a study of brand perception
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A Study of Brand Perception---The Indian expressTRANSCRIPT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
A STUDY OF BRAND PERCEPTION
OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS IN
BARODA
BARODA
From 01st May, 2011 to 30th June, 2011
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the
two year full time PGDM
SUBMITTED BY:
GULAB SINGHPGDM (II-Sem.)
Parul Institute Of Management (PGDM),Limada,Waghodia,
Baroda
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GUIDED BY:
Internal Guide: Prof. ANIRUDH TAMBEExternal Guide: Mr. VIRENDRA
GAEKWAD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
DECLARATION
I, GULAB SINGH, students of Parul Institute of Management, Baroda
hereby declare that this project namely “A study of Brand perception of The
Indian Express in Baroda” was done by me under the guidance of Mr.
VIRENDRA GAEKWAD (Circulation Manager) and Prof. ANIRUDH
TAMBE (Parul Institute of Management).
I also declare that, this project has not been submitted fully or partially for
the award of any degree, diploma, title or recognition earlier.
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sl. No. Title Page No.
CHAPTER 1 7
1.1 Purpose of Project 8
1.2 Limitations 8
1.3 Methodology 9
1.4 Structure of Report 9
CHAPTER 2 10
2.1 Introduction 13
2.1.1 Indian Newspaper Industry 13
2.1.2 The Indian Express Group 14
2.1.3 The Indian Express Newspaper 16
CHAPTER 3 18
3.1 Project 1 : Circulation & Distribution Problem 18
3.1.1 Introduction of Newspaper Circulation 18
3.1.2 Problem Definition Process 18
3.1.3 Study of Distribution Process 18
3.1.4 Distribution Process Chart 19
CHAPTER 4 21
4.1 Project 2 : Market Research Project 21
4.1.1 Management Decision and Market Research Problem 21
4.1.2 Market Research Problem and Research Components 21
4.1.3 Information Required 22
4.1.4 Research Methodology 24
4.1.4.1 Sampling Technique 24
4.1.4.2 Data Collection 24
4.1.4.3 Questionnaire Development & Pre-Testing 25
CHAPTER 5 27
5.1 Project 3 : Frontline Sales & Promotion 27
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5.1.1 The Selling Process 27
5.1.2 Problem Definition Process 29
5.1.3 Scope and Objective 30
5.1.4 Frontline Sales Process Strategy 30
CHAPTER 6 32
6.1 Conceptual approach towards Brand Perception. 32
6.1.1 Introduction 32
6.1.2 Brand and its Importance. 32
6.1.3 Brand Equity and its Model. 33
6.2.1 Brand Perception. 35
6.2.2 Measuring Brand Perception. 36
CHAPTER 7 42
7.1 Data Analysis & Results 42
7.1.1 Project 2 : Market Research Project 42
7.1.1.1 Descriptive Research 42
7.1.1.2 Qualitative Research 67
CHAPTER 8 92
8. Discussions and Conclusion 92
8.1 Suggestions and recommendations
8.1.1 Circulation & Distribution Study 92
8.1.2 Frontline Sales & Promotion 96
8.2 Learning’s 97
CHAPTER 9 99
9. Appendix 99
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Fig. No. Title Page No.
Fig(i) Newspaper Distribution Process Chart 19
Fig(ii) Customer based Brand Equity Model 32
Fig(iii) MR Data Analysis : Age of the Respondent 42
Fig(iv) MR Data Analysis : Sex of the Respondent 43
Fig(v) MR Data Analysis : Qualification of the Respondent 44
Fig(vi) MR Data Analysis : Occupation of Respondent 45
Fig(vii) MR Data Analysis : Place of buying newspaper 45
Fig(viii) MR Data Analysis : Newspaper read by the Respondent 46
Fig(ix) MR Data Analysis : Age Wise Readership 47
Fig(x) MR Data Analysis : Section Preferred in newspaper 48
Fig(xi) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Content 49
Fig(xii) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Images 50
Fig(xiii) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Color 51
Fig(xiv) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Layout 51
Fig(xv) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Design 52
Fig(xvi) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Length of the Articles 53
Fig(xvii) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Coverage of the News 54
Fig(xviii) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Analysis of the News 55
Fig(xix) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Price of the Newspaper 56
Fig(xx) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Design Timeliness 57
Fig(xxi) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Current Affairs 58
Fig(xxii) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Political News 59Fig(xxiii) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Business & Finance 60Fig(xxiv) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Entertainment News 61
Fig(xxv) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Sports News 62
Fig(xxvi) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Health Articles 63
Fig(xxvii) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Editorials 64
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Fig(xxviii) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Educational Articles 64
Fig(xxix) MR Data Analysis : Satisfaction Rating Advertisements 65
Fig(xxx) MR Data Analysis : Awareness of TNIE e-newspaper 66
Fig(xxxi) MR Data Analysis : Overall Satisfaction Rating 66
Fig(xxxii) MR Data Analysis : The Hindu as a Cricketer 67
Fig(xxxiii) MR Data Analysis : Times of India as a Cricketer 68
Fig(xxxiv) MR Data Analysis : TNIE as a Cricketer 69
Fig(xxxv) MR Data Analysis : Mint as a Cricketer 70
Fig(xxxvi) MR Data Analysis : The Hindu as a Film Star 71
Fig(xxxvii) MR Data Analysis : Times of India as a Film Star 72
Fig(xxxviii) MR Data Analysis : TNIE as a Film Star 73
Fig(xxxix) MR Data Analysis : Mint as a Film Star 74
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CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Project
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1.1 Purpose of Project
The Readership survey can help the organization optimize the relationship
with its customers. In the highly competitive world with competitors waiting
eagerly for a company to make the smallest mistake, it is extremely
important for the company to ascertain the satisfaction of their customers.
After all, with no customers, the company has no revenues.
The survey helps to:
Measure customer satisfaction levels.
Figure out different brand enhancing factors.
Improve customer retention.
Gauge interest in new products and service offerings.
Pinpoint areas for improvement.
The project so was conducted in three phases with the following aims:
Phase 1: Study the Distribution & Circulation of “The Indian Express”
newspaper.
Phase 2: Management Decision & Market Research Problem
DM Problem: To figure out the brand enhancing factor of the
brand “The Indian Express”.
MR Problem: To examine the brand perception of “The Indian
Express” in Baroda.
Phase 3: Sales & Promotion for The Indian Express Newspaper.
1.2 Limitations
1. The list of customers given as sample of the market may not be
correctly representative of the market considering the huge size
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and diversity of the market.
2. False response and biased answers given by the respondents may
affect the quality of the results obtained.
3. The study is conducted considering the prevailing conditions
which are subject to change in the future.
4. The Research is confined to the geographical boundary of Baroda.
5. Sampling has its own limitations; it may or may represent the
intended Population.
1.3 Methodology
The Market Research project was carried out in two phases. In the first
phase primary data was collected from the customers through questionnaires
(direct, telephonic and mailed) prepared for the purpose. The second phase
consisted of analyzing the Primary data with SPSS tool and does the
findings and Analysis.
1.4 Structure of Report
The project report starts with an introduction which contains the background
to the management decision problem. The management decision problem is
defined after this. Following this the research problem, components and
research questions are stated. The methodology followed for research in the
project is then explained. Next the analysis of the data collected and the
results of the same are given. This is followed by discussions and conclusion
of the project. This includes suggestions and recommendations for solving
the management decision problem based on the results of the analysis as
well as the learning from the project. The report ends with an overall
conclusion after which the references and appendix are given.10
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CHAPTER 2
Introduction of Company & Industry
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WHAT IS A NEWSPAPER
A newspaper is a printed periodical whose purpose is to deliver news and
other information in an up-to-date, factual manner. Newspapers appear most
commonly in daily editions, but may also be issued twice a day or weekly.
While the content of a newspaper varies, it generally consists of a
predetermined combination of news, opinion, and advertising. The editorial
section is written by reporters and other journalists at the direction of editors
and may also be compiled from wire service reports. The advertising content
of a newspaper can be divided into two parts, classified and display.
Classified ads are small, text-only items obtained via telephone and set into
the format by the classified advertising representative. Sales representatives
employed by the newspaper who actively solicit local businesses for this
larger, more visually oriented ad space obtain display ads.
CHAPTER 3
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A newspaper is printed on thin paper made from
a combination of recycled matter and wood pulp,
and is not intended to last very long. Large
printing presses, usually located at a plant
separate from the editorial and advertising
headquarters, print the editions, and a network of
delivery trucks bring them to the newsstands and
geographical distribution centers for subscribers.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
INDIAN NEWS MEDIA
Compared to many other developing countries, the Indian press has
flourished since independence and exercises a large degree of independence.
Many of India's great English-language newspapers and some of its Indian-
language press were begun during the nineteenth century.
The Indian press has experienced impressive growth since
independence. In 1950 there were 214 daily newspapers, with forty-four in
English and the rest in Indian languages. By 1990, the number of daily
newspapers had grown to 2,856, with 209 in English and 2,647 in
indigenous languages. The expansion of literacy and the spread of
consumerism during the 1980s fuelled the rapid growth of news weeklies
and other periodicals.
By 1993 India had 35,595 newspapers--of which 3,805 were dailies--
and other periodicals. Although the majority of publications are in
indigenous languages, the English-language press, which has widespread
appeal to the expanding middle class, has a wide multicity circulation
throughout India.
There are four major publishing groups in India, each of which
controls national and regional English-language and vernacular publications.
They are the Times of India Group, the Indian Express Group, the
Hindustan Times Group, and the Anandabazar Patrika Group. The
Times of India is India's largest English-language daily, with a circulation of
17,00,000, published in six cities. The Indian Express, with a daily
circulation of 15,19,000, is published in seventeen cities. There also are 10
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seven other daily newspapers with circulations of between 134,000 and
477,000, all in English and all competitive with one another.
ABOUT THE GROUP
Ramnath Goenka established the Indian Express in Chennai in 1932
in its current avatar when the struggle for Indian independence was at its
peak.
Goenka, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, heeded his call for an
independent voice of India's millions and took over the newspaper from S.
Sadanand for Rs. 300,000 - all the money he had at the time.
Often taking on the British regime, Goenka infused the legendary
anti-establishment spirit in its content that remains its hallmark.
The newspaper that's been accused of being "maker and destroyer" of
governments
The Indian Express Group is a flag-bearer for the Indian publishing
industry. It brings out over 12 publications, in 6 major languages, from 20
publishing centers across the country. It has over 6 million readers across the
country. Covering the length and breadth of the country from Jammu to
Kochi it is the largest publishing house in India.
It is being
Marketed through a network of over 5000 agents, 34 offices spread
across the country, and a staff of over 600 marketing personnel.The Indian
Express group publications include the Indian Express, The Financial
Express, Loksatta and the highly respected Bollywood weekly - Screen
among others. THE INDIAN EXPRESS The Indian Express is
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a newspaper started by Ram Nath Goenka, and is published from New
Delhi, India. The Indian Express is owned by the Indian Express Group,
which also owns the Financial Express, a newspaper focused on the Indian
economy, stock markets, and fiscal policies.In 1948, Ram Nath Goenka
partnered with Lala Deshbandhu Guptato of Daily Tej Limited to publish
Indian News Chronicle, English daily, from New Delhi.[1] After the demise
of Guptato, the daily was bought by Ram Nath Goenka and renamed as The
Indian ExpressIt boasts of having on its staff some of the country's most
reputed reporters and editors. Its investigative reports have led to changes in
several areas. Its coverage of the murder of an engineer working on the
national highway project got the Supreme Court to force the Government to
commit to a whistleblower law. Its campaign also helped bring about the
Right to Information law.Also the Express Group has a Bombay division,
different from its Madurai division, which brings out the South Indian
newspaper, The Indian Express. The Indian Express is in fact considered to
be much less fashionable when compared to its elite competitor The Times
of India.RAM NATH GOENKA A man
who fearlessly struggled to uphold the freedom of the press and democracy,
Ramnath Goenka is a legend in the history of the Indian fourth estate.
Born and brought up in Bihar, at the age of 15, he decided to 10
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
migrate to the city to follow his dreams. From a very young age, he
exhibited a fiery patriotism and Mahatma Gandhi advised him to publish a
newspaper devoted to the freedom struggle.
In 1932, he took over the loss-making Madras edition of The Free
Press Journal and drove the delivery van himself to dispatch the papers. He
founded the Indian Express in 1936. For him a newspaper was not just
another business. It was a mission, a vocation and a calling. The running of
The Indian Express was, for him, not a matter of profit and loss but a vehicle
of national empowerment.
Two elements made him a true original. His sense of history and his
instinct of patriotismHe switched on the light we are guided by
it.VIVECK GOENKA An Engineer by qualification, a newspaper
publisher by profession and a socially committed citizen by choice, Mr.
Viveck Goenka is the Chairman & Managing Director of Indian Express
Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd., one of the most widespread newspaper
publishing groups in India.
He is also a Director of the United News of India. He has been
Director of The Press Trust of India (PTI), a Council member of the Audit
Bureau of Circulation (ABC), and was one of the youngest past presidents of
the Indian Newspaper Society (INS). He has developed several
business publications like Express Computer in imparting information in
development of modern technology. One of his initiatives, a North American
edition of “The Indian Express”, is a reflection of his commitment to
disseminate information about India to the millions of Indian living abroad.
He has created an atmosphere of freedom and independence for editorial
teams of all Express publications. His only stipulation, be just, be free of
bias, be dauntless in the spirit of the Express founder Ramnath Goenka and
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
live up to the Express ethos of “Journalism of Courage”. It is his
commitment to editorial independence that has made the Express Group the
first choice of editorial professionals across the country.
VISIONJournalism Of Courage: - The Editorial
Vision"Our philosophy is to cover all the news that the other
newspapers would either not be able to access, or would not be
able to publish, for whatever reason. However, our philosophy also
is to publish all such news in a balanced and fair manner."
"We always have sharp opinions and we always take a stand on
issues. The Indian Express has never had a missionary position on
anything. It's either one way or the other. This is by and large our
philosophy" MISSIONIndian Express is
competing for bigger subscriber base while trying to justify advertising
expenditures by their advertisers.
The main challenge of this campaign is to increase circulation and
readership of Indian Express & Sunday Express.
The mission is to expand the market share of Indian Express by
creating a new market and by taking bites from competitors’ market
share.
The vision is to stand at a respectful position in this marathon and also
keep up with the pace of the changing needs of our valued readers.
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The procedure is to meet prospective readers of main-line newspapers
on one-on-one basis and convince them to start reading our
publication.
The agenda is to win more and more readers to our cause.
In addition of being backed-up by a strong product, we need to deliver
100% of ourselves.
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH
Indian Express and Financial Express both have got strong brand
image, so company can encase this for other segments also.
The investigative stories of the Indian Express differentiate itself from
its competitors.
Direct marketing used by the circulation department can cover
potential market.
WEAKNESS
The promotional schemes are not planned and implemented well.
In case of Financial Express- high price as compared to the
competitors.
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No free gifts given to the readers.
There are very less supplements with the main news paper.
No information about education in paper.
Newsprint quality.
OPPORTUNITIES
Currently company is giving 50% off on Financial Express, which
helps the company to expand the market.
There were around 80% Gujarati medium schools and only 20%
English medium schools in 1990, but these figures have changed to
80% English medium and 20% Gujarati medium schools.
THREATS
High competition from Times Of India, which affects the readership
of Indian Express group.
In the state of Gujarat there are only 8 to 10% of English readers.
ABOUT INDIAN EXPRESS NEWSPAPER
The Indian Express is the newspaper that makes national impact everyday.
Award winning exclusive stories that shake the establishment and exposes
those who bring-out corruption and malpractices in the system.
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
It is 20 pages daily, packed with news, information, analysis, business, edit,
sports & entertainment. It has 18 main pages and the rest 2 pages are for
Gujarat news line, which covers local and regional news.
It gets published from the following places:
1. Ahmedabad
2. Chandigarh
3. Delhi
4. Jammu
5. Kolkata
6. Lucknow
7. Mumbai
8. Nagpur
9. New York (Weekly)
10. Pune
11. Vadodara.
USP:
Bringing to light story that is a part of journalistic legend.
The school of investigative journalism.
No sexy sound bites, no talking heads discussing ethics in a studio.
No spy cameras, no faking identities.
Only what they teach on Day One in the newsroom: get out, get the
facts.
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Cost of the news paper…
Indian express: Rs. 2.50 from Monday to Saturday
Sunday express: Rs. 5.00 on Sunday.
18 PAGES OF MATTER COVERS…
News Covers regional news.
National Network Countrywide news.
Editorial Page.
--Editor’s contributions, Letters to the editor.
International.
Business.
Sport.
EXPRESS MONEY
It is a 4-page tabloids supplement every Monday covering news from the capital market.
It specially covers the news from the following area:
Stock Market.
Insurance
Banking
Investment
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Financial Planning Data
Lifestyle.
The Sunday Express - AT A GLANCE
Bringing Sunday reading back in fashion.
Fills a gaping niche for a comprehensive Sunday reading. 34-
pages of in-depth and enjoyable content.
Best stories from across the country.
Contributions from the editorial team in New York, London,
Moscow, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco.
Exclusive tie-ups with The Los Angeles Times and The
Washington Post.
Contents…
News.
The Sunday Story.
The big investigative news pieces.
A sweeping exclusive on the week’s top story.
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Major stories on lifestyle and has sub-sections
such as ‘Travelogue’, ‘Books’ and ‘Arts &
Culture’.
Book reviews, special columns.
EDITORS
SHEKHAR GUPTA:
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Gupta who writes a weekly column, National Interest, in the
Indian Express, also has a programme, Walk the Talk, on NDTV
24x7, India’s most popular television news channel in English.
The weekly show features conversations with newsmakers from
politics, society, sports and entertainment. His works Include
Assam: A Valley Divided, published in 1984. Gupta, who worked
as a Research Associate at the International Institute of Strategic
Studies (IISS), was also a member of the Council.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
RAJ KAMAL JHA:
SANDIPAN DEB
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Raj Kamal Jha (b. 1966) is the author of The Blue Bedspread
which was nominated in and had won the Commonwealth
Writers' Prize, 2000, for Best First Book (Eurasia region) and
was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
Jha was recently a visiting professor at the University of
California, Berkeley. He was also a fellow at the prestigious
Yaddo Residency in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 2005
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
OM THANVI:
THE BIO-DATA OF THE UNIT
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Sandipan Deb is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology,
Kharagpur, and the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta,
Sandipan spent three years in corporate India before shifting to
journalism. He has been Executive Editor of A&M (Advertising
and Marketing) and Senior Editor at Business Today.
Sandipan is the author of The IITians, the first book on India’s
premier engineering institutes and its alumni.
He is known for his social and cultural concerns. He has personally been engaged in theatre, literature and environmental activities. Has keen interest in history and anthropology; particularly in music, cinema, painting, architecture and language.
Om Thanvi is a recipient of the prestigious Haldighati Award for Journalism, constituted by the Mewar Foundation, Udaipur.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
NAME OF UNIT : THE INDIAN EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS
ADDRESS : INDIAN EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS
407, Dwarkesh Complex,
R.C.Dutt Road,
Alkapuri,
Vadodara - 390 007
PHONE NO : 0265-2352853, 0265-2352852
FAX : 0265-2352509
E-MAIL : [email protected]
WEB : www.expressindia.com
LOGO :
FOUNDER : Ramnath Goenka
EDITOR IN CHIEF : Shekhar Gupta
BRANCH MANAGER : Mr. Mahesh Patel
PRODUCTION HEAD : Mr. Maria Das
SPACE MARKETING : Mr. Manish Rathod
Exe. CIRCULATION : Mr. Virendra Gaekwad
Mr. Pintu Dhodya
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Chapter-3
MARKETING
DEPARTEMENT
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The newspaper costs around 14 to 15 rupees, and as we had discussed earlier that its
selling price is around 2.5 rupees. So to get profit from this there should be a source of
revenue. This revenue is generated from two sources:
1) Circulation.
2) Advertisements.
Thus there are two departments in marketing:
1) Circulation department, which takes care of sales of the newspaper, and
2) Space marketing, which allocates the space for the advertisements.
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A) CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT:
Circulation department is responsible for the circulation of the newspaper in the whole
region, which comes under the preview of the respective editions.
Activities of the circulation department…
Following are the activities of the circulation department:
1 Recruit agency
2 Dispatch news papers
3 Collection of payments
4 Promotional and branding activities.
A. Events
B. Customer contact program
C. Trade activities.
This is a very important department for the newspaper as this is only the one, which is
responsible to create brand awareness in the customers mind, and also the one who is
responsible to maintain a direct relationship with the suppliers, newspaper agencies and
the customers.
These people also carry out all the promotional activities. The Indian Express uses
sources like hoardings, television and magazine ads, organizing events, etc. for its
promotion. NDTV India, a news channel, is used for the promotion of the Group. On the
occasion of the Environment Day a event was organized at Vadodara in cooperation with
the ONGC. During the launch of Financial Express (Ahemdabad edition) hoardings were
used.
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DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL:
Vans
As above shown, distribution channel starts from the distribution. Production department
supplies copies to the distributors. There are vans with the company to distribute the
copies from the production center to the different distribution points. After that
distributor supplies it to the Agent then through vendors or Cash stall then ultimately it
goes to the customer.
The van owners, who take a newspaper from the production house to the
distribution centers, are on a contract basis. These vans take both the city and up country
editions to their respective centers.
All the newspaper should reach the centers before 3:30 in the morning. Here at
Vadodara there are two major centers:
1) Station
2) Raopura
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Production Department
Center
Agent
Vendor Stalls
End Customer
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
At Raopura, The Indian Express had an agency named “CHITRA AGENCY” which is
responsible for the distribution of the newspaper to different vendors or hawkers.
The vendors come around 4 a.m. in the morning and take their respective copies from the
agent. The vendor had to give his code number, which has been given to him by the
publication, and total number of copies he wanted. He will also give the remaining copies
of the previous day paper so that he can get back that much amount back. Figure shows
the type of invoice prepared by the agent.
The Agent gets 5% commission on the sell of each copy. Thus he gets 17 paisa per copy
(5% of Rs. 2.5).
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VENDOR CODE NO._________________
NO. OFCOPIES.
For inserting the supplements into the main
newspaper contract is given to people who takes 2
paisa for inserting one supplement.
These vendors then distribute the copies to their
ward-boys. They are called so because their wards
(areas) where they had to distribute the paper are pre
decided by the vendor.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
DISPATCH DEPARTMENT:
UP COUNTRY CHANNEL CITY SUPPLY
(VADODARA DISTRICT)
AGENTS
(UP COUNTRY)
RAOPURA STATION
SUBAGENTS
(REMOTE AREAS)
READERS HAWKERS
READERS
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DISPATCH DEPARTMENT
CIRCULATION
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
HAWKERS:
You may not even know the name of your vendor but remember, he makes sure you
know something about the world. He is the unsung hero of the world of news and letters.
Then the process of sorting the newspaper begins, colony-wise, block-wise, row-wise and
so on. Within this classification comes the intricate task of putting newspapers in order.
Some want the paper that people trust; others vouch for the one that claims truth must
prevail.
The hawkers get around 28% commissions. Thus they buy the newspaper at Rs. 1.80
from the agent and sell it at a cover price of Rs. 2.50 and get a profit of 70 paisa.
B) SPACE MARKETING DEPARTMENT:
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They sneak in the world through your door.
They make sure the world comes calling at
your doorstep with a pinpoint accuracy. In
the wee hours when the world sleeps they
venture out, taking their rickety cycles out,
honking their way through the streets. To
the nearest depot, actually a collection
center for most local newspapers.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
We know that the elder son is more responsible than the parents in the home to earn. In
the same way, Space Marketing Department is the department that earns the revenue and
is responsible for it, while the Editorial department is important for the organization by
the readers’ point of view. The editorial section is written by reporters and other
journalists at the direction of editors and may also be compiled from wire service reports.
ACTIVITIES OF SPACE MARKETING DEPARTMENT…
Marketing/Sale space of various publications of Indian Express Group and its other
products, collect advertisements and in turn generate revenues.
Collect the advertisement by fieldwork.
Media and Scheduling the ads like…
1. When to publish
2. How to Publish
3. What space require for that advertisement.
4. On which Page it should be print
5. According to place and space the rate of that advertisement is decided.
6. Collection of payments of advertisement from the customers.
A mock-up of the page, essentially a blank form showing where the stories will run and
where pictures and advertising will be inserted, is called the "dummy." The makeup
editor has already met with the space-marketing department to determine how such pages
will be laid out with ad space. The dummy has rough notes for headlines, story insertions,
and graphic elements such as photos and tables of statistics. It also shows the date of the
edition as well as a page and section number. After the news editor has determined the
placement of the story on the page in question—as well as the other items set to run there
—the dummy is sent on to a composing room.
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DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF ADVERTISEMENTS…
The advertising content of a newspaper can be divided into two parts,
(1) Classifieds
(2) Display.
Classified ads are small, text-only items obtained via telephone and set into the format
by the classified advertising representative. Sales representatives employed by the
newspaper who actively solicit local businesses for this larger, more visually oriented ad
space obtain display ads.
In addition to these other categories are tenders, financials, appointments, etc. Display,
financial and tenders have higher rates, while classifieds and appointments have lower
rates. The vernacular newspapers have the display category revenue higher than the
others.
The front page, the last page and the 3rd page are the main pages where the
advertisements are printed. These pages are also more costly as compare to other. The
charge for printing an advertisement varies from day to day. It also varies for different
newspaper.
The maximum advertisement height is 49 cm. without date line and the maximum
breadth is 33.2 cm. The minimum height is (3*4) cm. 60 col. cm. (20*3, 30*2); 100 col.
cm.; strip (12*8). Any advertisement on the front page can be taken in the below
mentioned size only.
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ADDVERTSEMENT COST:
PUBLICATIONSB&W
RATES
COLOUR
RATES
Ahmedabad Ahemdabad Newsline
Inside page
Front page pointer
150
225
Front page 200
Back page 175
Rajkot (Saurashtra-Kutch) Newsline 80 120
Baroda Vadodara Newsline
Front page
Back page
175
155
150
200
165
CLIENTS:
Around 35 to 40% market share in terms of advertisement revenue comes from the
government. Thus they are the major clients for the Indian Express. The state government
releases their ads through DIPR (Department of Information and Public Relationship),
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while the central government releases their advertisement through DAVP (Directorial of
Audio Video and Publicity). This means that the government gives their ads to these
organizations and they published them in the daily newspapers.
Other organizations release their advertisements through Advertisement Agencies. Also
the publisher does not take direct advertisements but gets it through the ad agencies
because of payment securities.
There are three types of advertisement agencies:
1) Non-accredited:
They are not registered at INS (Indian Newspaper Society)
2) Provisional accredited:
Once they apply for registration it takes 6 months
3) Accredited:
They can published or release their ads across the whole country in any publications. In a
newspaper there is about 60% editorial material and about 40% advertisement material.
This is the standard set for the advertisement content for the Indian Express.
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Chapter-4
Conceptual Approach towards Brand
Perception
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4.1.1 Introduction.
A successful brand is the most valuable resource a company has. It is being
said that, in the coming years companies will include a “statement of value”
to their balance sheets to include the intangibles such as Brand.
Consumers associate the value of a product with the brand. For
example, the brand name of Tata Motors, Maruti-Suzuki, HUL etc, are
indisputable in India. It is customers’ perception that makes the value of the
brand and ultimately contributes to competitive advantage.
4.1.2 Brand and its Importance.
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as "a name, term,
sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the
goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them
from those of competitors". (Marketing Management, Kotler).
Ancient history provides evidence of the importance of brands.
Earlier it used to be like, maker of certain product like wine, put their name
on the barrels of the wine. That name made all differentiation to their
counterparts. It still exists in our on Indian locality as some Kirana store
bears the name as their Brand. People buy from that particular Kirana store
in the trust that, they will get quality product at affordable price.
Importance to consumers
Can evaluate his/her brand among identical product of all competitors.
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Simplify decision making.
Reduce risk is invaluable.
4.1.3 Brand Equity & its Model.
The value directly or indirectly accrued by these various benefits is
often called brand equity (Kapferer, 2005; Keller, 2003).
Brand equity has been studied by marketer and researcher with
different perspective. Customer-based approach view brand equity from the
perspective of both consumer and organization. It was first developed by
“Kevin Lane Keller” which depicts the process that goes into building strong
brand. It basically describes six dimensions of brand equity: Brand salience,
brand performance, brand imagery, consumer judgments, consumer feeling
and brand resonance.
Fig (2): Customer based brand equity model; by Kevin Lane Keller.
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These are the six dimensions:
Brand salience relates to how often and easily the brand is evoked
under various purchase or consumption situations.
Brand performance relates to how the product or service meets
customers' functional needs.
Brand imagery deals with the extrinsic properties of the product or
service, including the ways in which the brand attempts to meet
customers' psychological or social needs.
Brand judgments focus on customers' own personal opinions and
evaluations.
Brand feelings are customers' emotional responses and reactions with
respect to the brand.
Brand resonance refers to the nature of the relationship that
customers have with the brand and the extent to which customers feel
that they are "in sync" with the brand.
4.2.1. Brand Perception.
Though brand is the most important thing to any company, its value is
derived from the words and perception of the consumers. Consumers decide
with their purchases, based on their brand knowledge, which brands have
more equity than other brands. Brand knowledge is nothing but status of
brand in the mind consumer based on thoughts, feeling, images, beliefs,
attitudes, experiences and so on. This brand knowledge affects how
consumers respond to products, prices, communications, channels and other
marketing activity – increasing or decreasing brand value in the process.
This ultimately helps in formation association with any particular brand.
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Two particularly important components of brand knowledge are brand
awareness and brand image. Brand awareness is ability of the consumer’s
brain to recall or recognize under different conditions. Brand awareness can
be characterized by depth and breadth. The depth of brand awareness relates
to the likelihood that the brand can be recognized or recalled. The breadth of
brand awareness relates to the variety of purchase and consumption
situations in which the brand comes to mind. Brand image is defined as
consumer perceptions of and preferences for a brand, as reflected by the
various types of brand associations held in consumers' memory. These
associations range along a number of different dimensions, such as their
strength, positivity, uniqueness, and abstractness. Strong, favorable and
unique brand associations are essential as sources of brand equity to drive
consumer behavior.
4.2.2. Measuring Brand Perception.
Why
1. Customer perceptions drive business.
It is consumer’s perception that indirectly values to the company. One
consumer’s perception perpetuate to other through word of mouth. This
ultimately leads to increasing or degrading consumer base based on the
positive or negative word of mouth, respectively.
2. Companies don’t get around to listening.
Most organizations would agree with the importance of understanding
market perceptions, but they never seem to find the time or dollars to engage
directly with their customers and other key stakeholders to find out what
they’re thinking, or what’s important to them. Instead, they continue on in
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the hope that what they hear from their sales and customer service reps
offers a complete and accurate picture of what their customers are thinking
—and saying to others.
What
1. Brand perception study (BPS) simplifies the process of getting to
the customer.
BPS helps in figuring out perception of consumers on any particular brand
through qualitative & quantitative research. The study focuses on three key
areas of brand perception:
1. Overall impression
2. Willingness to recommend
3. Performance, based on standard and client-specific product/service
criteria a) Best alternative (competitor) and how do they compare
b) Level of importance of each criterion
2. Net Champion Score (NCS) offers a quick indicator of the brand’s
health.
NCS is the total score that is calculated (for the above key area of the brand
perception) by some company over a period of time in order to find the
health of the brand.
When
The entire process—from MR proposal and survey and to final report—
takes about six weeks. Full results are made available to the client hard copy
and online (in tables, charts and full text).
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Who
There are some agencies existing in both Indian and global marketplace
which do this work. These agencies constantly observe the different market
scenario in order to find out its implication on different existing brands and
brand perception.
How
1. Qualitative Research
Before starting to identify the kind of brand perception, it is equally
important to figure out the kind of brand association a consumer have
with the brand. Qualitative research techniques are often employed to
identify possible brand associations and sources of brand equity.
Qualitative research techniques are relatively unstructured
measurement approaches whereby a range of possible consumer
responses are permitted. Because of the freedom afforded both
researchers in their probes and consumers in their responses,
qualitative research can often be a useful "first step" in exploring
consumer brand and product perceptions. Following the few
qualitative research techniques can be useful in this regard:
Free Association
This is the technique to identify the kind of brand association a
consumer have with the brand and later perception about the brand. It
involves the free association task where question is asked what comes
to mind when they think of brand. Answers to these questions helps to
clarify the range of possible associations and assemble a brand profile.
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To better understand the positivity of brand associations, consumers
can be asked follow up questions as to the favorability of associations
they listed or, more generally, what they like best about the brand.
Similarly, consumers can also be asked direct follow-up questions as
to the uniqueness of associations they listed or, more generally, what
they find unique about the brand. Thus, additionally useful questions
include:
1) What do you like best about the brand? What are its positive
aspects? What do you dislike? What are its disadvantages?
2) What do you find unique about the brand? How is it different from
other brands? In what ways is it the same?
These simple, direct measures can be extremely valuable at
determining core aspects of a brand image. To provide more structure
and guidance, consumers can be asked further follow up questions to
describe what the brand means to them in terms of "who, what, when,
where, why, and how" type of questions such as:
1) Who uses the brand? What kind of person?
2) When and where do they use the brand? What types of situations?
3) Why do people use the brand? What do they get out of using it?
4) How do they use the brand? What do they use it for?
This technique can be the part of the In-depth Interview, which
basically involves the one on one interview. It may have structured
and unstructured form of questionnaire based on the experience of the
interviewer.
Projective Techniques
It may seems simple to carry out a survey with a structured researched
questionnaires, but when it comes to actual results there may be find
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may or may not figure out their own perception and association with
the brand in true form. So, in that case projective technique is the best
and simplest method to figure out their true perception.
The idea behind projective techniques is that consumers are presented
with an incomplete stimulus and asked to complete it or given an
ambiguous stimulus that may not make sense in and of itself and are
asked to make sense of it. In doing so, the argument is that consumers
will reveal some of their true beliefs and feelings. Thus, projective
techniques can be especially useful when deeply rooted personal
motivations or personally or socially sensitive subject matters may be
operating. Projective techniques often provide useful insights that help
to assemble a more complete picture of the perception and their
relationship with the brand. These are the few way of projective
technique: word association, sentence Completion, and storytelling.
Brand Personality
Another way to figure out the perception and the kind of
relationship with the brand is brand personality.”Brand personality is
the human characteristics or traits that can attributed to a brand
(Aaker, 1997)”.
Brand personality can be measured in different ways. Perhaps
the simplest and most direct way is to solicit open-ended responses to
a probe such as:
“If the brand were to come alive as a person, what it would be
like, what would it do, where would it live, what would it wear, who
would it talk to if it went to a party (and what would it talk about)."
Observational Approaches10
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This may not be an effective way study the brand perception of
consumer, but it may give some insight on the impact of their
perception on buying pattern. In this, consumers can be observed
without being noticed as they shop or as they consume products to
capture every nuance of their behavior.
2. Quantitative Research
Although qualitative measures are useful to identify and characterize
the range of possible associations to a brand, a more quantitative
portrait of the brand often is also desirable to permit more confident
and defensible strategic and tactical recommendations. Whereas
qualitative research typically elicits some type of verbal responses
from consumers, quantitative research typically employs various types
of scale questions so that numerical representations and summaries
can be made. Quantitative measures are often the primary ingredient
in tracking studies that monitor brand knowledge structures of
consumers over time.
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CHAPTER 5
Market Research
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5.1: Market Research
With the recent Herculean growth in the field of technology and science, the
news paper readers have considerably reduced and people have now started
using internet as their innovative medium to get them informed about the
latest happenings around the globe, as a result of which selling newspapers
has become more challenging for the news paper companies. Each and every
reader has different tastes and to fulfill the flavors of a mass audience is a
phenomenal challenge
5.1.1 Management Decision and Market Research Problem
Management Decision Problem
What could be the brand enhancing factor for brand “The Indian
Express” in Baroda?
Market Research Problem
What sort of perceptions people of Baroda have about the brand
The Indian Express.
5.1.2 Market Research Problem & Market Research Components
Now that I have identified what is to be learned and what information I want
to obtain i.e. what questions to ask, what variables to study in the previous
step. To get the answers to the issues raised in the previous step I have to lay
out a research design for obtaining the information.
In this project my objective is to analyze the perception about the brand
“The Indian Express” among the general news paper readers. So I have
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identified what is to be learned and I have designed a questionnaire based on
the information that I want to obtain.
The first part of the research design is to decide on the type of research that
will work best for the purpose and information that is sought.
I have decided to use the descriptive and qualitative (In-depth) type of
research for my project.
Market Research Component:
What Factors affect the Purchasing Decision of the Newspaper?
Sub Components:
Criteria influencing a Reader to buy an English Newspaper
(Price, Content or Both)
Customers perception on Annual Offer Schemes of The Indian
Express Newspaper
Relative Comparison of the Indian Express Newspaper with other
Major Players
5.1.3 Information Required
Readers basic understanding of different brand of newspaper:
This can be done by asking them simple correlation with any film star
or cricketer.
Which section do the customers read or start with and how they
feel about that on comparative basis with different newspaper:
This question will give us the taste or interest of the customer
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This will tell us whether the customer is interested in:
Current affairs
Political news
Business & Finance
Entertainment
Sports
Health articles
Educational articles
Editorials
Others
Content and photographs :
This question will tell us about the ability of the customer to
understand the details from the paper and will tell us whether the
customers like to have pictorial representation of the news, which will
further make it easily understandable.
Annual Subscription Scheme :
This is the most important part of the survey as this will tell us
whether the customer is aware of our annual subscription scheme
(Rs 599 per year) or not and will also tell us whether the scheme is an
attractive deal or not i.e. whether the customer is interested in the
scheme or not.
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5.1.4 Research Methodology
The Market research project was carried out in two phases. In the first phase
primary data was collected from the customers through questionnaires
(direct, telephonic and mailed) prepared for the purpose. The second phase
consisted of analyzing the Primary data with SPSS (Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences) tool and does the findings and Analysis.
5.1.4.1 Sampling Technique
Target Population : English Daily readers in Baroda.
Sampling Technique : random sampling
Sample Size : 200 (including 20 vendor interviews)
5.1.4.2 Data Collection
The second part of the research design involves laying out a plan to collect
the information within the research method selected. To gather research
marketers have three choices:
Acquire Pre-existing research.
Undertake new research themselves.
Out-source the task of new research to a third-party, such as
a market research company.
The first option is associated with Secondary research and the last two
options are associated with the Primary research. The data’s that I collected
for the research are mentioned in the questionnaire. Further, I used the
Quantitative & Qualitative data collection type of Primary research.
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5.1.4.3 Questionnaire Development & Pre - Testing
The final questionnaire was developed. I first decided the objectives of the
questionnaire and then went step by step in designing the questionnaire.
The objective of the questionnaire was to translate the information needed
regarding the newspapers into a set of specific questions that the respondents
can and will answer. While designing the questionnaire I also concentrated
in minimizing the respondent fatigue, boredom, incompleteness and no
response. The process followed for preparing the questionnaire was as
follows:
First, I specified the information needed.
Then, I decided on the content of personal information
Then the question was designed keeping in mind the
respondent’s inability and unwillingness to answer
Then the question structure was decided, i.e. to have open-
ended questions or close ended questions or both.
After the questions were framed, these questions were arranged
in proper order under each heading.
Then the questionnaire was reproduced to the Project guide, Mr. Ramanath
GP Maiya, Regional Sales Manager, The Indian Express for inspection and
pre-test.
After the pretesting was done, the final questionnaire was prepared which
had to be passed to the respondents.
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CHAPTER 6
Project 3: Frontline Sales &
Promotion
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6.1: Frontline Sales & Promotion
6.1.1 The selling process
The selling process of newspapers in India involves various steps like:
1. Prospecting and Evaluation:
This is the stage where potential customers are found and evaluated. It is
first necessary to identify that the potential customer has the willingness,
ability and authority to buy the product. This would involve first generating
sales leads. In the case of newspapers customers could be Financial
Institutions, IT employees, students preparing for their CAT examination
MBA students and other institutions like Hotels, Airlines etc.
2. Pre approach:
In this stage the process of approaching the client is decided. This involves
deciding on the approach establishing objectives of the sales call and
preparing for a presentation. We need to analyze what are the product
features in which the customer will be interested and focus on those during
presentation.
This stage involves deciding whether it will be enough to do a simple cold
call or to set up an appointment which is needed in case we want to set up a
Stall. Like in the case of setting up stalls in academic institutions where a
larger section of our targeted population can be met, it becomes essential
that we first fix up an appointment with the facilities manager asking his
permission to do promotional activities.
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3. Approach:
This stage involves getting in initial contact with the customer by meeting
him and generating interest in the product. Once the salesmen (we) are with
the customer they would make a presentation making him aware of the
characteristics of the paper, the discount and the magazines that are on offer.
While selling to Financial Institutions sales representatives focus on
presenting the various Business magazines that the customer will get if he
subscribes. While pitching to younger customer salesmen focuses on the
weekly magazines (like EDEX) which are more enticing to them.
While making presentations to corporate the focus is on the operational
efficiency and convince the Facilities Manager that the implementation will
be starting in 2 weeks time from when the employees start signing up for the
subscription.
4. Handling Objection:
The most common objection which is encountered during the selling is the
fact that most customers who are regular readers of others newspapers are
very loyal and are unwilling to change. This is the time when distinguishing
features of the products need to be highlighted for example Business
Standard highlights the fact that it has has various sections like the BS
200 which gives the complete analysis of the 200 companies that were
traded the most on the stock exchange the previous week. This section on
the paper is something unique only to Business Standard. Also 'The
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assists people in making their investment decisions as to which sector they
should invest their money in was also of interest to people who were more
investment focused.
Some of the customers are worried about the implementation time
this is where sales person had to tell the customers about how we will be
ensuring that they get a regular supply of their business standard by
interacting with their vendors and start the delivery of their newspaper to
their home in 2 weeks.
5. Closing:
At this stage the customer is more or less aware of the product and has made
up his mind to either go ahead with the sale or not. If the subscription are
attractively priced most customers prefer to go for the plan offered and want
to first get a look at the service being provided. Thus most people will either
back out at the middle of the presentation, while others stick around to try
and see what they are getting for their money. By the time salesman pops the
final question whether the customer wants to pay by cash or cheque the
customer usually has made up his mind.
6.1.2 Problem Definition Process
The circulation and sales of The Indian Express was to be increased
and when compared with the competitors the readership was comparatively
down among adults in the city of Bangalore.
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6.1.3 Scope & Objective:
Creation of Awareness on the readership is what every newspaper concern is
looking forward at knowing the tastes of different customers and the buying
habits of them. The objective of the project was to Create Awareness of the
Annual Offer prevailing and to do Promotion (Annual Offer) and Sales of
the same to Young Adults in Bangalore.
6.1.4 Frontline Sales Process Strategy
The project was divided into parts which include Colleges and Wards. So
the strategies followed were also differently adopted for each category
1. Strategy for College
The strategies adopted for colleges were different from Ward
Campaign. The head of the institution was met personally and the
need was communicated.
After getting the permission letter from the head of the institution, we
give order for extra copies of newspapers to be printed for the free
sampling programme.
The printing press should be informed well in a day of advance if in
need of extra copies. We normally targeted the college hostels for our
sampling. For a couple of days, we made arrangements for the sample
to be put in each door step, and then a kiosk was put in the college
campus where students and the faculties could actually subscribe to
The Indian Express.
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Awareness was created among the teachers and the actually acted as
gate keepers for us by informing the students about the stall put and
about the offer. And the orders were taken.
2. Strategy for Wards
This starts with the approach of deciding first the location of
campaigning. Teams were divided for doing the campaign in different
part of the city.
After deciding the location, number of copies decided for free
distribution.
Free distribution was done with explaining the product to the
prospective customer.
As the people might have experienced the paper by then, it was easy
for them to take decisions. The follow up was done and order was
taken.
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CHAPTER 7
Data Analysis & Results
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7.1 Data Analysis & Results
7.1.1 – Market Research Problem
7.1.1.1 Descriptive Research
1) Age of the Respondent ( N = 82)
Fig (1)
The age wise ratio response that the most number of responses came from the age group of 18 to 25(50 People), which is in the range of our target age group.
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2) Sex of the Respondent ( N = 82)
Fig (2)
The sex wise ratio of 70 males and 10 females among the target size of 82 says that more males were interested in responding to the questionnaire.
3) Qualification of the Respondent
Fig. (3)10
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4) Occupation of the Respondent
Fig (4)
5) Place of Buying newspaper
Fig (5)
Out of 82 respondents, 42 were subscribing newspaper at home. This
suggests that door to door campaigning could be more useful in
enhancing the brand awareness or to increase the circulation also.
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6) What do you prefer reading most in your newspaper?
Fig (6)
Current affairs most preferred section for reading among readers of “The
Indian Express”. Compare to “Others than Times of India” readers are more
satisfied reading current affairs in “The Indian Express”.
7) Satisfaction Rating
a) Content
Fig (7)
Out of 10 express readers 5 (50%) said content of the newspaper is “very
good” and “good”, respectively. Whereas, Times reader 14 (32%) out of
37(100%) said times have “very good” content and 22(59%) said it has only
“Good” content. So, here Express readers are more satisfied with content of
the newspaper and hence better perception compared to “Times of India”.
b) Images
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Fig (8)
In terms of “Images” Times has better satisfaction compare to any other
newspaper. 20 people out of 82 said Time of India provide better image
quality. Whereas, Only 1 person has said The Indian Express has “very
good” images.
c) ColorOut of 10(100%) express reader, 1(10%) said it has color of the newspaper
is “very good”, 4(40%) said it has “Good” color, and 5(50%) said “Fair”.
Whereas, out of 37(100%) Times reader 21(57%) said “Very good”,
14(38%) said “good” and rest said “fair”. This clearly shows that people
want “The Indian Express” to be more colorful. (Rate your satisfaction of
color of newspaper)
Fig (9)
d) Layout
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Fig (10)
Compare to 11(30%) Times reader, only 1(10%) Express readers said it has “very good” layout.
e) Design
Fig (11)Compare to 14(38%) Times reader, 9(90%) Express reader said it has
“Good” design. Whereas, no one (0%) said it has “very good” design.
Altogether, readers have good perception of ‘design’ of “The Indian
Express”
f) Analysis of the News
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fig (12)
When asked about analysis of the news, “The Indian Express” fared better
than any other newspaper. Out of 10 express reader, 4(40%) said it “Very
Good” compared to 8(22%) of Times Reader and any other reader.
g) Price of the newspaper
Fig (13)
60% of the express readers expressed their satisfaction with the price of the
newspaper. Whereas, 43% of “Times” readers are satisfied with the price of
their newspaper.
h) Current Affairs
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Fig (14)
In terms of current affairs, 5(50%) out of 10 express reader replied positively
by saying it “very good”. Where as “Times of India” is having this about 7
in out of 37. So, people who are reading “The Indian Express” believe that
current affair is better in “The Indian Express”.
i) Political News
Fig (15)
When asked about the “Political News” in the newspaper they have been reading. Readers said it “very good”, compare to 4(40%) out of 10 express reader and 8(21%) out of 37 Times reader. j) Business & Finance
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Fig (16)
5 out of 7 express reader said “business & finance” is “Good” in “The Indian
Express” which is greater than any other newspaper, in terms of percentages.
k) Sports News
Fig (17)
Again, Times is peoples first choice when comes to ‘Sports news”. 20 out of
35 Times reader said it “very good”. Whereas, only 2 out of 11 express
readers.
l) Editorials
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Fig (18)
For “Editorial”, The Indian express is first choice of the people. As,
compared to 5(50%) out of 10 express reader said it “very good”, & 8(22%)
out of 37 Times reader said it “very good”.
m)Advertisements
Fig (19)
“Times of India” is first and for most choice for advertisement.
7.1.1.2 Qualitative Research (N=100)10
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1) What is the first word that comes to your mind when you think of following newspaper
Fig (21)
Times of India has been regarded as more glamour oriented, as 26% of the
respondent said when they think about TOI Ads & photographs is the first
word that comes to their mind. It is worth noticing, only 1% said it
knowledgeable newspaper.
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What is the first word come to your mind when think of “The Indian Express?
Fig. (22)23% of the respondents responded positively, by saying when they think of
“The Indian Express” Articles is the first word that comes to their mind.
15% of them also believe that it is knowledgeable newspaper. This suggests
article especially editorials are widely acceptable among its reader. But, only
5% of respondents said it interesting.
2) In your opinion, “The Indian Express” best represent:
Fig (23)
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In the opinion of respondents 42.27% believe “The Indian Express”
represent “voice of the society”. Whereas, 20.62% said it represent anti-
establishment view. Organization itself believes “The Indian Express”
represent its ant-establishment stand. The contradiction between
organization view and readers view may be because most of the readers are
new subscriber and they have not noticed properly the rebellious tone of the
newspaper (as clear from the previous question, where only 6.19%
respondent see it “Rebel”).
3) What do you think of “The Indian Express” newspaper?
Fig (24)
General thinking about the newspaper is as simple and Informative
newspaper, as 24.19% respondent said. Whereas, 14.52% respondent feels
it’s a newspaper of different taste and also been simple & effective in raising
public issues.
4) What do you dislike most in “The Indian Express”?
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Fig (25)Paper & print quality have been most disliking factor of “The Indian
Express” newspaper along with less local coverage and low picture quality.
36.47% of the respondents said they do not like the paper & print quality of
the newspaper being provided. 12.94% respondent said it has less local
coverage, here perception differs as “Expresso” is being provide to serve
local news to people still people believe local news coverage in “The Indian
Express” is not good enough. People see it as national newspaper which
serves more of national and international news. Here, other comprises sports
news, technology & research, and section for children whom people
perceive is not good enough in “The Indian Express”.
5) What do you find unique about “The Indian Express”?
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Fig (26)
Edex is unique in “The Indian Express”, as people perceive it. 10% said it is
unique in this newspaper, While 9% said Editorial & 8% said analysis of
news in “The Indian Express” is unique
6) Have you ever noticed advertisement of “The Indian Express”?
Fig (27)
7) If yes, do you remember anything special about that Advertisement?
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Fig (28)
Out of 39% who did notice advertisement or promotion of “The Indian
Express”, only 27% were able to remember something about that promotion
or advertisement. This shows promotional activities have been successful at
some extent.
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CHAPTER 8
Discussions and Conclusion
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8.1 - Circulation & Distribution Problem
8.1.1-Suggestions and Recommendations
1. Fixed Salary System Practiced with Sales Executives.
The salary system followed is of the fixed rate which does not seem to be
much effective, as most of them switch to the competitors for their living.
One better way to be suggested is that the follow up of an addition with the
fixed salary based on the sale they make as this can be a motivation for the
executives.
What I suggest is a Fixed salary + variable salary (Based on Sales).
2. Hawkers Role.
Hawkers have a highly influential role in promoting or depromoting the
brand name to customers. They are the ones who have direct contact with
the end customers. If not dealt carefully, there is a chance of the business to
be converted to the competitor.
A suggestion for improving their commitment is to hold Periodic meeting
with Hawkers and give Incentives like some useful gifts and awards for
Motivation.
2. Content
Single sentence from one of the reader..
“….Best one comparing to other newspaper. This is to improve knowledge” Branch Manager, Corporation Bank, Chickkabanavara
3. Paper & Printing (Picture) Quality10
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Here quality means brightness. This has been the major complain so far.
People are satisfied with the content part of the newspaper, but expressed
disappointment in terms of paper and printing quality. If this issue is
addressed, it will certainly help in increasing circulation.
4. Sports Coverage
It’s been said first impression is the last impression, so by making their
sports experience good circulation and brand name can be increased among
younger generation. Some of the students said in my interaction with them
that sports news need a little improvement in terms of coverage specially
“Cricket”.
5. Technology & Research based news
Interaction with readers has also revealed that people like to read scientific
research based news which they say less in content in The Indian Express.
They also said, in “The Hindu” there is separate sheet for only Technology
and Scientific research on weekly basis.
6. Entertainment news coverage
In people (youth) view, The Indian Express (TIE) covers less news related to
entertainment (film review, star coverage, Sudoku, funny cartoons etc).
Some people suggested, “Expresso” Should contain entertainment news
apart from local news.
7. Local news coverage
Some reader complaint, local news coverage in the third page contains more
advertisement less news.
8. Color factor
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Compare to other major newspaper operating in Baroda, “The Indian
Express (TIE)” is not very colorful. Because of that, according to the readers
makes it less appealing.
8.1.2 – Frontline Sales & Promotion
1. Free book of customer choice.
2. Conduct Events in Housing Flats.
3. Promotions should be geared up during important functions of the
Companies like annual functions.
8.2 Learning’s
1. Opportunity to learn how a Newspaper Industry works in a whole.
2. Learned on how to deal & differentiate the customers.
3. Learned how to work with different staff members.
APPENDIX 110
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Descriptive Research
Dear Respondent,
As a part of our academic evaluation, we are required to undertake a detailed
research study on a topic of our own choice. I have chosen my topic as “A
study of Brand perceptions of THE INDIAN EXPRESS in Baroda,
India”. I will be grateful if you would fill out this questionnaire and assist
me in completing this study appropriately.
Thank You
Descriptive Research
1. Name: ______________________________
2. Age: 18 – 25 26 – 35 36 -- 45 46 – 55 55 and above
3. Gender: Male Female
4. Educational Qualification:
PUCGraduate
Post Graduate Professional Degree
5. Occupation:
Government Employee Private Employee Self Employed Retired Student
6. You prefer buying newspaper at
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Newspaper Mart Subscribe at Home Others
If others, specify…………………………………………………
7. Which English Newspaper do you read? The Indian Express (IE) The Hindu Times of India If Others, specify………………………………………………… 8. What do you prefer reading most in your preferred newspaper?
Current affairsPolitical newsBusiness & FinanceEntertainmentSportsHealth articlesEducational articlesEditorialsOthers
If others, please specify……………………………………………
9. Rate your satisfaction with the following features of your preferred newspaper.
Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor Can’t Say
Content
Images
Color
Layout
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Design
Length (Article)
Coverage
Analysis
Price
Timeliness
Comments……………………………………………………
10. Rate your satisfaction with the following features of your preferred newspaper.
Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor Can’t Say
Current affairs Political news Business & Finance Entertainment Sports Health articles Editorials Educational articles Advertisements
Comments……………………………………
11. If you read IE, how often do you read it?
DailyFew times a weekWeekend OnlySeldomOtherComments………………………………………………………
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
12. How do you find supplements provided by NIE? Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
13. Which supplements are you aware of? Which ones do you read?
14. If you indicated Poor or Very Poor, please could you tell us what is that
you do not like?
15. Are you aware of the “The Indian Express” e-newspaper on internet?
Yes
No
If Yes, comment ………………………………………
16. If you had cause to complain, how was the situation resolved?
Extremely unsatisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Average
Very satisfactory
First class
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
APPENDIX 2
Qualitative Research
Dear Respondent,
As a part of our academic evaluation, we are required to undertake a detailed
research study on a topic of our own choice. I have chosen my topic as “A
study of Brand perceptions of THE INDIAN EXPRESS in Baroda,
India”. I will be grateful if you would fill out this questionnaire and assist
me in completing this study appropriately.
Thank You
Exhibit-1 (Projective Technique)
1. If the following newspapers were cricketers which cricketer would they
be?
Hindu……………………………………………………………
Times of India……………………………………………………
The Indian Express………………………………………
2. If the following newspapers were film stars which film stars would they
be?
Hindu……………………………………………………………
Times of India…………………………………………………..
The Indian Express……………………………………….
3. What is the first word that comes to your mind when you think of the
following newspapers?
Hindu……………………………………………………………
Times of India…………………………………………………..
The Indian Express………………………………………
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
4. Which of the following words (one or more) would you think best
describe “The Indian Express”? (Tick your options.)
Sincere Competent
Sophisticated Open
Conscientious Agreeable
Reliable Innovative
Successful Intelligent
Co-operative Organized
Systematic Practical
Creative Effective
Efficient Punctual
Friendly Polite
Rebel
5. In your opinion, “The Indian Express” newspaper best represent:
Youth
Voice of society
Anti- establishment
Unbiased Reporting
Others
If Others, specify…………………………………………………
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Exhibit-2 (In-Depth Interview)
1. What do you think of “The Indian Express, (IE)” (in a sentence or
two, please)?
2. What do you like about “The Indian Express”?
3. What are its positive aspects in your view?
4. What do you dislike about “The Indian Express”?
5. What do you find unique about “The Indian Express”?
6. In what ways, is it similar to other brands of newspaper in Bangalore?
7. In your opinion, who read “The Indian Express” most? (What kind of
person?)
8. How it is useful to reader?
9. Do you like to have pictorial representation of the news?
10.If yes, then why? Or if No, then why?
11. Are you aware of the various sales scheme of “The Indian Express”?
12. If yes, did you buy any of them?
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
13.If yes, then why? Or if No, then why?
14.Have you ever noticed advertisement of “The Indian Express”? Do
you remember anything Special about that advertisement? (in a
sentence or two, please)
15.If No, then could you suggest some ways to promote the brand name
of “The Indian Express”?
16.Have you ever recommended “The Indian Express” to your close
friends or relatives?
17.If yes, then why? Or if No, then why?
18.Do you know about the relaunch of “The Indian Express” in 2008?
19.If yes, what is the most important think you remember about that?
20. Any suggestions on how we can improve your IE experience?
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