W h e n

y o u r e

s u r e

A Summer Internship Project Report on

Comparative Analysis of Financial Dailies

Developed At

Submitted as a partial requirement for the degree of Master of Business Administration

Submitted By: Khushali Thakkar (33) Guided by: Mr. Kunal Panchal.

Submitted To:Faculty of Management Studies M.S.University, Vadodara.

[2]

Declaration

This is to certify that the project entitled Comparative Analysis of Financial Dailies which is undertaken at Business Standard Ltd., Ahmedabad and is being submitted by Ms. Khushali Thakkar of Faculty of Management Studies, Baroda affiliated with The Maharaja Sayajirao University during 10-05-2010 to 09-07-2010. The matter embodied in this report has not been submitted for award of other degree of research work.

Internal Project Guide Prof. (Dr) Jayrajsinh D. Jadeja

Dean Prof. (Dr) G. C. Maheshwari

[3]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude towards my institute Faculty of Management Studies for providing me with this opportunity to develop such a project which enhanced my knowledge and selfconfidence. The development of this project involves the contribution and assistance of a number of people. At the very start, I would like to pay homage to our respected teachers which constitute the very inspirational and intellectual guides. I give my most sincere thanks to Prof. (Dr) Jayrajsinh D. Jadeja and other faculty members who have always been a guiding, encouraging and motivating force. I am very grateful for the support of our project guide Mr. Kunal Panchal of Business Standard Ltd. I have done sincere efforts in making this project as a useful and an intelligent task.

Khushali Thakkar

[4]

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary.6 2. Media and Entertainment Industry..8

Print Media in India.8 All India Media Penetration.........................................................................................9 3. Business Standard...10 History10 Organizational Profile.10 Vision..12 Mission12 Business Ethics...12 Important Figures13 Organizational Hierarchy.15 4. Product Portfolio.16 The Supplements.18 About Magazines.19 5. Department Details..23 6. ABC- Audit Bureau of Circulation..26 7. Distribution..30 8. Porters five force model analysis31 9. 7-S Framework.34 10. Competitors..36 11. Swot Analysis...38 12. Research Methodology.39 Research Plan...39 Market Research Process..39 Target Audience...39 Sampling Method.40 Sample Size..40 Data Collection.40 Questionnaire Survey...41 Sample Questionnaire...42

13. Interpretations and Findings....44 [5]

No of readers of financial newspaper..44 Since how long are you reading the newspaper..45 Most understandable language....46 Feature you like the most47 Brand Equity...48 Market Potential..48 14. Learnings49 Concepts.....49 Strategies51 15. Suggestions and Recommendations...52 16. Selected Customer Responces....53 17. Conclusion..54 18. Bibliography...55

[6]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Newspaper is a product which is required by all. Delay in the distribution can cause many problems to the readership figures. It is a product which loses its value as the day goes on. It is a product without which a day cannot be started, without which no business can survive. Business Standard is a financial daily published from Monday to Saturday. It prides itself on the coverage of the major happenings in the industry as well as the financial sector. It also provides some very important news and tips regarding stock markets which are very much helpful to the investors and stock brokers. Business Standard is ABC Certified and the readership figures given by them give a proof for the surety of the figures stated. There are various people & departments involved in assembling the correct information and making it reach the consumer in the form of a Newspaper. Hence all these departments are interlinked and proper co-operation and co-ordination is a must in the newspaper industry. This helped me in getting a better understanding of teamwork, and the importance of every second, because newspapers are published daily and a delay of single second or a minute can lead to a blunder. Editorial: Editorial department is heart of the Newspaper industry. Because its the editorial team who complete the news paper. This team takes up the role of deciding which news should appear and which should not. Scheduling: This department is in-charge of making space and deciding the actual spot for all the news and the advertisements. There are various factors at work here, hence the scheduling team has to do a proper job in order to ensure a proper balance between the News items and Advertisements. Technical support: This department is acts as a support to all the other departments. Essentially the Technical Support Team is required to look after the issues and problems related to IT. Since the major chunk of the work is done online, co-ordination needs to be maintained at all times amongst all the printing offices of the Country.

[7]

Advertising: The Revenue generation for the company is done through Advertisement. Hence this department gains primary importance in terms of the people and the workforce working. This department contacts to all the corporates and convinces them to sponsor copy or give advertisements in the newspaper. Production: If there is good matter available, many advertisements, efficient technical personal but, a lack of an effective production team can hamper the quality and the outlook in the minds of the Consumers. The Production Team is responsible for the printing & packaging process of the newspaper after it has been designed. Circulation: This department helps the Consumers obtain the newspaper every morning. The function of this department is to start the distribution chain of the newspaper after the Production is done with. The entire process needs to run smoothly in order to ensure the correct delivery of each piece of newspaper daily. The report analysis Consumer Behavior of a Financial Daily, the survey used the method of a questionnaire to gauge the consumer response. The findings from the data collected so far, bring forth a positive image for the Business Standard brand. This also helps me conclude that there is a potential market for the newspaper to tap.

Overall my 60 days at Business Standard were a perfect training experience where I have learnt many things: how to try and convince people, handling the customer, handle the pressures, follow up the customer, and many other marketing strategies.

[8]

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

Media, the fourth estate, when entwined with the entertainment component represents an effective facet of consumers in India. Technology has played a key role in influencing the entertainment industry, by redefining its products, cost structure and distribution. The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry stood at US$ 12.9 billion in 2009 registering a 1.4 per cent growth over last year, according to a joint report by KPMG and an industry chamber. Over the next five years, the industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 per cent to reach the size of US$ 24.04 billion by 2014, the report stated. Additionally, the gaming segment is expected to be the fastest growing sector in the M&E industry. The sector showed a 22 per cent growth in 2009 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 32 per cent to reach US$ 705.2 million by 2014, while the animation segment is expected to record a CAGR of 18.7 per cent in the next five years as per the joint report.

THE PRINT MEDIA INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The print media industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9 per cent and targets to reach around US$ 5.93 billion by 2014, according to the joint report by KPMG and an industry chamber. Jagran Prakashan of Jagran Group, which publishes one of India's largest read language dailies, stated that it will acquire all the publications of Mid-Day Multimedia in a stock deal valued nearly at US$ 40 million. Foreign investment, including foreign direct investments (FDI) and investment by non-resident Indians (NRIs)/person of Indian origin (PIO)/foreign institutional investor (FII), up to 26 per cent, is permitted
[9]

for publishing of newspapers and periodicals dealing with news and current affairs under the Government route. FDI policy for publication of Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news and current affairs is:

Foreign investment, including FDI and investment by NRIs/PIOs/FII, up to 26 per cent, is permitted under the Government route.

'Magazine', for the purpose of these guidelines, will be defined as a periodical publication, brought out on non-daily basis, containing public news or comments on public news.

Foreign investment would also be subject to the Guidelines for Publication of Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news and current affairs issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on Publishing/printing of Scientific and Technical Magazines/specialty journals/ periodicals 100per cent FDI is permitted under the Government route.

ALL INDIA MEDIA PENETRATION

[10]

Source: http://www.battery.com/content/news/Charger/November2007/media_in_india.html

BUSINESS STANDARD-HISTORY
Business Standard: A standard paper for the business class. When youre sure is what we always believe in at Business Standard. Print media has bought considerable changes in the life of people around the globe. Business Standard Ltd. was incorporated on 15th December, 1975 under the name of Desh Publication Pvt. Ltd. This was changed to Business Standard Limited on 23rd November, 1995. The head office of the company is located at Delhi. The company is managed, under the leadership and guidance of the board of directors. The company has completed its 30 years in the year 2005. The company believes in ethical conduct through professional management and has a forward looking outlook.

ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE
BUSINESS STANDARD is the country's most respected business daily, being the first choice of serious business readers. It is published in color from 12 centers in India - Mumbai (formerly Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Bangalore, Chennai (formerly Madras), Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kochi and Bhubaneswar and Pune. 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. BUSINESS STANDARD has the country's best economic journalists and columnists working for it. It is edited by T.N. Ninan, perhaps Indias best-known business journalist, who had earlier undertaken a complete and highly successful revamp of The Economic Times and was responsible for its phenomenal growth.

[11]

Apart from a business newspaper, BSL publishes several periodicals, including BS Motoring, Indian Management, Asian Management Review, a quarterly publication, and two regional language business newspapers BUSINESS STANDARD in Hindi and BUSINESS STANDARD in Gujarati. The Hindinewspaper is published simultaneously from seven centers Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhopal, Patna and Kolkata. The company sees content creation, content processing and content management as its core competence. It offers complete outsourcing solutions for organizations which want to bring out in-house or private publications but lack the people and/or resources to do it cost-effectively. The web properties of BSL, including the online edition of Business Standard, include businessstandard.com, bsmotoring.com, bshindi.com and bsgujarati.com. At business-standard.com, you have access to one of the best repositories of Indian and global business news. Apart from the flagship publication, the website also features content from The Smart Investor (weekly), The Strategist (Weekly) and BS Motoring (monthly). businessstandard.com is the online property of Business Standard Ltd (BSL), publisher of Indias leading business daily, Business Standard. The website attracts 1.5 million unique visitors every month, the highest such number for any stand-alone business newspaper website in India. 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. All Business Standard journalists sign on to a code of conduct that is available on this website. 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 Standards 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,
[12]

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; and Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak. It offers syndicated columns from Martin Feldstein and Dani Rodrick, and content from Breakingviews.com--with exclusivity in the Indian market. In addition to two newspapers, BSL publishes two monthly magazines (Indian Management and Business Standard Motoring), as well as a quarterly (Asian Management Review). The company also has a books division, which publishes books under the BS Books imprint. BSLs website properties include bshindi.com, bsmotoring.com, and smartinvestor.in. This last is a dedicated information-cum-trading site for investors. BSL is majority-owned by the Kotak Mahindra Group, but is run independently through a board of directors, with TN Ninan (a former editor of the newspaper and perhaps Indias best known business journalist) as chairman and editorial director.

VISION
To stand at a respectful position in this marathon and keep up with the pace of the changing needs

of our valuable readers.

To win more and more readers. In addition of being backed up by a strong product, company needs to deliver.

MISSION
The mission is to expand the market share of Business Standard amongst the potential market present in the Indian Economy and also to ensure make the publication the Best in the Country.

[13]

BUSINESS ETHICS
Business Standard is neutral and most credible financial newspaper. Business Standard is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting information regarding current events, trends, issues and people.

IMPORTANT FIGURES
Readership of Business Standard: Business Standard is Indias second largest and fastest growing newspaper having growth rate of 300% in past four years. It has a readership over a quarter million. Its readership profile encompasses the brightest and the best from Indias business and finance communities, readers come from varied occupations in the field of business, finance, government, policy makers and academics, stock brokers, decision makers, researchers and students and observers of the Indian Economy. Attraction: Rich with informative supplements, a vibrant section on personal finance, banking, careers and technology, travel, books reviews and reviews of arts and cultures are the major attractive sections. It is the most reliable and affordable business newspaper available in Gujarat at Rs. 3/- on weekdays and Rs. 6/- for the weekend edition (Saturday & Sunday). Economics of publication house: A newspaper cost is Rs. 15-17 to the publication house at Business Standard. The cost is covered from the advertisements that they receive, which is the work of the space marketing department i.e. collecting advertisements for the dailies. Corporates advertise in only those newspapers where there is a considerable audience and a large network of circulation. Therefore it is imperative for the publication house to create a class of readership for the publication in order to attract the advertisers as well corporates and also build a strong brand image. Positioning Statement of Business Standard -When youre sure:

[14]

To succeed in a competitive environment, one requires a strategy. To manage the distribution channel properly is not the only that the market development department has to perform. The department has to take care for the necessary steps required to tape the opportunities prevailing in the market. Hence the tagline, When youre sure was decided to be associated by the publication house with the Brand of Business Standard. The tagline infuses a certain amount of confidence amongst the consumers. Achievements:
Business Standard is one of the only Newspapers in India to have a foreign collaboration

(Financial Times Group, London) which helps with the International News Coverage. Business Standard also has an annual series of awards to felicitate outstanding leadership in the corporate world.
Content tie up with NDTV, a leading Media product in the Country.

ABC approved

[15]

ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY
T.N.Ninan (Chief Managing editor/director)

Sanjay baru (Chief Editor)

Akila Urankar (CEO)

A.K.Bhattacharya (Group M.D.)

Vijay Kadu (V.P. Marketing)

Sachin Paniskar (V.P. Space Marketing) H.L.Gupta (Production)

Alok Aggrawal (COO) Bandana Roy (Systems)

D.Basu (Admin/HR) Kamaldeep Singh (Finance Head) NORTH EAST SOUTH

WEST Ahmedabad Mumbai Hardik Joshi (Manager) Pune

[16]

Kunal Panchal (Sr. Officer) Summer Trainees

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

About Business Standard Newspaper (Ahmedabad Publication)

A newspaper which is published from MON to SAT (Sunday edition published only at Delhi and Bombay) Price at the weekdays is Rs. 3/- and on Saturday is Rs. 6/The size of the newspaper is 50, or 51 or 52 cm. in length and 32.9 cm. Width. Supplements with newspaper: Monday Tuesday Saturday : : : The Smart Investor The Strategist Weekend

8 pages on Stock Market as Money and Market.

Six full pages on stock details both in Graphical and alphabetical form. BS 200 which consists of the top 200 companies stock details, calculated Formulae specifications. Mutual Fund details on full page coverage. Insurance schemes on half pages Guidelines on how to read stock pages and the abbreviations. on 22

parameters.

The Accent West section for covering all the news of Gujarat. Specific Industry based coverage of news on dedicated pages. Collaboration with the international newspaper FINANCIAL TIMES London Publishes 4 magazines annually. The Banking Annual
[17]

 BS 1000 The Billionaire Club Fund Manager

Editions from Monday to Friday have a main edition of about 12 pages with colored pages in the front and the rest are black and white. The following areas are focused: National and International news Economy and Policy news Infrastructure news Companies news Editorial pages
Crossword, Sudoku

Education News Business law

Section II:

MONEY AND MARKETS

Stock market news Money and currencies Metal an intermediates news Commodity news BS 200
Share prices in a alphabetical order

[18]

 Mutual fund and insurance

ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS

MONDAY: THE STRATEGIST

Theories and practices of business managements. Brand related news Notes by management thinkers Book worm Quiz column

SATURDAY: WEEKEND
[19]

Life and fashion Living Entertainment Motoring

ABOUT MAGAZINES

[20]

A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising and/or purchase by readers. They are often printed in color on coated paper, and are bound with a soft cover.

1) THE BANKING ANNUAL

Banking Annual, the one spot information providers regarding everything related to banks. Banks are not only gives you security but many more things. To get an all round view of banks functioning and their future action, banking annual provides with all. Banks valuation Banker of the year Innovation bought and which would be coming in the near future Datas related to banks.

2) BS 1000 BS 1000 is a detailed guide to Indias top 100 companies. The issues of BS 1000 mention those depressing times, providing data on the impact of the slowdown on corporate, the deterioration in their financials, how they coped with crisis. Not just bad phases but also the success stories are mentioned. It also peeks into the future, where which industries booming, with what phase, with what strategies, etc are discussed. Below are the main features: BS awards. 1000 best companies ranking and performance of the leaders of the country
[21]

 1000 companies growth, gross profit, net profit, etc

3) THE BILLIONAIRE CLUB

This is the only magazine with the listing of Indias billionaire. Billionaire club is much more than providing the order of rich people, providing the slid down or slid up of individuals, it is also a snapshot of the changing trends in the Indian economy. By focusing on the spotlight; it showcases the creators of value in the economy. It too has certain other features which are:

A list of the richest people of the country New person added to the list Salary details of CEO & MD

4) FUND MANAGER

Fund Manager, as the name suggests that it gives a full insight to the funds investment. It focuses on facts and figures on mutual funds. The fund manager seeks to rank mutual funds schemes and also rate the best fund manager of the year. Below given are the few additional features of the Fund Manager: Risk return rating over 600 funds Futures of new fund offerings
[22]

 Best fund pick

OTHER MAGAZINES

MOTORING

Motoring is a monthly magazine. It gives all the information related to cars and bikes. It gives information about upcoming models, features and specialties of them. The entire edition has something special in them. Certain experts interview related to the automobile industry.

INDIAN MANAGEMENT

It is also a stand monthly magazine. It is made especially for management students. The students get all the information need through the magazine. It is a one point access to cutting edge ideas in management. It gives:

the they

Superior management coverage Delivers latest management theories

[23]

 Opinions from thought leaders

Global trends and innovations Insights from carefully analyzed case studies Book reviews.

THE STRATEGIST

The strategist is the combined edition of the entire strategist section which published weekly with the newspaper. The strategist contains the pick of the articles over the previous year an a half. The objective of the annual recollected magazine is to gibe the best to the BS reader. The main motto of the magazine being to take out the strategies out of book, to understand the classic pitfalls of the big brands, to understand many other things with practical case studies.

THE WORLD OF B-SCHOOLS It focuses on the best B-schools of India with the articles like the B-school Roadmap, what matters the most courses, faculty of infrastructure, when you go for B-school hunting, etc provide the all kind of answers to the mind of a b-school seeker. Hence it gives what students want An Answer

DEPARTMENT DETAILS

A brief department detail to give an idea of where the things are placed in Business Standard is as follows:

[24]

MARKET DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT / CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT This department is responsible for the circulation of the newspaper in the whole region. This department also looks after the daily back room operations which include giving print orders for the regular supply of subscription, complementary copies and sponsored copies are also being distributed by this department. They also check the dispatch and payment received for the month. Another function is to expand the

[25]

market of the newspaper by adding more customers to its list. They are the people who not only think about selling the newspaper but also how to promote it.

SPACE MARKETING DEPARTMENT It is the major source of revenue generation for any media industry. Because the actual cost of the newspaper goes up to 15/- to 17/- Rs. And sold at Rs. 3/- so the advertisements are the medium to compensate for the cost generated. I was taught about the marketing department contact different corporate for advertisement and the channel through which the advertisement comes and are prepared and how the space is allotted depending upon the space given by the editorial department. There is an agent in between the client and the publisher which helps in making the arrangements of ads.

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editorial is considered as the backbone of the print media because without any good matter to publish and which is not edited nicely it is just a crap for the readers. Readers want to have the columns with good matter, so without having an effective and efficient editorial team no newspaper can grow.

This department collects the news mainly from the News Agencies and they have their own network to publish the articles too. The news can be by telephone, fax or through internet or other communication medium. This news is edited and then sends to the Mumbai and Delhi for the adjustment. The group Managing Director of the Business Standard is MR. A. K. Bhattacharya

SCHEDULING DEPARTMENT This department deals with the scheduling of the edited matter and the advertisements. It is the work of this department to adjust and frame the edited matter with the advertisement, by allotting the empty space to the advertiser, which matter and advertisement should be in which page is the looked out by scheduling people. For this scheduling the department forms a dummy A-4 size, adjusting the editorials and the ads in that paper to know the place of the same in the original size paper.

[26]

SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT System department is responsible for the communication network as well as all the technical related problems in the company. All the branches of Business Standard are linked with V_SAT and with the dedicated leased line along with the Head Office. The most important work of the system department is to connect all the telephone line with EPBX system and connect all the branches to the head office with Hot Lines, which helps to reduce STD cost of the company. The system department at Ahmedabad receives a facsimile copy of newspaper everyday and forwards its printout on the butter paper to the production department.

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT After receiving the facsimile copy on the butter paper from the system department the work of production department starts. This butter copy is framed on the aluminum plate. This plate is then fixed in the printing machine and then as per the printing orders the printing starts. Machine which is used for the production is known as Film Processor which costs approximately Rs. 2.5 lakhs. The machine is divided into four different units i.e. Developer Unit, Fixed Unit, Wash Unit, and Dryer Unit. Production Department is used mainly four colors for the hard copy, which is Black, Yellow, Cyan and magenta. Some colors are used at the time of the final printing of the newspaper at press. Raw material for this department is paper and aluminum plate. Print comes in the form of reel. The cost of reel is Rs. 10000.

DISPATCH DEPARTMENT Dispatch department is responsible for the regular dispatch of the total number of copies at various destinations at the right time. It is also responsible for how many copies should be reach at each center i.e. local or upcountry.
[27]

There are about 46 upcountry and 6 in Ahmedabad. The distribution at these centers is very important to be on time. Even the commission has to be taken off. The function of function department is to generate rush mail and put it on the parcel. Rush mail shows the number of the copies in the parcel and its destination address. With this a route control statement is also there for each taxi driver, which shows the number of parcels for each and every destination, comes under his route.

FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT This department is responsible for all the financial matters. Matters are related to salary, operational expenses and other expenses. It is also responsible for the cutting the cost of the publication.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT This is the department responsible for the HR supply in the company. For Business Standard this department is not in Ahmedabad, but it is in Mumbai. It means that the Business Standard has a centrally located HR department who takes care of the supply in any of the branch. All these departments identify the need of the customer i.e. the quality and pricing demanded by the customers. In this industry this strategy is very important as the selling price of the newspaper is always less than its cost of production. The main reason for this type of pricing is to create awareness and generate reading behavior amongst the audience of the newspaper. Hence all these departments are interlinked and proper cooperation and coordination is a must in the newspaper industry. This helped me in getting a better understanding of teamwork, and the importance of every second, because newspapers are published daily and a delay of single second or a minute mistake can lead to a blunder.

ABC Audit Bureau Circulation

[28]

The ABC is a non-profit, self discipline, voluntary organization consisting of publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies. It has done pioneering work in developing systems to verify the circulation data published by those newspaper and periodicals, which have earned the right to display its emblem. Facts and figures which are checked and certified by an independent body are a very important tool in the hands of the advertising business community.

What information does an Audit Report provide? o A total average of distribution is provided. o Market coverage o Public access o Distribution by issue o Geographic distribution o One day distribution o Other details: The explanatory paragraph provides supplemental information and disclosures and includes an explanation of audit methodology.

An advertiser would like to know the fact and figures before investing his money in advertising. An advertiser ought to know how many people buy a publication and in which area. The ABC gives all these vital facts every six months i.e. January to June and July to December. The ABC figures are not the outcome of opinions or guesswork but they are the result of rigid, in-depth and impartial audits of paid circulation of member publications by independent and leading firms of Chartered Accountants working in accordance with the rules procedures prescribed by the bureau.

ABC Audit:[29]

What is ABC and how it is working? ABC: The main function of ABC is to evolve, lay down a standard and uniform procedure by which a member publisher shall compute its net paid sales. The circulation figure so arrived at is checked and certified by a firm of Chartered Accountants which are approved by the Bureau. The Bureau issues ABC certificates every six months to those publishers whose circulation figures confirm to the rules and regulations as set out by the Bureau.

From a modest beginning it has grown to remarkable proportions. ABC's membership today includes 411 Publishers of national and regional importance, 151 Advertising Agencies, 51 Advertisers & 20 New Agencies and Associations connected with print media and advertising. It covers most of the major towns in India. Facts and figures which are checked and certified by an independent body are a very important tool in the hands of the advertising business community. The details of ABC certified circulation figures are available online to all members of the Bureau at no extra cost.

An Advertiser would like to know the facts and figures before investing his money in advertising. An Advertiser ought to know how many people buy a publication and in which area. The ABC gives all these vital facts every six months. The ABC figures are not the outcome of opinions, claims or guesswork, but they are the result of rigid, in-depth and impartial audits of paid circulations of member publications by independent and leading firms of Chartered Accountants working in accordance with the rules / procedures prescribed by the Bureau.

The Policy formation body of the Bureau is the Council of Management consisting of elected representatives from publishers (8), advertisers (4) and advertising agency (4) members of the Bureau. To assist the Council of Management an Executive Committee is appointed by the Council, to guide and oversee the day-to-day working of the Bureau. The Executive Committee consists of Publishers, Advertisers and Advertising Agency Members of the Council. The Council of Management and the
[30]

Executive Committee meets regularly as often as required. The Chairman is elected annually by the council of management.

Few important issues to take care as per ABC certification: Trade terms to agents on subscription copies should not exceed In case of dailies-40% of the subscription price In case of weeklies-45% of the subscription price Publishers have to maintain the full record of subscribers with their address, name and signature. There are two types of panels for auditing: Auditors Panel Publishers Panel

[31]

DISTRIBUTION
Distribution is exactly for maintaining the brand equity in the market. The promises which were made to the customers can be fulfilled by the proper channel and the right time delivery of the newspaper.

How Business Standard reaches to you?

[32]

PORTERS FIVE FORCE MODEL ANALYSIS

[33]

Porter's 5 forces analysis is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It uses concepts developed in Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive 5 forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. 1. The threat of substitute products: Substitute product for company can be T.V. Media Magazines Internet Seminars and lectures of experts What can be the factor of substitute product?
1. 2.

Buyer propensity to substitute Relative price performance of substitutes Perceived level of product differentiation

3.

2.

The threat of the entry of new competitors

Profitable markets that yield high returns will draw firms. The results are many new entrants, which will effectively decrease profitability. Unless the entry of new firms can be blocked by incumbents, the profit rate will fall towards a competitive level (perfect competition). economies of product differences
brand equity

capital requirements access to distribution

[34]

 learning curve advantages

expected retaliation by incumbents government policies

3.

The intensity of competitive rivalry The Competitors of Business Standard are THE ECONOMIC TIMES BUSINESS LINE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

number of competitors rate of industry growth exit barriers diversity of competitors informational complexity and asymmetry level of advertising expense Economies of scale Sustainable competitive advantage through improvisation

4.

The bargaining power of customers

bargaining leverage, particularly in industries with high fixed costs buyer volume buyer information availability
[35]

 availability of existing substitute products buyer price sensitivity differential advantage (uniqueness) of industry products

5.

The bargaining power of suppliers

degree of differentiation of inputs presence of substitute inputs supplier concentration to firm concentration

7S Framework
HARD S

STRUCTURE Structure of Business Standard is very simple and straight forward. The people to be reported are not many and so it is very simple to be part. SYSTEM A group of interacting, interrelated or interdependent elements forming a complex whole is a system. System of interaction is very free in Business Standard. People love to eat together at lunch time, stay there with each other in all times be it good or bad. Legally they follow a hierarchy. The system is well defined and well managed.

STRATEGY
[36]

The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war is strategy. Strategies vary from time to time but what remains are the truthfulness and the attitude. For the Business Standard what matters is its firm value and so all the strategies are planned accordingly.

SOFT S

STYLE The way in which the work is to be done or expressed is Style. Business Standard is trying to do everything openly but with a blast; a blast to make the others move from their chairs. They believe in slow but steady reach to top so that readership is strong. STAFF Staff comprises of the people working in the Business Standard. People working together specialized in their own areas of concern. But one thing is made sure that everyones work at Business Standard challenging. Everyone is appreciated for their work and they all work as a group. SHARED VALUE Shared Values are what engender trust and link in an organization. Shared values are also the identity by which an organization is known throughout its business areas. These values must be stated as both corporate objective and individual values. And at Business Standard people have joined the individual and corporate goals; if necessary people are also ready to devote hours even after their service hour. SKILLS Proficiency, facility or dexterity is acquires or developed through training or experience is skills. Skills are at times found inbuilt and most of the times is expected to learn on job. This helps them to understand the stupid mistakes that they might do in a recent job oriented. is

[37]

COMPETITORS

Competitors are unavoidable in todays competitive scenario. The intensity will depend on your own firms position and your competitors position. The following are the competitors of Business Standard.
The Economic Times. The Financial Express. Business Line.

Comparison of Business Standard with its Competitors

[38]

SR. NO. 1

PARAMETER Price (One Year) Stock market analysis Type of News Group Pages (Average) Color of pages Updates Language No. of location of Publication Position in the Market

BUSINESS STANDARD Cover price:1092

THE ECONOMIC TIMES Cover Price:1534

BUSINESS LINE

FINANCIAL EXPRESS Cover Price:1768

Cover Price: 1460

Subscription: 650. BS 200, 6 full page of share details Only Business Kotak Mahindra 20-28 Pink No Easy 12 cities Business + General Bennett, Coleman & Co. ltd. 22-24 Pink
Week update on Sunday

Good coverage

Good information

Good

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Business + General The Hindu(Kasturi group) 20-24 White No Hard 14 cities

Business The Express Group 12-24 Pink No Moderate 11 cities

Moderate 11 cities

11

2nd

1st

3rd

4th

[39]

SWOT analysis of Business Standard

[40]

STRENGTH

WEAKNESS

OPPORTUNITY

THREAT

Systematic approach covering all sectors.

Low Brand Image

Can give an extra page Availability of Online on Ahmedabad related news news & analysis

Nominal price . Separate Money & Market section

Product Features

Increasing Literacy & Income Earnings

Low Pricing Strategy

No own publication house.

Potential Market Availability

Toughest Competition From The Economic Times

BS 200

Display of ads sometimes creates a fuss.

Tie-ups with renowned national newspaper brands.

Not having Sunday edition

Over view of the whole week is given in weekend Detailed analysis of Companies with graphical representation

Small Font Size and Can provide a section on more no. of pages which require long time to read Poor Service Quality SME( The Fastest Growing Industry)

[41]

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The objective of the present study could have accomplished by conducting a systematic market research to know the promotional strategies and services of Business Standard Ltd. Market research consist of the systematic collection, recording, analysis, Interpretation and reporting of information about various facts of a phenomenon under study. It plays a truly analytical approach to decision that will be take.

Research Plan
[42]

Research plan states how and when the research study is under taken. It includes specification of research design source of data, method of primary data collection, sampling design and analysis procedure adopted. Research plan states how and when procedures were employed to carry out the research study. The data are primary. Research approach is Survey.

Market Research Process

Problem identification Development of an approach to the problem Research design formulation Fieldwork or data collection Data preparation and analysis Report preparation and presentation

TARGET AUDIENCE The financial newspapers generally cater to the following target audience (120): Corporate executives (20) Investors and Stock brokers (20) Businessmen (20) Bankers (20) Management students and professors (20) Chartered Accountants & other Professionals (20)

[43]

SAMPLING METHOD

There was a little scope for change due to the duration of the study. So non-probability sampling was preferred accordingly, convenient sampling method was used.

SAMPLE SIZE

The numbers of readers of business newspaper were decided on the basis of different types of occupation and their designation. Sample size of 120 was taken for the research.

DATA COLLECTION Since, data collection signifies a very crucial place in a pilot survey; I have collected primary data by personal interview through structured questionnaires. I had used only this method because of time constraints. QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

The questionnaire for the purpose of this study was carefully drafted and very well developed. Proper care has been taken in asking the questions, in wording them and in maintaining the sequence of the question. The questions asked were in open-ended and close-ended form, open-ended question were to get customers own views and in close-ended questions, multiple-choice questions and dichotomies questions were included. This part of the data collection method can be termed as quantitative survey and the questions were very specific. The data has been analyzed based on the statistical factors and been described through a graphical analysis in the further pages.
[44]

SAMPLE QUESTIONAIRE

1. Do you read a financial news paper? Yes

No

If NO, then what is the reason? Language TV (News Channels, etc) Internet Vernacular Newspaper

[45]

If YES, then which Financial Newspaper do you read? The Economic Times Business Standard Financial Express Business Line

2. Since how long have you been reading the newspaper? <2 yrs 3-5 yrs 6-10 yrs >10 yrs

3. 4.

Which newspaper has most understandable language? Which feature of the financial newspaper are you interested in? Company news Stock Information Editorial Economy/Political News

5. Please rank the following supplements from 1-4 (1 being the best). Brand Equity (E.T.) Investors Guide (E.T) The Strategist (B.S)
[46]

Weekend (B.S)

6. Would you like to switch-over to another newspaper if it provides you discounts or gifts? Yes No

7. PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Occupation/Designation: Email: Address: Age: Organization: Contact No.:

INTERPRETATION AND FINDINGS

Which Financial newspaper do you read?

[47]

When asked to the population whether you read a financial newspaper or not, then 86% of the people answered positively and the remaining 14% of them said no. When further asked about which financial daily they read, 59% of the people read The Economic Times, 34% of them read Business Standard, where as only 5% and 2% of the people read Financial Express and Business Line respectively.

Since how long do you read the newspaper? Less than 3 yrs 3 to 6 yrs

7-10 yrs

More than 10 yrs

[48]

From the above drawn pie charts, it is evident that there are a lot of loyal readers of The Economic Times and very less of them for Business Standard. Out of the total number of people who have been reading financial newspaper for more than 10 yrs, 95% of them are reading The Economic Times. Whereas out of those who have just started reading the financial newspaper or have been reading it for less than 3 yrs, 75% of them are reading Business Standard. This shows that there is a lot of potential market out there for Business Standard, to retain its customers for a long time and to strengthen Business Standard as a brand.

Which of the financial daily has the most understandable language?

Mostunderstandablelang e uag
4.54 0 38.64

56.82

The Econom Tim ic es Business Standard Financial Express

[49]

This question was asked to find out the perception of readers of A Financial daily about the simplicity of its language. I found that among sample readers 56.82% believe that The Economic Times has the most understandable language. Readers who believe that Business Standard has the most understandable language are 38.64% and readers who believed so about Financial Express are 4.54%. This result makes some conflicts with our analysis about all financial dailies in which it was ascertained that Business Standard is the financial daily with the most understandable language.

Which features of the newspaper do you like the most?

[50]

From the above graph it is evident that a majority of the people reading a financial newspaper are interested in the stock market news. The second preferred area of interest is the company news. Business Standard provides a separate, 12 page section on stock market news. Its USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is BS200. Bs200 gives information on the top 20 scripts in terms of 20-22 key parameters. Hence Business Standard has a lot of chance to capture the market by providing a detailed information on Stock Market.

B randE quity
5 3 37 100 EconomicTimes Business Standard Financial express BusinessLine

[51]

Market Potential

S ales(in 000)
15 24 150 1.2 0.8 EconomicTimes Business Standard Financial express BusinessLine

Learnings from the project

My work at Business Standard was of that hard core selling for the first month along with the market survey and research. It tested our capability to communicate effectively and convert the Consumer into a Customer. I personally went to many corporate offices and got subscriptions for the company. My contribution was of 37 yearly subscriptions. I have also cracked bulk deals for the B-schools students subscriptions.

Concepts

There were certain concepts which I had learnt during my training period.
[52]

They were: Relational purchasing: The way consumers habitually brands, products and services based on their understanding of and belief about, the brand product and the company. And I have actually seen people buying the subscription due to their understanding of brand.

Price cutting: A marketing technique involving temporary reductions in the price of a product or services, aimed at increasing the market share. The special subscription rates were a pure example of price cutting.

Sales penetration: This is a calculation indicating how much of a particular market for a product or service has been gained by the active sales. After the monthly target achieved I used to calculate how much part the market has been captured by the team.

Customer Retention:

Retaining customer for a long term transaction and not for a mere one time interaction.

Network marketing:

[53]

 The marketing of Business Standard through a network of agent of agent, be it household or corporate networking.

During the full project my learnings were many. According to me working in the newspaper industry as a first experience has opened many future avenues for me. I have also learnt the basics of the management of a newspaper, distribution, sales, space selling and marketing.

STRATEGIES

During this tenure of two months I had practically applied a lot of concepts learnt during academic year for the marketing and promotion of Business standard. Here are few concepts listed below:

Customer retention It is the retaining customer for a long term transaction and not for a mere one time interaction. I learnt how important this customer retention is for any company as the cost of making new customers is very high as compared to retaining old ones. Viral marketing

[54]

The marketing of business standard through a network of agent, is it household or corporate networking. Referral marketing o Contacting references for the business enhancement o Referrals are very cost-effective Guerrilla marketing It is an unconventional way of performing promotional activities on a very low budget. Such promotions are sometimes designed so that the target audience is left unaware they have been marketed to and may therefore be a form of undercover marketing. It is an unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. Door to door marketing This is the marketing strategy which has the maximum impact on the customers. While our training period these were the concepts taught to us for implementation of relevant topics and using other when the need arises.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECCOMENDATIONS

From the study carried out and the analysis of the result obtained from the survey, the following suggestions and recommendations can help the firm to improve upon the product and the sales.
1) Add the news on IT and Information, on Gujarat region and on SMEs in much more detail. 2) Give scrip codes of BSE and NSE companies. 3) Increase the font size of stock detail. 4) Give more job related advertisements. 5) Improve paper quality. 6) Build proper positioning in the minds of the readers. [55]

7) Publishing their Club and giving membership to regular customers.

8) Sponsor Events and programs that give visibility. 9) There is a lot of need to improve service. This can be done by giving regular commission to vendors, who supply the newspapers to the customers who have subscribed it for the whole year. 10) Should make Deals or agreements with companies or Banks having nation-wide existence for supplying the newspaper at all of their branches.

SELECTED CUSTOMER RESPONCES

I have been reading BUSINESS STANDARD and THE ECONOMIC TIMES since last 5 years. I have observed that the quality of editorial has surely improved. The quarterly results of different companies that are published in the newspapers have also increased with time. So according to me BUSINESS STANDARD is surely making a positive growth. -Mr. Vinod Tripathi Officer, Bank of India

[56]

I am reading BUSINESS STANDARD since last 3 years and I think that the newspaper is really good as far as the content of news is concerned. It provides serious news regarding Stock Market but if Supplements are concerned, I would prefer THE ECONOMIC TIMES -Mr Gupta Manager, SBI Bank, Mehsana

Conclusion
Research has taken place for market development and product development. From the findings I find that opportunity for business standard is too much because in the market there are so many people who even do not know the BS. So we can say that awareness of BS is too low, whereas The Economic Times is market leader. From my findings I came to know that the readers of BS are complaining that the paper is not reaching properly and when complaints are made, no response is available that can satisfy consumer. Though the number of such consumers is less but still organization should be consumer oriented. Proper service can be a weakness because it can make many consumers to shift to another financial daily and one dissatisfied consumer can stop five consumers to take service and also damage brand image of organization.

[57]

Business Standard is not using any other kind of marketing communication mix like Events, Public relation, Direct Marketing, The overall experience of doing Summer Internship with Business Standard was a great one, which helped me enhance my knowledge about print media and business of financial daily. Recent concepts such as Viral Marketing & Referral Marketing were also learnt by me. Another great achievement for me at Business Standard, and a personal milestone for me was that I managed to achieve the maximum sales of subscriptions of all the Trainees who were with us. This really boasted my confidence as to my ability of selling and communicating with people. An enriching experience for which I would sincerely like to thank the Team at BS Ahmedabad, espy Mr. Kunal & Mr. Manoj.

Bibliography
The project report on Business Standard on the topic Consumer Behavior of Financial Daily could be successful with the co-operation of the project and the faculty guides. But along with the training period I had taken the Help of the following books and links to know more about the subject

Book References

Marketing Management (13 Edition), Pearson Education Ltd. By Kotler Philip, Keller Kevin Lane, Koshy Abraham, Zha Mithileshwar, Business Research Method, By Suchdev.

Web References
[58]

www.business-standard.com

[59]