MINT CORPORATE READERSHIP

DRIVESubmitted By:

Name: Sagar Shetty.

Class: PGDM.

Div: Marketing.

Roll No: 12088.

Company: HT Media LTD.

Department: Mint Corporate sales.

Designation: Team Leader

0

Acknowledgement

My training period had been a great learning experience and it wouldn’t have been

without the support of various people, who helped me to accomplish my project

successfully. I express my sincere thanks to all those who had guided me in one or

the other way.

I would like to thank Mr HARSHIT DESAI (Associate Manager-Marketing),

Hindustan Times- MINT for giving me an opportunity to prove my worthiness in the

Marketing Department of the company and providing me with an insight into the

marketing world. He always proved as an excellent project guide & without his

guidance this training would not have been successful. I have seen in him an

exceptional leader and will try to follow and implement some of the techniques.

I would also like to thank all members of the Marketing Department and my team

members who at all times treated me as a part of the department and not outside

trainee. I am also thankful to the various heads of department and their assistants for

sharing their experiences and also for giving their valuable suggestions.

I would like to thank my course coordinator Prof V. V. Naik who was there to guide

me throughout my project and helped in the completion of the final report.

And warm thanks to our parents, close friends and respondents for their humble co-

operation during project completion.

Date:

Place: Mumbai Sagar Shetty

Thank You.

1

Table of Contents

Sr. No. CONTENT Pg. No.

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

2. INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY 4

3. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 5

4. 4 P,S OF MARKETING 6-7

5. TASK ASSIGNED 8

6. INDIAN NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY 9-16

7. MEDIA INDUSTRY PROFILE 17-24

8. ABOUT HT MEDIA LTD. 25-27

9. HT PORTFOLIO 28-30

10. ABOUT MINT NEWSPAPER 31

11. MINT PORTFOLIO 32-34

12. MINT & HT CORPORATE DRIVE IN MUMBAI 35

13. MINT SUBSCRIPTIONN COST IN MUMBAI 36

14. MINT SUBSCRIPTION BUSINESS MODEL 37

15. TCS ACTIVITY FOR MINT AND HT 38-39

16. MINT DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 40

17. PRICING CHART FOR MINT AND OTHER FIN. NEWSPAPER 41-42

18. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 43-47

19. SURVEY & DATA INTERPRETATION 48-57

20. FINDINGS 58-59

21. LIMITATION 60

22. RECOMENDATION 61

23. LEARNINGS 62

24. REFERANCES 63

25. ANNEXURE AND CERTIFICATES 64

2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In my study I tried to increase the Readership of Mint Business daily and Hindustan

Times and tried to expand the Sales Territories, which the Hindustan times has

undergone, and find out how effective and successful the new brand image has been

in pulling the potential customer towards the brand and whether the brand occupies

a desired position.

My project contains the complete history and introduction of the newspaper

industry, also some problems faced by them. A complete background of HT

Media ltd. and also a complete background of Mint newspaper which is a

part of HT Media ltd.

The project also has the complete portfolio of Mint and the subscription

drive that was carried out in my internship for two months from 2 nd May to

2nd July, 2013.

This project report titled “Mint Corporate Readership Drive” has been prepared after

successful completion of project training at HT Media Ltd-Mumbai. I have tried to do

it honestly and sincerely and any weakness & shortcoming is unintentional.

I hope the report will be special interest to the marketing students who are on look for such real life situation beyond their class room study.

The project deals with Finding MINT awareness and increase Sales Territories for

MINT. The survey was conducted through structured questionnaire among the

customers of MINT in Mumbai Corporate Areas to study their reading habits,

preference among the financial newspaper , factors influencing buying newspaper,

section read the most, customer satisfaction and to find the profile of the MINT

newspaper customers.

After analyzing the data conclusions were drawn related to various facets of

Positioning Strategy and hope that it will be helpful to MINT for further improving its

positioning and customer services. In this project I have tried my best to apply the

theoretical knowledge to the practical world so that we can understand the market in

most effective way. The details regarding the finding, recommendations, limitations

can be found in further sections of the report.

3

Introduction of the Study

Study done for Sales & Research of Hindustan Times Newspaper & Mint Newspaper. I

visited more than 150 companies in Mumbai, mainly in the corporate areas such as

Chruchgate, Bandra Kurla Complex, and Andheri etc. Newspaper industry is very vast in

India almost there are 70000 newspaper in India. A little about Mint Newspaper and

Hindustan Times and its competition.  Why it is important to increase its readership what and

how we did to increased readership by subscription over a period of time.

Data base management is an important tool in the marketing process while marketing process

is an organization‘s coping with its environment. Kotler defines it as ―the process

identifying, analyzing, choosing and exploiting marketing opportunities of fulfill the

company‘s mission objective. More specially it consist of identifying and analyzing

marketing opportunities, segmenting and selecting target markets, developing a competitive

marketing mixed strategy and designing marketing management system for planning and

control information and marketing personnel.

[Philip Kotler: Principles of Marketing P.232]

The marketing process beings with the organization are trying to identifying attractive

opportunity. This step is known as Market Opportunities Analysis.

The next step is Target Market Selection which means identifying the customer group, the

company process to serve. In this context it has to be realized that a market consists to

different groups, who may be classified according to certain special feature common to a

particular group. This brings us to the concept of Market segmentation.

[V.P Buell- Marketing Management]

The segment may be based on the ability of different groups of advertiser‘s long as it has a

relevance of any particular product. The segment chosen is called target market. The

company must examine the wants of that market and the position of the competitors. This is

the realm of market mix. The company can learn through marketing research, what

advertisers are primarily interests in.

The Further explanation has been done in the project report

4

Objective of the Study

Each and every journey has its own destination. Without destination there is no

means of journey. Similarly, every research has some prefixed objectives. Every

steps taken by the researcher during research period is always directly or indirectly

towards the objectives.

Objective work is like a pivot around which the every steps of the research is moving.

So any research study must clearly state the issues being investigated. Therefore,

as far as my topic “ Mint Corporate Readership Drive” concern the major

research objective can be cited as follows:-

1.2.1.Primary objectives:

1) To analyze the segmentation, targeting and positioning of Mint Business Daily Newspaper

2) A study of the factors affecting the purchasing decision of readers in buying a

business daily.

3) To do the comparative analysis of various financial newspapers.

4) To study the Brand preference among Financial newspaper

1.2.2.Secondary objective:

1) To form a brand equity of Mint Business Daily Newspaperin the market

2) To study company profile of Business Standard.

3) To study the customer satisfaction for Mint Business Daily Newspaper

4) To create awareness among corporate world for the financial newspaper.

5) To develop the market of Mint Business Daily Newspaperin PUNE region

5

Four Marketing P’s:

1. Price - The amount of money needed to buy products

The amount a customer pays for the product. The price is very important as it

determines the company's profit and hence, survival. Adjusting the price has a

profound impact on the marketing strategy, and depending on the price elasticity of

the product, often it will affect the demand and sales as well. The marketer should

set a price that complements the other elements of the marketing mix.

When setting a price, the marketer must be aware of the customer perceived

value for the product. Three basic pricing strategies are: market skimming pricing,

market penetration pricing and neutral pricing. The 'reference value' (where the

consumer refers to the prices of competing products) and the 'differential value' (the

consumer's view of this product's attributes versus the attributes of other products)

must be taken into account.

The price of product is Rs.3/-

2. Product   —The actual product

A product is seen as an item that satisfies what a consumer needs or wants. It is a

tangible good or an intangible service. Intangible products are service based like

the tourism industry, the hotel industry and the financial industry. Tangible products

are those that have an independent physical existence. Typical examples of mass-

produced, tangible objects are the motor car and the disposable razor.

Every product is subject to a life-cycle including a growth phase followed by a

maturity phase and finally an eventual period of decline as sales falls. Marketers

must do careful research on how long the life cycle of the product they are marketing

is likely to be and focus their attention on different challenges that arise as the

product move.

The marketer must also consider the product mix. Marketers can expand the current

product mix by increasing a certain product line's depth or by increasing the number

of product lines. Marketers should consider how to position the product, how to

exploit the brand, how to exploit the company's resources and how to configure the

6

product mix so that each product complements the other. The marketer must also

consider product development strategies.

The Product is Mint Newspaper.

3. Promotion (advertising) - Getting the product known

All of the methods of communication that a marketer may use to provide information

to different parties about the product. Promotion comprises elements such

as: advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion.

Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials,

radio and Internet advertisements through print media and billboards. Public

relations is where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press

releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and

events. Word-of-mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product

by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create

word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth

and public relations (see 'product' above).

The promotion of this is product (mint newspaper) was done mouth to mouth

promotion, activity conducted in the corporates.

4. Place (Distribution)   — Where the product is sold

Refers to providing the product at a place which is convenient for consumers to

access. Various strategies such as intensive distribution, selective distribution,

exclusive distribution and franchising can be used by the marketer to complement

the other aspects of the marketing mix.

The Distribution of product (mint newspaper) was done in corporate, residents.

7

TASK ASSIGNED:

The Summer Internship project commenced on 2nd May, 2013 and concluded on

2nd July, 2013. During the project a research was conducted to study the MINT

Corporate Readership. Additional task was given to Increase Sales Territories of

MINT in MUMBAI’s Corporate Companies. Also I was appointed as a Team Leader

of my team where I had to handle and control my team of 14 interns, look after their

attendance, performance, and resource management of my team, do daily gate

meetings and brief the team and motivate them and at the end of the day give daily

feedbacks and report to my manager.

The targets that I had been assigned by the company were:

1. To study MINT Readership in comparison to other financial newspapers

2. As a promoter to create awareness of MINT.

3. Expand the Sales territories

4. To search, plan and make sales call to prospect.

5. To convert maximum prospects into clients in a month for MINT & Hindustan

Times news paper.

8

Indian newspaper industry

L o o k i n g B a c k … …In 1976, our country’s population was 775 million, one copy of a newspaper appeared for every 80 people. A quarter century later, as the population passé done billion, one newspaper was available for every 20 Indians. By mid2009, India had 68,000 newspapers, with more expected to emerge. They sell for a few cents per edition. Unlike online, print does not require electricity and Internet infrastructure. Power shortages still occur in some parts of India. Broadband penetration in 2009 was about 4 present, and concentrated in major cities. It is observed that rising literacy in India will mean an audience for printed newspapers well into this century. In 1976, 35 present of Indians could read. By 2008 the figure was 70 present. Rising youth literacy, at 82 present in 2009, does suggest plenty of potential readers. But those youngsters are more likely to seek their news and information online, just as their counterparts do in other countries. As cheap broadband inevitably becomes available, newspaper circulations will decline. A July 2009 report from Forrester Research estimated that about 2.2 billion people worldwide would be online by2013 – a global increase of 45 present. Almost half of those new users would be in Asia, with 17 present in China alone. Mr Wilkinson, the Executive Director of the Dallas, Texas-based International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) commented on Indian Print media that the underlying trends developing elsewhere in the world are there in India as well, whether it is consuming news via a mobile phone or computer-based Internet, but its potential is hidden by the population and advertising growth that everyone is seeing. The short term you can’t see the trends, there is going to be more advertising, more readers, more titles than today – but what you have to see, though, is that the storm is coming and that storm is the Internet and the digital migration, reports The Hindu Business Line (2008).Newspapers vs. Radio, Television. Annual growth rate for the television industry is projected to be 22% and for the radio industry, the growth rate is projected to be at the rate of 28% over the next five years. At present, there are 110 million TV households in India, out of which 70 million are cable and satellite homes and rest 40 million are served by the public broadcaster, i.e. Doordarshan (DD). Similarly, there are 132 million radio sets in the country reports Ministry of

9

Information and Broad casting (2009).Government has had complete domination over AM radio broadcasting while private FM radio station ownership has been sanctioned. However, content authorization for the latter has been confined to entertainment and education. Private satellite television networks put up stiff competition for the government owned Doordarshan. Doordarshan was often at their ceiving end of accusations from social commentators for manipulating news. Private channels have also been criticized for promoting the political parties supported by their owners. Foreign media were allowed to function freely, other than in the radiobroadcasting segment.

Newspapers and FDI… It was in June 2002 that the National Democratic Alliance Government lifted the nearly50-year-old ban on foreign investment inthe print media. At that time the Union Cabinet permitted 26 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in news and current affairs publications and 74 per cent foreign investment in the non-news and non-current affairs journals, The Hindu (2009). The government permitted country-specific editions published by a local company, with a foreign partnership limit of 26 present, though local editions of foreign media were not allowed. June 2008 witnessed the launch of The International Herald Tribune as a branded world business section inside the Financial Chronicle. Deccan Chronicle Holdings, renowned for Deccan Chronicle, India’s fourth largest English daily, launched the Financial Chronicle in April 2008. The newspaper is published five days a week from Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. The IHT launch coincided with that of the Mumbai edition on June 20. September 19, 2008 bears significance in Indian media history as it was on that day that the Union Indian Cabinet approved foreign news magazines to print local editions of their publications. Earlier the license was sanctioned to periodicals which covered scientific, technical and specialty based topics. Advertising The Indian media and entertainment industry is poised to touch Rs. 1,15,700 crore by2012, driven by increased advertising spend. The Indian media and entertainment industry is growing at a pace of 19% per annum. It is expected to touch Rs.1,157 billion by2012,reports Mint (2010) . The English media forms only 15% of the total newspaper market and has seven times lesser readership than its Hindi counter parts. Despite the numbers, it claims more than half the share of total advertising pie of the print space, according to an industry estimate prepared by brokerage firm, Motilal Oswal print media report. The higher ad rates come into play in the greater revenue generation witnessed in English media. The perception that the purchasing power of the English newspaper reader is much higher than that of their Hindi newspaper counterparts is the reason for the higher ad rates. A rise in the ad rates of newspapers published in regional languages and Hindi is expected as advertisers are turning their attention to rural areas and small towns in search of generating more demand for their products and services. The Indian print media scene is comprised of 62,483 registered newspapers. According to the report, Hindi newspapers dominate the market with 40% stake while English newspapers constitute 15% of the market. Vernacular newspapers complete the equation with 35% of the remaining space. The major share of the total newspaper advertising

10

revenue is brought in by English newspapers. Both vernacular and Hindi dailies may have higher readership but it’s the English newspapers which contribute 53% of the ad revenue. The advertising rates of English newspapers are nine times・ the rates of Hindi and nearly 13 times the rates of vernacular newspapers. PricewaterhouseCoopers states that the steep difference in the share is partially due to the fact that most of the business newspapers (in which the ad rates are even higher than general English newspapers) have been mostly in English till now. PWC (2009) Siddharth Mukherjee of Adex agrees to this statement, most of the marketers target the niche readers. Most of the high priced lifestyle products get advertised in the English newspapers. Mukherjee also adds that the total ad pie was around INR 63 billion in2006 when the entire media sector was taken into consideration. Of this total sum, around 90% to 95% of advertiser’s money penetrated to 50% of the total population while the other 50% population largely remained media dark. Industry analysts are anticipating a change in the trend as ad rates for vernacular newspapers have increased at a rate higher than that for the English newspapers (partially because ad rates in English newspapers are already very high, broadening the base figures on which growth is calculated). The trend is expected to gain momentum with time reports Soma Das (2008).Top Business Publications The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2008 Round 2 numbers suggest that business publications show a mixed trend. English business publications excluding Mint and Economic Times show a general decline in readership. The data pertaining to Business Standard, Financial Express and Business World was not available at the time of filing this report. Mint’s rose from 51,000 to 139,000 – an outstanding increase by 88,000.Economic Times too exhibited progress but of a lesser size – an improvement of 9,000which increased its readership from 743,000 to 752,000. The Hindu on the other hand was subject to a drop from 91,000 to 77,000 in Round 2.Business Today went many steps down from 416,000 to 326,000 along with Business India which dropped from 290,000 to240,000.Outlook followed the pattern of the aforementioned publications with a decline from 220,000 to 204,000; Outlook Money from 122,000 to 111,000; Business and Economy from 93,000 to 77,000.Capital Market and Dalal Street Investment Journal followed suit with the decline trend as Capital Market crashed from 48,000 to 37,000 and Dalal Street Investment Journal dropped to 37,000 from 42,000, exchange4media.com (2008) wireless subscribers - GSM, CDMA & WLL (fixed) base stood at250.93 million at the end of February 2008, reports Economic Times (2008). According to CTIA web site (an association of wireless operators in US), US at the time had 256 million subscribers and adds about two to three million subscribers every month while China adds around six to seven million subscribers a month. India on the other hand add sight to nine million a month wireless subscribers every month making it the highest in the world. With this performance, India was to surpass US in terms of wireless subscribers during the first half of April 2008 to become the second largest wireless network in the world. India’s total subscriber base (wireless + wire line) also crossed 300 million mark in April 2008.3.13. Ownership a good number of publications and 80 present of television channels are privately owned. In April 2008, in fina Finance

11

Private Ltd, an associate of the Kotak Mahindra group, acquired 13.85% stake in Business Standard Ltd. from Pearson, the owner of the Financial Times. Pearson was the first company to make a major investment in an Indian business title when it invested in Business Standard four years back. The two newspapers had worked closely with each other for more than a decade before Pearson bought the stake in 2004, with Business Standard featuring articles from the Financial Times on a regular basis. The Indian tide continued to use Financial Times content till end-2008. Pearson went on to publish the Asian edition of the Financial Times in India and also runs its Penguin book publishing and Pearson Education businesses in the country. Pearson’s step to pull out of Business Standard was powered by its decision to develop and establish Financial Times as a global brand. In February 2009, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting approved the distribution of the facsimile edition of The Wall Street Journal and The Wall Street Journal Asia. A facsimile edition is an exact replica of the international edition that meets certain conditions and cannot carry separate advertisements aimed at Indian readers or locally generated content or India-specific content, not published in the original edition of the foreign newspaper. In January 2009, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board had passed foreign direct investment of INR 21,600,000 by Dow Jones &Co Inc in setting up the wholly owned subsidiary named Wall Street Journal India Publishing Pvt Ltd to bring out the newspapers in India. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of up to 26 per cent is permitted in print media. News Corp which owns Dow Jones, and the Star Network in India, is believed to be interested in the print market, but wants the current cap raised. Wall Street Journal also has a content sharing agreement with HT Media, which entitles the latter with the right to publish articles in its business daily, Mint. The announcement made by the ministry of commerce and industry on Wednesday allows 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) with prior government approval for the publication of the facsimile editions, provided the investment is made by the owner of the original newspaper. The policy also specifies that the publication can be undertaken only if the firm has set up its India office under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 reports Mint (2009).Printing & Distribution Newsprint Consumption Industry estimates suggest that Indian print media consumed close to 1.8 tonnes of newsprint in 2007.India has around 79 newsprint mills among which four are in the public sector. Nepa Ltd, the Mysore Paper Mills Ltd, Hindustan New sprint Ltd and Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd come under the ownership of the government Indian Newsprint Manufacturers Association (INMA), an industry body says that the installed capacity of India’s newsprint mills is close to 2mt.It also made a mention of the reason behind mills channelling their attention to paper products. Newsprint manufacturing has been a loss-making- proposition in India, reports Ajay Modi (2008). According to INMA, the paper mills in India produced around 1mt of newsprint. The rest is imported from North America, Europe, Russia and the Scandinavian countries. Large newspaper publishing establishments opt for a mix of domestic and imported newsprint. English dailies use an 80:20 mix in favour of imported newsprint, regional language dailies employ the same ratio with priority assigned to Indian newsprint. The global price volatility has

12

its influence on the ratio as well. Vending Machines In a first-of-its-kind step, Mid-Day has installed vending machines in corporate offices and buildings across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The publication has editions in all three cities and plans to launch an edition soon in Pune, whereupon vending machines will be set up there as well. Mid-Day has around 90 vending machines in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore with 15- 18 of these being owned exclusively by them. It has tied up with a company called Grab bit, which owns vending machines across the country to make their presence felt in the rest of the locations. This distribution system has been adopted with the intention to target young mobile professionals across India (the YUMPls), who are the core target group for Mid-Day. The vending machines have also made their way to major corporate offices such as 3G, Infosys, Network l S, Reuters, Deutsche Bank and incorporate complexes such as Peninsula Corporate Park reports a faqs (2008).The Press Council. The Press Council is a statutory body of journalists, publishers, academics, and politicians, with a government-appointed chairman, that investigates what it believes is irresponsible journalism and sets a code of conduct for publishers. This code includes injunctions against publishing stories that might incite caste or communal violence. The council has publicly criticized those it believed had broken the code of conduct Print Media.

The newspaper industry sees no threat to its survival in the foreseeable future from the digital media contrary to the raging debate over the sustainability of the print media due to the advent of the digital newspapers and internet reports The Hindu (2009). India has the second largest print market in the world with a readership base of over 350 million. The influx of digital media penetration, market saturation and changing media consumption habits has led to decelerating circulation and readership in the once developed international markets. The Indian market, however, continues to stand due to the low level of print media penetration. It is constantly backed by the increasing overall media penetration and low levels of digital media penetration. With more than 62,000newspapers printed, of which, approximately 92 present consists of Hindi and other vernacular languages; the structure of the Indian print media industry is characterized by a high level of fragmentation and regional diversity. The concentration of English newspaper’s circulation is primarily focused on the metro cities and urban areas, whereas Hindi and other regional newspapers primarily target the non-metro population. 92percent of the Indian print market comprises of newspapers and magazines which demand a share of the balance 8 present. Newspapers are highly dependent on advertisement revenues to supplement the low cover prices thereby contributing around70 present of newspaper revenues and the rest being circulation revenues. In the case of magazines, circulation revenues add around 60 present of the total magazine revenues because of the higher cover prices of magazines. Expansion of the Media Industry in India Rapid economic growth and FDI has resulted in huge growth of media industry in India. The industry is benefited from the favourable laws and liberation of the market. The growth of media market led to the high competition but still there is scope for new companies to enter and existing companies to expand. This is also creating many opportunities and scope for the consumers, investors and

13

related professionals. Read on…In post-independence era media had huge role to play towards the development of society in India. In 1947 when India attained independence, the country was facing many socio-political-economic challenges. Therefore, at that time media’s role towards society was highly critical and challenging. The main goals set by the government for media to perform were to inform and educate the Indian population. During that period print media was flourishing as it contributed a lot in the freedom struggle. However, the reach of this medium was very limited because the literacy rate of India was very low. As opposed to this, boom came in broadcasting in 1980s when television made a grand entry to the media market. The medium was controlled by the government body, Doordarshan, unlike newspapers which have been owned by the private organisations. Since then media market has witnessed massive growth in its every sector.

INDUSTRY SPECIFIC… On the basis of languages, media can be divided into three broad categories: English language media, Hindi language media and regional language media. Recent years have seen a big growth of regional language channels and newspapers over English and Hindi languages media. For example, especially in South India local audience is serviced by local media produced by local companies, like Sun TV, Manorama, etc. Features of Indian Media Market Before moving on to the analysis of market growth in India let us see the characteristics of Indian media market.1. Competition effecting content of programmes: The kind of commercial growth an Indian media market is experiencing is affecting the quality of the content. Commercialisation is overpowering the content of the programmes. Many big companies are competing for advertisers and audience attention. Therefore, media market in India has become more price-oriented than content-oriented. It is also affecting the overall taste of the audience.2. Private Ownership: Majority of media organizations are owned by the private entrepreneurs. Major companies and families have invested in these media organisations. Although, recent years have seen the small investors investing in media, but their investments are limited to subsidiaries and these are not into the group holding companies.3. Cross Media Ownership: As we know that for many decades’ newspapers had strong hold on the media market. Therefore, when government monopoly broke down over broadcasting media and many private entrepreneurs entered this sector, many of them were well established in print media sector. For example Aaj Tak news channel belongs to India Today Group, a leading media company which publishes well known India Today magazine. Similarly, Radio Mirchi is owned by the Entertainment Network India Ltd. (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. This represents the relatively young nature of the Indian media sector. However, we are likely to see increasing specialisation as competition intensifies and the media industry matures. On the other hand, Government is planning to restrict the cross media ownership as part of the Broadcast Services Regulation Bill (which has been debated in Parliament).4. Transparency in Media Regulation: Two main divisions of the Government, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Telecom

14

Regulatory Authority of India keep an eye on the media sector. In India, especially the editorial enjoys the freedom of expression. The policies and regulation set by these regulatory bodies can be challenged in court.5. Foreign Direct Investment: Many foreign companies have been investing in media organisations as a joint venture or as partnership or as a direct investment. In the era of pre liberalisation, the role of foreign investment in India was very limited. However, post-liberalisation the 1980s onward and softness of Indian government on foreign investors drastically changed the face of India media industry. Currently nearly 74% of FDI is allowed in telecommunication whereas100% is allowed in the Internet. If we largely talk about media market then news programmes has 26%, in radio FM has 20% and similarly DTH too has 20% of FDI and cable can have around 49% of FDI.6. Transparent regulatory policies: In India there are many policies which regulate the working of media to make it more responsible towards society. Especially print media is bound by regulations. In broadcasting sector, Doordarshan and All India Radio have to follow broadcasting codes or guidelines which have been set by the Government.7. Regional & cultural diversity in media: On the basis of languages, media can be divided into three broad categories: English language media, Hindi language media and regional language media. Recent years have seen a big growth of regional language channels and newspapers over English and Hindi languages media. For example, especially in South India local audience is serviced by local media produced by local companies, like Sun TV, Manorama, etc. These characteristics of Indian media market distinguish it from rest of the world. The kind of investment being put into the media market is creating lots of possibilities and opportunities for further growth. The upswing of the media market has resulted in new trends in media and entertainment sector. Some of these are as follows: (a) Expansion of mobile phones as entertainment channel: Mobile manufacturing companies are incorporating many entertainment modes in mobile set like radio, games, movie players, Internet, etc. These features have made it a mobile medium of communication. This has also led to easy access to information by the consumer. 1250 INDUSTRY SPECIFIC THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT February 2012 119(b) Convergence: The expansion of media industry has increased the consumer expectations. The convergence means merging many mediums of mass communication into one. Communication distributors like DTH (direct-to-home), CAS (Conditional Access System) and IPTV (Internet Protocol television) have merged radio, TV and Internet into single signal. Recent examples of convergent service include: Services delivered to TV sets via system like Web TV, Email and World Wide Web access via digital TV decoders and mobile telephones and using Internet for voice telephony. The Share of Different Media Sectors in India 40 Source: PwC Analysis and Industry Estimates India’s Place in Global E&M Market Countries 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009India 8,746 10,503 12,401 13,616 14,052China 41,297 47,245 57,496 69,166 75,815Japan 150,975 160,716 166,999 169,298 164,337Us 433,842 454,572 469,096 460,997 428,140All figures are in USD millions Source: PwC Global E&M outlook 2010The figures indicate the position of Indian media market as compared to other countries. In comparison to countries like China and Japan, the

15

Indian market is quite small. Advertisement as a percentage of the GDP in India is only 0.53% as compared to 1.08% for developed countries like US and 0.90% for Japan. These figures show that there is still a lot of scope for growth in Indian media industry.

The Growth of Media Industry in India The Indian Entertainment and Media market is estimated to grow from estimated R 668.8billion in 2010 to reach R1040.8 billion in 2014. Let us see the sector wise projected growth of various industries in media markets .a. Television Industry: Television industry is the most dominated sector in media industry and projected to continue to be the major contributor in the industry. It has been estimated that the television sector will grow at a healthy rate of 13.0% cumulatively over the next coming years, from an estimated R307 billion at a Compound Annual Growth Rate(CAGR) of 15.6% in 2010. The overall television sector is estimated to reach R488 billion by2014.b. The Indian Film Industry: The film industry in India is estimated to grow at CAGR of 12.4%, reaching to R170.5 billion by 2014 from theR114.5 billion, at a CAGR of 20.5%. However, particularly this sector has experienced the downturn in 2009 due to the strike in multiplexes and economic recession .c. Print Media Industry in India: The second most dominating sector in media industry is print media. The sector is projected to grow by 7.4% over the period 2010-2014, reaching to R230.5 billion in 2014.d. Indian Radio Industry: Though the share of radio in media market is small as compared to television, film and print sector yet it has shown the good growth in the market. The industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12.2%, reaching R16 billion in 2014 from the estimated R10 billion in 2010. In advertisement share it is projected that radio advertisement share will grow from 4.2% to 4.3% in the coming years .e. The Animation and Gaming Sector in India: It is worth noticing that many international production houses in the field of animation1252 are dependent on Indian animation industry. This dependency will help the Indian animation sector to grow at a faster rate. The sector is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 25.2% reaching to R73.4 billion in 2014. The Gaming industry will grow to an estimated R19.4 billion by 2014 from R5.3 billion in 2009.f. OOH: Out of Home advertisement was the worst hit industry in 2009 due to the economic recession faced by the country. However, the industry has rebounded with the use of digital technologies and tools. The estimated size of OOH sector was R12.5 billion in2009 and its projected growth is at a CAGR of 11.0%, reaching R21 billion in 2014.g. Music Industry: The predictions say that music industry is expected to be the fastest growing segment in E&M industry. It has been estimated that Indian music industry would grow to R26.5 billion in 2014 with a 29% of CAGR. However, this industry has been facing lots of challenges out of which piracy is the biggest threat to the growth of the music industry. The other challenges are acquisition rights and the cost of music royalty.

16

Media Industry Profile

An overview of Indian Media & Entertainment Industry :

The Indian media and entertainment (M&E) industry recorded revenues of $16.3

billion (Rs 81,500 crore) in 2010, and is expected to be in excess of $25 billion (Rs

1,25,000 crore ) in the next four years, states the latest report from Ernst & Young

(E&Y).

TABLE NO.1

Growth: Literacy and Media Consumption

Category 2011 Q3 2011 Q4 2012 Q1

% CAGR

(2011 Q3-2012

Q1)

Literacy 634883 639705 643321 2.7

Any Media 630514 636307 640396 3.2

Press 349889 350347 352115 1.3

TV 539868 549864 554651 5.6

C&S 448243 462343 475176 12.4

Radio 158284 156692 154941 -4.2

Cinema 76832 75768 75195 -4.2

Internet 30888 34409 37483 47.3

Source: Hansa Research, IRS 2012 Q

17

Broadcasting and cable television

The broadcasting and cable TV industry revenue for 2010 was estimated at $7.2

billion (Rs 36,000 crore), up 13.3 per cent from the previous year, mainly driven by a

19 per cent growth in advertising revenue. The industry is projected to grow at a

CAGR of 12 per cent to reach $11.4 billion (Rs 57,000 crore) by 2014. The

continued digitization of distribution infrastructure, the demand for regional and niche

content, and the possibility of growth in TV penetration will drive growth in this

segment.

Television distribution

India is the second-largest pay-TV market in the world, with 108 million subscribers

and 48 per cent reach to Indian households. The TV distribution industry is

dominated by analog cable, which is highly fragmented and includes about 60,000

LCOs, and 1,000 multi-system operators (MSOs). However, fierce competition

among DTH operators, as well as a recent government policy mandating digitization

of cable TV, has driven the growth of digital TV.

Publishing

The Indian publishing industry revenue for 2010 was estimated at $4.7 billion (Rs

23,500 crore), and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11 per cent to reach $7.1 billion

(Rs 35,500 crore) by 2014. A low-readership penetration of 30 per cent compared

with a literacy rate of 74 per cent underscores the potential for further growth for

publishing in India.

Newspapers

While in a number of international markets, the newspaper industry is faced with a

declining readership because of digital media, the print industry in India continues to

grow, driven by an increase in advertising spends, a rise in literacy rates, and the

growth of regional-language and specialty newspapers. The Indian newspaper

industry is one of the largest in the world, with more than 74,000 newspapers in 22

languages, and a readership of 325 million. Fifty four newspapers are very popular

with advertisers in India, accounting for 42 per cent of all advertising spends, the

18

most for any medium.

Magazines

Magazines comprise around 19 per cent of the total publishing industry in India.

They are viewed as a luxury product, and rely heavily on newsstand sales rather

than subscription sales.

Films

The Indian film industry is the largest in the world, with more than 1,000 films

produced every year, in more than 20 languages. With 3.3 billion tickets sold

annually, India also has the highest number of theatre admissions. The Indian film

market derives almost 90 per cent of its revenue from non-English language movies,

largely dominated by Hindi films, followed by South Indian films and other regional

films. The Indian film industry is projected to grow from $3.2 billion (Rs 16,000 crore)

in 2010 to $5 billion (Rs 25,000 crore) by 2014 at a CAGR of 14.1 per cent.

Growth is expected from the expansion of multiplexes in smaller cities, investments

by foreign studios in domestic and regional productions, the growing popularity of

niche movies, and the emergence of digital and ancillary revenue streams.

Radio and music

The radio and music industries contribute just 2.4 per cent of the total Indian M&E

industry revenues. Both segments, however, provide highly popular forms of

entertainment; FM radio reaches out to 30 per cent Indians, while the Indian youth

are the second largest audience for paid digital music globally. The radio and music

industries together generate around $445 million in 2010, and are projected to grow

at a CAGR of 17.3 per cent to reach $844 million (Rs 4220 crore) by 2014.The third

phase of radio license auctions, which is expected soon, will see radio networks

expanding their reach to add around 700 radio stations across the country.

Sports

Cricket is the most popular spectator sport in India, and follows movies as the

second-biggest form of entertainment. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is already

19

one of the most valuable sporting brands in the world, currently valued at $3.7 billion

(Rs 18,500 crore).

TABLE NO 2

TABLE NO 3

Numbers of Newspaper registered in India is given in the table Below

TABLE NO4Breakup of Total newspaper in India in different segments/categories

Break up of Total Newspaper in India

7%25%

25%Vernacular Dailies

English Dailies

47%

Hindi Dailies

Business dailies

20

TABLE NO 5

Top 10 Publications

Publication Langauge Periodicity 2011 Q4 2012 Q1

Dainik Jagran Hindi Daily 16410 16412

Dainik Bhaskar Hindi Daily 14602 14553

Hindustan Hindi Daily 12045 12157

Malayala Malyalam Daily 9937 9875

Manorama

Amar Ujala Hindi Daily 8842 8693

The Times Of English Daily 7616 7562

India

Lokmat Marathi Daily 7562 7485

Daily Thanthi Tamil Daily 7503 7477

Rajasthan Patrika Hindi Daily 6847 6807

Matrubhumi Malyalam Daily 6666 6600

Source: IRS 2012 Q1, Hansa Research,AIR Figures; All Figures in ‘000

21

TABLE NO 6

Top 10 English dailies

Publication 2011 Q4 2012 Q4

The Times of India 7616 7652

Hindustan Times 3791 3805

The Hindu 2240 2233

The Telegraph 1273 1292

Deccan Chronicle 1034 1027

DNA 897 909

The Economic Times 790 792

Mumbai Mirror 803 777

The New Indian Express 637 678

The Tribune 585 624

Source: IRS 2012 Q1, Hansa Research,AIR Figures; All Figures in ‘000

According to IRS Q1 2012, there is only one change in the pecking order while seven

out of the top dailies have registered growth.

22

India’s largest English daily, The Times of India, has registered marginal growth in

the first quarter of IRS 2012. By adding 36,000 readers in the quarter, TOI has taken

its AIR to 76.52 lakh compared with 76.16 lakh in the previous quarter. TOI had

added 1.49 lakh readers in IRS Q4 2011 while it had lost 4,000 readers in IRS Q3

2011. The daily had added 29,000 readers in the second quarter and 18,000 readers

in the first quarter of IRS 2012.

The No. 2 English daily, Hindustan Times, has also added 14,000 readers this

quarter and recorded an AIR of 38.05 lakh in IRS Q1 2012. It had registered 1.55 per

cent of growth in the previous quarter with AIR of 37.91 lakh. HT had lost 4,000

readers in IRS Q3 2011 but added 45,000 readers in Q2 2011 and 1 lakh readers in

the first quarter of IRS 2011.

The No. 3 English daily, The Hindu, has seen a marginal decline and lost 7,000

readers in IRS Q1 2012. Its current AIR stands at 22.33 lakh compared with 22.40

lakh in the previous quarter. The daily had added 71,000 readers and registered

more than 3 per cent of growth in IRS Q4 2011. The paper had added 92,000

readers in IRS Q3 2011. It had lost 18,000 readers in Q2 2011 and 20,000 readers in

the first quarter of IRS 2011.

The Telegraph, from ABP Group, has recorded a marginal growth in its AIR over

the last quarter. It has added 19,000 readers to take its AIR to 12.92 lakh in IRS Q1

2011 against 12.73 lakh in the previous quarter and 12.66 lakh in IRS Q3 2011 and

12.09 lakh in IRS Q2 2011. The daily had added 57,000 readers in Q3 2011 and

6,000 readers in IRS Q2 2011 while it lost 35,000 readers in the first quarter.

At No. 5 is Deccan Chronicle which has lost again but the loss is marginal in

comparison with the loss in the previous quarter when the daily had lost 5.5 per cent

readers. By losing 7,000 readers in IRS Q1 2012, Deccan Chronicle has registered

an AIR of 10.27 lakh compared with 10.34 in the previous quarter and 10.94 lakh in

IRS Q3 2011. The daily had added 6,000 readers in the third quarter and 53,000

readers in IRS Q2 2011 while it had lost 38,000 readers in Q1 2011.

DNA has also registered marginal growth by adding 12,000 readers in IRS Q1 2012

to take its AIR at 9.09 lakh compared with 8.97 lakh in the previous quarter. The daily

23

had registered a growth of 4 per cent in the previous quarter. DNA had 8.63 lakh

readers in IRS Q3 2011 and 8.24 lakh readers in IRS Q2 2011. It had added 34,000

readers in IRS Q4 2011 and 39,000 readers in IRS Q3 2011.

The Economic Times has made a comeback at No. 7 position by adding 2,000

readers in IRS Q1 2012. ET had lost 22,000 readers in IRS Q4 2011 and slipped to

No. 8. Its current AIR stands at 7.92 lakh against 7.9 lakh in the previous quarter,

8.12 lakh in IRS Q3 2011, 7.85 lakh in IRS Q2 2011 and 7.69 lakh in IRS Q1 2011

losing 3.23 per cent readers in the first quarter of IRS Q1 2012, Mumbai Mirror has

slipped to No. 8. Its current AIR stands at 7.77 lakh compared with 8.03 lakh in the

previous quarter. The daily had added 43,000 readers and registered 5.65 per cent

growth in IRS Q4 2011 and 2,000 readers in IRS Q3 2011 but lost 22,000 readers in

IRS q2 2011. Mumbai Mirror had added 69,000 readers in IRS Q1 2011.

The New Indian Express continues to be the fastest growing English daily with 6.43

per cent growth in the first quarter of IRS 2012. It had grown by 7.41 per cent in Q4

of IRS 2011. The daily has registered an AIR of 6.78 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 compared

with 6.37 lakh in the previous quarter. TNIE had 5.93 lakh readers in IRS Q3 2011

and 5.59 lakh in IRS Q2 2011.

After losing 14,000 readers in IRS Q4 2011, The Tribune has bounced back and

added 39,000 readers in IRS Q1 2012. Its current AIR stands at 6.24 lakh

compared with 5.85 lakh in the previous quarter. The Tribune had 5.99 lakh

readers in IRS Q3 2011 and 5.67 lakh in IRS Q2 2011.

Average Issue Readership (AIR) of a publication is defined as the number of

readers of that publication who have claimed to have last read it within its

periodicity, i.e., last read a daily yesterday, a weekly within the last week, a

monthly within the last month, etc.

This measure is considered to be a more relevant measure of ‘real’ or ‘regular’

readership, especially for newspapers, most of which have been read/consumed as

a matter of daily habit. Conventionally, media planners even calculate and compare

cost-benefits of dailies based on the AIR figure. Hence, it is perhaps the most

relevant to study readership trends as well in terms of AIR.

24

HT Media found its beginning in 1924 when its flagship newspaper, Hindustan Times was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. HT Media (BSE, NSE) has today grown to become one of India's largest media companies.

Produced by an editorial team known for its quality, innovation and integrity, Hindustan Times (English newspaper) and Hindustan (Hindi newspaper through a subsidiary Hindustan Media Ventures Limited),Hindustan Times is the choice for nearly 3.7 million readers across India, who turn to it daily for news, information, analysis and entertainment. Hindustan, the group's Hindi daily, continues to be the second-largest daily in the country with a total readership of 36.6 million, (based on Indian Readership Survey (IRS) for the first quarter (Q1) of 2011. Both dailies enjoy strong brand recognition among readers as well as advertisers.

In addition to Hindustan Times, HT Media also publishes a national business newspaper, Mint. Mint is a one-of-its-kind newspaper in the sense that the company has an exclusive agreement with the Wall Street Journal to publish Journal-branded news and information in India. Mint is today the second-largest business newspaper in India with presence in the key markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Pune, Kolkata and now Ahmedabad too.

HT Media has also made its foray into electronic media. Diversifying its ambit of operations, the company in a consulting partnership with Virgin Radio, has launched the FM radio channel - Fever 104. Currently available in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, Fever 104 has established a strong presence as being one of the most vibrant channels on air. In a short span, the channel's rise has been meteoric considering its position in Mumbai and Bengaluru at No. 1 and in Delhi as the No. 2 station on the popularity charts.

Internet businesses of HT Media incorporated under Firefly e-ventures; operate leading web portals Hindustantimes.com and livemint.com in the general and business news categories respectively. The company's job portal Shine.com which

25

has received high appreciation from consumers and industry for its innovative design and usability crossed 7 million registrations. Desimartini.com - a platform to discover and express oneself on movies. The company also has an education portal www.HTCampus.com aimed at students passing out of school and college to help them take the right decision about their higher education.

Financially, the Company was ahead of the industry in more ways than one. On a consolidated basis, its revenues grew by 25% to reach Rs. 1,815 Crore; EBITDA grew by 26% to reach Rs. 365 Crore, net profit grew by 33% to reach Rs. 181 Crore. Revenue growth was driven by a 22% increase in advertisement revenue within the print segment, which reached Rs. 1,395 Crore from Rs. 1,141 Crore in the previous fiscal and an impressive 63% increase in revenue from the Radio & Entertainment segment from Rs. 43 Crore in FY 10 to Rs. 70 Crore this year. This robust revenue growth has been partially offset by a significant increase in cost of raw material, reaching Rs. 628 Crore in FY 11 from Rs. 476 Crore in the previous year, due to higher circulation and newsprint prices.

History:

'Hindustan Times' was founded in 1924 by Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, founder-

father of the Akali movement and the Shiromani Akali Dal inPunjab.[4] S Mangal

Singh Gill (Tesildar) and S. Chanchal Singh (Jandiala, Jalandhar) were made in

charge of the newspaper. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and Master Tara

Singh were among the members of the Managing Committee. The Managing

Chairman and Chief Patron was Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri.

K. M. Panikkar was its first editor with Devdas Gandhi (son of Mahatma Gandhi) on

the editor's panel. The opening ceremony was performed by Mahatma Gandhi on 26

September 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.

"Sadar Panikkar launched the Hindustan Times as a serious nationalist newspaper.

As an Oxonian, historian, and litterateur, Panikkar must have hoped to make his

paper eventually more than an Akali sheet. He became the editor and funds flowed

freely from activist Akali patrons. He exerted himself strenuously, but the paper

made very little headway. In two years Panikkar could not take the print order any

higher than 3,000. By then the Akali movement appeared to lose steam and funds

dried up. The paper was saved from an untimely demise when Pandit Madan Mohan

26

Malaviya stepped in to realise his vision of a newspaper in Delhi." - TJS George,

Lessons in Journalism, 2007, Viva Books, New Delhi.

Malaviya raised Rs. 50,000 rupees to acquire the Hindustan Times along with the

help of nationalist leaders Lajpat Rai and M. R. Jayakar and industrialist G. D. Birla,

who paid most of the cash. Birla took full control of the paper in 1933. The paper

continues to be owned by the Birla family.

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

century and even faced the noted "Hindustan Times Contempt Case (August–

November, 1941)" at Allahabad High Court.  It was edited at times by many

important people in India, including Devdas Gandhi and Khushwant Singh. Sanjoy

Narayan, has been appointed the editor in chief of the paper and was due to take

over in August 2008. Recently the editorial page has seen a major makeover and

has been named "comment" to bring in more flexibility and some-what less

seriousness to the page.

HT Mumbai Edition:

HT Mumbai has an eight-page daily lifestyle supplement (in broadsheet format)

called HT Cafe. It has its education supplement called "HT Education" on

Wednesdays. The paper also comes with a magazine on Sundays called Brunch.

The Mumbai edition is managed by Mohit Ahuja, an alumnus of NMIMS, Bombay.

The resident editor in Mumbai is Soumya Bhattacharya.

Ownership:

The Delhi-based English daily Hindustan Times is part of the KK Birla group and

managed by Shobhana Bhartia, daughter of the industrialist KK Birla and

granddaughter of GD Birla. It is owned by HT Media Ltd. The KK Birla group owns a

69 per cent stake in HT Media, currently valued at Rs 834 crore. When Shobhana

Bhartia joined Hindustan Times in 1986, she was the first woman chief executive of a

national newspaper. Shobhana has been nominated as a Rajya Sabha MP from

Congress Party.

Along with Hindustan Times, HT Media owns Desimartini, Fever 104 FM, and Mint

(newspaper).

27

Hindustan Times Portfolio

HT City / HT Café

The entertainment & lifestyle supplement, every day

The Hindustan Times reader wakes up to a bundle of fun, frolic, entertainment and masala everyday called HT City (in Delhi) and HT Café (in Mumbai). One of the strongest drivers of readership, the daily entertainment supplement enjoys almost universal salience and readership.

The buzzy daily supplement has redefined lifestyle and entertainment space in newspapers, packing a punch with daily dose of Bollywood, Hollywood, Fashion, Relationship, City and Campus.

Brunch

An exclusive lifestyle magazine, every Sunday 

The readers of HT wake up to Brunch every Sunday morning, which is one of best-loved offerings from its stable. 

In a magazine format and clearly about ‘the good life’, it covers stories around food, fashion, shopping, travel, health & wellness, books & movie reviews, celebrity talk, lifestyle etc. One of the biggest draws of Brunch is the bouquet of columns by prominent journalists like Vir Sanghvi (food & travel), Sanjoy Narayan (music) and Rajiv Makhni (technology).

This universally appealing brand has the core target group vested in upwardly mobile young families, looking for enhancing their lifestyle quotient.

28

HT Estates

Real Estate supplement, every Saturday

HT Estates as a supplement partners and corroborates the readers with information that helps them buy or sell their properties. This supplement comes with the newspaper every Saturday. 

The supplement offers countless options on property buying and selling. Along with that the supplement also enlightens both the buyers and sellers on legal aspects of realty transactions. Specifically for buyers the supplement offers array of information on realty trends, loan rates, etc.

Shine Jobs

Career supplement, every Tuesday 

Shine Jobs, with its unique relationship with Shine.com, is the only print career supplement which offers both online and print recruitment under one umbrella and one brand. 

This gives candidates and employers the opportunity to effectively reach each other across both platforms. Shine Jobs was re-launched with a brand new look and promise of hundreds of jobs for its readers. It now carries numerous jobs from top companies in the country, along with the best jobs available on Shine.com, across managerial levels, industries

and cities. It also offers valuable information on overall career development, interview tips, HR trends, hot hiring sectors and many more useful career-related topics. Shine Jobs is a must-read for all those on the look-out for the next best career opportunity.

29

HT Education

Education Supplement, every Wednesday (earlier known as HT Horizons) 

HT Education offers the much needed guidance and mentorship to the students, which really helps them in choosing the best in education leading to a great career. 

HT Education is a supplement dedicated to serving the needs of not only student community from 10th to post graduates, but also the parents who are concerned about their child’s future. The supplement is a source of comprehensive info around – career options, admission and scholarship information, college profiles, guidance and expert counseling. It’s a one-stop guide to the students to prepare for their most exciting phase in life

HT Live

A ‘peek around the corner’ is what Live offers to its readers - a supplement that caters to the readers’ quest for local news. This supplement has dedicated 8 editions for 8 zones in Delhi and appears once a week in every zone. 

The supplement highlights the hits and misses on infrastructural development and lifestyle centered around neighborhoods. It offers a bag full of interesting local news and local advertising which helps readers get immediate assistance on their requirements.Get a clear picture with HT Education.

30

Mint, a business paper from Hindustan Times in association with The Wall Street Journal, was launched in 2007 with the premise of bringing “Clarity in Business News”, a need strongly articulated by business news readers in the country.

Mint aims to demystify complex business issues and provide unmatched clarity and depth in its coverage. Whether it is the refreshing new Berliner format, the design by an internationally acclaimed designer, the unique weekend magazine Lounge or our association with The Wall Street Journal, Mint has features that no other business paper in the country has.

The numbers bear testimony to the high acceptability and strong bond that Mint has with its readers. According to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS Q1, 2011), 222,000 readers make Mint a strong No. 2 player. Mint has a 27% readership share in the key markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. With editions in Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Pune as well, Mint reaches the who’s who of corporate India nationally.

Global praise and recognition has been forthcoming for Mint. According to Fortune magazine, “Mint…has raised India’s standards of business journalism…and (has a) mix of market news, corporate profiles, and lifestyle features.” Mint won Gold in the special coverage category at the IFRA 9th Annual Asia Media Awards 2010. Mint was also voted India’s No. 1 Media Brand in 2009 by advertisers.

31

Mint Portfolio

Mint LoungeLounge is the weekend edition of Mint. Every Saturday, Lounge presents a visually engaging look at the "Business of Life". With articles on Travel, Gadgets, Fashion, Books, Culture, Parenting and Food, the editors and columnists of Lounge bring the perfect work-life balance to the week.

Mint MoneyMint Money is a daily section on Markets & Personal Finance that comes inside Mint. Through its researched and analysed content, Mint Money helps its readers develop an understanding of how various financial products and markets work. It provides clear and credible coverage across the entire gamut of investment products – Equities, Mutual Funds, Commodities, Real Estate and Insurance, which helps its readers become smart money managers.

Consumers are seeking to bridge the gap between information and understanding so that they can take the right calls in today’s changing market scenario. With its clear and analysed content,  Mint Money seeks to aid the consumer in bridging this gap.

32

Mint IndulgeMint Indulge is the Luxury and Lifestyle quarterly publication.

A complimentary read for Mint’s readers across India, Mint Indulge focuses on the passions & indulgences of India's top business leaders and serve as their best buying guide for the season. Mint Indulge showcases the most aspirational international brands which look at India as a promising market to drive the next growth wave for them.

'Mint' -- The Wall Street Journal's Exclusive Partner Publication in India - The Wall Street Journal Joins Forces With HT Media to Bring Global Business News

to Indian Readers and International Business Travellers.

33

Design of the   Mint   newspaper

The design of the Mint newspaper is geared towards presenting business and financial information in a compact format. The newspaper was initially designed by Mario Garcia, who has also been associated with the re-design of the Wall Street Journal. Mint liberally uses info graphics to tell stories and present data when compared with other dailies, publishing almost one a day and sometimes several.

It is India's first newspaper to be published in the Berliner format. 

Culture and Content

Mint is the business daily from the stable of HT Media, which seeks to compete with the Economic Times, Business Standard, Business Line and The Financial Express (India). Although it is a daily newspaper (except on Sundays), Mint doesn't think of itself as a newspaper of record, choosing instead to focus on the bigger stories of the day, served along with analysis and lifestyle pieces. Some media critics have called Mint a 'daily magazine' because of this choice of presentation.

Structure

On the editorial side, Mint is organised into various teams based on reporting subject matter. Topic editors usually decide on the composition of stories for the next day's edition in a news conference held before the paper goes into the final stages of production. There are also small teams that focus on strategy, marketing, advertising and other aspects of publishing the paper and its ancillary offerings. Mint also houses technicians who work exclusively on HT Media's digital media projects, including apps for mobiles and tablets featuring Mint and other publications from HT Media. The newsroom and management follows a relatively 'flat' structure, unlike in other divisions of HT Media.

34

Mint and Hindustan Times Subscription Corporate drive in Mumbai

About MINT - Refreshing Clarity in Business News :  

MINT the Business Daily Paper from Hindustan Times Media Limited. A clear breakaway from conventional reportage, Mint is the product of an exclusive partnership between HT Media Ltd and The Wall Street Journal.

Post launch in 2007, MINT has quickly become the No 2 business daily in the country. MINT prides itself on reaching the premier audience & plan to continue doing the same with potential readers like you. Also, it’s a proud moment for MINT, having Launched Mint Asia in Singapore from April 2013. 

Key Achievements:

Pan-India publication with presence in 9 key markets of India  - Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

28% readership share in key markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata & Chennai.

Fastest growing business paper with over 2,60,000+ readers & still growing (IRS Reports).

4 out of 5 Mint readers do not read another business paper, making Mint a critical reach vehicle for the top end audience.

Fortune magazine credits Mint with changing the way Journalism is done in India.

MINT as your Business paper:

The Berliner size, refreshing printing & easy language just adds to the pleasure of reading financial news.

Get yourself updated with the Current Affairs in the Financial & Political arena of the country

MINT Leisure section can be used a perfect weekend planner MINT Money – Provides deep insights on the Stock Market & other financial

products, from its News to its Performance.  Get updated with the World financial news with ‘The Wall Street Journal’ section MINT Lounge – the weekend magazine, gives information about Entertainment/

Travel/ Health/ Lifestyle/ Technology The strong MINT Editorial Team gives you a clear & unbiased view on the

current happenings of our Financial sector  The investment expert gives you guidance on Money Management.  MINT Indulge (separately subscribed) – that comes monthly/bi-monthly, gives

insights on the various Luxury Brands/ Products across the globe.  

35

Mint Subscription Cost in Mumbai

TermCover price

PaperAs per

Cover priceYou Pay

You Save

Free Gift

1 Year Rs.3/day Mon- Sat Rs.936/- Rs.599/- Rs.337/-Worth

Rs.499/-2

yearsRs.3/day Mon- Sat Rs.1872/- Rs.999/- Rs.873/-

Worth Rs.499/-

(Payment accepted in the form of Cheque/DD only, Favouring 'HT Media Ltd' )

Special FREE Gift Option along with Subscription for Mint & HT Newspaper

Case Subscription Year Cheque FREE Gift Option 1

OR FREE Gift

Option 2 OR

FREE Gift Option 3

ORFREE Gift Option 4

CCase 1 MINT 1 Year single Rs.599/-

Colour Essence Lipstick - 1 pack OR

Soap Pack - 1 pack NA NA

Case 2 MINT 2 Years single Rs.999/-

Colour Essence Lipstick - 1 pack OR

Soap Pack - 1 pack NA NA

Case 3 HT 1 Year single Rs.599/-

Colour Essence Lipstick - 1 pack OR

Soap Pack - 1 pack NA NA

Case 4 HT 2 Years single Rs.999/-

Colour Essence Lipstick - 1 pack OR

Soap Pack - 1 pack NA NA

Case 5

1 Mint + 1 HT 1 Year

2 Cheques, Rs.599/- Each

Van Hussein Tie - 1 pack OR

Colour Essence Lipstick - 2 packs OR

Soap Pack - 2 packs OR

1 Lipstick AND 1 Soap

Case 6

1 Mint + 1 HT 2 Years

2 Cheques, Rs.999/- Each

Van Hussein Tie - 1 pack OR

Colour Essence Lipstick - 2 packs OR

Soap Pack - 2 packs OR

1 Lipstick AND 1 Soap

Case 7

MINT-1 Yr. & HT- 2-Yrs

1, 2 year

2 Cheques, Rs.599/- & Rs.999/-

Van Hussein Tie - 1 pack OR

Colour Essence Lipstick - 2 packs OR

Soap Pack - 2 packs OR

1 Lipstick AND 1 Soap

Case 8

MINT-2 Yrs. & HT- 1-Yr

2, 1 year

2 Cheques, Rs.999/- & Rs.599/-

Van Hussein Tie - 1 pack OR

Colour Essence Lipstick - 2 packs OR

Soap Pack - 2 packs OR

1 Lipstick AND 1 Soap

36

Subscription business model for Mint

The subscription business model is a business model where a customer must pay a subscription price to have access to the product/service. The model was pioneered by magazines and newspapers, but is now used by many businesses and websites.

Rather than selling products individually, a subscription sells periodic (monthly or yearly or seasonal) use or access to a product or service, a one-time sale of a product can become a recurring sale and can build brand loyalty. It is used for anything where a user is tracked in both a subscribed and unsubscribed status.

Types of Subscription for Mint

Individual Subscription: A subscription for a fixed set of goods or services, such as one copy of each issue for an individual of a newspaper or magazine for a definite period of time. The payment given by the individual himself where only cheque is accepted.

Bulk Subscription: A bulk subscription of more than 20 copies of same newspaper daily in a corporate office or any organisation for a definite period of time. The payment given by the company or the organisation through cheque for which the subscription has been booked.

Multiple Subscriptions: Subscription of newspaper from 2 to 20 copies daily in a company or any organisation for a definite period of time. The payment given by the company or the organisation through cheque for which the subscription has been booked. Also at the same time for multiple booking the company has to give the names of the reader on the letterhead for whom the subscription has been taken.

Subscription through conducting an activity in the corporates: By taking the permeation of the company the mint corporate sales team conducts an activity in the common area of the offices and displays its products (newspapers) in a small kiosk. Then the employees who are interested for the subscription will take it individually by making the payment through cheque.

37

Activity conducted in TCS for Mint and Hindustan Times Newspaper dirve:

Mint & HT Subscription Drive - June 2013Location Mint & HT Contact

PersonAddress

Gateway Park 4 June 2013 Mon

Sruthi Chandran / Varsha Kadam

GatewayPark Information Resource Centre Tata Consultancy Services Akruti Business Port, Road No. 13, MIDC, Andheri East, Mumbai 400 096, India Phone: 677 96838 Mailto: gatewaypark.irc@tcs.com

ATC3 June 2013

TuesSadanand Valanju

ATC Information Resource Centre Tata Consultancy Services AkrutiTade Centre, 4th floor, 7th MIDC Road, Andheri (East) Mumbai - -400093 Phone: 677 97339 Mail To :akrutitradecentre.irc@tcs.com

Banyanpark5 June 2013

WedSruthi Chandran

TCS Compound, Banyan Park, Suren Road, Andheri East, Mumbai – 400093 || Mail to : banyanpark.irc@tcs.com || Extn : 677 7700

ODC16 June 2013

ThuRupali kumbhar

ODC1 Information Resource Centre Tata Consultancy Services Plot No.64 (ODC), Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone, Andheri (East), Mumbai - 400 096, Maharashtra, India Phone: 677 95618 Mailto: odc1.irc@tcs.com

ODC2 7 June 2013 FriRuchita Chodankar

ODC2 Information Resource Centre, Plot No.54 (ODC), Intersil Building, Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone, Andheri (East), Mumbai - 400 096. Ph:- +91 22 6779 5663 Mailto : odc2.irc@tcs.com

Nesco10 June 2013

MonShewtha Patwardhan

NESCO Information Resource Centre, TCS E-Serve, 223, NESCO Compound, Off Western Exp Highway, Goregaon ( East), Mumbai - 400063, Mailto: nesco.irc@tcs.com, Phone: 67665021 Ext: 35021

NKP11 June 2013

TuesShewtha Patwardhan

Tata Consultancy Services, B-3 Building, Nirlon Knowledge Park, Near Hub Mall, Goregaon East, Mumbai, - 400063, Mailto: nesco.irc@tcs.com, Phone: 67665021 Ext: 35021

Malad12 June 2013

WedRashmi Koyande

Malad Information Resource Centre Tata Consultancy Services Ground floor, Vidyasagar Building, Raheja Township Near Sai Baba Mandir, Malad (E) Mumbai - 400 097 Phone: 677 98443 Mailto: malad.irc@tcs.com

Borivali113 June 2013

Thur

Abhimanyu Herlekar / Shivmohan Kahar

Tata Consultancy Services Borivali1 Nortel Ericsson IRC Parkwest II, Raheja Estate, Kulupwadi, Borivali (E), Mumbai: 400 066 Phone: 677 99740 Mailto: borivali1.irc@tcs.com

Borivali214 June 2013

FriHarishankar Rai

GE-GDC BR Information Resource Centre Building No. 5,, Raheja Green, Green Acres, Village Kanheri, Borivali (E), Mumbai - 400 066, Phone: 677 98772 Mailto: borivali2.irc@tcs.com

Nerul17 June 2013

MonRucha T.

Nerul IRC , TCS , Om Sagar Bldg,D-222/2, SHIRAVANE, T.T.C. INDUSTRIAL AREA, M.I.D.C., Navi Mumbai - 400 706 Mailto: nerul.irc@tcs.com Extn: 67798161

Yantra Park18 & 19 June 2013 Tues & Wednesday

Mahesh Panaskar / Tanvi P.

YantraPark Information Resource Centre Tata Consultancy Services, Yantra Park, Unit 6, Opp Voltas HRD Trg Center, Subhash Nagar, Pokhran Rd No. 2, Thane (West) - 400 601 Tel: + 91 22 6778 2201/2594 Mailto: yantrapark.irc@tcs.com

Empireplaza24 June 2013

MonAparna Nair

Empireplaza Information Resource Centre 6th Floor, L. B. S. Marg, Vikhroli (West), Mumbai - 400083 Mumbai. Tel: 6778 6670 Mail to: empireplaza.irc@tcs.com

38

Wellspring20 & 21 June 2013 Thur &

FridayNamdev Kale

Wellspring IRC, TCS, Plant No. 12 Godrej & Boyce Complex,LBS Marg Vikhroli (West),Mumbai - 400079, Tel: + 91 22 6778 3233,Mailto: wellspring.irc@tcs.com

Kensington A25 June 2013

TuesVishal Hawaldar

KensingtonA Information Resource Centre 8th to 10th Floors, Kensington, Wing A,Hiranandani Builders Special Economic Zone, Powai, Mumbai - 400076,Maharashtra, India Ph:- +91 22 6732 2010 Mailto: KensingtonA.IRC@tcs.com

Kensington B26 June 2013

Wed

Chandrika Hegade / Saurabh Prasad

KensingtonB Information Resource Centre 10th Floor, B-Wing, Hiranandani Business Park, Hiranandani Builders Special Economic Zone, Mumbai - 400076, Maharashtra, Ext: 022 - 6732 4747 Mailto: KensingtonB.IRC@tcs.com

The main part of my project was to increase the readership of Mint newspaper by getting corporate tie-ups. During the course of my project I was able to get the permeation of conducting an activity at 16 offices of TCS all over Mumbai. The above was the time table for the same. I was able to complete the same with the help of my team. As I was taking each one of my team mates along with me for a activity in each offices. We were able to bring more than 50 subscriptions for the company which had Mint and Hindustan Time for either one year or two years.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL OF MINT

39

Pricing Chart of MINT with other financial newspaper:

40

WeekdaysMon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun

Business3.5Rs 3.5Rs 3.5Rs 3.5Rs 3.5Rs 6Rs -

Standard

3Rs Rs. 10

Economic 3Rs 3Rs

Times3Rs 3Rs 3Rs

Financial4Rs 4Rs 4Rs 4Rs 4Rs 6Rs 10Rs

Express

Business Line 4Rs 4Rs 4Rs 4Rs 4Rs 4Rs 3Rs

Mint 3Rs 3Rs 3Rs 3Rs 3Rs 3Rs -

The annual cover Price of MINT is Rs. 937. It provide subscription scheme at Rs

599/- for 12 months.

41

Effects on Vendors

Businesses benefit because they are assured a predictable and constant revenue stream from subscribed individuals for the duration of the subscriber's agreement. Not only does this greatly reduce uncertainty and the riskiness of the enterprise, but it often provides payment in advance (as with magazines, Newspapers), while allowing customers to become greatly attached to using the service and, therefore, more likely to extend by signing an agreement for the next period close to when the current agreement expires.

Effects on the Reader

Consumers may find subscriptions convenient if they believe that they will buy a product on a regular basis and that they might save money. For repeated delivery of the product or service, the customer also saves time. Subscription pricing can make it easier to pay for expensive items, since it can often be paid for over a period of time and thus can make the product seem more affordable. On the other hand, most newspaper and magazine-type subscriptions are paid up front, and this might actually prevent some customers from signing up.

Research Methodology

Research methodology is the process of the systematic gathering, recording and 42

analysis of data collected by various techniques to access the response and

accordingly prepare a report based on which reader opinion toward products can be

analyzed.

Following order of steps to be taken provide useful guidelines regarding the research

process.

Research Design

Sampling

Data Collection

Sampling:-Sampling is one of the most fundamental concepts underlying any research work.

Most research studies attempt to make generalization or draw inference regarding

the population. Based on their study of a part of the population that is the sample.

The sample data enables the researchers to correctly estimate the population

parameters.

While doing sampling I considered Mumbai region.

Methods of Data collection:-

There are two methods of data collection

1) Primary data

2) Secondary data

Primary data:-Primary data are those which are collected fresh and for the first time, thus happen

43

to be original character. Both questionnaire and scheduled method are used for

Primary data.

Data I collected was from Corporate Offices in MUMBAI Region.

Secondary data:-Secondary data are those which have already been collected by somebody else and

which have already been passed through statistical process. For the research we

have taken secondary data for comparative study of MINT with other financial daily.

The literature survey and the references are taken from the official website business

standard.

Survey Process:

For the research, customers visited were Companies, Institutes, and C.A. were

asked questions which are short and specific and easily understandable. Data was

also collected data from official sites, Published articles, research works.

Steps Undertaken:1. Information about the customers was collected from the company database,

from yellow pages, Just Dial and from the local vendors.

2. Before approaching the customers call was made to them to seek the

permission and sometimes cold Calling.

3. If the customer is not free that time ; some other date was asked and in the

mean time asked for the mail id and was send the MINT and Hindustan Times

subscription package and was informed the customer to go through it.

4. At the time of meeting respondents were first asked about the readership

habits of the towards business dailies and if it’s there, then ask for the particular

newspaper.

5. After that question pertaining to project were asked, as to the content of the

news, preference of the newspaper any specific problems pertaining to the

availability, satisfaction level and such I requested them to fill up the questionnaire.

6. All the responses along with any recommendations given by the customer was

properly taken into consideration The customers were properly guided in answering

44

the questionnaires and were helped in giving a rational response then analyzed the

questionnaires and provided the results through pie charts and bar graphs. In case

of the corporate and the educational institutions I went for personal interviews

instead of getting questionnaires filled up.

7. The natures of the interviews were generally one to one and the types of

questions asked generally matched the one given in the questionnaire.

Research Approach:Qualitative as well as Quantitative approach has been used for this research. But the

stress was basically on the quantitative approach.

Quantitative approach:Quantitative data involves the generation of data in a quantitative form which can be

subjected to analysis in a formal and rigid fashion.

Qualitative approach:It is concerned with subjective assessment of opinions and behavior.

Research Design:This calls for developing the most efficient plan for gathering the necessary

information, design a research plan, decision on the data sources, research

approaches, research instruments, sampling plan and contact methods. A research

design is the specification of the method and procedure for acquiring the information

needed. According to my research design I have performed the following Steps in

the project.

Deciding objective and sub-objective of the research.

To determine the most suitable method of research.

Research designs are of following types : 1. DESCRIPTIVE 2. DIAGNOSTIC

45

3. CAUSAL 4. EXPERIMENTAL

5. EXPLORATORY 6. APPLIED

In this project, Applied type of research design has been used. This method was

used so that finding of research can be used for increasing MINT Readership and

Expanding Sales Territories.

Research Tool

A structured questionnaire was used as an instrument in gathering the required

information from the Corporate. It is a systematic compilation of questions. The

questions were well defined and mostly were closed ended question because of

which respondent don’t have to stress their mind. The reason why the questionnaire

was preferred is due to following reasons,

a. Low cost b. Anonymity

c. Total coverage. d. Avoid bias.

SAMPLING:Sampling is one of the most fundamental concepts underlying any research work.

Most research studies attempt to make generalization or draw inference regarding

the population. Based on their study of a part of the population that is the sample.

The sample data enables the researchers to correctly estimate the population

parameters.

While doing sampling I considered Mumbai region area and then have taken help of

judgmental sampling.

Sampling Method & Technique

There are two types of sampling methods

46

1. PROBABILITY METHOD.

2. NON PROBABILITY METHOD.

In this research the non-probability sampling technique is used and in non-probability

sampling Judgmental sampling was used.

Judgmental sampling or Purposive sampling - The researcher chooses the

sample based on who they think would be appropriate for the study. This is used

primarily when there are a limited number of people that have expertise in the area

being researched.

Sampling Population

All the existing clients like, Stock Brokers, working professionals, Hotels, Students etc.

Sample Frame

The entire list that contains the sample unit is known as sample frame: in this case

my sample frame was Mumbai (subscribers of newspaper) region.

Survey and Data interpretation

47

Newspaper readership (general)

Newspaper read

70

60

50

40Newspaper read

30

20

10

0

SakaalTimes of India Lokmat Loksatta

Among the users of Mint Business Daily Newspaper Times of India Newspaper is the

most preferred newspaper followed by Sakaal. Lokmat and Loksatta both occupy the

third position.

Financial dailies ranking according to preference / perception

48

Preference pattern

100%90% Business Line80% Mint70% Financial express

60% Economic Times

50% Mint Business Daily

40% Newspaper

30%

20%

10%

0%

Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5

The respondents were asked to rank the Financial newspaper according to

perception / preference on the Scale of 1 to 5 (1 indicates higher rank and 5 the

lower). Economic Times was rated as no.1, 74 times; Mint Business Daily

Newspaper was ranked no.2, 63 times; Financial Express was ranked no.3, 48

times; Mint ranked no.4, 40 times and Business Line was ranked no.5, 48 times.

Thus from the above finding it can be concluded that Economic Times occupies the

no.1 position, Mint Business Daily Newspaper no.2, Financial Express no.3, Mint

no.4,Business Line no.5.

Factor influencing buying newspaper

49

Factor influencing buying decision

10 3 6

Content of Newspaper

9Availability

Cost 72

Services offered

Brand name

This chart indicates that 72% of the respondents say that Content of the newspaper

influences the most in buying newspaper.10% are influenced by Brand Name; 9%

by Availability; 6% by cost; 3% by Service offered. So the users of the Mint

Business Daily Newspaper are least bothered about the cost of newspaper and are

less price sensitive.

Mint Business Daily Newspaper customers focus more on the contents of

newspaper rather than any other above mentioned factors.

Figure 4: Ranking of newspaper on below mentioned criteria

In order to find the positioning of Mint Business Daily Newspaper in comparison with

other financial daily the respondents were asked to rank financial dailies on

functional parameters.

Newspaper assistance in Decision making

Newspaper assistance in decision making

50

Always 100%

Most of the times 21-99.99%

Sometimes 0.01-20%

Not at all 0%

The users of Mint Business Daily Newspaper are mostly share brokers, policy

makers, business heads, students they need to take decision concerning business,

whether it may be strategic or tactical. Of the 100 respondents evaluated 67% were

of the opinion that Mint Business Daily Newspaper helps them making decisions

Most of the Times, 29% said sometimes and 4% said always it is interesting t note

nobody has given the response as Not at all. Thus it can be interpreted that Mint

Business Daily Newspaper acts as an aide, guide and is very close to the decision

makers.

Section read in Mint Business Daily Newspaper

& other financial dailies

51

Section read

35

30

25

20

15Section read

10

5

0Corporate

& Economic and EditorialBanking and Stock Markets

Industry Policy Insurance

Of the various sections in the financial dailies Economic & Policy is the most read

section followed by a close competition from Corporate & Finance. Stock market is 3

most read, banking and Insurance, Editorial are are at 4 & 5 position respectively.

Since the readers of the Mint Business Daily Newspaper are business heads, policy

makers they have to keep them abreast with happening in Corporate & Industry,

Economic and policy related news so those are the 2 most sought out sections of

financial dailies.

People relate Mint Business Daily Newspaper with

52

Quality

70

60

50 Quality

40

30

20

10

0 Reliability Sophistication To the point Elegant

Mint Business Daily Newspaper positions itself as a newspaper which goes straight

to the point. In the survey it has been found that Mint Business Daily Newspaper

Walks the Talk, consumers has clearly given the verdict that one quality that they can

associate Mint Business Daily Newspaper is To the Point content it offers to the

consumers. Thus Mint Business Daily Newspaper is positioned as a paper which is

serious, respected, top-notch, non-frivolous, which is found on the editorial principles

of integrity accuracy and trust.

Would you suggest Mint Business Daily

Newspaper to your friend?

53

Suggestion

60

50

40

30 Series 1

20

10

0

Definitely Probably Not Sure Probably notDefinitely

notSuggest suggest suggest

If a consumer is happy with the kind of service offered by a company, the consumers

pass on the good word of mouth publicity to other reference group members. In my

survey it has been found that 53 respondents will probably suggest the Mint

Business Daily Newspaper to other.33 respondents are so much fascinated by the

offering of Mint Business Daily Newspaper that they will definitely suggest it to their

friends. 9 respondents were Not Sure; they will suggest it to other only on the future

services offered to them. 3 and 2 said that they will probably not suggest and

definitely not suggest which indicates that they were not satisfied. Thus Mint

Business Daily Newspaper in a near future will experience an increase in the market

share, which will help Mint Business Daily Newspaper to position as a premier

newspaper in the minds of the people.

Opinion regarding the supplement of

Mint Business Daily Newspaper

54

100%

90%

80%

70%

60% Fair

50% Good

40% V.Good

30% Excellent

20%

10%

0

The Smart InvestorThe Strategist

The Weekend

There are three supplements that are offered by Mint Business Daily Newspaper

which are published on Monday- The Strategist (Mint Business daily), Tuesday to

Friday – The Smart Investor (Mint Business daily+ Mint Market), Saturday –

Weekend (Mint Lounge). Respondents were asked to rate the supplements,

1. The Smart Investor: 11 rated it as Excellent, 29 Very Good, 60 Good, Fair 0,Poor

0

Thus this supplement is rated well by majority of the respondents. This implies

55

that there is a scope for improvement.

2. The Strategist: 16 rated it as Excellent, 42 Very Good, 40 Good, 2 Fair, 0 Poor.

Thus this supplement is rated as Very Good by majority of respondents. Some

additional areas need to be covered in this supplement.

3. The Weekend: 4 rated it as Excellent, 28 Very Good, 48 Good, 20 Fair, 0 Poor.

Thus supplement is rated well by majority of respondents. Certain areas need to,

be addressed to make this supplement more interesting.

Are you satisfied with the service of Mint

Business Daily Newspaper?

Satisfaction level

90

56

80

70

60

50Satisfaction level

40

30

20

10

0

Delighted Satisfied Not Satisfied

Satisfaction is a person’s feeling of pleasure or disappointment that result from comparing product’s / service perceived performance (or outcomes) to their expectations. If the performance falls short of expectations, the customer is Dissatisfied. If performance matches the expectations the customer is Satisfied, if performance exceeds expectations the customer is delighted. Of the 100 respondents 7 customers are Delighted, 79 customers are Satisfied, 14 customers are Not satisfied. Thus 86 customer’s Expectations of the services are met. So Mint Business Daily Newspaper is able to create a distinct place in the minds of people.The satisfaction level of customers can be improved through proper vendor tracking and maintaining good relation with them. Otherwise it can become lethal to Mint and hence will be very difficult to retain the reader base.

Findings

1. Mint Business Daily Newspaper Segment the market on geographic criteria. The geographical area is divided on the basis of Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 cities.

2. The target market of Mint Business Daily Newspaper is as follows:

57

Chartered Accountants I.T. Companies.

Hotels Share Brokers

Travel & Tourism Company. Real Estate.

Banking & Financial Institutions. Health & Beauty Clinics.

Educational Institutions Entrepreneurs

3. Positioning: Mint Business Daily Newspaper is positioned as a premium product (Financial Newspaper) read by the Crème de la crème of corporate India .It is perceived as no. 3 Financial daily by the customers.

4. Among the users of Mint Business Daily Newspaper; Times of India is the most read newspaper in the general newspaper category.

5. According to the perception / preference of customers Mint Business Daily Newspaper is positioned as no.4 financial newspaper

6. Content of the newspaper is the most influential factor in buying of the newspaper and it is designed in very different way compared to other financial paper. Less jargon is used and everything is presented in graphical format which makes readers easy to read.

7. Mint Business Daily Newspaper is perceived as no.2 on the following attribute ; Reliability of Information, Relevance to your studies/Business, Organization of different sections in newspaper, Language and style, Depth of Topic, Editorial content; whereas it is positioned as no.2 on Usage of Figures and Tables and Appearance and Format.

.

8. Information in the Mint Business Daily Newspaper helps customers in Decision making Most of the times.

9. Economy and Policy is the most section in newspaper followed by Corporate and Industry.

10. The one quality that the customers of Mint Business Daily Newspaper relate the

58

newspaper with is

‘To the Point’

11. 33% respondents would Definitely Suggest Mint Business Daily Newspaper to their reference groups whereas 53% said that they would probably suggest.

12. The Smart Investor and The Weekend supplements were rated as Good, whereas

The Strategist was rated as Very Good by the customers.

13. Expectations of 86 % customers are either matched or exceeded.

14. Individual Investors and stock brokers are the majority users of Mint Business Daily Newspaper.

Limitations

1. As Mint Business Daily Newspaper Limited has huge customer base spread

59

throughout the MUMBAI and country, so it was not possible to survey each

customer hence there was limitation on sample size.

2. The project was required complete within a certain time period and this was

another constraint for study.

3. Some customer was hesitant to share information, which they felt was

confidential. In their peak hours of work respondent may have given some wrong

information or incomplete information.

Recommendations

1. A supplement must be started giving insights into the real estate business

2. A section regarding mutual funds must be introduced in The Smart

Investor Supplement60

3. Mint Business Daily Newspaper must approach the headquarters of each

Institutions, Offices, Banks and Colleges so as to develop the market

4. The gap between the ordering of Subscription by the customer and issuance of

subscription should be reduced. As of now a customer has to wait maximum

for 21 days, this should be reduced down to maximum of 10 days.

5. Supply chain needs to be strengthened. 86% of the Mint Readers were satisfied

with Mint services and 14% of Mint Readers were not satisfied at all.

6. Mint Business Daily Newspaper must start the Sunday Edition with a price

slightly lower than competitors.

7. Mint Business Daily Newspaper must focus on retaining the existing customer

base, acquiring new customer is costlier.

8. Mint Business Daily Newspaper must promote its offering during Business

functions , National Conferences, Trade Fair, Business School Events,

Induction Program, MBA coaching centers to catch the target as early as

possible in their life stage.

9. Mint Business Daily Newspaper must aggressively reinforce its proposition of

being “Straight to the point

Learning

As we all know whatever we do – leads to certain learning’s and experience that adds value to us and supports future growth. From this project too I have learnt a lot that has overall enhanced my knowledge and has also helped me implement whatever I have studied into a real life situation. The first year was all about marketing what it is all about but what I have learnt in these 2 months probably I wouldn’t have learnt in my books. It was a real life experience which helped me gain a clear cut understanding about sales.

61

Sales – is a business function that is integral to any business. No doubt we have got to learn more about the newspaper industry and also about newspapers specifically the Hindustan times and mint. We have also learnt how the supply chain of the newspapers works. The form given to the customers includes the executive copy, subscribers copy, address change slip and the implementation card. The executive copy is our copy which is to be handed over to the office. The executive copy consists of all the details that is to be filled by the subscriber including their address, the offer that they would like to subscribe for whether 1 or 2 years etc. the subscribers copy consists of the copy that is to be handed over to the subscriber along with the address change slip in case of change of address and the implementation card which is to be handed over to the vendor. Once the implementation card is handed over to the vendor, the vendor hands it over to Hindustan times and subsequently the supply of the newspaper starts to the respective person or the company after all the formalities are fulfilled.

Another thing that I have learned is that sales is not an easy job, it requires lot of hardwork and skills.; it requires good knowledge about your product as well as good communication skills to be in position to communicate the product well to the opposite party so that they are happy with the product and are willing to buy it.

Through the meetings that were conducted by our manager we also learnt about the different zones west1, west2, south, central and the person in charge of these zones and if the vendors of the particular subscriber are not willing to supply the newspaper then to contact the respective zonal heads to get in touch with their respective vendors to accomplish the task.

Overall it was an amazing learning experience and a task which involved lot of travelling and also an experience which involved lot of communication with different corporate and the places where I have not been before and probably wouldn’t have been if this job was not assigned to me.

62

REFERENCES

Philip Kotler, Kevin Keller, Abraham Koshy, Mithileshwar Jha ,” MARKETING MANAGEMENT, A South Asian Perspective”,13th Edition,2009,Published by Dorling Kindersley India Pvt.Ltd. Licensee of Pearson Publication in South Asia, New Delhi

C.R. Kothari, “RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, Methods and Techniques”, New Revised

Edition,2004, New Age International Publishers, New Delhi 110002

Indian Readership Survey 2012 by Hansa Research

Ernst & Young Research

WEB

www.livemint.com

www.tribuneindia.com

www.allindianewspaper.com

www.economictimes.com

www.Thehindubusinessline.com

www.thefinancialexpress.com

www.livemint.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

www.htmedia.in/brandPage_hindustan.aspx?Page=Page-HTMedia-mint

www.slideshare.net/mdmangukiya/indian-newspaper-industry

www.htmedia.in/Section.aspx?Page=Page-HTMedia-AboutUs

63

ANNEXURE

Questionnaire

Name: ………………………………………..

Occupation: …………………........................

Address: …………………………………….

Contact no:..…………………………………

Q 1. Which newspaper do you read (general)?

a) Times of India b) Lokmat c) Sakaal d) Loksatta e) Other Specify ……………..................

Q 2. Rank financial dailies according to your preference/ perception? (Rank from 1 to 5, 1 indicates higher rank 5 indicate lower rank)

i.Business Standard ii. Economic Times iii. Financial Express

iv. Business Line Mint

Q 3. Which factor influences the most while buying newspaper?

a) Content of newspaper b) Availability c) Cost d) Services offered

e) Brand name e) Other specify……………………

64

Q 4. Rank the Newspapers with respect to one another on the following criteria? (1 –Higher rank, 5 –lower rank)

Business Standard

Economic Times

Mint Financial Express

Business Line

Reliability ofInformation

Relevance to yourstudies/Business

Organization ofdifferent sections

Language andStyle

Usage of Figuresand Tables

Depth of Topiccovered

Editorial content

Appearance andFormat

Q 5. Does the information in the newspaper help you in decision making?

a) Always b) Most of the times c) Sometimes d) Not at all

Q 6. Which section do you read the most in Business Standard / Other financial dailies? a) Corporate & Industry b) Economic and policy c) Stock Markets d) Editorial e) Banking & Insurance

65

f) Other Specify………………………..

Q 7. With what you relate Business standard? a) Reliability b) Sophistication c) To the point d) Elegant

e) Other specify……………………………………………

Q 8. Would you suggest Business Standard to your colleague/ friends?

a) Definitely b) Probably suggest c) Not Sure

d) Probably not suggest e) Definitely not suggest

Q 9. Give your opinion regarding the supplement (Tick the appropriate box)

a) The Smart Investor: Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor

b) The Strategist: Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor

c) The Weekend: Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor

Q 10. Are you satisfied with the Service of Business Standard?

a) Delighted b) Satisfied c) Not satisfied

Q 11. Any Suggestion to improve Business Standard services

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Thank You

66