Amar Chitra Katha

Under the guidance of:

Professor Ganesh N Prabhu
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
23rd June, 20!

"ubmitted b#: Grou$ %
%bhi&it 'umar Bho(mic) *33!+,
-a)esh Mondal *32!+,
"unitha "charma *3!0,
.inoth)umar P *33/,
Introduction
The concept of comic books evolved in India in 1947 with the advent of
Chandamama, but they gained popularity only in the 19!s with the launch
of Indra"al and #mar Chitra $atha %#C$& comics' (ost of the western comic
books like Tintin, #steri), #rchies, etc were mostly available to the children of
the wealthy, while the Indian comic books targeted middle class Indians'
*)posure to western world through books and education had resulted in
children losing their roots and forgetting their own mythology and history'
#C$ was introduced to plug this widening gap' The comic strip was more
acceptable to children and the books were an immediate success' The topics
were engaging and children found it more interesting as they could send
stories and get them published in +Tinkle,' (ost of the comic strips in India
are for children, there are no comic books for teenagers and adults' Thus a
large customer segment is neglected' -ith technological advancements, #C$
has been facing many challenges and is trying to reinvent itself to survive
the technological race'
Issues Faced by ACK
Talking Books: The concept of talking books wasn,t very successful as
the reach was limited and there were very few customers'
Television: -ith the entry of color television in India, #C$ has seen a
decline in its sales' This led to #C$ publishing only reprints of old titles
and that too only in *nglish and .indi'
Competition: Competition from other comic strips increased'
/ewspapers also started publishing more caricatures' 0oreign comic
books also started taking away readers, time from children'
Rising prices: The #C$ books saw an increase in the price due to
rising in1ation' #nother outcome of this was that they had to stop
publishing books in regional languages as they were uneconomical'
#C$ comic books had advertisements only on the covers2 children were
against advertisements within the comics' This wasn,t enough to cover
the costs'
Dot com Boom: The dot com boom led to famous titles moving online'
#C$ faced increasing competition from online resources as well'
Key Recommendations
Camps:
3ummer camps for students designed around the theme of #C$
characters will be entertaining as well as informative' 3tudents
could dress up like their favorite #C$ character and can take part in
competitions based on the same theme' 4ainting contests %4aint
your favorite character&, e)tempore on the most favorite character,
poster making contests, etc can be used to educate students as well
as keep them engaged during summer holidays'
Camps can also be used to make students work together in a team
and this will enable them to learn a lot about team dynamics at a
very young age' This could be done through fun games like 5 +3olve
the mystery for 3hikari 3hambu,'
6oth students as well as their parents can take part in workshops
and fun games' These will also get the students interested in
reading' These camps could be conducted every year to spread
more awareness about the comic strip and thus widen the reach'
Impact7
Create awareness and interest or ACK among t!e
target segment "c!ildren# in an interactive manner$
%erc!andising:
8ames, toys and other merchandising forms are always liked by
children' They are also an active mode of interaction with the
children and thus have a huge potential at the present times' .ome9
gown comic heroes in cool new avatars in the form of toys and
games %C: ;:<:&' 0unky merchandise in the form of stickers,
stationeries, accessories, games, wallpapers etc of popular
characters like 3uppandi, ChachaChaudary etc can open up new
avenues for #C$'
India is a land of festivals and #C$ is synonymous with Indian fables
from the great epics, mythology, history, literature and oral
folktales' =everaging on this, #C$ can come up with theme %festival&
based merchandising and apparels suitable for di>erent occasions'
#lso character merchandising can be a source of revenue
generation' #C$ can license merchandising rights of its popular
characters'
Impact7
&pen up new avenues or revenue generation$
Diversi'cation: Create new avenues for product
development$
(ducational Cartoons:
*ducational cartoon which focuses on the basics of (athematics,
3cience, *nglish, .indi and other regional languages can be of good
addition for #mar Chitra $atha' They can use their recurring heroes
such as 3uppandi, $alia the crow, 3hikari 3hambu etc' <C:s,
?ouTube channels on *ducational Cartoons can be created and can
be distributed in collaboration with schools' *ducational comics can
also be created in synchroni@ation with the cartoons created which
can be modiAed based on inputs from the schools in collaboration'
Impact:
%ake ACK more relevant7 Bwing to the cut9throat
competition, modern parents are more concerned about
academic impact for their kids than teaching them mythology'
(odern 4arents, physiology are Cuite di>erent from that of
D!,s and 9!,s' *ducational cartoons will provide the necessary
value proposition for the parents who make the purchase
decision for their children'
)everage Digital %edia
T* series + movies:
T< series and movies based on characters from #mar Chitra $atha
can be created' (ovies can be made on Indian super hero
characters similar to cult Agures like 3uperman, 3piderman or Tintin'
0or movies the target segment e)pands to adults and thus can be
made in a way which appeals to everyone' Cartoons should be
created in focus with featuring in television as a series and this can
act as a ma"or catalyst for reading #mar Chitra $atha Comics' *ven
though #mar Chitra $atha is not e)perienced in creating movie or
cartoons this will be a step towards entering in to the larger picture
where they can achieve more recognition and followers'
,ouTube c!annels:
?ouTube has grown as a most favored online video streaming
portal in the last decade with viewership of all age groups' ?ouTube
is one of the most easily accessible sources for videos and this
medium can be used by #mar Chitra $atha for gaining more
followers' They can post free videos on their ?ouTube channel and
there is no cost involved in creating the channel'
*ideo-Computer games:
Bver the forecast period, games sales in India are e)pected to
continue to grow' -ith rising consumer aEuence, this is likely to
impact the games landscape with the operating environment
e)pected to be much broader in the future' #C$ can diversify their
portfolio by entering into the market of video;computer games
based on themes like mystery solving2 mythological Cui@@es etc thus
helping children to have an overall development' They can
collaborate with various oEine and online retailers which will help
them to gain market share in this domain'
Amar c!itra %obile App:
The future of comic book reading is tied to digital as customers
prefer reading e9books in this online era' #mar Chitra katha should
also focus on developing a (obile #pp by partnering with various
android developers in order to increase their reach to smart phones
users thus catering to a wide range of customers' It can contain
several features like digital comic download service, android games
based on di>erent themes, navigation to the nearest comic book
shop, play Cui@@es etc' Customers who prefer reading hard copy can
also buy it using the app'
.ocial %edia /resence:
Children of this generation are spending enormous amount of time
on social media like facebook, twitter, various blogs etc' #C$ can
have a fan following page wherein they will get updates regarding
new title releases, read previously released e9book, watch #C$ T<
series;cartoon series, play online games, take part in online contest,
and interact with other #C$ fan followers thus helping to build a
community among themselves' They can also be encouraged to
write their own stories and based on its popularity, the same can go
for print media release'
Impact7
0ew C!annels7 -ith the advent of digital media and internet,
the habit of reading has declined at the present times
compared to D!,s and 9!,s' :igital media is the emerging
trend and so T< series, movies, video games, you tube
channels will increase reach to a wider audience and also
create a deeper and engaging e)perience'
Comic strips in newspapers-maga1ines:
Comic strips like Calvin and .obbes, 8arAeld are of great appeal to
all age segments' Comic strips will "ust be an e)tension of their
e)isting comics' This can be done with all newspapers and some
targeted maga@ines which give them good coverage'
Impact7
Revenue generation t!roug! advertisement: Bnly 1!F
of #C$,s cost came from advertising as children didn,t like
advertisements$ #lso children didn,t consist of the target
segment for many advertisers' 6ut comic strips in newspapers
and maga@ines will be for speciAc adult segments which can
open up new avenues for advertisement'
(nter into new market segments "adults#$
Tie2ups:
#C$ can tie9up with oEine retailers like crossword, landmark and
online retailers like 0lipkart, #ma@on, *bay, Infybeam etc to further
increase its sales' 4romotional sales, bundling discounts, price
discounts etc can be o>ered in order to lure more customer base'
$iosks can also be opened in densely populated area or near malls'
They can also tie up with various regional newspapers, government
schools etc to penetrate the rural areas'
Impact:
Improve availability "distribution# and sale7 /ow9a days
most of the book purchases is done online owing to
convenience and Anancial incentive' Traditional distribution
channels of G6rick and mortarH retailers %book shops& are
struggling at the present times' Tying up with known online
retailers will increase availability to wide range of customers'
#s e)plained in the recommendations above there are clearly a
number of new o>erings that can be brought out by #mar Chita $atha
and also a few tweaks to the e)isting products
#fter ranking the recommendations as shown in table in appendi) the
ideas of bringing out
an education supplement, 3cience and .istory titles, conducting literary
activities in schools
and looking at social media for advertising are some of the key
recommendations that stand
out' The remaining recommendations are the ones which can be
implemented in long term'