Project Report

On

MARKET RESEARCH AND BRAND COMPARISON WITH

SUBMITTED BY:

ER. AAKASH KUMAR SINHA

ROLL NO. 212

PGDM 2011-2013

ITM BUSINESS SCHOOL, NAVI MUMBAI

DECLARATION

I, Aakash kumar Sinha hereby declare that the report on “summer training” entitled “Market Strategy, Research and Brand comparison study for various economic dailies” is a result of my own work and indebtedness to work in publications, if any have been duly acknowledged.

Place: Delhi Signature Date: 16th May, 2012 Aakash Kumar Sinha

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

During the perseverance of this project, I was supported by different people, whose names if not mentioned would be inconsiderate on part. First of all I would like to thanks, BUSINESS STANDARD LIMITED for an opportunity to undergo my summer training in Delhi.

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the industry guide Mr. Sanaulla Khan, Mr. Nikhil Srivastava and Mr. Jai Kishore who supported me and initiated me into the study of “Market Research and Brand comparison study for various economic dailies”. It has indeed been a great experience working under them. During the course of the project for their invaluable advice and guidance provided throughout this project.

I would also like to thank my mentor/faculty guide Mrs. Vidya Iyer for his constant support throughout the duration of the project. I would also like to give my sincere gratitude to all my friends for supporting me throughout the completion of my project.

PREFACE

Summer project is part of academic requirement incorporated in the curriculum of PGDM Program. This exercise enables to get practical exposure to realities of corporate world in action and practice. A great knowledge comes from better theoretical knowledge and a good experience.

I got a truly rewarding chance to get best feel and experience of the real world economic environment in the best possible manner. For this practical training , I had undergone a research project on “Brand comparison study for various economic dailies”.

During the training period I had studied how attitude of consumer perception regarding financial newspaper and how they feel and what they want in daily financial newspaper. I have also get to know how it can be measured. During my project I came to know different aspect of people perception on financial newspaper and their awareness.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

India is one of the few countries in the world to have many business newspapers, which not only reflects the vitality and vibrancy of the media, but also the new vitality of our economy. The large readership for these business newspapers transcends from the rapidly growing corporate sector, it also illustrates the growing interest that the general public now evinces in economic matters which reflect the growing importance of business and economy in our national discourse.

There was a huge growth in the sales of the business newspapers for the past few years. According to the recent study by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), this growth would outperform the general economy each year till 2011.

The Indian print media industry netted $90.80 million in foreign investment in the last three years; few papers like Business standard have tied up with Financial Times of London. Business newspapers have the ability to carry the message in greater detail and clarity, more in-depth information and analysis, which helps companies and their business.

Business newspapers are re-inventing themselves to protect their turf in a fiercely competitive multi-media environment. They are using different strategies to attract the customers of different sectors. Business newspapers focused mainly on business news, insightful views on significant issues and comprehensive coverage of the stock market.

They have managed to hold the attention and fidelity of more than 9, 00,000 readers (both individual and corporate across the nation). All the business newspapers in India (Economic Times, Business Standard, Financial Times, Business Line, Mint and Financial Chronicle) are working strategically to increase their sales.

This Summer Internship Program is also designed with a view to study about the market regarding the personal sale of the Business Standard products and also looking for subscriptions and promoting the product and also creating awareness about business newspapers among different sectors. The aim is to create an in-depth awareness of the brand Business Standard among the various segments of readers, in comparison to other business dailies like Economic Times, Business Line and Financial Times. There is a huge scope of growth for Business newspapers in coming years as only a paltry 0.1% of the population is reading business newspapers at present.

Newspapers reach only 35 per cent of our adult population even though the adult literacy is about 65 per cent. To build this gap between readership and literacy and also to remain competitive the publications have kept their prices low and depended entirely on advertisers to subsidize the reader and to increase the sales.

INTRODUCTION

Type: Privately Held

Industry Type: Print media (Newspapers)

Owner: Kodak Mahindra Group

Headquarters: Bombay, India

Founder: Ananda Publishers

Founded: 1975

Editor: Sanjaya Baru

Key People: Mr.T.N.Ninan (Chairman) Web site: www.business-standard.com

No of Employees: 610 EMPLOYEES

Circulation: 217000

 Business Standard is a financial newspaper from Business Standard Ltd (BSL). It is published in three languages (English, Hindi and Gujarati) from 14 centers in India.  The main English edition comes out from 12 centers - Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Pune, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, and Kochi - and reaches readers in over 1,000 towns and cities across the country.  Business Standard is a serious, respected, top notch, non frivolous, business daily, which is founded on the editorial principles of integrity, accuracy and trust.  It was started in 1975 by the Anand Bazar group in what was then Calcutta, the paper was hived off as a separate company in 1996, and then bought by Mumbai-based financial investors led by the Kotak Mahindra Bank, after which it began a phase of rapid expansion with the launch of new editions.  T.N.NINAN was the editor from 1993 to 2009. In January 2010, he was succeeded as the editor by Sanjay Baru. Mr. Ninan became the chairman and editorial director of the company.  Business Standard sells 210,000 copies daily in English, mostly to the business and policy-making elite. Its Hindi edition sells 53,000 copies.  AC Nielsen's survey of the upper middle and rich market in India places Business Standard next to The Economic Times in total readership.  The paper has a reputation for reliable reporting and responsible journalism, as well as for its stimulating page of analysis and editorial comment.  In 2006, the paper started its Sunday edition, which is now published from four centers.  The Hindi paper is launched in February 2008, it comes out from seven centers, stretching from Mumbai in the west, and running across the Hindi heartland to Kolkata in the east.  Apart from a business newspaper, BSL publishes several periodicals, including BS Motoring, Indian Management, Asian Management Review, a quarterly publication.  In January 2010, it launched smart investor. In an information-cum-trading website for those interested in the stock market.  It is regarded as the India‟s most credible and second largest business daily.

INDUSTRY PROFILE

The first newspaper however was said to be the Strasbourg Relation, in the early seventeenth century.

The first English-language newspaper was published in Amsterdam in 1620. A year and a half later, Courante, or weekly news from Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, France and the Low Country‟s was published in England by an "N.B.

English Newspapers in Indian subcontinent

A British man William Bolts in 1766 offered the first ever paper to his fellow countrymen in Calcutta and helped them establish a printing press.

In 1780 another man named James Augustus Hickey published a newspaper with the name of Bengal Gazette/General Calcutta Adviser. The size of that paper was 12"x8" with only 4 pages.

Indian newspaper industry

Indian News Paper industry is worth of US$ 2.85 billion. This industry is projected to grow from its present size to around US$ 5.04 billion by 2011. The Display advertising component of the Newspaper market in India for calendar year 2007 was valued at Rs.9, 290 cr.

Worldwide newspaper circulation has risen to 540 million copies a day in 2008 despite a downturn in the global economy. Global circulation of newspaper was increased by 1.3 per cent in 2009. This represents an increase of 8.8 per cent over the past five years.

In India newspaper publication began in Calcutta in the 1780's and by 1800 there were several dozen publications in English, with the numbers increasing periodically. Now, the progress has been so much that every major newspaper from India has an internet edition. In India the print and the electronic media are both very active. It was reported that in 1993, there were approximately 4000 newspapers being published in the country. Now the figure has increased to approximately5, 525 newspapers. Each week, National Readership Survey (NRS) says, the print news media reaches 242 million readers. These enormous numbers, the

Survey suggests, represent a chain of growth, driven both by expanding literacy and improved living standards. The publications in the country are in Hindi, English and all vernacular languages. There is also a good range of weekly, fortnightly and monthly magazines in the country which cover a whole range of national as well as international issues in depth.

Current Publishing Scenario: Registrar of Newspapers for India

. 55,780 newspapers and periodicals registered (31.3.2003) . Around 7,156 submit annual returns with circulation 142 Million • Newspapers and Periodicals each have circulation of 70m . Languages • Registered in 101 languages • Mostly Hindi and English . Details from http://rni.nic.in/

Current Publishing Scenario: Registrar of Newspapers for India

. Single edition circulations • Hindu 937K • Hindustan Times 909K • Anand Bazar Patrika 877K • Times of India 844K (Three of these are in English)

. 60 publications have a circulation over 100K • #1Hindi magazine Saras Salil 1,049K • #1 English magazine India Today 453K . Multiple edition circulation • Times of India 2,152K • Malyalam Manorama 1,273K • Dainik Jagaran 1,273K . The Indian Newspaper Society has 705 registered papers with a circulation of 47 Million . The Association of Indian Magazines has 85 magazines with a circulation of 8 Million

Daily 415 31 m

Weekly 106 8 m

Fortnightly 33 3 m

Monthly 133 5 m

Others 18 -

Readership vs. Circulation

. 251 magazines and 147 publications are registered with ABC . Each copy gets read by multiple readers and therefore readership is more important than circulation . The Indian Readership Survey (IRS 2003) covered 291 publications with a total readership of 354 Million . English 63: 23 dailies 22M, 40 magazines 30M . Hindi 55: 30 dailies 73M, 25 magazines 39M . Languages 173 with 190 M readers . Removing overlaps, the print media reaches 176 Million Indians, newspapers reach 153 Million and magazines 84 Million.

Major Players:

Newspapers  Times of India  Hindustan Times  The Hindu  Indian Express  Malyalam Manorama  ABP

Publications . Living Media . Delhi Press . Cyber Media . Outlook . Business India group . Magna Publishing . 80% of the market is controlled by these 12 publishers

. Readership of magazines by type

Magazine Type Readership („000s)

General Interest 42,651

Sports 8,627

Business 2,135

Women 33,127

Men 595

Health 6,704

Children 12,685

News 15,904

IT/computers 1,520

Auto 748

Home Interiors 470

Travel 937

Lifestyle 803

Source: NRS’02

. Print Ad share –by language

Magazine Type Readership (‘000s)

LANGUAGE 2004 (percentage)

English 34

Hindi 23.7

Tamil 10.5

Marathi 7.6

Malayalam 6.9

Telugu 6.4

Kannada 4.8

Bengali 2.1

Urdu 1.4

Punjabi O.9

Oriya 0.2

Total 100

Source: NRS’04

Top players:

Business Newspapers:

· Financial Express

· Business line

· HT Mint.

· The Economic Times.

· Business Standard

COMPANY PROFILE

Business Standard is one of the oldest newspaper publishers in India. It publishes Business Standard, the second largest English business newspaper by circulation. The newspaper is published six days a week and has a strong market presence in India‟s four major business centers (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmadabad). The company is also involved in magazine publication in the automobile, economy and management categories. The company has a content sharing Agreement with Profit, an NDTV business channel and provides content for UTV‟s business news channel.

Activities

Newspaper Publishing

 The company publishes Business Standard newspaper, which has a daily readership of approximately 120,000 and daily circulation of 217,764 (IRS 2007).  It has a partnership with the Financial Times for content syndication. In 2007, the newspaper signed a distribution agreement with Aajkaal, a Gujarati evening paper, to enhance market penetration in Saurashtra and Kutch.  The newspaper also has a website which offers both free and subscription content. It recently launched a Hindi version of Business Standard in Delhi and Mumbai.

Periodicals Publishing

 Business Standard publishes a variety of periodicals in the automotive, lifestyle and business categories.  Titles include Indian and Asian Economy, BS Motoring and Indian Management.  BS Motoring has total circulation of 80,000 copies per month (2007).  The majority of periodicals are published on a monthly basis.

Online Activities

 Business Standard recently launched a Hindi news website called BShindi.com, which offers business news about stock markets, companies, investment and the economy from Business Standard.  It also sources news from agencies such as Reuters, Bloomberg and PTI. The site has a section for regional business news.

Major departments in BS

 Editorial

 Administration

 Production

 Scheduling

 Market Development

 Advertising

 Web Services

 Finance

 Systems

 Human Resource

Organisation Structure: Market Development Dept.

Mrs Akila Urunkar

President

Mr. Vijay Kadu

Vice President

Mr. Asim jafar khan

Branch Manager

Mr. Sanaulla Khan Mr. Nikhil Srivastava

City head Inst. head

Executives

CCP

PRODUCT PROFILE

Business Standard is the country's most respected business daily, being the first choice of serious business readers. The newspaper believes in free, fair and independent journalism and strives to inculcate these values in its editorial staff. The journalism practiced by Business Standard lays equal stress on quality, credibility and accuracy.

1. First page consist of the headlines, news of the last day. On the top of the page, there is a line, which indicates the volume number, publishing centers from where this newspaper is being printed. 2. Below that line there is the header “Business Standard” in association with Financial Times of London. 3. On left side of the whole page there are certain columns like In Brief, Market watch and opinion poll. 4. On the bottom right corner of the page there is a sole add generally. 5. Second and third pages consist of the news related to the Economy. 6. There is a separate page for International news and State news. 7. Tenth and Eleventh page generally consist of Issues & Insights and Opinion respectively. Next is the back page. 8. After back page, a different section called Money and Markets comes which contains all the news related to currency, daily stock market fluctuation and also about the commodity market. This section is completely made for money and markets only, to give the detailed news of each and every factor. 9. After this section a different supplement comes named Accent South.(This name varies city to city like in Mumbai and Gujarat it is named as Accent West) 10. Apart from the daily newspaper, some supplement comes along with the newspaper, Supplements like Smart Investor (weekly), The Strategist (weekly), and Weekender. 11. On every first Friday of the month, one magazine named “Open Sky” comes which gives complete information about aviation industries.

CONTENT

EDITORIAL CONTENT PROPERTY FREQUENCY

International News International Business Daily Lifestyle and Gizmos Technology Tuesday- Friday Company Laws, Tax Laws etc Business Law Monday Marketing,Consumer Activation, The Strategist Monday Advertising Management Education and Business Education Thursday Training Avenues SME Business SME World Tuesday Automobile and Ancillary BS Motoring Saturday Segment Brand Strategies Brand World Monday, Friday and Wednesday Trading calls, stock and sector Smart Investor Tuesday – Friday analysis Fresh look at news and people Take Two Tuesday – Friday News on Digital World Digital Consumer Monday

 THE SMART INVESTOR

 The Smart Investor an entire section packed with extensive market news, views and analysis, with a new emphasis on Personal Finance.  The BS 200, a detailed look at the day‟s market activity and Today‟s picks trading tips on selected stocks.  The Smart Investor- the most comprehensive investment advice in the market.

BS-200

Business standard stock pages introduced for the first time Stock Calculus and Rating for Improving Portfolio (SCRIP) on the top 200 shares ranked on the basis of the combined turnover of the Bombay stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE). These 200 stocks ranked on a monthly basis account for 90-95 percent of the total volume of the shares, value and trade on the two bourses.

Routine information on other stocks, such as the previous session‟s close, the day‟s close and volume are given separately. The SCRIP (Scrip is any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit) for each of the top 200 stocks has four categories of information.

 First, the basic information on the day‟s activities. Here they give the scrip code, group, the previous close, the day‟s open, high, low and close, volume of shares traded and the number of trades.  Second is to lend a perspective to the day‟s trading, they are giving the trend in price and volume. Every day stock price movements-highs/lows (3 months and 52 weeks)  The Third sub set of information is on the bottom-line. How much returns have a particular stock given over 1 year. They are providing returns calculated on a point-to- point basis for 1 month and 1 year.  Finally in order to assess the future of the scrip, which people may be interested in, they are giving information on its performance so far. Here they include ratios on valuation, profitability, strength, growth and efficiency. The idea is to look deeper into the source of price movements and get an understanding of why a share may be active and what is in store at the counter.

 WEEKLY SUPPLEMENTS

The Strategist

 A sought after weekly supplement, the Strategist appears every Monday.  Covers issues on Management and Marketing. Analyses critical issues through case studies  Rich in content, the strategist relies heavily on highly researched articles so that the reader gets a complete understanding of the subject.

Weekend

 “BS Weekend” Covers the Topics of Lifestyle, Art, Travel, Portraits of wealthy people, Real Estate, Golf, Book reviews among others.  A perfect way to start your weekend knowing the leisure‟s of life.

 ANNUAL’S

The Fund Manager

 Covers the high points and performances of Mutual Funds. An annual guide to smartly invest in mutual funds. Includes profiles of top fund managers.

Banking Annual

 Performances of the banking sector. Annual ranking of banks, exploring the mantras adopted by top-rated banks to succeed.

BS 1000

 A guide to India‟s top 1000 companies. An annual reference book on corporate performance. Analyses and rates top 1000 listed companies.

 NEW ENTRY

 Change is the only constant and true to that sentiment there have a few changes over the recent past.

 They have introduced “Take Two”- a section within the paper which takes a closer look at news and people.

 International pages have been beefed up to keep up with happenings around the globe.

 New York, London, Brussels, Singapore- We are the only newspaper with exclusive corresponds in the world‟s business capitals.

 In major markets section one the paper has color pages.

 MAGAZINES

International Management

 India‟s most contemporary and authoritative monthly magazine on magazine.  Experts contribute regularly on the latest in the world of management.  Well researched articles provide the needed depth to get a grasp on the sector  Readers start early in college- Most B schools recommend Indian Management as a must read.  Habit continues among practicing managers, senior and midlevel executives.  A journal by AIMA, Indian Management has been published by BS for close to 10 years and giving it its current look.  The success led to the Asian Management Review to be published by BS on behalf of Asian Management Association.

BS Motoring

 BSM- among India‟s most regarded magazines.  Led by team which is passionate about automobiles- which reflects in the loyal readership that it commands.  Circulation in excess of 25,000 copies from news stands  Also, abridged version circulated to readers of Business Standard makes it largest circulated Auto magazine in the country and reaching out to crème de la crème  Among many firsts, the BS Motoring award is the oldest and most respected.

COLUMNISTS

Shankar Acharya:

 Advisor to three successive finance ministers.  Charted out India‟s reform Strategy.

Deepak Lal:

 Prized assets at UCLA.  Prized columnist for Business Standard. Shyam Saran:

 High profile negotiator on nuclear deals.  Indian envoy on climate change. Suman Bery:

 Director General, National Council of Applied Economic Research.  Mr. Bery‟s publications include papers on Indian financial sector reform; reform of public sector banks; banking crises in Latin America.

Martin Subramanian:

 Former assistant research director in IMF.  Senior fellow at the Peterson Institute of International economics.

EDITORIAL TEAM

Business Standard‟s stable of specialist contributors includes some of the sharpest minds writing on economics and business. Among them:

 Bimal Jalan, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

 Shankar Acharya, former chief economic advisor, Government of India.

 Deepak Lal, professor of economics, UCLA.

 Suman Bery, director-general, National Council of Applied Economic Research.

 Abheek Barua, chief economist of HDFC Bank.

 Nitin Desai, former chief economic advisor and former under-secretary general at the United Nations.

 Surjit Bhalla, chairman of Oxus.

 Arvind Subramanian, professor at the Peterson Institute of International Economics.

 M. Govinda Rao, director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.  AV Rajwade, well-known foreign exchange consultant. SWOT Analysis

STRENGTH WEEKNESS

 Brand Name  Lack of Awareness  Quality of analysis  Single Product  Honest and in-depth reporting  Poor delivery System  Distribution effectiveness  Lack of advertisement and Promotion

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

 Market downfall  Foreign tie-up with Financial times London  Competitors may further lower

the price  Combo offers provided by other papers

Strength:

 The company publishes Business Standard newspaper, which has a daily readership of approximately 120,000 and daily circulation of 217,764 (IRS 2007).  In its endeavor to provide its readers with greater value, it has revamped its existing supplements and added new ones to its portfolio, offering a daily supplement catering to specific target audiences.  Business Standard is read by the decision & policy makers.

 Business Standard stands for reporting that stresses accuracy and credibility, comment that is informed, independent and fair, and journalism that is rooted in ethical conduct and defined by a sacrosanct bond with the reader.

 Business Standard has a 200-person editorial team that is led by Sanjaya Baru, and includes well-known journalists like AK Bhattacharya, Sunil Jain and Shyamal Majumdar.  Business Standard‟s stable of specialist contributors includes some of the sharpest minds writing on economics and business like Bimal Jalan, Shankar Acharya, Deepak Lal, Suman Bery, Abheek Barua, Nitin Desai, Surjit Bhalla, Arvind Subramanian, M. Govinda Rao, AV Rajwade, and Arvind Singhal.

 It has a market presence for past 35 yrs.  Business Standard publishes a variety of periodicals in the automotive, lifestyle and business categories. Titles include Indian and Asian Economy, BS Motoring and Indian Management. BS Motoring has total circulation of 80,000 copies per month (2007).

Weakness:

 Lack of product awareness and brand equity.  Single product as a business newspaper in newspaper section.  Absence of proper advertisement and promotion.  Not proper facility to deliver the newly subscribed copies instantly.

Opportunity:

 Newspapers only reach 35% of the adult population, of which 65% is literate; there is significant room for growth.  The sheer number of publications has created fierce competition which has kept prices low which in turn has caused publishers to depend more on advertising revenues.

Threats:

 ET the top most players in Business newspaper comes with lower subscription rates and also has combo offer with TOI.  Other combo offers as Business Line with The Hindu and HT Mint with HT.  Presence of ET in majority of the financial organizations.

COMPETITORS

 THE ECONOMICS TIMES:

Type Daily newspaper

Format Broadsheet

Owner Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

Publisher Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd.

Editor Rahul Joshi

Founded 1961

Language English Circulation 620,000 Daily

 The Economic Times is an English-language Indian daily newspaper published by the Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., (This company along with its other group companies is more popularly known as The Times Group).  The Economic Times, started in 1961, is India's largest and among the world's top 3 English Business dailies with a daily circulation of over 620,000 copies.  The Economic Times is published simultaneously from 10 Metropolitan Cities-Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, and Chandigarh & Pune.  The company also published the Navbharat Times, the Maharashtra Times, Femina, and Filmfare. Its main rivals are the US-based  The Wall Street Journal and London-based Financial Times, both of the newspapers publishes several international editions.  The Economic Times has its offices in Mumbai outside Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station.  Its main content is based on the Indian economy, share prices, prices of commodities as well as other matters related to finance.  The Founder / Editor of the paper when it was launched in 1961 were P.S. Hariharan. The current Executive Editor of The Economic Times is Rahul Joshi.  The Economic Times is characterized by its salmon-pink paper, which it copied from the better-known Financial Times.  It is sold in all major cities in India.  In June 2009, it also launched a television channel called ET Now . The channel is also headed by Rahul Joshi.

Supplements

 Brand Equity (Weekly) - this is a weekly color supplement that appears every Wednesday, which covers marketing, advertising, media and market research.  Corporate Dossier - is a supplement that appears every Friday, along with The Economic Times aimed at the CEOs of corporate India, with a special focus on management and strategy.  ET Travel - is a weekly all-color supplement which covers travel and tourism aimed at the burgeoning band of Indians who want to see and know about their country and the rest of the world -- through Indian eyes.  ZigWheels - is a weekly all-color supplement covering all aspects from the auto industry from new launches and trends to ancillaries and personalities.

Events

 The Brand equity Quiz is an advertising and marketing quiz which attracts corporate entities all over the Indian subcontinent.  ET in the Classroom Quiz is a business quiz of UG and PG students all over India.

 The Financial Express

Type Daily newspaper

Format Broadsheet

Owner Indian Express Group

Editor Shekhar Gupta

Founded 1961 Official website financialexpress.com

The Financial Express is a daily newspaper published by the Indian Express group since 1961.

 Launched in 1961, India‟s oldest financial daily, The Financial Express, is today one of the leading newspapers in the country.  Part of The Indian Express Group, the newspaper publishes eleven editions in English from leading cities -- Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. It also has an edition in Gujarati, published from Ahmedabad.  The newspaper has offices across the country and is headquartered in Delhi.

CONTENT-

 The Financial Express has supported the eventual breakdown of the arbitrary control- based system that characterized the Indian economy to its emergence as a free market enterprise with accent on merit.  The paper espouses the same position in its coverage of international developments. The position is based on a careful observation of the way economies have evolved in the past few decades.  This is also known as a championing of the free market position. The FE columns and editorials articulate this opinion succinctly.  The FE edit page columns are therefore the most widely read pieces among all business publications in India.  Besides, the newspaper has an exclusive tie-up with The Economist of London to carry its articles all days of the week on the op-ed page, except on Saturday and Sunday.

COLUMNISTS

 A number of Indian and global economic experts pen their columns for The Financial Express. These include Ajay Shah, Bibek Debroy, Lord Meghnad Desai, Avinash Persaud, Vijay Mahajan, Manish Sabharwal, Rajesh Chakrabarti, Amitendu Palit, Ila Patnaik, Mahesh Vyas, Paul Kattuman, Michael Walton and Raj Majumder.

NEWS

 FE‟s news coverage is known for comprehensive sweep of economic policy making, corporate developments and market trends.  For India‟s fast expanding middle class of over 300 million, as per latest NSS data, plus the CEOs and government officials, the insights into the Indian growth story are particularly edifying.  On weekdays there are a number of special pages titled FE Insight and FE Special, which carry reports and analyses on crucial areas of the economy -- automobiles, infrastructure, entertainment, capital markets, workspace, small and medium enterprises, infrastructure, real estate, green businesses and BRIC Plus.  The Financial Express on Sunday focuses on the weekend reading for corporate executives.

SUPPLEMENTS

 The newspaper has weekly supplements -- eFE, a four-page pullout on Mondays that tracks the latest in the knowledge economy;  Brandwagon, a four-page supplement every Tuesday on advertising and marketing,  India Inc., a four-page section every Thursday on corporate strategy.  FE Investor, on investment and personal finance, is published on Sundays.

ONLINE

 The online section of The Financial Express is an up-to-date source for news on economy, business, finance, stocks and money markets.  Besides offering the daily newspaper in the e-paper format free, the site also has extensive sections on stocks and company information.  The site is constantly updated for the latest news on economy and business. Archives for the print edition are available online since 2000. The site is part of the group portal, www.expressindia.com

ANNUAL SURVEYS

 The Financial Express also brings out two annual listings. While FE 500 lists top 500 companies of India, FE Best Banks has emerged as the blue rebrand of banking excellence in the country that culminates with an awards night for 13 categories.

EVENTS

 The Financial Express has instituted two annual awards.- The FE Women Leadership Awards recognize women achievers in business, management and knowledge economy and The FE Best Bank Awards are based on the Best Bank Survey.  Besides, The Financial Express has also initiated a series of FE Round Table Conferences (RTC) that bring together policymakers and major players to discuss key issues pertaining to different sectors.

EDITOR

 Financial Express has had several prominent people who have been its editors and key persons including Prem Shankar Jha, N S Jagannathan, Prabhu Chawla, A M Khusro, Satish Jha, Sanjay Baru, Mythili Bhusnurmath and has had a host of columnists including H P Ranina, Ashok Desai, Prakash Tandon, Bibek Debroy, Meghnad Desai among other

 HT Mint

 Mint is a business newspaper from HT Media Ltd, launched in collaboration with The Wall Street Journal on 1 February 2007. It is a premium business news publication aimed at decision makers and policy makers of the country and it is the first newspaper in India to be published in the Berliner format.  The current Editor of the newspaper is R. Sukumar.

STYLE

 The design of the Mint newspaper is geared towards presenting business and financial information in a compact format.

 The format itself was designed by Mario R. Garcia, who has also been associated with the re-design of the Wall Street Journal.

FEATURES

 Along with the print edition, Mint also has specialized online and mobile editions which can be accessed at "www.livemint.com".  Livemint.com is among the fastest growing news websites in India and it attracts more than 1.5 million readers every month, majority of who are decision makers in leading business organizations across the world.  It is widely considered to be the most comprehensive and technically evolved news portal in the country that has introduced many multimedia enabled engagement platforms which give its readers the opportunity to express their point of view and interact with Mint's editors and columnists.  The weekend edition of the publication is called "Lounge" and it features columns on travel, fashion, arts, personal technology, parenting, and health.

CIRCULATION

 Mint is now India's 2nd most widely read national business daily. It has a readership of over 1.75 lakhs in Delhi and Mumbai [Source: IRS 2009, R1], with the average reader belonging to the age group of 35 to 44. It also has editions in Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Pune.  Along with Mint, HT Media also owns some of India's largest daily newspapers - Hindustan Times and Hindustan. While the Hindustan Times is the largest read English newspaper in Delhi, Hindustan is the most widely read Hindi newspaper in Bihar and Jharkhand.  HT Media also owns the radio channel Fever 104 FM, the 2nd most popular radio station in Delhi and Mumbai

 Business Line

 Business Line or The Hindu Business Line is an Indian business newspaper published by Kasturi & Sons, the publishers of the newspaper The Hindu.  Business Line started publishing in 1994. Published as a broadsheet, it has a circulation of around 130,000 copies.  Circulation of Business Line on Sunday is higher than other days. Business Line is published from 14 locations: Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.  Its Editor-in-Chief is Mr. N. Ram and the Joint Editor is Mr. K. Venugopal. Mohan Padmanabhan writes many of the articles. Its staff consists of reporters and researchers

SECTIONS

 From Tuesday to Saturday, Business Line's main section has 20 to 24 pages. Page headings include Corporate, Information Technology, Marketing, Editorial & Opinion (2 pages), Commodities & Agribusiness, Economy, International Business, Stock Market news, Stocks and Mutual Fund quotes (5 pages), States Variety, Logistics and Market Watch.  On Sundays, Business Line's main section has 18 pages. Page headings include Economy, Commodities, Corporate, International, Variety, Young Investor and Investment World-from page 8 to page 17, Incisive advice on stocks, mutual funds and deposits.  On Mondays, Business Line's main section has 16 pages. Page headings include Market Mood, economy, Information technology, Agribusiness, Transport, Commodities Investment The New Manager-Keep your date with leaders from the world of business, Mentor-A comprehensive resource on taxation, financial systems and books, Money & Banking, Editorial & Opinion, states and Variety.

SUPPLEMENTS

MONDAY e-world

WEDNESDAY Smart buy

THURSDAY Brand Line

FRIDAY Life

ONLINE

 BUSINESSLINE Online has been on the World Wide Web since June 1995. It attracts 14 million page views per month across the globe. The Sensex quotes in the front page entice a huge traffic.

PRICING

 It is priced at Indian Rupees 4 ($0.10) on weekdays and Saturdays and Indian Rupees 3 ($0.075) on Sundays.  While other newspapers like The Economic Times and The Financial Express price their Saturday and Sunday editions at Rs.7 to Rs.10, Business Line has traditionally priced the paper same throughout the week. Other Business newspapers like Mint and Business Standard don't publish on Sundays.

RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

It is a way to systematically solve the research problem. In it we study various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them. It is important for the researcher not only to understand the research methods and techniques but also the methodology.

1. Research: Qualitative and Quantitative

2. Data:

 Primary Data  Secondary Data: Through personal interaction  Research Approach: Survey method  Research Instrument: Questionnaire  Type of Questionnaire: Structured  Type of Questions: Close-ended and open-ended questions 3. Sample Size – 200 4. Location – Delhi, NCR.

Some Questionnaire was prepared on the basis of 5 point-scale. 5 point-scale is mentioned below:

1 = Excellent; 2 = Very Good; 3 = Good; 4 = Fair; 5 = Poor;

The points mentioned in the brackets are the scores against each opinion. The response indicating the least favorable degree of job satisfaction is given the lowest score (say 5), while the most favorable response is given the highest score (say 1).

Research Design

In this project use exploratory research design and for data collection fill-up the questionnaires from the survey of the market and some information collect by interview of the users.

Size of the samples

Sample size is of 200 people belong to various levels of society.

Data analysis

1. Which business newspaper(s) you read?

Newspaper Frequency Regularly Frequently Rarely (Daily) (Up to once a week) (Less than once a week)

Business Standard Economic Times Mint Business Line Financial Express Other (Please specify):

BS ET M BL FE

Regularly 43 72 57 5 10

Frequently 85 79 77 25 38

Rarely 72 49 66 170 152

BS readership

ET readership

Mint readership

BL readership

2. Please rank the parameters that influence your choice of business newspaper (“1” being ‘Most Important’ and so on):

Parameter Rank Breadth of Content Depth of Coverage Cost Ease of Availability Services Others (Please specify):

Breadth of Depth of Ease of Rank Content Coverage Cost Availability Services 1 55 118 6 13 8 2 70 64 21 30 15 3 30 11 39 90 30 4 32 3 64 31 70 5 13 4 70 36 77

Breadth of Content

Depth of Coverage

Cost

Ease of Availability

Services

Analysis: Parameters that influence the choice of newspaper as per rank are as follows:

1. Depth of Coverage 2. Breadth of Content 3. Ease of Availability 4. Cost 5. Services

3. How do you get your newspaper?

Book Stalls Subscriptions

Vendors Please specify ______

Analysis: Most of the customers get their newspaper from vendors. There are very few readers who subscribe or purchase through book stalls.

4. How much average time you spend on reading business newspaper in a day?

< 15 min 15-30 min

30 min-1 hour > 1 hour

Analysis: Most of the customers read business newspaper for 15-30 min duration. There are also many customers which spend <15 min on reading business newspaper. Very few customers read business newspaper for more than 30 min.

5. Please rate the following newspapers on each parameter using the following key: 1 = Excellent; 2 = Very Good; 3 = Good; 4 = Fair; 5 = Poor; 0 = Can’t Say/Don’t know

Business Economic Business Financial Mint Standard Times Line Express Stock & commodity market International Trade News Editorial Section Supplements Special features

Stock & Commodity market

Stock & commodity market BS ET M BL FE Excellent 12 16 52 115 15 Very Good 17 54 54 29 36 Good 102 47 11 20 20 Fair 46 70 31 29 24 Poor 23 13 52 7 105

Stock & commodity market: BS Ranking

Stock & commodity market: ET Ranking

Stock & commodity market: Mint Ranking

Stock & commodity market: BL Ranking

Stock & commodity market: FE Ranking

Analysis: According to the study the ranks given in Stock & commodity market to these business newspapers are as follows: 1. Business Line 2. Mint 3. Business Standard 4. Economic Times 5. Financial Express

International Trade News

International Trade News BS ET M BL FE Excellent 3 29 23 71 74 Very Good 67 56 27 33 29 Good 53 60 53 14 20 Fair 49 39 49 32 19 Poor 28 16 48 50 58

International Trade News: BS Ranking

International Trade News: ET Ranking

International Trade News: Mint Ranking

International Trade News: BL Ranking

International Trade News: FE Ranking

Analysis: According to the study the ranks given in International Trade News to these business newspapers are as follows: 1. Financial Express 2. Business Standard 3. Economic Times 4. Mint 5. Business Line Editorial Section

Editorial Section BS ET M BL FE Excellent 98 47 39 16 0 Very Good 46 64 67 19 4 Good 37 77 51 28 7 Fair 15 12 34 79 60 Poor 4 0 9 58 129

Editorial Section: BS Ranking

Editorial Section: ET Ranking

Editorial Section: Mint Ranking

Editorial Section: BL Ranking

Editorial Section: FE Ranking

Analysis: According to the study the ranks given in Editorial Section to these business newspapers are as follows: 1. Business Standard 2. Mint 3. Economic Times 4. Business Line 5. Financial Express Supplements

Supplements BS ET M BL FE Excellent 50 44 55 31 20 Very Good 51 62 40 37 10 Good 62 45 67 14 11 Fair 15 43 22 68 52 Poor 22 6 16 50 107

Supplements: BS Ranking

Supplements: ET Ranking

Supplements: Mint Ranking

Supplements: BL Ranking

Supplements: FE Ranking

Analysis: According to the study the ranks given in Supplements to these business newspapers are as follows: 1. Mint 2. Economic Times 3. Business Standard 4. Business Line 5. Financial Express Special Features

Special Features BS ET M BL FE Excellent 90 50 25 30 5 Very Good 74 66 34 22 4 Good 29 47 73 32 14 Fair 4 33 40 79 48 Poor 3 4 28 37 129

Special features: BS Ranking

Special features: ET Ranking

Special features: Mint Ranking

Special features: BL Ranking

Special features: FE Ranking

Analysis: According to the study the ranks given in Editorial Section to these business newspapers are as follows: 1. Business Standard 2. Economic Times 3. Mint 4. Business Line 5. Financial Express 6. According to you, which business newspaper(s) focuses more on advertisements than news? ______.

Focus on Advertisement more than news No. of Respondents BS 8 ET 105 Mint 0 BL 42 FE 45

Analysis: Economic Times is far above as compared to other business newspapers in giving preference to advertisements more than news. After that we have FE and BL. Whereas Mint and BS focus on news not advertisement. This is one of the negative as well as positive factors. Positive in the sense that they are earning more through advertisements and also targeting readers which always give and read the advertisements more. But the bigger is negative side as it is not focusing on primary aim that is of providing news precisely not advertisements.

7. My choice of business newspaper for daily reading is ______because ______

______.

Popularity among readers No. of Respondents BS 56 ET 73 Mint 55 BL 3 FE 13

Popularity or choice of readers

Analysis: Economic Times is the most preferred newspaper among readers Because of its coverage of overall news (depth of coverage) as well as attractiveness. It is also easily available because of its tie-up with Times of India. Beside ET, Mint and BS are second most preferred business newspaper. FE and BL have yet to attract readers.

Personal Information: (Please tick the appropriate responses below)

Gender: Male / Female

Age (in years): 21 – 25 26 – 30 31 – 35 36 – 40 41 – 45 46 – 50 > 50

No. of Gender Respondents Male 122 Female 78

Analysis: Most of the target customers of this study are male. Also we have more male readers of business newspaper as compared to female. This is also one of the reasons of most of the target customers as male.

No. of Age Respondents 21-25 87 26-30 69 31-35 23 36-40 21 41-45 0 46-50 0 >50 0

Analysis: Most of the respondents were of 21 to 40 years old. They are mostly staffs or employees. Many of them are also executives, entrepreneurs of young age. Many of them are regular readers of business newspaper.

Profession:

(a) Functional area:

Selling Marketing Finance Accounts HR and Operations Other (other than sales) Administration (Please specify)

Functional Area No. of Respondents Selling 7 Marketing 37 Finance 40 Accounts 19 HR & Admin 30 Operation 24 Other 43

Profession: Functional area

Analysis: Most of the respondents of study are from Finance, Marketing, HR & Admin & other field (Students and staff).

(b) Sector: Public / Private

Sector No. of Respondents Public 44 Private 156

Analysis: Most of the respondents are from private sector.

(c) Level: (Designation: ______)

Self- Top Middle Junior Supervisory Staff employed Management management management level level

Level No. of respondents Self-employed 0 Top Management 1 Middle Management 41 Junior Management 56 Supervisory level 30 Staff level 72

Analysis: Most of the respondents are of staff level. Many of them are at junior management and middle management level. Self-employed and top management respondents are almost zero in the study.

LIMITATION

 The people didn‟t give time for the information.  General readers were not interested in Business standard only business person shows interested in it.  In this project the main problem was non availability of person at survey time.  In some offices in Delhi entry was totally banned for stranger & marketing officials.  Due to less awareness about the Business Standard, it is hard to sell out.

CONCLUSION

With the help of this report we reach in this conclusion that Economic Times covers maximum market and it is the best business newspaper.

We know that our newspaper is 2nd largest business newspaper but still people are not aware about our product. So firstly we should create our brand in the market so they aware about our product.

Our customers who buy BS always criticize it because of its limited coverage of news. They want that we improve our criteria and they also want that we improve our lay out and quality and also the visibility of the printing especially the share market section report.

RECOMMENDATION

1. Launching a new supplement on the IT sector can help in improving the sales of the newspaper to a great extent as during my interaction with customers, I could sense a great need for such a feature in a business newspaper. 2. News on sports and some general news page should include. 3. Business Standard should be published on Sundays. On Sundays, Economic Times is priced high where as Business Line is available for Rs. 3. Hence, if BS can be published on Sundays, offered at a competitive price, then it can get an edge over the ET and BL. 4. Annual magazines are very popular among all the categories of the sample taken as the content is good and the information provided by those magazines is quite good. The respondents wanted these magazines to be published more frequently. 5. There are major problems with the circulation of the newspaper, which need to be addressed immediately. There are only two executives to deal with vendors across Bangalore for implementing the newspaper subscriptions. As a result, most of the customers do not receive the newspaper. The vendors are also not willing to supply the paper as the commission they receive is very low when compared to other competitive papers. 6. Business Standard should concentrate more on improving their news coverage and content analysis.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

References:

1. www.businessstandard.com 2. www.scribd.com 3. http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/newspaper-business-india 4. Book let of Business Standard 5. www.wikipedia.com 6. Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller, Abraham Koshy, Mithileshwar jha, Marketing Management book 13th edition. 7. www.exchange4media.com