseas account in Switzerland.
On 26 June 1975, the day after India declared a state of emergency, the Bombay edition of The Times of
India carried an entry in its obituary column that read "D.E.M O'Cracy, beloved husband of T.Ruth, father
of L.I.Bertie, brother of Faith, Hope and Justice expired on 25 June". The move was a critique of Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi's 21-month state of emergency, which is now widely known as "the Emergency"
and seen by many as a roundly authoritarian era of Indian government.
In late 2006, Times Group acquired Vijayanand Printers Limited (VPL). VPL previously published two
Kannada newspapers, Vijay Karnataka and Usha Kiran, and an English daily, Vijay Times. Vijay
Karnataka was the leader in the Kannada newspaper segment then.
The paper launched a Chennai edition, 12 April 2008. It launched a Kolhapur edition, February 2013.
TOIFA AWARDS
Introduced in 2013 and awarded for the second time in 2016, "The Times of India Film Awards" or the
"TOIFA" is an award for the work in Film Industry decided by a global public vote on the nomination
categories.
The Times of India is published by the media group Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. The company, along
with its other group of companies, known as The Times Group, also publishes:
Ahmedabad Mirror
Bangalore Mirror
Bangalore Times
Delhi Times
The Economic Times
Ei Samay (a Bengali daily)
The Maharashtra Times (a Marathi-language daily broadsheet)
Mumbai
Ahmedabad
Aurangabad
Bangalore
Bhopal
Bhubaneswar
Calicut
Chandigarh
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Guwahati
Hubli
Hyderabad
Indore
Jaipur
Kochi
Kolhapur
Kolkata
Lucknow
Madurai
Mangalore
Mysore
Nagpur
Nashik
Panaji
Patna
Puducherry
Pune
Raipur
Ranchi
Surat
Trichy
Trivandrum
Varanasi
Publishing
Television
Digital
Out of Home
Other Activities
PUBLISHING:
TELEVISION:
DIGITAL:
Largest Indian network based on traffic and revenue (behind Google, Facebook, Yahoo).
Operates 30+ digital businesses, most of which are Top 3 in their competitive segment.
Most popular B2C mobile short code in India, across SMS, voice, WAP, and USSD Radio.
Largest radio network in India by revenue and listenership, with 32 stations.
Operates the largest rock radio station in the UK.
OUT OF HOME:
Largest Out‐of‐home advertising business in India with presence in all major metros.
Owns advertising contracts in most major airports in India.
OTHER ACTIVITIES:
Music
Movies
Education
Financial Services
Event Management
Times Innovative Media Limited (TIML) & Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL) that together
control,
Times Internet Limited is one of the largest internet companies of India. It has interests in online
news, online business news, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, and Bengali news, mobile, e-Commerce,
music, video, and communities. Some of the larger properties of TIL include:
India times shopping - one of the largest and earliest ecommerce portals in India
India
Times of India
Economic times.com
Navbharattimes.com
Maharashtra Times
Timescity.com
Gaana.com
BoxTV.com
Times Deal
TIMES OF MONEY
On 30 May 2008, SMG sold The British Virgin Radio to TIML Radio Limited for £53.2 million with £15
million set aside for rebranding. On 28 September 2008, The British Virgin Radio Station rebranded as
Absolute Radio, including the sister radio stations Absolute Xtreme and Absolute Classic Rock.
STATIONS
Absolute Radio
Absolute Radio 60s
Absolute Radio 70s
Absolute 80s
Absolute Radio 90s
Absolute Radio 00s
Absolute Classic Rock
Absolute Radio Extra This company is a direct subsidiary of BCCL (not through TIML or ENIL).
The syndication division of The Times of India Group, grants reprint rights for text, and other media from
the group's publications.
BRAND CAPITAL
Brand Capital provides funding to growth oriented enterprises for their long term brand building needs.
ONLINE SHOPPING
Satvik shop, an online shopping website dedicated to organic and ayurvedic products.
KEY MANAGEMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Executive Director: Trishla Jain
Executive Director & CEO: Ravindra Dhariwal
Executive Director & COO: Shrijeet Mishra
Executive Director & President: Arunabh Das Sharma
Non Executive Director: A.P. Parigi
Non Executive Director: Kalpana J. Morparia
Non Executive Director: M. Damodaran
Non Executive Director: Leo Puri
TIMES OF MONEY
TIMES VPL
WORLDWIDE MEDIA.
ABSOLUTE RADIO
Shailendra Nautiyal
EDITORIAL HEADS
ECONOMIC TIMES
MAHARASHTRA TIMES
NAVBHARAT TIMES
MUMBAI MIRROR
SPEAKING TREE
VIJAYA KARNATAKA
Editor: E. Raghavan
TIMES NOW
ET NOW
Editor: R. Sridharan
ZOOM
HINDUSTAN TIMES
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian
independence movement of the period ("Hindustan" being a historical name for India). The newspaper is
owned by Rajya Sabha M.P. Shobhana Bhartia who was nominated by Congress and hence the newspaper
has pro Congress tone. It is the flagship publication of HT Media. Hindustan Times is one of the
largest newspapers in India, by circulation. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a
circulation of 1.16 million copies as of November 2015. The Indian Readership Survey 2014 revealed
that HT is the second most widely read English newspaper in India after The Times of India. It is popular
in North India, with simultaneous editions from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi
and Chandigarh.
The print location of Jaipur was discontinued from June 2006 and that of Nagpur edition was
discontinued from September 1997. HT launched a youth daily, HT Next, in 2004. The Mumbai edition
was launched on 14 July 2005 and the Kolkata edition was launched in early 2000. In The Brand Trust
Report 2012, Hindustan Times was ranked 291st among India's most trusted brands and subsequently,
according to the Brand Trust Report 2013, Hindustan Times was ranked 434th among India's most trusted
brands. In 2014 however, Hindustan Times was ranked 360th among India's most trusted brands
according to the Brand Trust Report 2014, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory, a brand
analytics company. Other sister publications of Hindustan Times are Mint (English business
daily), Hindustan (Hindi Daily), Nandan (monthly children's magazine) and Kadambani (monthly literary
magazine). The media group owns a radio channel, Fever 104.0 FM, and organises an annual Luxury
Conference which has featured speakers like designer Diane von Fürstenberg, shoemaker Christian
Louboutin, Gucci CEO Robert Polet and Cartier MD Patrick Normand. Hindustan Times is owned by the
KK Birla branch of the Birla family.
THE HINDU
The Hindu is an Indian daily newspaper. Headquartered at Chennai, The Hindu was published weekly
when it was launched in 1878, and started publishing daily in 1889. It is one of the two Indian newspapers
of record and the second most circulated English-language newspaper in India, after The Times of
India with average qualifying sales of 1.45 million copies as of Jan−Jun 2016. The Hindu has its largest
base of circulation in southern India, and is the most widely read English daily newspaper in Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka.
The newspaper and other publications in The Hindu Group are owned by a family-held company, Kasturi
and Sons Ltd. In 2010, The newspaper employs over 1,600 workers and annual turnover reached almost
$200 million according to data from 2010. Most of the revenue comes from advertising and
subscription. The Hindu became, in 1995, the first Indian newspaper to offer an online edition. As of
November 2015, it is published from 18 locations across nine states: Bengaluru,
Chennai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Mumbai,
Coimbatore, Madurai, Noida, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Mangaluru, Tiruchirappalli, Hubballi,
Mohali, Allahabad, and Malappuram.
The Indian Express is published at ten locations—Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Kolkata,
Vadodara, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
DECCAN HERALD
Deccan Herald was started in 1948 by Mr. K N Guruswamy, with the famous journalist Pothan Joseph as
its founding editor. Its sister publications are the Prajavani daily newspaper, the weekly
magazine Sudha and the monthly magazine Mayura, all of which are published in Kannada. The head
office of the Deccan Herald is on MG Road, Bengaluru.
The ABC certified figures for the first half of 2009 put the daily paid circulation (number of bought
copies as opposed to number of copies read) at 214,797. According to the Indian Readership Survey
2013, Deccan Herald is among the top ten most widely read English language newspapers in India, with
an average daily readership of 458,000 (338,000 in Bengaluru city).
The launch of its Delhi edition in December 2011 marked Deccan Herald's first venture outside
Karnataka, though the paper admits that it will find it very hard to compete in what is India's most
competitive newspaper market with 15 newspapers on the market already.
PIONEER
The Pioneer is an English language newspaper in India. It is published from multiple locations in India,
including Delhi. It is the second oldest English language newspaper in India that is operational. In 2010,
The Pioneer launched a Hindi version in Lucknow.
The newspaper remained a primarily Lucknow-based paper until 1990, when it was purchased by the
Thapar Group, under L. M. Thapar, who made it a national newspaper, published
from Delhi, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Kochi, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Dehradun and Ranchi. Thapar sold the
paper to its editor Chandan Mitra in 1998. At that time it had 484 employees. Mitra announced that he
intended to seek other investors in due course rather than to remain the owner. On October 17, 2010, The
Pioneer launched its Hindi version of the newspaper from Lucknow and in May 2012, the paper
inaugurated its Raipur bureau, beginning operations of its Chhattisgarh edition.
Although, The Times of India faces competition from all the above brands, we were told just to
focus on Hindustan Times because it was Hindustan Times only who was luring Times of India
customers by offering them different schemes and hence, I will only consider Hindustan Times as a
competition.
COMPETITION TABLE
HINDUSTAN TIMES +
Rs.1199/- 12 MONTHS HT + LIVEMINT
LIVEMINT
PRINTING PRESS
Usually stocks for depots situated the farthest are dispatched earliest.
DEPOTS
The distribution centre receives the copies from the transporter and stocks it for a short duration.
NEWSPAPER 1 NEWSPAPER 2
AGENTS
VENDORS
MDI vendor serve in areas. He collects newspapers from Old Bus Stand Agents.
BEAT BOYS
The delivery boys have demarcated regions/housing societies, which they serve. Hawkers are individuals
who do not have established customers and sell at road sides, bus stands etc. They make small quantity
purchases
INFORMATION FLOW
New consumer/Existing consumer taking or terminating subscription
Vendor receives 20-25%, to cover the costs incurred due to travel, beat boys etc. It depends on the
type and language of newspaper. (Hindi – 25%; English – 20%)
PROMOTION SCHEMES
TRADE SCHEMES
Challenge for channel member: Balance reader interest while trying to increase sales to avail
benefits of the scheme
DISCOUNTS
READER SCHEMES
SUBSCRIPTION SALES
Offer choice of publication for a certain amount of time at a lump sum discount price.
Purpose- gaining new customers and making customer switch.
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
Being the largest company of its kind, it has the largest market share in India. It can be said as the
most awarded brand of its kind in Delhi NCR.
It provides best quality contents including all newspapers and magazines in low prices.
Parent company’s presence in all media i.e. television and radio etc., becomes easy to reach a wide
range of consumers for its campaign.
WEAKNESSES
Tough competition in the industry raises limited scope for increasing market share.
OPPORTUNITIES
It has better opportunity in regional language publications in India. For example many people ask
about Gujarati newspapers.
It can also penetrate in the online market, by making its contents available online. So that users can
avail this on their computers and mobiles.
THREATS
Basically local language publications can take over its market share.
CHAPTER-2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
TASK
As a part of the Summer Internship Program we were assigned to book subscriptions for The Times of
India newspaper especially from Hindustan Times readers by offering them different schemes and also to
collect renewal from the expired subscribers.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To hit back at Hindustan Times and take back the lost market share by offering different schemes
to Hindustan Times customers so that they shift from Hindustan Times to The Times of India.
To find out the reasons why subscribers are not renewing or discontinuing their subscription.
PROBLEM DEFINITION:-
What are the reasons that led to the shift of customers from The Times of India to Hindustan Times?
What were the various aspects in which The Times of India was lacking behind in fulfilling the customers
demand?
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:-
This Exploratory research has been conducted through primary data. The data will be qualitative as well
as quantitative. The data has been collected through personal interview, door to door visit and telephonic
interview.
RESEARCH DESIGN:-
Geographical location: The geographical location taken for the purpose of data collection and the
research is South Delhi.
Sample size: The sample size for collecting primary data is 150 respondents. The sampling will
be done through Random Technique.
TABLE:-
Reader 100
Non-Reader 50
Data collection method: The data has been collected through personal interview, door to door
visit and telephonic interview.
Target group: The respondents consist of existing subscribers, discontinued subscribers and non-
readers.
LIMITATIONS:-
The field work for the purpose of research was limited to some part of the South Delhi only.
Therefore it may not represent the overall consumers as perceptions of the consumers may vary
place to place due to demographic factors.
CHAPTER-3
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTREPRETATION
Table:-
Reader 100
Non-Reader 50
Among the Respondents covered under Non-reader criteria, 20% said that they are not able to afford
newspaper even on subscription basis, 24% do not read due to non-availability of time, 22% prefer to read
online and the remaining 34% are not interested in reading newspapers.
Respondents were asked to rate the features with numbers from 1 to 10.
A. ENTERTAINMENT:-
It shows that only 16% subscribers are fully entertained by the newspapers who gave 10 out of 10. The
highest 44% subscribers gave 8 out of 10. They are less entertained than other 24% subscriber who gave 9
out of 10. Therefore it shows that maximum percentage of population want more entertainment in the
newspapers.
B. INFORMATION:-
Survey indicates that all the respondents are well satisfied with the information delivered through the
newspapers. They are giving 8, 9 and 10 out of 10.
C. GOSSIP:-
D. UPDATES:-
The contents in the newspapers are well updated as the diagram shows that 55% respondent gave 9 out of
10. Only a few percentage of respondent think that newspapers are not well updated.
E. PRICE:-
In case of price, survey shows that 27% are highly satisfied and another 45% are less satisfied than the
first one. By seeing other responses we can say that subscribers are well satisfied with price of the
newspapers. But still their demand is to decrease the price due to human behavior of expecting more than
what they get.
F. SERVICES:-
Services are one of the main factor which helps in maintaining the customer loyalty and keeping the
readership size constant. The survey shows that there is less percentage of people who are well satisfied
with the services who give higher rating. Their demand is to improve the services including the
distribution system and customer care system.
G. LANGUAGE:-
Customers are well satisfied with the language used in the newspapers. Maximum percentages of the
respondents give higher rating.
When the respondents were asked about the quality Vs price, good responses have received from them.
There are maximum percentages of people who are highly satisfied with the quality of the newspapers
relating with price.
During the internship period, 50 renewal calls has been done. Out of which 26% i.e. 13 renewals have
been collected. The remaining 74% has denied renewing their subscription.
Reasons derived from the survey for the discontinuation of the subscriptions:-
Decrease of interest and usability: 32% of the respondent said that they have stopped their
subscriptions due to decrease in interest. Also the usability.
Due to contents: 5% subscribers think that the full content is an issue and not everything is
necessary for him/her. They need only a part or few pages of the newspapers. For which they
think that it is none other than wasting of money by buying the whole. Therefore they now prefer
internet for their need.
Only subscribed for gift: Subscription scheme plays an important role in increasing readership.
There is high demand of gifts in subscription scheme. There are 8% people who are not
interested in continuing their subscription because there is no gift in current scheme. But if they
will be provided with preferable gift scheme, they are ready to continue their subscription.
Cost: Only 3% people are not ready to continue their subscription because they thought that the
current scheme i.e. Rs.799 for 15 months duration of The Times of India newspaper is not so cost
effective even with the gift of Bombay dyeing bed sheet worth Rs.1800.
Service: The last but the main reason for which people are not ready to renew their subscriptions
is service. As maximum percentage i.e. 39% of the respondents have stopped their subscription
only because of services problem. There are three types of service problems derived:
1. Delivery: Customers were getting late delivery of newspapers and since some of them
only had time to read newspapers in the morning, they were not able to read newspaper
and there subscription was worth nothing to them. Also some were not getting
newspapers in a proper condition i.e. wet newspapers during monsoon, crashed papers
etc.
2. No response in problems: When the subscribers faced the above mentioned problems,
they were not responded well from the sales department. Their problems were not
solved. That’s why this became a big reason for discontinuing subscription.
CHAPTER-4
FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
FINDINGS
Newspapers are well entertained, updated and well informative.
Schemes with gift are playing a good role in increasing readership as there are a lot of customers
who have subscribed only for gift.
There are a big number of boutiques and designers in New Delhi NCR and most of them deal
with Indian traditions. That’s why the contents should be customer centric in order to increase
readership.
People are highly interested in newspapers but there is low or no awareness of the schemes.
RECOMMENDATIONS
A better distribution channel: I would also like to recommend that by implementing a better
distribution channel, TOI can increase its market share.
A better renewal reminder system: A better renewal reminder system can also be
implemented. There is a system of reminder but customers are complaining that they are not
getting the reminder alarm.
Appointment of new staff: TOI can also improve their services by appointing new staff as
‘Customer care Executive’ by giving well training so that they will be able to respond the
customers well who have problems. Because currently customers are not well responded.
A scheme including Hindi newspaper: There is a lot of demand of Hindi newspapers among
customers in South Delhi. So, what Times Group can do is add a new scheme that includes a
combo of The Times of India and Navbharat Times so that the demand of Hindi readers is
satisfied and the sale of The Times of India would be increased side by side.
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
3. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page/
4. W3newspapers. https://www.w3newspapers.com/india/
11. Vital Business Media. Go East, young journalist: India publishing market is hot. [ONLINE]
Available at: http://www.emediavitals.com/content/go-east-youngjournalist-india-publishing-
market-hot.
QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTIONNAIRE
I, Sahil sharma student of BBA at LLDIMS, Delhi conducting a
survey on “Consumer Behavior Towards the Daily Newspaper and
Magazines” as a part of my curriculum. Kindly help me to gather the
information by sparing your 5-10 minutes for fulfilling the
questionnaire. I assure you that information will be kept confidential. I
will be very thankful to you.
Name……………………………………………………………….Age
………………………......
Address……………………………………………………………
Occupation……………………
Phone No…………………………………………………………..
Please ( √ ) the option given in the answers which are most suitable to
you. You can answer more than one option if required).
A) Yes
B) No
a)Times of India
b)Hindustan Times
c)Tribune
d)Dainik Bhaskar
e)Amar Ujala
f) Others
a) Content
b) Presentation
c) Language
d) Any other
a) National/International
b) Sports
c) Business
d) Editorial
e) Any other
Q.5 Do you go through additional supplements that are provided with the
newspaper?
a) Yes
b) No
a) Yes
b) No
c) Doesn’t read
a)Yes
b) No
c) Doesn’t read
Q.8 Has the information from classified section been able to resolve your
queries?
a)Yes
b) No
c) Doesn’t read
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………
Date:…… Signature