A STUDY ON DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

ADOPTED BY THE TIMES OF

INDIA TO ITS EXISTING CUSTOMERS

AT

CHENNAI

SUBMITTED TO

TRIPURA

The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts

of India
University, Tripura.

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of

Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED BY

THOMAS K JOSEPH

MAGNUS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

 Department of Management Studies,
140, Marshalls Road, Egmore,
CHENNAI.

TRIPURA

ICFAI UNIVERSITY
TRIPURA
MAGNUS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

CHENNAI.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that MR .THOMAS K JOSEPH, student of MBA has

prepared this project report titled “A STUDY ON DISTRIBUTION

CHANNEL ADOPTED BY THE TIMES OF INDIATO ITS EXISTING

CUSTOMERS.” a study at THE TIMES OF INDIA, CHENNAI. This is a

bonafide work in partial fulfillment of the requirement of MBA degree

examination for 2008-2010.

 Prof. S. V. Ganeshan PGDM.

Academic Head

TRIPURA

ICFAI UNIVERSITY
TRIPURA
MAGNUS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

CHENNAI.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this is a bonafide work done by

MR.THOMAS K JOSEPH in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

award of degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION in

MAGNUS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, CHENNAI. The title of the project is A

STUDY ON DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL ADOPTED BY THE TIMES OF

INDIATO ITS EXISTING CUSTOMERS, at THE TIMES OF INDIA.,

Chennai.

External Examiner Internal Examiner

TRIPURA

ICFAI UNIVERSITY
TRIPURA
MAGNUS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

CHENNAI.

GUIDANCE CERTIFICATE

The project report entitled “A STUDY ON DISTRIBUTION

CHANNEL ADOPTED BY THE TIMES OF INDIATO ITS EXISTING
CUSTOMERS,” was done by MR.THOMAS K JOSEPH under my
guidance. The report is submitted to the ICFAI UNIVERSITY in partial
fulfillment of the requirements of MBA degree examination of 2008-2010.

Prof. P.V. HARIHARAN,

MSc, PGDBA (I.I.M-A)
GUIDE

DECLARATION

I, THOMAS K JOSEPH, declare that the project entitled A STUDY ON

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL ADOPTED BY THE TIMES OF INDIATO ITS
EXISTING CUSTOMERS., done during the period from APRIL 20th,2009 to
JULY 20th ,2009 , is my own effort and work.

This project is done in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

award of the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION by
ICFAI UNIVERSITY, TRIPURA.
Date :

Place : Signature.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. S. V. Ganeshan, PGDM.,

Academic Head of Magnus School of Business, Chennai, for providing me an
opportunity to undertake this project work, thus making way for enhancing my
knowledge about the project.

I sincerely like to thank Prof. P.V.Hariharan, M.M.S., Professor, Magnus

School of Business, Chennai and Mr. Vijay Basker - RMD, of “ TIMES OF
INDIA”., for their valuable guidance to bring out the project report successfully.

I wish to extend my thanks to Mr. Sunil, Manager-Corporate Relations

Group And Prof. P.V Hariharan, MSB CHENNAI and Ms. Vijay
Basker(RMD),of TIMES OF INDIA,. It gives me a great pleasure to dedicate
this project to my parents.

Date:

Place : Signature.
Contents
AT....................................................................1
CHENNAI.................................................................................. ...............1
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... ......13
ABOUT THE INDUSTRY:.....................................................................................13
THE NATURE OF AUDIENCE..........................................................................15
HISTORICAL TRADITIONS..............................................................................16
GROWTH IN PRINT INDUSTRY:.......................................................................29
DEFINITION AND FEATURES OF NEWSPAPER.................................................30
TYPES OF NEWSPAPER:..................................................................................31
Daily............................................................................................ ..................31
Weekly...................................................................................................... .....31
National............................................................................................ .............32
CIRCULATION AND READERSHIP....................................................................34
ADVERTISING ..................................................................................... ...........34
ABOUT THE COMPANY:............................................................................. .........35
Times Group’s subsidiary companies include:...............................................36
ABOUT THE TIMES OF INDIA:............................................................................38
OTHER PRODUCTS OFFERD BY THE GROUP:.................................................39
THE TIMES OF INDIA IN CHENNAI:.................................................................43
PRICING STRATEGIES USED BY TIMES OF INDIA (Chennai edition).................45
PROMOTION OF TIMES OF INDIA:......................................................................46
DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL.................................................................................. ....48
DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL - DEFINITION AND CONSIDERATIONS:.......................49
IMPORTANCE OF DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS...................................................50
CHANNEL LEVELS:.........................................................................................51
FUNCTIONS OF A DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL....................................................51
DISTRIBUTION DECISIONS:............................................................................52
DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL ADOPTED BY THE TIMES OF INDIA............................53
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT...................................................56
RENEWAL OF SUBSCRIPTIONS:.........................................................................57
GETTING NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS:.......................................................................58
.................................................................................................. ......................58
METHODOLOGY:..................................................................................... ...........59
Primary research:..........................................................................................59
 Secondary research: ............................................................................... ......60
ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY................................................................................... .60
CLASSIFICATION OF READERS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR AGE GROUP:- ............63
..................................................................................................... .................64
INTERPRETATION:..........................................................................................64
The above pie- chart shows that 46% readers are from the age group 16 to
25 years which mainly includes students and working professionals and this
group can be targeted for getting more subscriptions, the chart also show
that 33% of the readers are from the age group of 26 to 35 and thus
comprising these two group will give us the perfect audience to target upon.
..................................................................................................... .................64
CLASSIFICATION OF THE READERS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR OCCUPATION....64
..................................................................................................... .................65
INTERPRETATION:..........................................................................................65
The above pie-chart shows the classification of the reader’s occupation, from
the graph we find that 40% of the people who have responded to the survey
are working professionals and 33% of them are students, so once again from
graph we see that the maximum readership belongs to working professionals
and students. So the company can add news catering to students and
working professionals more so that their readership in this category goes up.
..................................................................................................... .................65
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON ANNUAL INCOME...............................................65
..................................................................................................... .................66
INTERPRETATION:..........................................................................................66
From the above chart we see that the people from the income group of 1.5 to
3 lakhs and 3 to 5 lakhs are almost the same, this is indication that the
middle income group of people prefer The Times of India, this situation might
have happened because of the low pricing strategy followed by times of
India. ................................................................................ ...........................66
..................................................................................................... .................67
INTERPRETATION:..........................................................................................67
The above graph shows the newspapers which are regularly purchased by
the customers, this survey is conducted with times of India customers and
thus shows the number of customers who buy only times of India and the
number of customers who buy both times of India and other English dailies
together.from the above diagram we infer that more than 50% of their
customers buy only times of India and other buy times of India along with
other newspapers.................................................................................... ......67
ATTRIBUTES WHICH THE CUSTOMER LAY EMPHASIS WHILE SELECTING A
NEWSPAPER ............................................................................................. .....68
ATTRIBUTE.......................................................................................... ...........68
 NO. OF READERS...........................................................................................68
Language......................................................................................................68
175............................................................................................... .................68
Editorial........................................................................................ .................68
65................................................................................................. .................68
Local news.............................................................................................. .......68
170............................................................................................... .................68
International news............................................................................... ..........68
90................................................................................................. .................68
Business news ............................................................................. .................68
90................................................................................................. .................68
Sports news.......................................................................................... .........68
120............................................................................................... .................68
others............................................................................................ ................68
75................................................................................................. .................68
..................................................................................................... .................68
INTERPRETATION:..........................................................................................68
The above diagram shows that 22 % of readers expect the language used in
the news paper to be good and there is a similar percentage of people who
expect the local news in the paper to be good, the next major expectation by
the readers id to look sports news and thus they expect the sports column to
be good. The remaining set of people expect the business news and the
international news in the paper to be good. There is small propotion of
people who buy newspaper for the supplements provided with them..........68
LANGUAGE USED BY THE TIMES OF INDIA........................................................69
OVERALL PRESENTATION OF THE TIMES OF INDIA............................................70
EDITORIAL CONTENT OF THE TIMES OF INDIA..................................................71
OVERALL CONTENT OF THE TIMES OF INDIA.....................................................72
THINGS WHICH CUSTOMERS LIKE IN TIMES OF INDIA.......................................73
LIMITATION:...................................................................................................74
LEARNING EXPERIENCE....................................................................................75
CONCLUSION AND RECOMENDATION:..............................................................75
.................................................................................................... .................75
ABSTRACT:

The newspaper sales involve distributing highly perishable products

under severe time constraints. This project deals with the study of the
distribution channel adopted by The Times of India (newspapers). Distribution
is an essential element in the newspaper industry as the life time of newspapers
are very short and thus a selection of proper channel and appropriate
intermediaries is very important.

The newspaper distributor has the rights to distribute the newspaper in

his area. The revenue of the newspaper distributor is based on a commission on
the sale of every newspaper. The circulation is normally through salesmen
appointed and salaried by the distributors, who in turn pass it on to hawkers.

This project also allows us to renew the subscriptions for the customer
and also allows us to book new subscriptions which give us an experience to
meet the customers and also to understand the customer satisfaction level and
also to get an effective feedback from the customer with the help of a market
survey.

Hawkers, vendors and book stall owners are the last link of the supply
chain before newspaper reaches readers. The hawkers' remuneration is also
normally based on the commission system and is generally the highest in the
entire supply chain.

A market survey is conducted with a sample population from the northern

part of Chennai and the results are categorized based on the various
demographic factors. The outcome of the survey is studied and based on which
a report is prepared and submitted to the company.

Responsiveness and efficiency play an important role in newspaper

distribution channel. Responsiveness includes supply chain's ability to respond
to wide a range of quantity demanded (due to demand fluctuations) and meet
short lead times. On the other hand efficiency is the cost of making and
delivering the newspaper to the readers.
 INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE INDUSTRY:

India is the world's largest democracy. Its mass media culture, a system
that has evolved over centuries, is comprised of a complex framework.
Modernization has transformed this into a communications network that
sustains the pulse of a democracy of about 1.1 billion people. India's newspaper
evolution is nearly unmatched in world press history. India's newspaper industry
and its Westernization—or modernisation as French would call it—go hand in
hand. India's press is a metaphor for its advancement in the globalized world.

James Augustus Hickey is considered as the "father of Indian press" as he

started the first Indian newspaper from Calcutta, the Calcutta General Advertise
or the Bengal Gazette in January, 1780. In 1789, the first newspaper from
Bombay, the Bombay €Herald appeared, followed by the Bombay Courier next
year (this newspaper was later amalgamated with the Times of India in 1861).

The first newspaper in an Indian language was the Samachar Darpan in

Bengali. The first issue of this daily was published from the Serampore Mission
Press on May 23, 1818. In the same year, Ganga Kishore Bhattacharya started
publishing another newspaper in Bengali, the Bengal Gazetti. On July 1, 1822
the first Gujarati newspaper the Bombay Samachar was published from
Bombay, which is still extant. The first Hindi newspaper, the Samachar Sudha
Varshan began in 1854. Since then, the prominent Indian languages in which
papers have grown over the years are Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil,
Telugu, Urdu and Bengali.

The Indian language papers have taken over the English press as per the
latest NRS survey of newspapers. The main reasons being the marketing
strategy followed by the regional papers, beginning with Eenadu, a telegu daily
started by Ramoji Rao. The second reason being the growing literacy rate.
Increase in the literacy rate has direct positive effect on the rise of circulation of
the regional papers.

The people are first educated in their mother tongue as per their state in
which they live for e.g. students in Maharashtra are compulsory taught Marathi
language and hence they are educated in their state language and the first thing
a literate person does is read papers and gain knowledge and hence higher the
literacy rate in a state the sales of the dominating regional paper in that state
rises. The next reason being localisation of news.

Indian regional papers have several editions for a particular State for
complete localisation of news for the reader to connect with the paper. Malayala
Manorama has about 10 editions in Kerala itself and six others outside Kerala.
Thus regional papers aim at providing localised news for their readers. Even
Advertisers saw the huge potential of the regional paper market, partly due to
their own research and more due to the efforts of the regional papers to make
the advertisers aware of the huge market.

During the 1950s 214 daily newspapers were published in the country.
Out of these, 44 were English language dailies while the rest were published in
various regional languages. This number rose to 2,856 dailies in 1990 with 209
English dailies. The total number of newspapers published in the country
reached 35,595 newspapers by 1993 (3,805 dailies).

The main regional newspapers of India include the Malayalam language

Malayala Manorama (published from: Kerala, daily circulation: 673,000), the
Hindi-language Dainik Jagran (published from: Uttar Pradesh, daily circulation
in 2006: 580,000), and the Anandabazar Patrika (published from: Kolkata, daily
circulation in 2006: 435,000). The Times of India Group, the Indian Express
Group, the Hindustan Times Group, and the Anandabazar Patrika Group are the
main print media houses of the country.

Newspaper sale in the country increased by 11.22% in 2007. By 2007, 62

of the world's best selling newspaper dailies were published in China, Japan,
and India. India consumed 99 million newspaper copies as of 2007—making it
the second largest market in the world for newspapers.

THE NATURE OF AUDIENCE

While a majority of the poor working people in rural and urban areas still
remain oppressed and even illiterate, a significant proportion of people—
roughly about 52 percent of the population over 15 years of age were recorded
as being able to read and write. That breaks down to 65.5 percent of males and
an estimate of 37.7 percent of females.

After the liberalization of the economy, the growth of industry, and a rise
in literacy, the post-Emergency boom rekindled the world's largest middle class
in news, politics, and consumerism. Since private enterprise began to sustain
and pay off, mass communications picked up as a growth industry.

Newspapers did not expand simply because the technology was available
to make Indian scripts live as they had not been able to live before. Nor did
newspaper grow simply because more people knew how to read and write.

They grew because entrepreneurs detected a growing hunger for

information among ever-widening sections of India's people, who were
potential consumers as well as newspaper readers. A race began to reach this
audience advertising avenues were the prizes and these would come largely to
newspapers that could convince advertisers that they had more readers than
their rivals. Readers, meanwhile, were saying implicitly: 'We will read
newspapers that tell us about ourselves and reflect our concerns.

HISTORICAL TRADITIONS

Newspaper history in India is inextricably tangled with political history.

James Augustus Hicky was the founder of India's first newspaper, the Calcutta
General Advertiser also known as Hicky's Bengal Gazette, in 1780. Soon other
newspapers came into existence in Calcutta and Madras: the Calcutta Gazette,
the Bengal Journal, the Oriental Magazine, the Madras Courier and the Indian
Gazette. While the India Gazette enjoyed governmental patronage including
free postal circulation and advertisements, Hicky's Bengal Gazette earned the
rulers' wrath due to its criticism of the government.
 In November 1780 its circulation was halted by government decree.
Hicky protested against this arbitrary harassment without avail, and was
imprisoned. The Bengal Gazette and the India Gazette were followed by the
Calcutta Gazette which subsequently became the government's "medium for
making its general orders".

The Bombay Herald, The Statesmen in Calcutta and the Madras Mail and
The Hindu, along with many other rivals in Madras represented the
metropolitan voice of India and its people. While Statesman voiced the English
rulers' voice, The Hindu became the beacon of patriotism in the South. The
Hindu was founded in Madras as a counter to the Madras Mail.

Patriotic movements grew in proportion with the colonial ruthlessness,

and a vehicle of information dissemination became a tool for freedom struggle.
In the struggle for freedom, journalists in the twentieth century performed a
dual role as professionals and nationalists.

Indeed many national leaders, from Gandhi to Vajpayee, were journalists

as well. Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Delhi were four main centers of urban
renaissance which nourished news in India. It was only during and after the
seventies, especially after Indira Gandhi's defeat in 1977, that regional language
newspapers became prevalent.

There were nationalist echoes from other linguistic regional provinces.

Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil, Karalla, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh produced dailies in
regional languages. Hindi and Urdu were largely instrumental in voicing the
viewpoints and aspirations of both Hindus and Muslims of the Northern
provinces.

As communalism and religious intolerance increased before and after

partition, Urdu remained primarily the language of Muslims, as Pakistan chose
this language as its lingua franca. After partition, the cause of Urdu and its
newspapers, suffered a setback as Hindu reactionaries began to recognize the
association of Urdu with Islam and Pakistan.
The first edition appears on November 3, 1838 known as "The Bombay Times
and Journal of
Commerce".later to be known as “The Times of India”.

The first edition appears on November 3, 1838 known as "The Bombay Times
and Journal of
Commerce". The issue is published twice a week. Dr. J.E. Brennan
the first editor also Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. Rs 30/- is
the annual subscription.

1846

The newspaper experiences

proprietary changes and Dr.
George Brit appointed editor.

1850

Shareholders decide to increase the

share capital and the paper
converted into a daily
1861
Editor Robert Knight amalgamates The Bombay Times, Bombay
Standard and
Bombay Telegraph & Courier to form 'The Times of India' and gives it a
national character.

1880

The Times of India Weekly edition

launched.The
Times of India weekly edition
launched, to meet the
need for a weekend paper. This later
came to be
known as the Illustrated Weekly of
India in 1923.

The Times of India Weekly edition launched in 1880.

1890

Editor Henry Curwen buys TOI in partnership with Charles Kane.

1892

Following the death of Henry Curwen, T. J. Bennett becomes the editor

and enters into a partnership with F.M. Coleman to form a joint stock
company - Bennett, Colemen & Co. Ltd. (BCCL).

1902
The paper moves in to its current office opposite CST. It started out at
the Parsi Bazar and then moved on to Churchgate where things got
so bad that editor Bennett had to complete his editorial elsewhere
after the ceiling fan collapsed in his room.
1907

Editor Stanley Reed revolutionises news production by extending the deadline to

midnight. Until then any news that came in after 5pm was held over for the next day.
TOI's first price war under editor Stanley Reed: price cut from 4 annas to 1 anna;
circulation rises 5 times.

1923

Evening News of India launched

1929

The Times Of India Illustrated Weekly renamedThe Illustrated

Weekly Of India

1930

The Column "Bombay 100 Years ago" published

1930

The Column "Bombay 100 Years ago" published First movie review published

1940

First time news items appeared on the front page

1946

For the first time the paper transfers to Indian ownership. Seth Ramakrishna Dalmia
buys out Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd. for Rs. 2 crores.
1948
1950

Navbharat Times launched

The TOI Crest changes from the

lions to elephants

Dharmayug, Hindi weekly

pictorial magazine launched

Frank Moraes succeeded Ivor Jehu to become the first Indian editor (1950-57) R K
Laxman’s common man cartoon starts.

1952

Filmfare- first film magazine in English launched

1959
Femina- first women’s magazine in English launched

1961

The Economic Times launched

1962

Maharashtra Times launched

1965
Femina Miss India contest started.
1987
Printing of The Times of India from Kandivili in Mumbai.
Press

1988

Times of India completes 150 years.

Special stamp released by P &

1991

BBC features Times of India among

world's six great newspapers

1994

Bombay Times, the sassy colour supplement that

chronicles the changing lifestyle mores of a
globalising city is launched.

1996

Times of India carry its first colour photograph. Times of India crosses 1 million
mark
in circulation.

1998

BCCL enters into music market with Times Music.

1999

Indiatimes.com launched
1999
BCCL enters music retailing business with Planet M and radio broadcasting business with
Radio Mirchi

2000

TOI crosses the 2 million mark in circulation.

2001

TOI goes all color and storms Delhi by being

"Number One"

2003

President APJ Abdul Kalam visits TOI to

inaugurate Times Foundation
2004

Television business launched with the launch of a lifestyle and

entertainment channel called ZOOME Paper launched Timescape
The Times Group Intranet launched. Launch of the
jobs portal Times Jobs
http://www.timesjobs.com.

TimesJobs.com pioneered the concept of job fairs in India, branded as

‘Big Leap’.
 2005

MT – Largest read Marathi Newspaper in Mumbai – IRS

survey
TOI – Goes daily full colour
Mumbai Mirror launched
TimesMatri.com - Launched in August - re-launched as
SimplyMarry.com in December 2006.

2006

TIMES NOW – TV News Channel launched

ET – first newspaper available on cell phone

Mumbai Mirror – Afternoon edition launched
Offers Mumbai Mirror or Maharashtra Times as complimentary
copy with TOI at a price of Rs.4/- TOI – The only English
language daily to feature among the top 10 with a readership of 131.4
lakhs- IRS Survey by Hansa ResearchTimes Group MD, Mr Vineet
Jain awarded the scroll of honour for being the new age media guru - Hero Honda Indian
TV
Academy AwardsTimescape the Times Group Intranet
portal re-launched - now powered by SAP Netweaver
BCCL goes live on SAP systemMagicBricks.com –
launched in October 2006 targets the Online Real Estate Space Smart Hire – launched April
2006, is witnessing stupendous growth with its focus on providing organisations with end-
to-
end recruitment solutions. Ads2Book.com – The World’s Only Global Ad Booking Engine -
Relaunched in August 2006With intensive R&D, the Net-2-Print classifieds booking system
Ads2Book.com was created and imbued with AI (artificial intelligence) that assisted users
through the entire process of Creating, Booking & Paying for their Print Classified Ads, all
from the comfort of their desktop.
 2007

TOI – the Indian Corporate Elite’s No. 1 newspaper - A CNielsen Report

What’s Hot- a new weekly magazine delivered free with TOI on every Friday

Times Group bags 5 gold and 1 silver at the ABBY Awards

TOI prints 2 city editions., one at 11pm and second 12.30 am

BCCL wins SAP ACE 2007 Awards for Customer Excellence in the best media
sector
implementation The Economic Times- Gujarati Edition launched

Good Life World - launched April 2007is the future of Internet in India, the concept
of ‘Click & Brick’ is just the right impetus the Online Industry needs, as users are either
to busy to log on to the net for their personal needs or are not savvy enough and need
help. The Good Life World Centre allows users to access the services offered by Times
Business Solutions’ portals from the Centre and make offline payments for online
services, thus ensuring ease of access and complete financial security.

GROWTH IN PRINT INDUSTRY:

Over the years, the printing industry has grown in all parts of the globe. The advent of TV
and Internet has not affected the growth of and requirement for printing professionals. The
industry has made giant strides in recent times in improving its machinery in terms of the scope,
technology and speed. Computers and electronics have invaded all the departments of printing,
improving quality and speed of the jobs executed with the consequent enhancement of costs
enormously. In fact, the arrival of computers has complemented the printing business and has
played a vital role in increasing its status as a clean profession. There is a set of industry players
which are growing systematically and regularly. These kinds of set-ups do not belong to any
specific region of India but are scattered all over the country. The so-called clusters of printing
Industry are present in North: (Amritsar, Delhi, Faridabad) - West: (Ahmadabad,
Bombay,) – South: (Bangalore, Coimbatore, Madras).

The publishing firms in the private sector are also quite large in number and these are
scattered throughout the country. But majority of these are very small in operation and each one of
these may not be producing more than a dozen titles in a year. These are also confined to
producing titles in Indian regional languages and catering to the needs of the local markets. Only a
few (about 10%) of the publishing concerns in India are reasonably large producing more than 50
titles annually and are equipped with proper infrastructures such as printing presses and
distribution networks. In totality, today Indian publishing is one of the greatest in the world and
the country is counted among the top seven publishing nations.
Increasing number of printers are adopting newer and modern technologies. The growth of such
organisations indicates that recession is nothing but a changing trend towards adoption of new
style of working. The modern style of business is completely in favour of the consumers. It
ensures that they get optimum quality products at bare minimum price. Probably in all areas of life
the consumers are getting products at most competitive prices, which is definitely lower than
yesterday’s prices and printing industry is no exception. To meet this challenge, people in the
printing industry have to find the solutions and not fret on decline in prices. Some printers with a
vision have already taken a step towards it and are able to produce printed products at much lower
unit price by adopting new technologies.

Facts about Indian Printing Industry :

- More than 1,30,000 all types of printing presses in India
- More than 10 Million family involved in the Industry
- 20 Billion + Turnover
- Per capita consumption of Paper & boards - 4.5 KGs
- Machinery New and Second Hand, used is predominately from China, England, France.
Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherland, Switzerland, Spain, Taiwan, USA.

DEFINITION AND FEATURES OF NEWSPAPER

A newspaper is a written publication containing news, information and advertising, usually

printed on low cost paper called newsprint. General interest newspapers often feature articles on
political events, crime, business, art / entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers
also feature an editorial page containing columns which express the personal opinions of writers,
supplementary section may contain advertising, comics, coupons and other printed media,
Newspapers are most often published on a daily or weekly basic and they usually focus on one
particular geographic area where most of their readers live. Despite recent setbacks in circulation
and profits are still the most iconic outlet for news and other types of written journalism

.Features a newspaper may include are:

• Local and international news

• Weather news and forecasts
• Editorial
• Business news
• A sports column
• Reviews on movies, plays, restaurants, etc.
• Health news
• Automobile news
• Classified ads, etc.

TYPES OF NEWSPAPER:

While most newspapers are aimed at a broad spectrum of readers, usually geographically
defined, some focus on groups of readers defined more by their interests than their location: for
example, there are daily and weekly business newspapers and sports newspapers. More specialist
still are some weekly newspapers, usually free and distributed within limited areas; these may
serve communities as specific as certain immigrant populations, or the local gay community.

Daily

A daily newspaper is issued every day, sometimes with the exception of Sundays and some
national holidays. Saturday and Sunday editions of daily newspapers tend to be larger, include
more specialized sections and advertising inserts, and cost more. Typically, the majority of these
newspapers’ staff work Monday to Friday, so the Sunday and Monday editions largely depend on
content done in advance or content that is syndicated. Most daily newspapers are published in the
morning. Afternoon or evening papers are aimed more at commuters and office workers.

Weekly
 Weekly newspapers are common and tend to be smaller than daily papers. In some cases,
there also are newspapers that are published twice or three times a week, these newspapers are
generally still classified as weeklies.

National

Most nations have at least one newspaper that circulates throughout the whole country: a
national newspaper, as contrasted with a local newspaper serving a city or region. In India, there
are numerous national newspapers, including The Times of India, The Hindu, Deccan chronicle,
Hindustan times, The new Indian Express, etc. Large metropolitan newspapers have expanded
distribution networks and, with this effort they try to expand themselves and become nationalized.

International

There is also a small group of newspapers which may be characterised as international

newspapers. Some, such as Christian Science Monitor and The International Herald Tribune, have
always had that focus, while others are repackaged national newspapers or “international editions”
of national-scale or large metropolitan newspapers. Often these international editions are scaled
down to remove articles that might not interest the wider range of readers.

As English has become the international language of business and technology, many
newspapers formerly published only in non-English languages have also developed English-
language editions. In places as varied as Jerusalem and Bombay (Mumbai), newspapers are
printed to a local and international English-speaking public. The advent of the Internet has also
allowed the non-English newspapers to put out a scaled-down English version to give their
newspaper a global outreach.

Online newspaper (e-paper)

 With the advancement of technology, the Internet is gaining more and more popularity
every day, the newspaper industries have identified their prospects in this sector and started
publishing their news articles in the form of e-papers, which allows the users to read the news
online. The e-papers are given at free of cost by some sites and some sites charge their customers
for the news, thus the e-paper has gained a large amount of popularity in the recent times.

Some newspapers provide some or all of their content on the Internet, either at no cost or for
a fee. In some cases, free access is available only for a matter of days or weeks, after which
readers must register and provide personal data. In other cases, free archives are provided.

Employment

There are special employment newspapers, which carry information about the opportunities
available in the corporate and other companies, these are generally weekly magazines which are
published once a week. There are also daily classifieds which also provides ads and employment
information daily.

Zoned and other editions

Newspapers often refine distribution of ads and news through zoning and editioning. Zoning
occurs when advertising and editorial content change to reflect the location to which the product is
delivered. The editorial content often may change merely to reflect changes in advertising — the
quantity and layout of which affects the space available for editorial — or may contain region-
specific news. In rare instances, the advertising may not change from one zone to another, but
there will be different region-specific editorial content. As the content can vary widely, zoned
editions are often produced in parallel.

Editioning occurs in the main sections as news is updated throughout the night. The
advertising is usually the same in each edition (with the exception of zoned regionals, in which it
is often the ‘B’ section of local news that undergoes advertising changes). As each edition
represents the latest news available for the next press run, these editions are produced linearly,
with one completed edition being copied and updated for the next edition. The previous edition is
always copied to maintain a Newspaper of Record and to fall back on if a quick correction is
needed for the press.
CIRCULATION AND READERSHIP

The number of copies distributed, either on an average day or on particular days (typically
Sunday), is called the newspaper’s circulation and is one of the principal factors used to set
advertising rates. Circulation is not necessarily the same as copies sold, since some copies or
newspapers are distributed without cost. Readership figures may be higher than circulation figures
because many copies are read by more than one person, although this is offset by the number of
copies distributed but not read (especially for those distributed free).

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the daily circulation of the Soviet newspaper
Trud exceeded 21,500,000 in 1990, while the Soviet weekly Argumenty I Fakty boasted the
circulation of 33,500,000 in 1991.

In India, The Times of India is the largest English newspaper, with 2.14 million copies daily.
According to the 2006 National Readership Study, the Dainik Jagran is the most-read, local-
language (Hindi) newspaper, with 21.2 million readers. A common measure of a newspaper’s
health is market penetration, expressed as a percentage of households that receive a copy of the
newspaper against the total number of households in the paper’s market area.

ADVERTISING

The bulk of newspapers' revenue comes from advertising - the contribution from sales is
small by comparison. On average, a newspaper generates 80% of its revenue from advertising and
20% from sales. The portion of the newspaper that is not advertising is called editorial content,
editorial matter, or simply editorial, although the last term is also used to refer specifically to those
articles in which the newspaper and its guest writers express their opinions.

Newspapers have been hurt by the decline of many traditional advertisers. Department
stores and supermarkets could be relied upon in the past to buy pages of newspaper
advertisements, but due to industry consolidation are much less likely to do so now. Additionally,
newspapers are seeing traditional advertisers shift to new media platforms. The classified category
is shifting to sites including craigslist, employment websites, and auto sites. National advertisers
are shifting to many types of digital content including websites, rich media platforms, and mobile.

In recent years, the advertorial emerged. Advertorials are most commonly recognized as an
opposite-editorial which third-parties pay a fee to have included in the paper. Advertorials
commonly advertise new products or techniques, such as a new design for golf equipment, a new
form of laser surgery, or weight-loss drugs. The tone is usually closer to that of a press release than
of an objective news story.

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

The Times of India is the leading daily English newspaper in India. It is owned and
managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned in turn by the Sahu Jain family.
Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. provides media publishing services. The company offers
newspapers, magazines, Internet, and electronic commerce information publication services. Its
brands include The Economic Times, Times of India, Femina, Times FM, Filmfare, etc.
Additionally, it provides radio and television programs production and distribution, Web portals
operation, and mobile value added services. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. was founded in 1838
and is based in Mumbai, India.

In the 19th century this newspaper company employed more than 800 people and had a
sizable circulation in India and Europe. Originally British-owned and controlled, its last British
editor was Ivor S. Jehu, who resigned the editorship in 1950. It was after India's Independence that
the ownership of the paper passed on to the then famous industrial family of Dalmiyas and later it
was taken over by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain group from Bijnore, UP.

The Times of India is the largest selling daily newspaper in the world. It sells more than 2.5
million newspapers everyday and thus it was certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations as the
world's largest selling English broadsheet newspaper. The Times of India is published by the
media group Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. This company, along with its other group companies,
known as The Times Group.

The Times Group is the largest media services in India. It reaches out from:

• 11 publishing centres

• 15 printing centres

• 55 sales offices

• Over 7000 employees

 • 5 dailies including two of the largest in the country with approx 4.3 million copies
circulated daily

• 2 lead magazines

• 29 niche magazines

• Reaching 2468 cities and towns

• 32 Radio Stations

Its major brands include:

• The Times of India, India’s largest English daily.

• The Economic Times, India’s largest financial daily, and the world’s second largest after
The Wall Street Journal.
• Maharashtra Times, India’s largest Marathi daily and Maharashtra’s No.1 Newspaper.
• Navbharat Times, the largest Hindi Daily in Delhi and Bombay.
• Mumbai Mirror India’s largest circulated compact newspaper.
• Pune Mirror.
• Bangalore Mirror, Bangalore’s first morning compact daily.
• The Times of India - Kannada.

Times Group’s subsidiary companies include:

Times Infotainment Media Limited (TIML) & Entertainment Network India Limited
(ENIL) that together control:

• Radio Mirchi - National network of Private FM stations.

• 360 Degrees - Event Management.
• Times Outoors - Outdoor Advertising & Billboard Marketing.
• Mirchi Movies Limited - Movie production, Entertainment.

Times Internet Limited (TIL), which has:

• Indiatimes portal
 • Times of Money - an online payments portal specializing in remitting money to India and
other parts of the world.

Times Global Broadcasting Limited - This was a Joint Venture with Reuters untill Reuters
exited. The company heads:

• Times Now - A News Channel

• ZOOm - A Lifestyle Channel
• A new business channel which is the broadcast version of Economic Times is planned to be
launched early in 2009.

Times Business Solutions controls:

• TBSL - corporate website of TBSL.

• Times Jobs - A jobs portal.
• SimplyMarry - A matrimonial portal. (earlier known as TimesMatri).
• Magic Bricks - A real estate portal.
• Yolist - Free classifieds portal.
• Ads2Book - Online classifieds booking system for print publications.

World Wide Media - A magazine joint venture between BCCL and BBC magazines. WWM
heads:

• Filmfare
• Filmfare Awards
• Femina
• Femina Miss India A Beauty Paegent
• Top Gear India
• Hello
• BBC Good Homes
TIML Golden Square Limited which purchased Virgin Radio (soon to be called Absolute Radio)
in the United Kingdom. This company is a direct subsidiary of BCCL (not through TIML or
ENIL).

ABOUT THE TIMES OF INDIA:

The Times of India is one of the oldest English daily newspaper in India. The Times of India
was founded on November 3, 1838 as ‘The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce’. It adopted
its present name in 1861. The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce was launched as a bi-
weekly edition. It contained news from Europe, the Americas, and the Subcontinent, and was
conveyed between India and Europe via regular steamships. The daily editions of the paper were
started from 1850 and by 1861, the Bombay Times was renamed The Times of India.

Today The Times of India is the largest selling daily newspaper in the world and it is selling
over 2.5 million papers every day. The times of India comes out with various supplements, which
are mentioned below.

• Chennai times : This is a city specific daily supplement which tells about the happening
within the city,

• Educational Times: This is a weekly supplement which brings in educational news,

career opportunities, counseling, etc..

• Times Wellness: This is a weekly supplement which gives health tips to the readers.

• Times Ascent: This is a weekly supplement which tells about the job opportunities in
various corporate.

• Times Life: This is also a weekly supplement which deals about fashion, lifestyle, etc.

• Times Classified: This is a weekend supplement which carries advertisements about

various products.

The Times of India is printed from the following places (in alphabetical order):

• Ahmadabad
 • Bhubaneswar
• Bangalore
• Chandigarh
• Chennai
• Delhi
• Goa
• Hyderabad
• Jaipur
• Kanpur
• Kolkata
• Lucknow
• Mangalore
• Mumbai
• Mysore
• Nagpur
• Patna
• Pune
• Ranchi
• Surat

OTHER PRODUCTS OFFERD BY THE GROUP:

• THE ECONOMIC TIMES – Daily business newspaper, world’s 2nd largest selling
financial daily.

• FILMFARE – India’s No.1 entertainment magazine, which is issued fortnightly. This

magazine covers news about the film industry and exclusive interviews with various
stars.

• FEMINA – India’s No.1 women’s magazine, which talks about the things that matter
a lot to a women like lifestyle, fashion, travel, food, entertainment, etc.

• HELLO – Worlds most loved celebrity magazine, which brings in exclusive news
about corporate giants closed door parties, etc..
• TOP GEAR – Automotive and lifestyle magazine.

• GRAZIA – Europe’s No.1 style magazine, deals with latest fashions and trends.

• THE ECONOMIST – weekly finance news magazine focusing on international

politics, business news and opinions.

• GOOD HOMES – BBC Goodhomes is a unique blend of design, creativity and

substances. It talks about interior designing, shopping options, etc.
 “Mission of “TIMES OF INDIA”:

“The Times of India Group is the aggregator of content in any

form in
the infotainment Industry. We collect & sell content to right
target
Audience”.

The Mantra
“YO
U ARE EMPOWERED “
Businesses are in:
Publications, Finance, Music, Retailing, Media, Radio, Internet
products, Events, Charitable Trusts, Education.
THE TIMES OF INDIA IN CHENNAI:

The Times of India after establishing its firm boundaries in various parts
of India, it decided to make its presence in Chennai. Times of India sighted the
opportunities available in Chennai as there were not many players in this
industry. The major players in the general English daily category were The
Hindu, The new Indian Express and Deccan Chronicle. So Times of India had
enough opportunities to enter the market and make itself a market leader. In
order to do so, times of India went on to understand the situation in Chennai
before is launch.

In the process times of India identified that many people have used the
same expressions to describe both the daily and the city: orthodox, old-
fashioned and conservative. However, Chennai has changed in the past two
decades. In the 1990s, it emerged as a preferred car-making destination in the
country and Hyundai Motor India Ltd and Ford India Pvt. Ltd have factories
near the city. The Nissan-Renault combine will also soon have a factory near
Chennai. In the 2000s, it emerged a favourite with software firms and several of
them have, or are building, their largest development centres in Siruseri, which
is in the outskirts of Chennai.
Times of India understood that the trend is changing in Chennai and thus it
wanted to make its presence felt strong in the minds of people. The company
came up with more than 100s of billboards around the city with the message
“next change” and the word was surrounded by newspaper bits on all the sides,
which gave a clue to the viewers that the new newspaper is going to come with
some new change.This campaign made people guessing what is the paper which
is going to come and what is the change its going to make.

The times of India had to plan its launch perfectly as the other
competitors are pretty strong in the market. The Hindu is one of the oldest news
papers in Chennai and it has an overall circulation of 1,330,518 in India and out
of which Chennai alone contributes 280,473. Majority of the population in
Chennai are The Hindu readers as it is one of the oldest newspapers in the
country. The new Indian Express is another paper in Chennai which is also there
in Chennai for quite a long times. Figures for The New Indian Express are still
under consideration. However, during January-June, it had a total circulation of
278,243 copies, of which Chennai had 39,428.Deccan Chronicle which has
made its presence in Chennai just
about a year before the time of India
planned its launch, Deccan Chronicle
came up with a aggressive pricing
strategy and gave the newspapers at
Rs. 1 during the initial days of its
launch.

After analysing all these factors

into account, times of India decided to
make its presence in Chennai on 14th
April 2008, the day on which the Tamil
New year is celebrated. The times of
India launched with the campaign “next change” and if we ask did times of
India bring in any change? The answer is yes. The language used by the times
of India flavoured the local language, which brought in mixed reaction between
the readers, as lot of people in Chennai were used to traditional language used
by The Hindu. The younger generation preferred the language used by them and
thus the times of India gained lot of popularity.

PRICING STRATEGIES USED BY TIMES OF INDIA (Chennai edition)

Pricing is one of the key elements of times of India, The times of India
have analysed their competitors pricing strategies and have come out with a
pricing which stand as a competitive advantage for The Times of India. Initially
when the times of India was launched in Chennai they came out with a pricing
of Rs. 1 on weekdays and Rs. 2 on Sunday. They also introduced 2 different
subscription packages along with free gifts for the first time in Chennai for a
daily English newspaper. The packages were 6 months package and 1 year
package, the offers for the 6 months package was Rs. 175 + a free gift (Vacuum
flask) and the 1 year package was at Rs. 299 + a free gift (vacuum flask or a
Travel Bag).

The times of India used the concept of promotional pricing, the main aim of the
company is maximize their market share, make the people use their product for
a certain period of time and then make them their customers brand loyal and
stick with the product. The pricing strategy used made the competitors in the
market fear about their market share and thus as a result of which they had to
reduce their prices. The Hindu which was selling at Rs.4.50 reduced their price
to Rs.3.50 and then further reduced it to Rs. 2.50 on weekdays; the important
thing to be noted is that The Hindu didn’t change its price when Deccan
Chronicle was selling at Rs.1.
In the process of promotional pricing, the times of India has to undergo certain
losses till they time they establish a firm position for them self in the market.
The company need to spend money for the employees, the intermediaries in the
process, for the paper, machines etc. The company after completing its first year
came up with a revised plan for their customers, the cost of the 1 year is at Rs.
299 without any gift and the 6 months subscription plan has been cancelled
completely. The daily price of the paper was also revised from Rs.1 to Rs. 2 on
weekdays and the Sunday paper price has been revised from Rs.2 to Rs.3.

The cost also includes the cost which they have to pay to the vendors and
dealers as commission, which is shown in the table below.

Price Last year ( in Rs.) Current year (in Rs.)

Subscription amount per yr 299 299
Gift worth 150 -
Vendor commission per year 360 360
Dealer commission per year 60 60
Booking commission per order 80 80
Rathi 292 292
Total Loss per subscription - 643 - 493

The major source of income comes from the advertisements which are
published in the newspaper, with this subscription scheme the company have a
know number of customers in their bags.

PROMOTION OF TIMES OF INDIA:

Promotion involves disseminating information about a product, product
line, brand, or company. It is one of the four key aspects of the marketing mix.
Promotion is the method of communicating the key features of a product to a
target audience. The Times of India started its promotion in Chennai with a
teaser, they displayed huge billboard with caption “next change” and news
prints around it, which actually created confusion in the minds of people about
what change is going to happen.

Over a period of time they removed the caption “next change” and told
about their launch in Chennai on 14th April, The best promotional step used by
the times of India is its pricing about which we have already seen in the
previous section. The Times of India to add on to its promotional pricing also
gave free gifts to its customer which actually helps it to gain a large amount of
market share. The introduction of the subscription scheme in the English daily
industry gained popularity with the times of India subscription offers, The
customers were pretty happy to pay in advance for their subscriptions because
of the benefits offered by product.

During its launch the times of India did the following as a part of their
promotional campaign

• Used more than 100 billboards to advertise about times of India

• Employed over 1000 students for visiting homes and offices to promote
the product.

• Made people dressed up with newsprints all

around their dress and made them campaign for
times of India

• They also advertised in call taxis and vans

• Installed stalls in corporate sectors to promote and sell the product

• Also gave free subscriptions to corporate companies and its employees to

promote the product.

• Introduced subscription schemes with free gifts (when launched )

 o
6

moths subscriptions – free gift of vacuum flask

o 1 year subscription - free gift of a travel bag or a vacuum flask

A year after its launch the times of India wanted to revise its subscription
schemes, the company revised its price such that it was giving the offer at a
much cheaper rate than its competitors, the customer have started getting use to
the paper and thus despite no gift was offered this year about 3/4 th of the total
customers renewed the subscriptions, these were are the result of the promotions
and advertisements which were done all throughout the year.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
Channel of distribution comprises a set of institutions which perform all of the
activities utilized to move a product and its title from production to
consumption.It is a trade channel covering the distance between producer and
the consumer. A marketing channel can be defined as a group of exchange of
relationships, which create customer value in acquiring consuming and
disposing of products and services.
The marketer uses distribution channels to display, sell or deliver the physical
products or services to buyers or users. They include distributors, wholesalers,
retailers and agents.The marketer also uses service channels to carry out
transaction with potential buyers. Service channel include warehouse,
transportation companies, banks and insurance companies that facilitate
transaction. Marketers clearly face a design problem in choosing the best mix of
communication, distribution and service channels for their offering.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL - DEFINITION AND CONSIDERATIONS:

The definition of a distribution channel was first given by Buclin

"Channel of distribution comprises a set of institutions which perform all of the
activities utilized to move a product and its title from production to
consumption". But in reality a distribution channel is not as simple as it is
presented above. Many factors must be taken into consideration and a lot of
things to be decided for a product to be moved from manufacture into the
market. First of all for successful distribution channel set up there are six basic
decisions that must be made by the marketing team beforehand. These decisions
are related to the questions that are given below.

 Use of direct or indirect channels?

 Use of single or multiple channels?

 What will be the cumulative length of the multiple channels if those are
used?

 What types of intermediaries will be used?

 What will be the potential number of intermediaries if those are used?

 Which companies will be used so that to avoid "inter-channel" conflict?

When all the above questions are answered then the marketing team should
select the distributor taking into account the following considerations.

 Market segment: the distributor must be familiar with the target consumer
and segment.

 Changes during the product life cycle: different channels can be exploited
at different points of the product's life cycle.

 Producer–distributor fit: there must be a match concerning policies,

strategies and image between the producer and the distributor.

 Qualification assessment: the experience and the track record of all

potential distributors must be established and assessed.

 Training and support: the amount of training and support that a distributor
will require to have the job done must be taken into account.

IMPORTANCE OF DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

As noted, distribution channels often require the assistance of others in

order for the marketer to reach its target market. But why exactly does a
company need others to help with the distribution of their product? Wouldn’t a
company that handles its own distribution functions be in a better position to
exercise control over product sales and potentially earn higher profits? Also,
doesn’t the Internet make it much easier to distribute products thus lessening the
need for others to be involved in selling a company’s product?

While on the surface it may seem to make sense for a company to operate
its own distribution channel (i.e., handling all aspects of distribution) there are
many factors preventing companies from doing so. While companies can do
without the assistance of certain channel members, for many marketers some
level of channel partnership is needed. For example, marketers who are
successful without utilizing resellers to sell their product (e.g., Dell Computers
sells mostly through the Internet and not in retail stores) may still need
assistance with certain parts of the distribution process (e.g., Dell uses parcel
post shippers such as FedEx and UPS). In Dell’s case creating their own
transportation system makes little sense given how large such a system would
need to be in order to service Dell’s customer base. Thus, by using shipping
companies Dell is taking advantage of the benefits these services offer to Dell
and to Dell’s customers.

CHANNEL LEVELS:

1. Intensive distribution - Where the majority of resellers stock the

'product' (with convenience products, for example, and particularly the
brand leaders in consumer goods markets) price competition may be
evident.
2. Selective distribution - This is the normal pattern (in both consumer and
industrial markets) where 'suitable' resellers stock the product.
3. Exclusive distribution - Only specially selected resellers or authorized
dealers (typically only one per geographical area) are allowed to sell the
'product'.

FUNCTIONS OF A DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

The main function of a distribution channel is to provide a link between

production and consumption. Organizations that form any particular distribution
channel perform many key functions:

Information Gathering and distributing market research and intelligence

 - important for marketing planning

Promotion Developing and spreading communications about offers

Contact Finding and communicating with prospective buyers

Matching Adjusting the offer to fit a buyer's needs, including grading,

assembling and packaging

Negotiation Reaching agreement on price and other terms of the offer

Physical Transporting and storing goods

distribution
Financing Acquiring and using funds to cover the costs of the
distribution channel

Risk taking Assuming some commercial risks by operating the channel

All of the above functions need to be undertaken in any market. The question is
- who performs them and how many levels there need to be in the distribution
channel in order to make it cost effective.

DISTRIBUTION DECISIONS:

Distribution decisions are relevant for nearly all types of products. While it is
easy to see how distribution decisions impact physical goods, such as laundry
detergent or truck parts, distribution is equally important for digital goods (e.g.,
television programming, downloadable music) and services (e.g., income tax
services). In fact, while the Internet is playing a major role in changing product
distribution and is perceived to offer more opportunities for reaching customers,
online marketers still face the same distribution issues and obstacles as those
faced by offline marketers.
In order to facilitate an effective and efficient distribution system many
decisions must be made including (but certainly not limited to):

• Assessing the best distribution channels for getting products to

customers
• Determining whether a reseller network is needed to assist in the
distribution process
• Arranging a reliable ordering system that allows customers to place
orders
• Creating a delivery system for transporting the product to the customer
• For tangible and digital goods, establishing facilities for product storage

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL ADOPTED BY THE TIMES OF INDIA

The distribution channel plays a key role in the newspaper industry, the
newspapers have a very short life time and hence it is highly essential to
choosing a proper distribution channel. The distribution channel adopted in the
newspaper industry is not the same as the distribution channel adopted for other
products, we have seen in the previous section how the normal products are
distributed and now let’s see the distribution pattern followed by the times of
India.

The normal distribution channel has intermediaries like wholesaler, retailer,

agent etc. But you won’t find them in the case of a distribution channel of
newspapers. The reason is that the wholesaler stocks the products for some time
and then passes the products to the next intermediary. In the case of newspapers,
if the newspapers are stored and delivered then they become useless, as the
paper reaches late to the customer and by the time paper reaches the customer
the customer will get the news from various other sources.
 In this case of newspaper the channel is almost same but the process takes place
bit faster than other products, in this case the wholesaler is replaced by the
dealer and the retailer is replaced by the vendor. The papers are printed and they
are passed to the respective dealers , the dealers generally receive the
newspapers and supplements separately, the dealer after collection both the
newspapers and the supplements passes on the number of paper to each and
every vendor falling under him. The vendor receives both the news paper and
the supplements and they he has to arrange the newspapers and supplements
together, one newspaper may have n number of supplements and thus the
required supplements are to be inserted to each and veypaper given to them. The
vendors have number of beat boys bellow them how actually deliver the
newspaper to the customers.

The above process explains how the distribution channel work in a newspaper
industry. Now let’s see the pictorial representation of the distribution channel
followed in the newspaper industry.

TIMES OF INDIA
PRINTING PRESS

Dealer Dealer Dealer

Depot Depot Depot Depot Depot Depot

Vendor Vendor Vendor Vendor Vendor Vendor Vendor Vendor Vendor

Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat

boys boys boys boys boys boys boys boys boys
Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat Beat
boys boys boys boys boys boys boys boys boys
The distribution process in times of India takes place on 2 phases one for the
upcountry edition and other for the city called the mid night edition, the
upcountry editions are first printed and distributed because they have to reach a
longer distance. The upcountry edition is circulated to the outskirts of Chennai
and the city edition is circulated with in Chennai. The concept is that the longest
distance gets the first printed copy and the nearest distance gets the last printed
copies.

The reporters collect the information all round the day and then they are edited
and made ready for printing, The early edition or the up country edition is edited
around 10.00pm and the printing starts at 11.00pm and the mid night edition
starts printing by 12.00am, thus the news are updated till 12.00 am for the mid
night edition.

After these papers are printed the papers are then sent to various dealers
in the city, dealers then distribute the papers to the depots or the drop points, the
vendors or hawkers in the depots insert the supplement into the main newspaper
and then they are given to the beat boys or the delivery boys who deliver the
paper to the customers in their respective houses. The entire process should end
by a maximum of 7.30 am.

Distribution process
 12.00 A.M----loading of news
papers from the press
THE TIMES OF INDIA

The Times
of India
Suppleme N
nts ews
pap

DEALER 3.00 A.M REACHES THE

DEALER
The Times
of India
Suppleme N
nts ews
pap

DEALER SENDS THE

DEALER Depot PAPERS TO DEPOTS
WERE THE
SUPPLEMENTS ARE
N Suppleme N
INSERTED TO THE
Suppleme ews nts ews
nts pap pap NEWSPAPERS
(BETWEEN 4.00 A.M

THE BEAT BOYS COLLECT THE

PAPERS FROM VENDORS AND
DELIVER THE PAPERS TO THE
CUSTOMERS

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

The project deals with renewal of subscriptions, getting new subscription, a

study on the distribution channel adopted by The Times of India and also to
conduct a market survey in order to estimate the satisfaction level of the
customer.

RENEWAL OF SUBSCRIPTIONS:

The main objective of the project is to renew The Times of India

subscription in Chennai and to find out prospective new readers. The Times of
India in Chennai was launched on April 14th 2008 and as the subscription period
was about to expire the company requested us to renew the subscription and
also to find out new readers for the company.

The existing customer details available in the database was given to us

and thus the customers were called over the phone and the appointments were
fixed and then the customers were met to renew the subscriptions, during the
process the customers were enquired about the level of satisfaction and their
feedback about the paper were noted.

The subscription price of the product for 1 year was Rs.299 and a free gift
of either a travel bag or flask was provided when it was launched and now the
renewal price was fixed at just Rs.299 without any gift, as result of which many
customers refused to renew without gift, this stood as a challenging, thus we to
had explain the customers about the offer, paper cost and so on and convince
them to renew the subscription.

When the customers were met for the renewal some customers
experienced certain problems with vendors and other service related issues were
there, these issues were immediately brought to the notice of the concern person
in the organization and the issues were resolved immediately, in order to
improve the relationship between the product and the customer.
GETTING NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS:

The next challenging part of the project was to meet new customers and
get orders from them. Most of the customers in Chennai were Hindu readers, as
The Hindu is the oldest paper in Chennai and which is being published for more
than 100 years, as result of which lot of readers felt difficult to suddenly come
out The Hindu and start reading The Times of India, These customers were
made to understand the features available in The Times of India and also tried to
explain them about the cost advantage what they gain by buying The Times of
India.

Though some customers were convinced by the basic step, some weren’t.
In order to convince them free sample of the paper was given and asked them to
go through the paper and then the customer’s were meet next day to get their
opinion about the paper, this process actually fetched the customers who had no
idea about the paper.

The main idea of the company is to target the people of age group
between 15 to 40 years, the reason behind this is that, the average population
lies between this age group and thus over a period of time these customers
would be more brand loyal to the product and will stick with the product for a
longer period of time and more over its comparatively easy to attract these
audience than the other.

The marketing concept of direct marketing was used in order to identify

new subscribers. The customers were approached door by door explaining them
about the product and thus convincing them to buy the product. Stalls were also
set up on the road side on a busy street in Triplicane in order to gather the
attention of the customer and to explain them about the product.
 The mails and messages were also sent to families, friends and other
groups explaining them about the offer. The customers met were also give a
small piece of pamphlet explain about the offer and thus requested them to refer
some their friends, which also helped us in getting few more customers. As a
result of all these measures i was able to book around 195 new and old
customers within a period of 2 months.

METHODOLOGY:
Methodology consists of the collection of the primary source of data
and suitable analysis of the collected data as well as the secondary data. A
questionnaire is prepared and a survey conducted with individuals and
households in northern part of Chennai. The sample size of the survey is around
250 samples, each households is treated as one unit. This survey will allow
identifying the satisfaction level of customer and the necessary thing which are
to be improved in the paper. For some data the secondary data is used, which
are collected from previous survey, internet and other articles.

Primary research:

Primary research (also called field research) involves the collection of

data that does not already exist. This can be through numerous forms, including
questionnaires and telephone interviews amongst others. This information may
be collected in things like questionnaires, magazines, and Interviews

The term is widely used in market research and competitive intelligence.

• May be very expensive because many people need to be confronted.

• By the time the research is complete it may be out of date.
 • People may have to be employed or avoid their primary duties for the
duration of the research.
• People may not reply if emails or letters are used.

Secondary research:

Secondary research (also known as desk research) involves the summary,

collation and/or synthesis of existing research rather than primary research,
where data is collected from, for example, research subjects or experiments.

The term is widely used in market research and in medical research. The
principal methodology in medical secondary research is the systematic review,
commonly using meta-analytic statistical techniques, although other methods of
synthesis, like realist reviews and meta-narrative reviews, have been developed
in recent years.

ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY

A survey is conducted with the times of India customers and the results
obtained are analysed. A sample of 260 times of India customers are chosen
from the northern part of Chennai, the questionnaire used for the survey is
shown below

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. NAME:

2. AGE:

i. ( )16-25

ii. ( )26-35

iii. ( )36-45
 iv. ( )>46

3. GENDER: ( ) MALE ( ) FEMALE

4. AREA in which residence: --------------

5. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION:

i. ( )10th

ii. ( )12th

iii. ( )U.G

iv. ( )P.G

v. ( )others

6. OCCUPATION:

i. ( )Student

ii. ( )Professional

iii. ( )Business

iv. ( )Homemaker

v. ( )Others.. specify--------------------

7. INCOME:

i. ( ) <1.5 lacks

ii. ( ) 1.5 – 3 lacks

iii. ( ) 3.1 – 5 lacks

vi. ( ) >5 .1 lacks

8. Do you read any English Daily?

( ) yes ( ) no

9. what are the English daily you buy regularly?

 [ ] The Times of India

[ ] The Hindu

[ ] Deccan Chronicle

[ ] New Indian Express

[ ] others..................

10. On what attribute(s) do you lay emphasis while choosing an English daily?

[ ] language

[ ] editorial

[ ] local news

[ ] international news

[ ] business news

[ ] sports news

[ ] supplements

[ ] others....................................

11. How much time do in spend reading newspaper?(in mins)

12. How do you rank the following newspapers based on their overall content?
(1 indicates maximum and 4 indicates minimum)

---- The Times of India

---The Hindu

--- Deccan Chronicle

---New Indian Express

(IF YOUR ARE A TIMES OF INDIA READER ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING)

13. What feature in The Times of India made you buy this paper?

[ ] content

[ ] pricing

[ ] editorial

[ ] local and international news coverage

[ ] sports coverage

[ ] othere-----------------------

14. What are the 2 things you like the most in times of India?

i.

ii.

15. What are the 2 things you think that The Times of India needs to improve?

CLASSIFICATION OF READERS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR AGE

GROUP:-

Age No of readers
16 to 25 yrs 120
26 to 35 yrs 85
36 to 45 yrs 30
46 & above 25
INTERPRETATION:

The above pie- chart shows that 46% readers are from the age group 16 to
25 years which mainly includes students and working professionals and this
group can be targeted for getting more subscriptions, the chart also show that
33% of the readers are from the age group of 26 to 35 and thus comprising these
two group will give us the perfect audience to target upon.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE READERS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR

OCCUPATION

OCCUPATION RESPONDENT
Student 85
Professional 105
Business 35
Home maker 25
Others 10

INTERPRETATION:

The above pie-chart shows the classification of the reader’s occupation, from
the graph we find that 40% of the people who have responded to the survey are
working professionals and 33% of them are students, so once again from graph
we see that the maximum readership belongs to working professionals and
students. So the company can add news catering to students and working
professionals more so that their readership in this category goes up.

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON ANNUAL INCOME

ANNUAL INCOME READERS
LESS THAN 1.5 LAKHS 60
1.51 TO 3 LAKHS 91
3.1 TO 5 LAKHS 88
GREATER THAN 5 LAKHS 21

INTERPRETATION:

From the above chart we see that the people from the income group of 1.5 to 3
lakhs and 3 to 5 lakhs are almost the same, this is indication that the middle
income group of people prefer The Times of India, this situation might have
happened because of the low pricing strategy followed by times of India.

NEWS PAPERS BOUGHT REGULARLY BY THE CUSTOMERS

NEWSPAPERS READERS
TOI 119
TOI & TH 100
TOI & DC 34
TOI & IE 5
ALL PAPERS 2

INTERPRETATION:

The above graph shows the newspapers which are regularly purchased by the
customers, this survey is conducted with times of India customers and thus
shows the number of customers who buy only times of India and the number of
customers who buy both times of India and other English dailies together.from
the above diagram we infer that more than 50% of their customers buy only
times of India and other buy times of India along with other newspapers.
ATTRIBUTES WHICH THE CUSTOMER LAY EMPHASIS WHILE
SELECTING A NEWSPAPER

ATTRIBUTE NO. OF READERS

Language 175
Editorial 65
Local news 170
International news 90
Business news 90
Sports news 120
others 75

INTERPRETATION:

The above diagram shows that 22 % of readers expect the language used in the
news paper to be good and there is a similar percentage of people who expect
the local news in the paper to be good, the next major expectation by the readers
id to look sports news and thus they expect the sports column to be good. The
remaining set of people expect the business news and the international news in
the paper to be good. There is small propotion of people who buy newspaper for
the supplements provided with them.

LANGUAGE USED BY THE TIMES OF INDIA

CUSTOMER RESPONDENT
RATING
Excellent 81
Good 112
Average 57
Poor 10
Very poor 0

INTERPRETATION:

From the above chart it is clearly seen that there is more scope in the language
used in the TOI. Around 43% of the customer said that the language used is
GOOD. Though another 26 % of people fell the language has to improve the
majority of the sample think that the language is good and toi can continue with
it.

OVERALL PRESENTATION OF THE TIMES OF INDIA

CUSTOMER RATING RESPONDENT

Excellent 83
Good 125
Average 42
Poor 10
Very poor 0

INTERPRETATION:
From the above chart it is clearly seen that the overall presentation of TOI is
good majority of the people are satisfied with the overall presentation of the
paper. So the company can maintain the same way of presenting the news.

EDITORIAL CONTENT OF THE TIMES OF INDIA

CUSTOMER RESPONDENT
RATING
Excellent 24
Good 64
Average 98
Poor 68
Very poor 6

INTERPRETATION:
The customers fells that the editorial column in the paper is average and needs
improvement, some customers felt that the overall editorial content need to
increase as there is only one side in the newspaper with editorial content.

OVERALL CONTENT OF THE TIMES OF INDIA

CUSTOMER RATING RESPONDENT

Excellent 35
Good 150
Average 65
Poor 10
Very poor 0

INTERPRETATION;
Majority of the customers fell that the overall content in the newspaper is good
does not require any improvement while some felt that some column in the
paper needs improvisation.

THINGS WHICH CUSTOMERS LIKE IN TIMES OF INDIA

THINGS RESPONDENT (in %)

pricing 27
Content 6
Front page 16
presentation 16
local news 8
Sports 16
Supplements 8
INTERPRETATION:

When customers were asked about the two thing they like the first response
from them was the pricing and then the next option was the front page news
coverage, thus the above chart explains the customers likings in times of India.

LIMITATION:

 Geographical: The study is limited to the North Zone of

Chennai, mainly Royepettah, Triplicane, Mount road,
Chintadripet and Egmore.

 All the data are generally limited by the method adopted. In

the current method of data collection, questionnaire would
be limited to the extent of data generation available through
that method.
  Limited time available.

 Sample Size around 300.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Things which I have learned during my summer Internship program

• Confidence to meet people and sell any product in the market.

• Handling customers

• Customer relation and problem solving.

• Planning and time management.

• Need for innovative ideas to sell the product.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMENDATION:

This project reveals the distribution and various aspects of The Times of
India, from the survey we found that the times of India is good in its language,
presentation and pretty good with its content however the editorial column and
the service of the paper has to improve. Some customers are not happy with the
service provided by the times of India due to vendor related issues. Though the
company has an excellent CRM system the customers are not aware of the
process. So the customers need to be made aware of the customer service
available.
THE END