UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

Project report on

“Hindustan Times and Times of India

- A comparative study”

SUBMITTED BY

“RASIKA V. CHITNIS”

PROJECT GUIDE: Ms. SUDHA SINGH

SEMESTER 5

BACHELORS OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES.

J.V.M.’s MEHTA COLLEGE

Plot no. 9, Sector-19, Airoli Node,

Navi Mumbai-400 708

ACADEMIC YEAR

2010-2011

A COMPARATIVE STUDY

OF

“HINDUSTAN TIMES

&

TIMES OF INDIA”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

For success in any walk of life we need proper guidance especially when

we are walking on the new way, so was the situation for we all BMS students.

We had been given an opportunity for the first time ever to take up any topic of

our choice and to make a project on same which gave us chance our skills to

prove ourselves by putting in hardcore efforts and to bring out the best possible

results.

I am grateful to Prof. Sudha Singh, as she devoted her precious time for

making us cognizant about different aspects of project.

It is the matter of utmost pleasure to express my indebt ness and deep

sense of gratitude to various persons who extended their maximum help to

supply the necessary information for the present thesis, which became available

on account of the most selfless co-operation.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents and I am also

thankful to my friends and colleagues who helped and supported me for the

work I had done.

I, RASIKA V. CHITNISstudent of JVM Mehta degree College of T.Y.BMS

hereby declare that I have completed this project on “Comparative Study of

Hindustan Times and Times of India” in the academic year 2010-2011. The

information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

Rasika V. Chitnis

DECLARATION

INDEX

SR. NO. TOPIC

Executive summary

1. Introduction

2. List of top newspapers in the world by circulation

3. Importance of newspapers

4. Newspaper Marketing in India

5.

Times of India

a) History

b) Marketing strategy

c) Market share

d) Prominent supplements

e) Pricing

f) Target audience

g) Achievement

6.

Hindustan Times

a) History

b) Launching of Hindustan Times

c) Marketing strategy

d) Market share

e) Prominent supplements

f) Pricing

g) Target audience

h) Achievement

i) Growth of HT

j) Brand HT today

7. Competition for Times of India and Hindustan Times

8. HindustanTimes taking over Times Of India

9. Case study

10. People’s view on Times Of India and Hindustan Times

11. Survey

12. Conclusion

13. Bibliography

14. Annexure

THE TIMES OF INDIA

AND

HINDUSTAN TIMES

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

According to NRS 2006 (National Readership Survey 2006), there are an

estimated 204 million readers of daily newspapers and an estimated 222 million

readers of all publications in India. An important feature is the rising profile of

`rural’ readers who constitute nearly 50 per cent of all daily newspaper readers;

this is in striking contrast to the composition of newspaper readership in India

20 years ago.

The press is still the dominant medium for advertising in the country, even if

television has steadily increased its share. The Times of India is, by some

distance, the world’s top-circulated general interest broadsheet daily newspaper

in English.

The Times of India still leads English dailies with a total readership of 133.4

lakh, dropping from 134.8 lakh readers last year. Hindustan Times is second

with a total readership of 63.5 lakh, registering an increase from 60.9 lakh last

year.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Indian print media started from Calcutta, the then first colonial establishment of the

East India Company. Since Calcutta was first to come under the British rule in India,

it opened to western values. James Agustus Hickey is considered as the "father of

Indian press" as he started the first Indian Paper the Bengal Gazette in 1780. The first

paper in an Indian language was SamacharDarpan in Bangla. The prominent Indian

languages in which papers have grown over the years are Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam,

Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Bengali.

The Indian language papers have taken over the English press as per the latest NRS

survey of newspapers. The main reasons being the marketing strategy followed by the

regional papers, beginning with Eenadu, a telegu daily started by RamojiRao. The

second reason being the growing literacy rate. Increase in the literacy rate has direct

positive effect on the rise of circulation of the regional papers. The people are first

educated in their mother tongue as per their state in which they live for e.g. students in

Maharashtra are compulsory taught Marathi language and hence they are educated in

their state language and the first thing a literate person does is read papers and gain

knowledge and hence higher the literacy rate in a state the sales of the dominating

regional paper in that state rises. The next reason being thelocalisation of news. Indian

regional papers have several editions for a particular State for complete localisation of

news for the reader to connect with the paper. Malayalam Manorama has about 10

editions in Kerala itself and six others outside Kerala. Thus regional papers aim at

providing localised news for their readers. Even Advertisers saw the huge potential of

the regional paper market, partly due to their own research and more due to the efforts

of the regional papers to make the advertisers aware of the huge market. However

When the history of India's newspaper wars is written, this one is going to take the

cake. Both The Times of India and Hindustan Times know it well too. The battle will

be bloodier than the legendary Hindustan Times-Times of India battle for the Delhi

market. The Times of India prised open the Hindustan Times territory in Delhi and

planted its flag there in a span of 10 years. . Both Hindustan Times and Times of India

stake their own claims, and the battle has often led to the corridors of courts. The

Times of India has traditionally pierced other newspapers' turfs in unchartered

territories with aggressive pricing and marketing strategies.

Current Scenario

The Indian Newspaper industry is one of the largest in the world. It publishes the

largest number of paid-for titles in the world

Metrics

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

Circulation

Circulation is certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations which is an industry body.

It audits the paid-for circulation of the member newspaper companies.

CHAPTER 2

LIST OF TOP NEWSPAPERS IN THE

CIRCULATION

This is a list of the daily newspapers in the world by average circulation.[1]

These figures are compiled by the World Association of Newspapers, in 2008,

and represent each paper's average circulation of the year. Some newspapers in

some countries did not submit their figures to the independent International

Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulations. In those cases, figures were

provided by the publishers themselves, WAN partners Zenithmedia (who

compiles the report) or other sources.

Out of the 215 countries and regions, China, Japan and India are the countries

with the largest number of newspapers by average circulation in the top 100,

with 62 on the list

NEWSPAPER COUNTRY CIRCULATION LANGUAGE

1 Yomiuri Shimbun JAPAN 10,021 Japanese

2 Asahi Shimbun JAPAN 8,054 Japanese

3 Mainichi Shimbun JAPAN 3,912 Japanese

4 Bild GERMANY 3,548 German

5 CankaoXiaoxi CHINA 3,183 Chinese

6 The Times of India INDIA 3,146 English

35 Hindustan Times INDIA 1,143 English

According to WAN’s ‘World Press Trends,’ 70 of the world’s 100 best-selling dailies

are published in Asia; and 60 of them in China, Japan, and India. The world’s three

top countries in daily newspaper circulation are China (98.70 million), India (88.90

million), and Japan (69.10 million). They are followed by the United States (52.30

million) and Germany (21.10 million).

CHAPTER 3

IMPORTANCE OF NEWSPAPERS

The charm they still hold in today’s world and the popularity they still have in common people's lives.

Newspapers and newspaper advertising has been the most important tool in

shaping the growth and development of any society in the modern world. More

than anything, they have been very instrumental in bridging the communication

gap between people that contributes to the air of awareness in a society. Since

the very first day that the oldest newspaper in the world had made its

appearance, there have been seen progressive changes that have catapulted the

status of every society to new levels of evolution from time to time. The

newspaper industry in every country stands out as an influential body

contributing to the development of the modern society by acting as one of the

most potential platform for exchange of thoughts and opinions. Moreover, by

covering a wide arrange of topics that are relevant to the daily lives of the

people in a society, it promulgates the identity of the society, and acts as the

dispenser of public opinions. One of the most crucial tasks of the newspaper

industry is its contribution towards the economic and industrial development of

a country through its assimilation of the people’s voice.

The Indian newspaper industry has passed various stages of evolution to reach

the status that it enjoys today – that of a leading press arena in the world. There

are hundreds of newspapers that reach out to the people of this vast country in

enormous numbers every morning. A typical Indian daily newspaper is the

staple diet for a typical Indian, bringing him/her news from all over the globe.

Since daily newspapers succeed in attracting more readerships, an Indian daily

newspaper is the order of the morning for eager news hungry readers across the

country. By garnering an increasing number of subscribers in the form of

readers, newspapers clearly reflect the individuality of a reader and the country

as well. The growth in the circulation of newspapers in the country results in the

overall economic prosperity of the country, elevating it to higher levels. An

Indian daily newspaper strikingly plays a significant role in the structural

shaping of the country’s economical development. In fact, the newspaper

industry of any country for that matter spreads knowledge and awareness

amongst the people by propagating itself as a medium for a wide area of topics

such as politics, sports, social issues, medicine, entertainment, advertising and

marketing and so on. These factions gel betweeneach other on paper to rope in

prosperity for a country by cashing in economic prosperity.

CHAPTER 4.

NEWSPAPER MARKETING IN INDIA

Before Independence the Indian newspaper in general had a missionary role and

saw itself as a powerful instrument in social reformation and freedom struggle.

As of now, newspaper making in India is a multicrore business. The print

medium, in recent years, has been making news rather than just reporting news.

A newspaper business, after all, is to sell news to readers, then sell those readers

to advertisers. The media mix in India is changing rapidly to the point that many

newspapers are finding themselves an endangered species. The marketing

warfare in the segment of Indian language dailies is no less riveting, and in

some cases more mind-blowing. Inter- and intra-media competition is one

reason which is forcing newspapers to change and to react creatively. However,

most of the books available on Newspapers Marketing are from the West. In

this pioneering work, treatment of the subject is not too academic and is marked

by a logical flow of topics. Current and real-world examples help a logical flow

of topics. Current and real-world examples help the students and scholars of

journalism, mass communication, advertising and marketing, besides media

business practitioners.

CHAPTER 5

THE TIMES OF INDIA

HISTORY

The Times of India was founded on November 3, 1838 as The Bombay Times

and Journal of Commerce, during the British Raj of western India. It adopted its

present name in 1861. Published every Saturday and Wednesday, The Bombay

Times and Journal of Commercewere launched as a bi-weekly edition. It

contained news from Europe, the Americas, and the Subcontinent, and was

conveyed between India and Europe via regular steamships. The daily editions

of the paper were started from 1850 and by 1861, the Bombay Times was

renamed The Times of India.

The Times of India can be traced back to the British owners of the organization.

For a long time it served the British colonizers who resided in the western parts

of India. Initially it was launched as a bi-weekly edition and was published on

Wednesdays and Saturdays. By the year 1850 daily editions of the newspaper

began to be published. Then it used to cover news from America, Europe as

well as the Indian Subcontinent. Each edition of The Times of Indiawas

regularly transported to some of the European countries.

In the 19th century this newspaper company employed more than 800 people

and had a sizable circulation in India and Europe. Originally British-owned and

controlled, its last British editor was Ivor S. Jehu, who resigned the editorship in

1950. It was after India's Independence that the ownership of the paper passed

on to the then famous industrial family of Dalmiyas and later it was taken over

by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain group from Bijnore, UP. Their

headquarter is situated in New Delhi. Jaideep Bose is functioning as the

Executive Editor from the year 2005.

The Times of India is published by the media group Bennett, Coleman & Co.

Ltd. This company, along with its other group companies, known as The Times

Group, also publishes The Economic Times, Mumbai Mirror, the Navbharat

Times (a Hindi-language daily broadsheet), the Maharashtra Times (a Marathi-

language daily broadsheet).

MARKETING STRATEGY

According to Debashish Gosh, Vice President Corporate IT and Operations,

Times of India Group,”In India, and at the end in any country of the world, the

media industry, and more over the newspaper industry, is very dynamic in terms

of doing businesses. Therefore, we need to be very quick in taking decisions

and in realising what is being the impact of the marketing strategies we are

putting into practice. This is why it is nowadays very important to have a

business intelligence tool that can give you all the information that you want

very quickly, in a matter of minutes rather than having to wait during hours to

get a business report. So, given the fact that we are working and active in a very

volatile environment and that it is very important today to take business

decisions on a very fast pace, this tool has proofed to be very useful. Plus,

another thing is that the business warehouse we have is not only fed with our

own data but also is linked to a lot of third party sources that give us

information about the developments of the market, about how the newspaper

industry and the media industry in general are moving, about how other big

newspapers are doing all over the world and, of course, about how some of our

competitors are managing... We put all the data together and we can see all

these entire analysis and information in a collective manner. This is a

knowledge tool that helps us to define our strategy for the next month, the next

five months, and the next year and so on... And this referring to all the areas of

the business, such as marketing, pricing politics, production, launch of new

products, customer centric strategies...”

MARKET SHARE

Also notable was the breaking of the story of the leakage Common Admission

Test Exam paper for the IIM's. This shift in style of reporting, along with

massive revamping of the City offerings like the Delhi Times and Bombay

Times has helped the newspaper maintain its position as the largest selling

English daily in India, and in one year even usurp the largest English broadsheet

Daily in the world beating the USA Today.

The newspaper today sells 2.6 million copies daily and has an average issue

readership in excess of 7 million, which makes it by far the world's largest

English Broadsheet Newspaper.

PROMINENT SUPPLEMENTS

Editions

Delhi Edition

Bombay Edition

Bangalore Edition

Pune Edition

Calcutta Edition

Lucknow Edition

Ahmedabad Edition

Hyderabad Edition

City Centric Supplements

BombayTimes

Delhi Times

Bangalore Times

Pune Times

Hyderabad Times

Calcutta Times

Lucknow Times

Ahmedabad Times

Baroda Times

Chandigarh Times

Patna Times

TOPICAL SUPPLEMENTS

Education Times Weekly roundup of Education related news, articles et al,

goes every week with all editions on Monday

Times Ascent Appointments advertising section, goes with all editions of

The Times of India on Wednesday

Times Property Weekly Supplement on Property, goes with the Delhi,

Mumbai and Hyderabad editions every Saturday

Times Life / Men and Women / Sunday Review

Times Matrimonial

Times Classifieds

CHANGES IN A SNAPSHOT

3 new supplements: Brunch, PowerJobs and Premiere

Crisp & concise 2-minute HT

4 page Sports pullout

Redesigned HT City

Graphically depicted weather section

Easy to navigate Television schedules.

Reader friendly stock page

PRICING OF TOI

Analyst says that 3.5m people read English in Mumbai but only 2.1m buy

English newsprint of any kind. Two and a half years ago, Mumbai had only six

English dailies.With 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. With a turnover of Rs 20 crores and

yearly profit of Rs 8 crores TOI can afford to lose Rs 1.5 crores on Mumbai

Mirror.   Apart from this on sale of each copy of TOI the newsvendor makes a

profit of Rs 2.50 compared to the copy of HT.

TARGET AUDIENCE

The Times of India is nation's leading media conglomerate with 45 dailies and

periodicals in 3 languages and 108 editions from 9 centers and a combined

readership of over 40 million. In fact The Times of India Group accounts for

30% of the measured ad spend in the country. We include in our stable The

Times of India, among the top 2 English broadsheets worldwide; and The

Economic Times among the top 3 English business dailies worldwide. The

Times of India Group gives the highest reach among Indian decision makers,

intelligentsia and the elite. The Group also has a range of 9 Business2Business

publications from The Economic Times catering to industry segments as diverse

as machinery and polymers. In addition its 16 Special Interest offerings are

targeted at groups of consumers ranging from photography to education to

annuals on beauty, fashion etc.

Your career counselor, advisor, influencer and guide anytime anywhere, the

first Indian education portal for all education needs is here.  This portal will

cater to the ever-expanding student community and learning experience.

The philanthropic arm of the group, the Times Foundation, offers Non

Government Organisations, institutions & others all over India, a platform to

converge and address the country's developmental needs.

As a publishing house, it has not only sought to bring news but to portray the

country's changing social scene. Through its incisive editorials, The Times of

India Group has effectively molded public opinion and is indeed an accurate

barometer of the nation today.

ACHIEVEMENT

International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) World Congress

hosted the73rd Annual INMA competition in Beverly Hills, representing the

world's best newspaper marketing campaigns from the past year. JWT would

like to congratulate the Times of India on its award-winning "Lead India"

initiative, which has received four out of 10 INMA awards in the newspaper

marketing category, including the grand prize Newspaper Marketer of the Year

award – in recognition of a campaign that started with a front-page newspaper

ad and went on to inspire a nationwide movement and the emergence of a new

era of leadership in India.

"We are honored to have contributed to the Times of India's award-winning

effort to promote cultural progress in India, the world's largest democracy," said

Craig Davis, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, JWT. "This campaign is a

testament to the ongoing power of print media, as both a branding medium and

a catalyst for social change. 'Lead India' serves as a true inspiration for our

global agency, on both professional and personal levels."

The Times of India is the first Indian and Asian newspaper to ever win the

INMA Awards competition's "Best of Show" recognition. The win reinforces

the Grand Prix Award the Times of India received at Goa Fest 2008, a national

competition held in April.

"The ongoing success of this campaign comes at a critical time for the print

media category, as many are predicting the decline of traditional newspapers'

power and influence," said Davis. "This campaign is the perfect example of

how print media remains an influential tool for cultural engagement and

democracy."

JWT Mumbai partnered with the Times of India for the campaign, which serves

as a clarion call to be the change that we expect in Indian society. The "Lead

India" initiative included eight full front pages entirely dedicated to the cause.

Further support was provided by over 100 additional print ads and more than 18

hours of reality TV programming, as well as multiple Web sites. Ultimately,

the initiative attracted over 34,000 candidates and three million SMS votes, and

generated numerous rallies and street marches further demonstrating the

initiative's enormous impact.

The Times of India was selected from among 755 entries submitted from nearly

200 newspapers representing 34 different countries. For the first time, judging

was conducted via the Internet by 21 judges worldwide, including executives in

the media, advertising, marketing and research industries. Judging was based on

concept, creativity, copy/graphic design, production and overall effectiveness,

as well as results.

CHAPTER 6

HINDUSTAN TIMES

HISTORY

Hindustan Times (HT) is a leading newspaper in India, published since 1924

with roots in the independence movement.[2] Hindustan Times is the flagship

publication of HT Media Ltd. It has a nationwide reach in India (barring

Southern India), with simultaneous editions from New Delhi, Mumbai,

Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi and Kolkata. It is also printed from Bhopal and

Chandigarh. HT has also launched a youth daily HT Next in 2004. The Mumbai

edition was launched on 14 July 2005.

Hindustan Times is one of India's leading Media Houses with a strong presence

across the country, particularly in the northern region where it has been a

market leader. Hindustan Times ever since its launch more than 70 years ago

has maintained a lead position in all of its key markets.

Hindustan Times was founded by Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, founder-

father of the Akali Movement and the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab. S Mangal

Singh Gill (Tehsildar) and S. Chanchal Singh (Jandiala, Jullundur) were made

in charge of the newspaper. Pt Madan Mohan Malayia and Master Tara Singh

were among the members of the Managing Committee.

The Managing Chairman and Chief Patron was Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri

himselfK. M. Panikkar was its first Editor with Devdas Gandhi (son of

Mahatma Gandhi) also on the editor's panel. The opening ceremony was

performed by Mahatma Gandhi on September 15, 1924. The first issue was

published from Naya Bazar, Delhi (now Swami Sharda Nand Marg). It

contained writings and articles from C. F. Andrews, St. Nihal Singh, Maulana

Mohammad Ali, C. R. Reddy (Dr. Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy), T. L.

Vaswani, Ruchi Ram Sahni, Bernard Haton, Harinder Nath Chattopadhyaya, Dr

Saifuddin Kichlu and Rubi Waston etc.

It has its roots in the independence movement of the first half of the twentieth

century. It was edited at times by many important people in India, including

Devdas Gandhi (the son of Mahatma Gandhi) and Khushwant Singh. Sanjoy

Narayan, has been appointed the Editor in Chief of the Paper and is due to take

over in August 2008.

Recently the editorial page has seen a major make-over and has been named

"comment" to bring in more flexibility and some-what less seriousness to the

page.

LAUNCHING OF HT

HT is published by Hindustan Times ltd. The organization has been a major

force for over seven decades in the print media. Its New Delhi edition continues

to be the single largest English daily edition in the country with a circulation of

over a million. It is also the largest circulated and most widely read newspaper

in Delhi. The Times of India and Hindustan Times who were the bitter rivals in

the national capital, joined hands in Mumbai to take on DNA.  The

collaboration 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.  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. But this does not mean that the two would not

compete with each other for readership. This was the exact message conveyed

by Ht with their New Year ad campaign-“This year give up one old habiT –

Change to HT.”With capital ‘T’ indicating Times of India looks like HT now

ready to take over the Big daddy in the business.   

MARKETING STRATEGIES

HT-adopted a two-stage process

The first stage focused on building the brand in a new market by targeting

the discerning English reader.

In stage two, they focused on building the circulation. Unlike DNA it

concentrated specifically on households that subscribe to English

newspapers. It built quality circulation instead of just increasing sales

numbers.   

All this became possible because the strength of HT as a company is its

marketing. Our marketing team is very well equipped to articulate the

needs of the customers and what should be the defined criteria. Of course,

it was solidly backed up by an excellent product, because that is the

strength of our company, that we have an outstanding editorial

department. The two departments were able to come out with a great

offering and that’s what made it possible.

MARKET SHARE

The Hindustan Times Ltd. plans to consolidate itself as a vibrant and modern

media powerhouse through strategic partnerships, ever-increasing scope of

operations and a consumer focused approach.

The flagship publication of the Group has editions from Delhi, Lucknow, Patna

and Kolkata, thus, dominating the Northern, Eastern and Central regions of the

country. It is printed out of eleven centre including Bhopal, Chandigarh, Delhi,

Jaipur, Nagpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Bhagalpur, Patna, Ranchi and Raipur,

reaching closer to the consumers.

Its New Delhi edition continues to be the single largest English daily edition in

the country with a circulation of over 9.2 lakhs, while maintaining its leadership

status in Delhi as the largest circulated English daily at 5.5 lakhs.

HINDUSTAN TIMES .COM

India's foremost media conglomerate is home to the leading newspapers in the

country - Hindustan Times (the flagship English daily) and Hindustan (Hindi

newspaper). And it has a significant online presence with HindustanTimes.com.

HindustanTimes.com, a news led media portal is today one of the most popular

port of call for news and infotainment content seekers on the Web. Besides

carrying stories from the newspaper, the site has exclusive and in-depth

coverage by its independent editorial staff. Its exclusive properties include HT

Tabloid.com, which is Asia's first tabloid on the Web; and HTCricket.com, a

popular destination for cricketing bytes. The site also provides sections written

by popular columnists, along with in-depth web exclusives on politics, business,

new economy, entertainment, fashion and lifestyle.

In another major achievement, HindustanTimes.com is the only Indian media

site featured amongst the top 10 international newspaper sites by Forbes for the

third time running, ranking above the likes of International Herald Tribune.

HINDUSTAN

The group's Hindi newspaper, Hindustan is the 9th largest read newspaper in the

country. (Source: National Readership Survey 2002). The publication's

readership has grown by an impressive 11% to 63.85 lakhs (NRS).

Hindustan has grown considerably from strength to strength and has gained

significantly across markets. It remains the Number 1 daily in Bihar with a

market share of more than 75% of the Hindi daily market. In Uttar Pradesh and

Delhi, Hindustan has grown by 34%. Lucknow has been a trailblazer, recording

an unprecedented growth of 169%.

The popular Hindi daily has also featured innovative advertising campaigns

tailored to meet the specific needs of advertisers.

PROMINENT SUPPLEMENTS

The No.1 daily leads the way in style and substance

The new Hindustan Times comes with more news, more supplements, more

sports, more colour .

Looking good has never been as easy as this...just grab the new Hindustan

Times and you will always be in vogue! Beginning February 1, the leading

publication will don a new look that reflects the newspaper's commitment to

providing news with substance in a modern, contemporary style. Says Mr.

Anand Bhardwaj, Vice President-Marketing, The Hindustan Times Ltd.

"Today's readers seek a product that offers superior content in a trendy, reader

friendly format. Keeping this in mind, we have introduced a number of

innovations in the new HT which, I am sure, will delight our loyal readers. The

changes in the paper will meet a number of emerging needs of the readers and

will enable us to strengthen our leadership position."

From the spirited youth to the business minded executive; from the gossip-

friendly nannies to the fashion conscious teens, there is enough for everyone to

enjoy in the new Hindustan Times. A significant change in the new Hindustan

Times is the introduction of three new supplements:

HT brunch

HT power jobs Premiums

2 minutes HT

HT Sport

HT City

HT BRUNCH

HT is bringing Sunday reading back in fashion with a 28-page magazine

packed with stories and snippets from lifestyle to travel.

HT POWERJOB

A comprehensive supplement dedicated to careers with information on

everything from job listings to career counseling, PowerJobs will be offered

to readers every Tuesday.

HT Premiere

HT is introducing a weekly entertainment supplement every Thursday which

will cover Hollywood and Bollywood like never before.

New HT will maintain its high standards of excellence, its passion for news and

an unbiased and fair reporting and editorial style. All these will come in a

newspaper with more colour and a sleeker, contemporary design.

New HT also comes with the following additional features:

2-minute Hindustan Times

A special offering for those on the move, the 2-minute HT will give a gist of

the entire days news in half a page during weekdays. Laid out in an easy-to-

read and visually appealing format, the capsule on the second page of the

paper will be the first of its kind in India.

HT Sport

Sports fans can look forward to even more sports news as the new Hindustan

Times will devote four pages to a wider spectrum of sporting events - both

national and international - to cater to the sporting choices of a wider and

increasingly cosmopolitan audience.

HT Sport will come as a center pullout! For convenience, the sports enthusiasts

of the family can enjoy their favorite sports news exclusively, while the rest of

the family decides who goes through the main paper.

HT City

HT City buffs have something to look forward to as well. The new

redesigned HT City has a trendier layout, with a brand new masthead.

Bringing even more news-making events from across the city, this chic

supplement will now have more celebrity news and views.

The television schedule in HT City will be in a new reader friendly, time band

format instead of the channel band format that would ease out the 'which

programme at what time?' hassle. For, at one glance at a particular time, readers

can now know all the programmes being aired across all channels.

Among the other changes incorporated are a clearer front page adding on to the

visual appeal of the paper for reading pleasure and a bigger and information-

packed weather section with attractive, easy to grasp graphics.

Also changing is the Stock page, now in an easy-to-navigate format and

informative graphics that will remove the monotony out of stock pages and keep

you abreast on the bulls and the bears.

The launch of new Hindustan Times will be supported by a multimedia

promotional campaign which will include TV, cinema, radio and outdoor apart

from other below-the-line activities.

PRICING OF HT

The earnings growth over the next two-three years may not justify the pricing

on offer, unless the Mumbai edition of Hindustan Times rakes in profits, or, at

least breaks even within a couple of years. That seems a daunting prospect as of

now.

But we believe the key drivers of the stock price would be the growth in

earnings of the non-Mumbai operation, which is an emerging story, and the

circulation numbers that Hindustan Times notches in Mumbai. The price-

earnings multiple will acquire a critical role only over the longer term.

We would be more comfortable had the final pricing been closer to the lower

end of the band, as it would provide investors some cushion. It could also lead

to a higher degree of interest in the post-listing period which would augur well

for investors in the

HT costs Rs. 2.50 price which is much lower than Times of India but higher

than DNA. DNA costs Rs. 2. The only aim of HT was to provide Mumbai a

replica of TOI at cheaper rate.

However, when it comes to content, HT has an edge over DNA .HT has a

balance in content. It has edit page where in the newspaper takes a stand and

gives a well-researched analysis on topical issues.    

Compare this to DNA, which does not have a traditional edit page. It has given

prime importance to op-ed page. And in the run to analyse daily news, the paper

fails to do any sort of in-depth story or take a stand incase of national issues.   

TARGET AUDIENCE

HT targets predominantly top end English readers, in other words TOI

dissatisfied consumers.  HT on the other played safe. It did not feel the need to

understand the mindset and requirements of Mumbai readers. They wanted to

provide everything just like TOI . Therefore the target consumers were that of

TOI.

GROWTH OF HINDUSTAN TIMES

The Average Issue Readership (AIR or daily reach) for the Hindustan Times,

showed a growth of 2.5 lakh, which is more than double any other English

Daily in the latest IRS round.

Significantly this growth has been achieved on the more stringent AIR (or Daily

Reach) measure, that is most relevant to advertisers and media planners, as it

defines the eyeballs or readership that advertisers get, when they place an ad

with the daily.

Hindustan Times saw a simultaneous strengthening of its brand across the two

biggest markets –Delhi & NCR and Mumbai.

DELHI-NCR

AIR for HT went up by a robust 1.7 lakh, over the previous IRS round (2008

R1),confirming its status as the No. 1 English newspaper of Delhi-NCR. Even

in Total Readership(TR), HT grew by 3% while its nearest competitor declined

by 8%. Also, demographically, HT t +13% is the only English daily to have

shown growth amongst the elusive 20-29 years age group

MUMBAI

HT reached a 5.26 laky AIR (daily reach) by recording a growth of 1.5 laky, the

highest growth by any daily in Mumbai. In TR terms, Hindustan Times grew by

1.58 lakh readers, about three times the total readership increase by the nearest

competitor.

AIR for HT went up by a robust 1.7 lakh, over the previous IRS round ( 2008

R1), confirming its status as the No. 1 English newspaper of Delhi-NCR. Even

in Total Readership (TR), HT grew by 3% while its nearest competitor declined

by 8%. Also, demographically, HT at +13% is the only English daily to have

shown growth amongst the elusive 20-29 years age group.

HT reached a 5.26 lakh AIR (daily reach) by recording a growth of 1.5 lakh, the

highest growth by any daily in Mumbai. In TR terms, Hindustan Times grew by

1.58 lakh readers, about three times the total readership increase by the nearest

competitor. This success story has been driven by a mix of aggressive product

differentiation, an editorial focus to include younger readers, and, especially in

the case of Mumbai, a fine-tuning and enhancement of circulation to reach

larger numbers and the right reader-groups. In terms of product differentiation,

launch of HT Business and the re-launch of HT City and Café (the

entertainment and lifestyle offering in Delhi and Mumbai respectively) have

been the most visible structural changes. Equally relevant has been the

consistent focus on large editorial campaigns that have had a high impact on

significant blocks of readers. This phenomenal success and significant growth

in numbers, is just the start for this iconic brand that turns 85 next year. It

reflects a brand that continues to resonate and delight its readers in a truly

relevant way – and delivery consistently for its advertisers, who value its high

quality readership and ambience.

BRAND HT TODAY……

According o HT manager, “HT has worked in various functions, and not just

marketing. It has worked in both front end and back end of businesses, both in

India and abroad. So I have a fairly good 360-degree experience of how a

business works. But I am gifted with an outstanding marketing team in HT,

some of which I have built after coming here. We are very fortunate to have

some of the best marketing talents with us which is a strong differentiator for

the company vis-à-vis other companies.”

One of the first things that HT tried to do is to make sure that its brand is more

sharply defined in the minds of its readers. He adds “For this, in Delhi we did a

campaign to communicate the positioning of HT as a brand. One of the

strengths of HT is that over several decades, it has been seen as a dominant

brand influencing the thoughts and behavior of people it reaches out to. In

certain ways, HT was playing the role of a thought leader, a brand which

stimulated thought, thus empowering the reader. So we communicated that

using various means of communication”.

The creative that were made with the help of O&M were absolutely

outstanding. It took us almost four to five months of work to very clearly

articulate the positioning of the brand. Besides O&M, we got help from Deepak

Jain of North Western University, and much of the work was done by our

marketing team alongwith the editorial team. Let me tell you, research has

shown that the entire effort was highly successful in communicating the

message to readers.

CHAPTER 7

COMPETITION FOR TIMES OF INDIA AND

HINDUSTAN TIMES

Why has Mumbai's lethargic newspaper industry suddenly become a `hot

market' for new competitors? First, because it has the country's largest

advertisement revenue of Rs.1,000 crores, of which only one player - The

Times of India - has the lion's share. The new entrants are vying for a piece of

the pie. The Times of India's advertising rates are the highest in the country. For

long, advertisers have felt that they have been held to ransom as they have no

choice but to pay exorbitant rates to The Times of India in order to reach

Mumbai's up market consumers. Now, there are other platforms, but they will

have to prove themselves before advertisers start considering them an option.

"Advertisers are happy that there will be competitors. But, there won't be a

dramatic shift in ad spends in the short term. Only when any of these

newspapers cross 50 per cent of The Times of India readership, will they claim

a place in any advertiser's media plan," says Himanshu Shekhar, Investment

Director of Mindshare Fulcrum, a leading media planning agency. At present,

DNA and Hindustan Times' advertisement rates are around one-fourth that of

The Times of India.

Both DNA and Hindustan Times are essentially competing for the No. 2 slot in

the market. The Times of India is too old and established to be overthrown in

the short term. With a six lakh circulation, it was far ahead of earlier

competitors like Indian Express (58,000). In fact, it was The Economic Times

(1.47 lakhs) and Mid-Day (1.40 lakhs) that trailed in second place after The

Times of India in Mumbai. While there are varying estimates on how the new

newspapers are doing, market sources estimate that DNA sells around two lakhs

and Hindustan Times 1.40 lakhs. However, DNA claims that it is printing 2.90

lakh copies and Hindustan Times says it sells 2 lakh copies.

Though The Times of India claims that its circulation remains the same, a

newspaper agent says that its counter sales have reduced by 40,000 to 50,000

copies. "It's probably because other newspapers are half the price, while the

content is not very different. Moreover, people are curious about the new

newspapers," he says.

Months before DNA and Hindustan Times launched in Mumbai, The Times of

India went on the defensive and started a new `compact' newspaper, somewhat

like a tabloid, called Mumbai Mirror. 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. "We always knew that there

was space for a second newspaper in Mumbai, and so we started an alternative

to broadsheets - a compact. By including Mumbai Mirror with The Times of

India, we are improving the price performance ratio of our brand," says Bhaskar

Das, executive president of The Times of India group. "The Mirror is a

newspaper for the new generation who want news-on-the-go like McDonalds.

It's for the supersonic age where people want to scan news without going into

too much depth."

It is essentially a `blockading' strategy - you flood the reader with so much that

he/she does not feel the need for another newspaper. "A normal reader spends

20-25 minutes on newspapers. Do you think he/she will spend more time

reading just because there are new newspapers?" asks Das.

The Times of India readers are suddenly seeing a lot more news in a paper that

once gave news a back seat to fluff. "The TOI has also taken a lot of rear guard

action by beefing up its coverage. New competitors have raised the bar," says

Das. Moreover, both The Times of India and Mirror 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.

What seems inevitable, however, is that circulation will expand. "Around 40 per

cent of Mumbai's population speak, read and write English, of which only 20

per cent are buying English newspapers," says Shekhar. As Girish Agarwal,

Director of the Bhaskar group that owns DNA, points out, "We believe in

widening the market, like we have in all the cities that we have launched

newspapers and become the leader. Since the time we started Divya Bhaskar in

Gujarat, readership there has increased by 49 per cent in two years and ad

revenue also increased by 40 per cent."

"In the next few years, Mumbai's market will expand by up to 75 per cent, with

even The Times of India growing," says Meenakshi Madhvani, Managing

Partner of Spatial Access media solutions. "Delhi has a slightly lower

population than Mumbai, but there are 12 lakh [copies of] English newspapers

sold there as compared to only 7.5 lakhs [copies] in Mumbai. There will be

dramatic market expansion in Mumbai. But ad spend won't keep up, since it is

already oversaturated. Mumbai has the highest ad rates in the country."

Why has Mumbai's newspaper industry been stunted for so long?

"The demand for newspapers is extremely price sensitive. Until now, The Times

of India was way ahead of the competition. So, it had a high cover price and

didn't push for greater sales, because that would increase their costs (since the

cost of producing a newspaper is much greater than its market price). They

didn't need to increase circulation, since they anyway milked all the ad

revenue," says Madhvani.

THE new newspapers are priced much lower - Hindustan Times at Rs.2.50 and

DNA at Rs.2 - which have boosted initial sales. "Generally, the price of an

English newspaper in every city is around Rs.2, only Mumbai was an aberration

where The Times of India was priced at Rs.4. However, now they have tried to

increase their value proposition by adding a second free newspaper to The

Times of India," says Sandip Ghose, Vice-President, Marketing, Hindustan

Times. DNA's vice president, Sales, N.B. Verma, says: "We want as many

people as possible to sample our product, so we have kept the price low."

The Bhaskar group, which has established several successful Hindi editions and

the Gujarati Divya Bhaskar, has always followed the strategy of reaching out to

readers through surveys, flooding the market, distributing freebies. Surprisingly,

DNA's counter sales are giving the afternoon tabloid Mid-Day a run for its

money. But, as a newspaper agent points out, a vendor stands to earn 45 paise

more per copy if he sells DNA in the raddi (recycled paper) market, rather than

selling it at the counter at Rs. 2.

So, are the new newspapers really offering the reader anything different?

Hindustan Times says it is targeting the `discerning' reader who wants more

than `regurgitated headlines' and page 3. "We are trying to engage people in a

dialogue, and create a product that is uniquely Mumbai. Hindustan Times takes

up Mumbai's issues without dumbing down the content or making it tabloidish,"

says Ghose. With fewer pages than its competitors, Hindustan Times' layout,

more classical and less cluttered, does look different.

DNA, with different business, sports and lifestyle sections, says it is trying to

make newspapers more accessible to readers. "Ours is a family newspaper that

offers value for money. In our paper, we clearly differentiate fact from fluff.

Readers want both, but they are not mixed together. We have recruited the best

journalists for our team," says Agarwal. "We have a lot of city news which

reach out to the younger but informed audience. In fact, we even have a page

called `Speak Out' where readers can write in," says Gautam Adhikari, editor of

DNA.

The Indian Express is emphasising its USP - `Journalism of Courage'. As part of

a campaign called "India Explained, India Empowered", it has got several

prominent leaders including the President, Prime Minister, former Prime

Ministers and film actor Shah Rukh Khan to write columns on the front page

describing their idea of an `empowered' India.

The Times of India, while maintaining some of its fluff, has become far more

news-oriented and also more colourful. "Our newspaper is aimed at

empowering the reader. We are not into crusading or agenda journalism, but are

still doing investigative stories on issues that matter in our reader's life," says

Das. "With all the new newspapers coming in, the reader is the ultimate winner

because everyone is splurging to gain his/her attention."

But is it merely a Hobson's choice? As Charudatt Dangat, Mumbai's largest

newspaper agent, put it, "What choice does the reader really have? It's more in

terms of price. Most of the stories in all of the newspapers are the same. The

journalists keep shifting, from The Times of India to DNA and back again."

Another industry insider added, "Even though the readers want better content,

unfortunately, the competition is taking place on the marketing and sales front,

rather than the editorial."

ACHIEVEMENTS

HT has a good track record at the IFRA and has won several awards this year

HINDUSTAN TIMES LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

What Hindustan Times began in November 2003 as an annual Leadership

Summit has grown in representation and credibility into a powerful forum

seeking to bring together leaders from different walks of life, encouraging

interactions and debates, and raising the bar of discussion on critical world

issues.

Hindustan Times launched the Leadership Summit - an annual conference that

seeks to enhance the level of discussion on pressing issues, encourage

interaction among leaders in various areas and present international quality

thought platforms, as part of its mission to contribute to thought leadership and

evolve action plans for a secure and better future.

This year we bring to you the third such meeting of minds, at a summit titled

“Building a Better Future “on 15th –16th November 2005.

The Hindustan Times Leadership Summit will deliberate on “Building aBetter

Future“ and will aim to evolve a roadmap for economic and social

transformation in the developing world, building trust and mutual confidence

amongst various groups and ensuring environmental conservation and

sustainable development. Key political and business leaders, strategists and

leading minds from India and overseas will attend this select, by-invitation

gathering. The Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, 2005, is a platform for

eminent leaders to interact, share their opinions and views on important issues

of concern and arrive at solutions.

The conference aims to understand the world's views on social, economic and

political issues. It tries to gain insights on India's role in the world and its

importance in the global growth scenario.The Hindustan Leadership Summit

invites international business leaders, strategists along with renowned

personalities from India and abroad. All speakers, delegates, major

corporations, policy-making institutions and thinktanks around the world are

also given a documented copy of the conference proceedings at the end of the

summit. Strengthening its mission to contribute to thought leadership,

Hindustan Times, India's leading national newspaper, brings to you the fourth

annual Leadership Summit: ‘India: The Next Global Superpower?' on 17 th -18

th November 2006, New Delhi.

CHAPTER 8

HINDUSTAN TIMES TAKING OVER TIMES OF

INDIA

The Hindustan Times is encroaching on its rival's turf about a decade after The

Times of India cut the price of its New Delhi edition by half, a move that

ultimately helped expand the English-language newspaper market in the Indian

capital. The Hindustan Times is being sold at an inaugural price of 2.50 rupees

in Mumbai; The Times of India has a cover price of 4 rupees.

At month's end, The Hindustan Times and The Times of India will be joined on

Mumbai newsstands by Daily News & Analysis, or DNA, which kicked off a

billboard campaign across Mumbai in March with a series of images depicting

people with their mouths taped shut and tag lines such as "Speak up. It's in your

DNA."

DNA is owned by Diligent Media, a joint venture of Zee Telefilms, the largest

listed broadcaster in India, and Dainik Bhaskar, publisher of the second-biggest

Hindi-language daily newspaper in India. Diligent has booked orders for

300,000 copies of DNA, said Girish Agarwal, a director of the company.

Still, the market may not be big enough to sustain the ambitions of the new

entrants, said Vinod Mehta, editor of Outlook, the second-biggest weekly news

magazine in India.

The Times of India, which began as The Bombay Times and Journal of

Commerce in 1838, has been able to retain its hold over Mumbai against rivals

such as The Indian Express, The Free Press Journal, The Daily and The Indian

Post. Only The Indian Express and The Free Press Journal are still publishing.

"It's very difficult to get people to change their reading habits," said Mehta, who

has written a book about the city. "People are generally conservative about

changing a newspaper. It's like changing your wife."

The Times of India is not threatened by the arrival of fresh competition, said

Arun Arora, president of Bennett, Coleman, which owns the paper.

We believe there is space for a second or even a third general newspaper in the

city," Arora said. "We welcome competition."

The publisher has sought to broaden its appeal by starting a new tabloid-sized

daily, The Mumbai Mirror, which began publishing on May 30 and is being

delivered free with its flagship newspaper.

"The current run-up of launches in the English space is largely to gain control of

the single largest market" for print advertising in the country, said Atul Phadnis,

vice president of TAM India. "The race for the two prominent newspapers being

launched will be to fill the void in Mumbai for a strong No.2 English

newspaper."

The convergence of the biggest names in the Indian newspaper industry on

Mumbai has come as a windfall for media professionals, said Anurag Batra,

chief executive of Exchange4Media, a New Delhi-based company that owns

advertising and media publications.

"I know of journalists and newspaper executives tripling their salaries," Batra

said. "Given the paucity of talent and the growth in the media industry, it's quite

natural that they are spoilt for choice."

CHAPTER 9

CASE STUDY

Competition between Hindustan Times and Times of India, pricing strategies of

the two companies Restructuring plan of Shobhana Bhartia for Hindustan Times

A BRIEF ON THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY

Newspaper companies in India came to be projected as public service

institutions after independence.

However, in the late 1980s, they became just another fast moving consumer

commodity. The companies started aggressive marketing and promotional

strategies to increase circulation and readership. The industry witnessed tough

competition both regionally and nationally. In 1999, the top 10 newspapers

accounted for about 90% of the readership and the top two made 90% of the

profits. There was fierce competition for the advertising rupee By late 1990s,

electronic media like television had made a dent into the print media revenues.

Print media was facing a squeeze due to the increasing popularity of television-

initially color television and then satellite television. The ad market worth about

Rs.90 billion slowed down and newspapers saw a steady decline in advertising

share - from about 75% in 1995 to almost 50% in 2000.

Newsprint costs too spiralled. The companies survived by increasing the ad

rates every year. However, analysts felt that newspapers could not survive for

long by increasing advertising rates. In 2001, the print industry was expected to

see a negative growth in revenues for the first time.

The case discusses the fierce competition in India between two major

publishing houses - Hindustan Times and Times of India. The case focuses on

the aggressive pricing strategies adopted by the companies to counter each

other. However, to gain a bigger share, Hindustan Times' vice chairperson

Shobhana Bhartia chalked out a restructuring plan with an investment of Rs.4

billion. The case discusses in detail, the restructuring plan. The case is intended

for MBA/PGDBM level students as a part of the Business Strategy curriculum.

From the case, it is necessary to understand and analyze the strategies of the two

newspaper companies. And also ought to analyze whether Hindustan Times

should counter Times of India in Mumbai, Chennai and other cities or stick to

northern India.

In the late 1990s, Hindustan Times (HT) was facing tough competition in Delhi

from The Times of India (TOI) so far as circulation, readership and revenues

were concerned.

HT earned more than half of Delhi's ad revenue, but TOI too, was getting close

to 40% by 1999-2000.

This was a major cause of worry for HT, as three-fourths of its ad revenues

came from Delhi. Also, except for the Hindi daily Hindustan, HT had no other

strong brand whereas TOI had The Economic Times, Filmfare and Femina.

For the first time in its 76-year history, HT made an operating loss in the first

quarter of fiscal 2000-01. Though the gross profit stood at 6% in 2000-01, it

was far below the average of 30% earned during 1990s. In 2001, Shobhana

Bhartia, Vice Chairperson of the HT Group, decided to fight back and

announced an investment of Rs.4 billion to counter TOI. It seemed to be the

beginning of a spectacular battle in the domestic publishing industry.

PRICE WARS

The early 1990s saw HT and TOI engaged in a bitter battle for supremacy in

Delhi, which is perceived to be the most important market in India. In 1991,

TOI had a circulation of around 70,000 in Delhi as against 0.35 million for HT.

In 1994, TOI slashed its price from Rs.2.30 to Rs.1.50. By 1998, the difference

in circulation figures narrowed down to a few thousand copies. (Refer Table

III). Since 1991, TOI's circulation has increased in percentage terms more than

HT. Analysts felt that TOI increased its share largely by breaking into HT's

readership. A fresh round of price-cuts began in 1999. On March 19, 1999, HT

cut its price from Rs.1.50 to an all-time low of Re. 1 on all days except

Sundays.

CHALLENGING THE MARKET LEADER

From a strong one-city brand in the early 1990s, TOI emerged as the only

national newspaper with a circulation of 1.7 million all over the country by

2000. HT with a circulation of about 0.9 million in Delhi was still restricted to

Northern India.

With revenues of Rs.4.05 billion during 2000-01, HT's share was roughly a

third of TOI in revenue. (Refer Exhibit I) To strengthen its presence in Delhi as

well as to expand nationally, Shobhana Bhartia initiated a major restructuring

plan in 2000-01. (Refer Exhibit II) As a first step towards realization of the

plan, in September 2000, Vir Sanghvi was appointed editor of HT.

Rajan Kohli, of Fujitsu-ICIM was brought in as the executive president to head

a new team of 20, which redesigned the paper and made it moreyouthful. Five

new supplements were introduced, and new editions were launched in nine

cities in India. HT followed the TOI style of marketing blitzkrieg: events,

promotions and ad campaigns

VIEWS

"We are totally baffled by this price war and don't have funds to compete.

Pricing a paper at Re.1 is ridiculous, even by its own admission. We can only

hope this irrational pricing does not last."

- A Senior Manager at The Indian Express.

"For many years, no one (at HT) considered TOI competition. We thought the

advertiser can't do without us. Now, we are on our toes, always looking at what

the competition is doing."

- Shobhana Bhartia, Vice Chairperson, Hindustan Times.

CHAPTER 10

PEOPLE’S VIEW ON TOI AND HT

Target audience: 14 – 60 yrs.

Navi Mumbai.

Audience/ Respondent profile: Business and service class, students,

housewives.

Total number of respondents: 100

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

Brand’s personality in terms of how the brand would look like,

Broke up in:

Physical attributes:

What people, places and colors associate with the brand.

Symbols:

What does the brand symbolize?

Related Brands :

What sort of brands does it relate to, how much efficacy does the

communicationhas in brand building?

ASSOCIATIONS HT TOI

PEOPLE

Most people associated with HT

are Vir Sanghvi, Manmohan

singh, Karan Thapar.

.Somepeople associated HT

with the irrepressible

Khushwant Singh.

Cartoonist RK Laxman

Page3 models, film stars

like SRK, Katrina Kaif,

Politicians & Sports icons.

PLACES

Associate with Delhi. Delhi is a

dog-eat-dog print market .DU

festival carnival, College

canteens, Delhi Metro, Markets

(Khan, Basant lok & Siri fort)

Separate editions for

Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai

,Hyderabad, Chennai

Lounges Fashion Shows

like ( Wills, Pantaloons,

Lakme ) Café Coffee Day

COLOURS Red & Blue Stripes

Respondents also citied the

colors of HT’s new avatar i.e.

green, pink and purple.

Red and Black

followed by white and

other vibrant colors. Some

respondents also

mentioned blue.

VISUALS AND

PICTURES

Politicians, The Hindustan

Times web site is good, that too

with Archives. ‘.

Some respondents also

mentioned columns including

Life& Universe, The Sunday

Magazine Section and the HT

Job. Seema Goswami column

which is usually featured under

Photos of the beautiful

semi clad women, one of

the USPs of TOI Others

including cartoon strips

(specially Dubyaman), the

Speaking tree. ‘GOD & I’

article by celebrity.

Astrology (Daily

Prediction), then comes

the column of Live the most favorite -

SUDOKU

SIGNS AND

SYMBOLS

Straight lines,

Most respondents could not

draw an association with any

particular symbol, however they

only had known their sun sign

and symbol.

Bennett and Coleman logo

(some referred to it as the

two elephants) and the

mast head

WITH OTHER

BRANDS

Fever 104FM,Vodafone

Philips Electronic goods,

Domino pizza ,Other news

papers like Asian

AgeNavbharat Times etc

Many respondents

mentioned Nike, Reebok,

Koutons ,TNG,Others

mentioned brands like HT,

ford, Samsung ,India

times poll ,ICICI bank

WLC college, Pantaloon,

IPL (Cheerleaders!!)

ADVERTISING

RECALL

Its only fewer among business

executives and 2 students had

recalled theLeadership Summit.

A daily column on Hot new

careers hasthe max recall.

Lead India campaign had

a very highrecall. ’INDIA

POISED’. India today”

Conclave “has no recall,

despite of max

coverage in papers

&magazine

OBSERVATION

HT’ under Vir Sanghvi has overtaken them in almost all the issues of

importance. The only area where ’TOI’’ competes favorable is the

’’Delhi Times’’ supplement.

The language is simple and yet expressive.

TOI associates itself with people who are the heroes of modern society

like SRK, Business Tycoons, and Designer Clothes.

The Edit Page layout of HT is of high quality with lots of good articles

and editorials to look forward to.

The problem with this was that TOI was more concerned with image,

style, gossipy Language

BRAND PERSONALITY

So, if the brand had a mood, what would it be? What exactly is the brand to a user?

HT TOI

WOULD

SUM UP THE

BRAND AS

DOMINANT THOUGHT:

HT is a paper that

combines the

sophistication of a design

with topicality of content

OTHER THOUGHT:

Balanced, properly

structured.

DOMINANT THOUGHT:

TOI has enjoyed a wide appeal,

more so among younger

generation for its uninhibited and

bold approach towards news

OTHER THOUGHT:

Where the other news is where

who noted whom, who wore the

skimpiest clothing, where is the

hottest party

MOOD OF

THE BRAND

DOMINANT THOUGHT:

Serious, not happening,

lacks the in-depth coverage

OTHER THOUGHT:

sober

DOMINANT THOUGHT:

Spicy, infotainment, young,

entertaining, dynamic.

OTHER THOUGHT:

For more matured audience,

sobriety, mindfulness.

OBSERVATION

The HT has an impressive editorial board and good articles of national

interest, but it loses out on national level news.

Since many respondents read both papers noticing the inherently

better coverage on local City issues in the HT as compared to TOI.

TOI is heading all attempts at internationalization.

EMOTIONAL ASSOCIATION

What feeling does the brand evoke and how much has it been able to move beyondthe functional benefitsinto the consumer’s life?

HT TOI

FEELINGS

AND

EMOTIONS

ASOCIATED

‘Feeling of restlessness

and an incompleteday if I

missed reading it.’

‘Empowered in sync with

one likingsKudos to HT

city for offering gamut of

offerings on

career,fashion, My

city,games, bollywood ’

‘I will say that the paper is

worth readingfor a person who

wants to be updatedabout the

current happenings.

‘Lots Of Masala for Breakfast’

TOI viz. Education Times

Times Ascentetc. are icing on

the cake. It helps us to

getupdate with relevant

HOW DOES IT

MAKE ME

FEEL ABOUT

MYSELF?/

OTHER

PEOPLE USING

HT

The respondents reading

HT or TOI doesn’t really

make a difference in any

ones’ image.

The respondents reading HT

or TOI doesn’t really make a

difference in any ones’ image.

But reading economic times or

any other business paper does

make a difference in the way a

person is perceived by others.

FEELINGS ABOUT THE BRAND

HT TOI

HT READERS

Balanced

Matured

Catchy phrases

Easy language

Boring, Less

gossips, Politics

oriented

Spicy, entertaining infotainment

but no news

TOI is just not meant for the

masses.

Uses slang even to report critical

news

TOI is often confusing. It uses

cheap gimmicks

TOI READERS

lifeless, boring

Page 3 missing

Sports pages are better

than the rest of the news

paper covers.

The front page newsare

sometimes bizarre.

Times: Pride of India

Useful with some top news

and company specific news.

Brilliant presentation,

Resourceful

Good times of page 3

celebrities

The Life of Indians.

Soft News, Infotainment.

OBSERVATION

No newspapers, be it HT or TOI have really been able to make a space in

consumers life.

However TOI - education times gives info about the career opportunities to

students. The economic times is the best economy newspaper in India. The

accent provides info on the various job opportunities. With such

supplements TOI is ahead of HT.

Many readers believe that the general outlook of the Times of India is so

better than that of Hindustan Times. Not only the main newspaper but also

the supplements are of interest.

The brevity of description is compensated by good design and excellent

edit pieces & HT is the testimony to the fact. Here HT outplayed TOI.

Respondents believed that New HT City REALLY LOOKS GOOD. The

headlines are very catchy ones.Also the use of these pink, red, Green and

black color on top looksattractive. Having separate sections is suited to

those looking for tailored made new

LEARNING

Respondents didn’t find the idea great to leave their existing paper for the

other, unless one is price conscious. Not all changes are welcome.

Habit & loyalty are the only things which are responsible for keeping the

Readers base of both HT and TOI.

Newspaper should bring out the headlines from the T.V. news, in a more

elaborate manner and be truthful to the news as well as to its readers,

letting them decide which side of story they are, not by commenting on

the news, giving the notion that the Reporter/Editor have instead of the

reader forming a opinion on his own

CHAPTER 11

SURVEY ANALYSIS

RESULT

1) Which newspaper do you read?

a) TOI

b) HT

c) DNA

d) Mid day

e) Any other_________________

TOI

HT

DNA

MID DAY

OTHERS

TOI

HT

DNA

MDOTH

OI

As per the survey around 39% people prefer reading Times of India and the next

most read newspaper is Hindustan Times with around. % of people read DNA,

Mid-Day is read by % of people while % read other newspaper.

2) Are you satisfied with its overall content?

a) a) Yes

b) b) No

yes

no

yes

no

Around 78 % of the people surveyed said they were satisfied with the overall

content of the newspaper they read while the rest 22% said they were not

satisfied.

3)In which section of the news do you need improvement?

a) Overall news

b) International

c) Sports

d) Business

e) Crosswords, comic strips

f) Horoscope

overall news

international

business

crosswords

horoscope

overall news

INT

business

CW HS

48% of people said that the overall news needs to be improved a bit, 9% said

international news,31 % for business,7% crosswords and 5% horoscope.

4) For how long have you been reading this newspaper?

a) Less than a year.

b) 1-2 yrs. 2-5 yrs.

c) More than 5 yrs.

LESS THAN 1YR

1-2YRS

2-5YRS

MORE THAN 5YRS

MORE THAN 5YRS

1-2YRS

2-5YRS

LESS THAN 1YR

About 54% of people were loyal readers for about more than 5 years, 30% of

people said they have been reading it for 2-5 years, 9% for 1-2 years and about

7 % for less than 1 year.

5) Do you intend to change your newspaper?

a) Yes

If yes to which one,__________________________

b) No

YES

NO

YESNO

About 43% respondent said that they don’t intend to change the newspaper and

57% were deciding to change the newspaper they read.

6) Does price affect your buying decisions?

a) Yes

b) No

yes

no

yesno

About 60% said that price does not affect their buying decision while for 40%

price did affect their buying.

CHAPTER 12

CONCLUSION

‘Comparative analysis of Times of India and Hindustan times ’ is a project

report that throws light on the competition that Times, today has to face the

markets, courtesy the new entrants in the markets, namely DNA and HT. Times

no wonder is the queen enjoying a lion’s share in the market. However things

changed once the king of north India, HT entered the battlefield, Mumbai, to

claim the throne.

Times which has so long enjoyed the monopoly in Mumbai and has been

formulating marketing strategies resting back, has sat up and arenow

formulating defensive strategies to meet the competition.

This project reveals it’s very hard to overthrow Times from the minds of

Mumbai readers but definitely not impossible. The survey conducted shows the

fact that HT is not even near Times readership but its coverage and quality of

news, editorial skills and prices has been welcomes and appreciated too.

One would think why conduct a survey to find out the winner between HT and

TOI. True. The winner is TOI as expected. But the competition of Times given

by HT as per the survey would be a surprise package for one and all.

The survey conducted reveals consumers are the real winner as they have choice

today. Public outing for the new entrant North India itself is a competition to

Times. As the competition grows, so will the quality and the eagerness to please

the readers. So readers rejoice for the time has come where you can choose

YOUR paper!!!

CHAPTER 13

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEB SITES:

http://www.experiencefestival.com/forum/gtsearch.php

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/leadership2006/index.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times_of_India

http://www.icmrindia.org/business%20Updates/micro%20casestudies/Marketing/MCMK0038.htm

www.afaqs.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_press

http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Strategy1/Hindustan%20Times%20vs%20The%20Times%20of%20India.htm

CHAPTER 14

ANNEXURE

1) Which newspaper do you read?

a) TOI

b) HT

c) DNA

d) Mid day

e) any other_________________

2) Are you satisfied with its overall content?

a) Yes

b) No

3) What else do you expect in your newspaper?

a) Overall news

b) International

c) Sports

d) Business

e) Crosswords, comic strips

f) Horoscope

4) For how long have you been reading this newspaper?

(a) Less than a year

(b)1-2 yrs. 2-5 yrs.

(c) More than 5 yrs.

5) Do you intend to change your newspaper?

a) Yes

If yes to which one,__________________________

b) No

6) Does price affect your buying decisions?

a) Yes

b) No