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DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT

ON

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS STANDARD AND ECONOMIC TIMES Master of Business Administration University Of Lucknow 2011-2013

Project Guide
Mr. SUNNY BUDHIRAJA BRANCH HEAD

Submitted by
PRASHANT VERMA Sem III MBA (Marketing)

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DECLARATION
I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the project report entitled A comparative analysis of Business Standard v/s Economic Times written and submitted by me to the University of Lucknow, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree of master of marketing management under the guidance of Mr Sunny budhiraja (Branch manager), hazratganj lucknow, is my original work and the conclusions drawn therein are based on the material collected by myself. The sources of material and data used in this study have been acknowledged. I further declare that the information presented in this project is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

Place: LUCKNOW Date:

PRASHANT VERMA Sem IIIrd Course: MBA (Marketing)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With regard to my project with Comparative Analysis of Business Standard with Economic Times I would like to add a few words of appreciation for the people who have been a part of this project right from its inception. The writing of this project has been one of the significant academic challenges I have faced and without the support, patience, and guidance of the people involved, this task would not have been completed. It is to them I owe my deepest gratitude. First and foremost I would prefer to express to my gratitude to the branch manager Mr. Sunny Budhiraja and Mr. Alok Kumar who guided and supported in my project on proper way. He kept on my position as employees in the company and behaved in cooperative manner regarding project completion. I also feel heartiest sense of obligation to my library staff and seniors, who helped me in collection of data and resource materials and also in its processing as well as drafting manuscript. The project is dedicated to all those people, who helped me while doing this project.

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INDEX
TOPIC S.R. NO. PAGE NO.

1.

Executive Summary

2.

Introduction

Swot Analysis 3.

4.

Research Objective

10

4.

Company Profile

13

5.

Research Methodology

34

6.

Data Analysis And Interpretation

39

7.

Findings And Suggestions

52

8.

Conclusion

55

9.

Annexure

58

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A comparative study of two newspaper brands Business Standard and Economic Times was done. For that purpose a survey on brand preference, paper quality, schemes and facilities availability in lucknow city was conducted.

The different parameters were:-

Brand preference Paper Quality Schemes and facilities available Circulation Quantity Methodology

After taking parameters into account, it was important to make an exploratory study of project and for that an enthusiastic survey of Readers, Hawkers and Vendors was done.

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INTRODUCTION

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NEWSPAPER
A newspaper is a regularly scheduled publication containing news, information, and advertising. By 2007 there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a day. The worldwide recession of 2008, combined with the rapid growth of web-based alternatives, caused a serious decline in advertising and circulation, as many papers closed or sharply retrenched operations. General-interest newspapers typically publish stories on local and national political events and personalities, crime, business, entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing editorials written by an editor and columns that express the personal opinions of writers. Other features include display and classified advertising, comics, and inserts from local merchants. The newspaper is typically funded by paid subscriptions and advertising. A wide variety of material has been published in newspapers, including editorial opinions, criticism, persuasion and op-ads; obituaries; entertainment features such as crosswords, Sudoku and horoscopes; weather news and forecasts; advice, food and other columns; reviews of movies, plays and restaurants; classified ads; display ads, editorial cartoons etc.

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

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

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

NATIONAL
Most nations have at least one newspaper that circulates throughout the whole country: a national newspaper, as contrasted with a local newspaper serving a city or region. In the United Kingdom, there are numerous national newspapers, including The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Daily Express and The Daily Mirror. In the United States and Canada, there are few national newspapers. Almost every market has one or two newspapers that dominate the area. Certain newspapers, notably The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today in the US, and The Globe and Mail and The National Post in Canada are available throughout the country. In India, newspapers like the Times of India, The Hindu, and the Hindustan Times are extremely popular and have large

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reader bases. Large metropolitan newspapers have also expanded distribution networks and with effort can be found outside their normal area.

INTERNATIONAL
There is also a small group of newspapers which may be characterized as international newspapers. Some, such as The International Herald Tribune, have always had that focus, while others are repackaged national newspapers or "international editions" of national-scale or large metropolitan newspapers. Often these international editions are scaled down to remove articles that might not interest the wider range of readers. As English became the international language of business and technology, many newspapers formerly published only in non-English languages have also developed English-language editions. In places as varied as Jerusalem and Mumbai, newspapers are printed to a local and international English-speaking public. The advent of the Internet has also allowed the nonEnglish newspapers to put out a scaled-down English version to give their newspaper a global outreach.

Some of the National Newspapers Of India:English Dailies

The Times of India Hindustan Times The Hindu The Deccan Chronicle The Telegraph The Statesman Daily News and Analysis The Pioneer The Economic Times The Tribune The Indian Express Deccan Herald The New Indian Express Asian Age.

Hindi Dailies
Dainik Jagran Dainik Bhaskar Hindustan Amar Ujala Rajasthan Patrika Punjab Kesari Navbharat Times Nava Bharat (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) Prabhat Khabar

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PRINT MEDIA
Indian print media is at a massive business in the media world and its newspapers are said to offer majority of national and international news. The history of newspaper in India began in 1780, with the publication of the Bengal Gazette from Calcutta. James Augustus Hickey is considered as the "father of Indian press" as he started the first Indian newspaper from Calcutta, the Calcutta General Advertise or the Bengal Gazette in January, 1780. In 1789, the first newspaper from Bombay, the Bombay Herald appeared, followed by the Bombay Courier next year (this newspaper was later amalgamated with the Times of India in 1861). The first newspaper in an Indian language was the Samachar Darpan in Bengali. The first issue of this daily was published from the Serampore Mission Press on May 23, 1818. The first Hindi newspaper, the Oodunt Marthand began in 1826. Since then, the prominent Indian languages in which papers have grown over the years are Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Bengali. The Indian language papers have taken over the English press as per the latest NRS survey of newspapers. The main reasons being the marketing strategy followed by the regional papers, beginning with Eenadu, a Telugu daily started by Ramoji Rao. The second reason being the growing literacy rate. Increase in the literacy rate has direct positive effect on the rise of circulation of the regional papers. The people are first educated in their mother tongue as per their state in which they live for e.g. students in Maharashtra are compulsory taught Marathi language and hence they are educated in their state language and the first thing a literate person does is read papers and gain knowledge and hence higher the literacy rate in a state the sales of the dominating regional paper in that state rises. Eventually, the advertisers also realized the huge potential of the regional paper market, partly due to their own research and more owing to the efforts of the regional papers to make the advertisers aware of the huge market. These advertisers paid revenues to the newspaper house and in return publicized their products throughout the locality. Thus, newspapers in India not only acted as news providers but also promoters of certain market products.

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Some of the prominent newspapers in India in the recent times are The Times of India, The Statesman, The Telegraph, The Economic Times, and Indian Express and so on. The Economic Times is one of the India`s leading business newspapers; carrying news about the Economy, Companies, Infrastructure, Trends in the Economy, Finance, Stocks, Forex and Commodities, news from around the world and from the world of politics besides editorial and various other features. The Malayalam Manorama releases daily, weekly, monthly and annual publications from Kerala. Started in 1988 in Tamil and Telegu languages, it is now published in other regional languages like Hindi, Bengali, as well as in English. Among the various publications, the Malayalam Manorama Daily has the largest circulation, selling about 11 lakhs 50 thousand copies daily. The Times of India was founded in 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce by Bennett, Coleman and Company, a colonial enterprise now owned by an Indian conglomerate. The Times Group publishes The Economic Times (launched in 1961), Navbharat Times (Hindi language), and the Maharashtra Times (Marathi language). Newspapers in India are measured on two parameters, circulation and readership.

Circulation
Circulation is certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations which is an industry body. It audits the paid-for circulation of the member newspaper companies.

Readership
Readership is estimated by two different surveys, The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) and the National Readership Survey (NRS). About 5,000 newspapers, 150 of them major publications, are published daily in nearly 100 languages. Over 40,000 periodicals are also published in India. The periodicals specialize in various subjects but the majority of them deal with subjects of general interest. During the 1950s, 214 daily newspapers were published in the country. Out of these, 44 were English language dailies while the rest were published in various regional languages. This number rose to 2,856 dailies in 1990 with 209 English dailies. The total number of newspapers published in the country reached 35,595 newspapers by 1993 (3,805 dailies). Newspaper sale in the country

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increased by 11.22% in 2007. By 2007, 62 of the world`s best selling newspaper dailies were published in countries like China, Japan, and India. India consumed 99 million newspaper copies as of 2007, making it the second largest market in the world for newspapers. Newspapers in India have almost created a huge industry in the nation. It publishes the largest number of `paid-for titles` in the world. In 1997, the total number of newspapers and periodicals published in India was around 41705, which include 4720 dailies and 14743 weeklies. However, in the last one decade the news media in India has changed rapidly. All the major news media outlets have an accompanying news website. A new class of newspapers in India is entirely Internet based, known as e-paper.

COMPETITOR
Economic Times Business line Ht mint Financial express

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SWOT ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS STANDARD LIMITED

STRENGTH Business Standatd is the Leading Brand. Good Customers Faith. Provides attractive Advertisement. Vareity in Offers and Plans Wide coverage area. WEAKNESS Low customers retention Information System of the Company Needs Improvement. Distribution Channel should be improved. Low visibility in market. Lack of co-ordination between Customer care and customers OPPORTUNITIES Changing customer preference Concentration on promotional activity. Price Regulation and be the price leader. It may also encourage more ads for the paper. THREATS Increasing competition Changing customer taste Economic Times is a big rival of Business Standard.

SWOT analysis can be used to examine the behaviour of the market and to understand the different aspects of the company and then change the strategy according to the needs of the market.

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

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OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

To find out the brand preference among the business newspaper.

To find out the attributes which influence the consumer to purchase business daily.

To identify the segment and find the target market of Business Standard.

To study the market penetration strategy of Business standard in various areas.

NEED OF THE STUDY

To compare the qualitative service of Business Standard and Economic Times.

To compare the promotional strategies of Business Standard and Economic Times

To compare both newspaper on different aspect.

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IMPORTANCE OF STUDY
This project will help the Business Standard Ltd. to implement necessary steps to improve the market share especially in Hyderabad and Secundrabad. It will also help to Organization to find out weak points compare to Economic Times.

The study is about Comparative Analysis between Business Standard and Economic Times. The main competitor of Business Standard is Economic Times therefore this study will help to Business Standard Ltd. to know the readers view about both the newspapers and what Consumer wants from business standard newspaper.

SCOPE OF THE OBECTIVE

This project will help us in understanding the areas from where the Business Standard is influenced by its biggest competitor Economic Times in Lucknow. It will also help us to understand the consumer behavior and perception towards the Business Standard & Economic Times among the target segment. The project also helps us in dealing and acknowledging the possible areas where these two newspaper are leading and require improvement. This research will also help us in gaining the information which will influence the sales of the Business Standard. This research will also serve as a reference material for those researchers who are going to conduct studies in the related field.

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Company profile

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BUSINESS STANDARD
Business Standard is an Indian financial daily newspaper published by Business Standard Ltd (BSL) in two languages, English and Hindi. Started in 1975 in Kolkata by the Ananda Publishers group, Business Standard was hived off as a separate company in 1996. It was then bought by Mumbai-based financial investors led by the Kotak Mahindra Bank, after which began a phase of rapid expansion with the launch of new editions. It is published from 12 centres - Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Pune, Kochi and Bhubaneswar.

A Hindi Business Standard is published from seven centres across northern India: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Patna, Lucknow, Bhopal and Chandigarh.In addition to two newspapers, BSL

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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. The daily newspaper Business Standard (also available as an e-paper) is the preferred choice of serious business readers. Business Standard (BS) is a serious, respected, top-notch, non-frivolous, business daily, which is founded on the editorial principles of integrity, accuracy and trust. Growing rapidly & consistently, BS is circulated in more than 1000 cities across the country reaffirming the widespread appeal of the paper. At the current scenario business newspaper industry is very competitive. Every companies are expending there business in all major cities of the country. The topic Comparative Study between Business Standard and Economic Times with special reference to Business Standard is chosen to know the readers perception about both the newspaper. The main purpose of this project is to explain in depth awareness of brand Business Standard to the various segments of the readers with comparison to E.T.

The study is carried out with intension to find out the readers view about Business Standard and Economic Times and do the comparison between both newspapers.

Vision
"Providing information that creates wealth and enriches lives."

Mission
To deliver superior value to our customers, shareholders, employees and society at large.

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CONTENT
Comprehensive and in-depth analysis of business news. BS 200- Covering the most traded stocks with evaluation across 22 parameters. 4 full pages focusing totally on stocks and mutual funds. 4 pages everyday of finance and commodity news, providing insights you can act on for half the BS 200 companies. 2 pages of investment advice and articles to manage personal finance every weekday. Thought provoking editorial opinion that is highly regarded for its unbiased viewpoint and refreshing originality. BS is published Monday to Saturday in all locations. On Sundays, the paper is published from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata & Bangalore. Extensive coverage of the markets has been BSs forte and is eagerly consumed by investors big and small. To cater to needs of the retail investor, special focus has been provided in the form of extensive coverage on Personal Finance and a dedicated page on investing (The Smart Investor).

Content Overview:
Content International News
Lifestyle, Luxury & Gizmos

Editorial Property Financial Times Page Business Life Companies Issues & Insights Accent Daily Daily Daily Daily Daily

Frequency

Corporate News Policy & Analysis Regional News

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Corporate Social Responsibility Transportation Business & Logistics Management Education & Training Avenues Initiative By Business Schools It, Telecom & Entertainment SME Business Human Relation Real Estate-Market Scenario & Opportunities Automobiles & Ancillary Segment

Social enterprises Logistics Business Education

Every Monday Every Monday Every Monday & Thursday

ICE World SME World Power Zone Real Estate

Every Tuesday Every Wednesday Every Wednesday Every Friday

BS Motoring

Every Saturday

Editorial Quality
BS boasts of some of the best economic journalists and counts contributions from internationally acclaimed columnists. Mr.T.N.Ninan, Indias best known economic journalist is the Chairman and Editorial Director The Editorial team is lead by Dr. Sanjaya Baru, former media advisor to the prime minister. Mr.A.K.Bhattacharya, Group Managing Editor is a former editor of The Pioneer and associate editor of Economic Times. Regular columnists include many reputed names such as:

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Pranab Bardhan Surjit Bhalla Bimal jalan Nitin Desai Gurucharan Das IndiraRajaraman Ajit Ranade

Professor of economics at university of California Chairman, Oxus Investments Economics, Politics & Cricket Ex- Gov RBI. Ex UN under secretary General Author Member of Finance Commission Aditya Birla group chief economist

PRODUCT PROFILE
Business Standard consist of Business News, Finance News , World Business, India Stock News, Indian stock market, India investments, Indian industry, Sensex, Nifty, BSE, NSE, India

Business, India Economy, India, share market, Corporate Result, Finance News .

Supplements of Business Standard:

Supplements
Smart Investor(Every Monday) The Strategist(Every Tuesday) Weekend(Every Saturday)

Business Standard
Magazine
The Fund Manager The Billionaire Club Banking Annual BS 1000.

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Weekly supplements

the strategist
A sought after weekly supplement, the strategist appears every Monday. Covers issues on management & 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.

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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.

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Only with Business Standard

AnnuAls
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 Indias top 1000 companies. An annual reference book on corporate performance. Analyses and rates top 1000 listed companies.

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MARQUEE :- A LIFESTYLE PRODUCT

The tabloid theme is devoted to luxury and lifestyle as a general principle; Luxuriant lifestyles, Premium real estate and holidays, Luxury cruises and Watches, Fashion, Cars, Hotels and Spas, Jewellery, golf, accessories, imported furniture, exotic cuisines, quality spirits, office equipment, Home Interiors & home entertainment systems.

The magazine targets the super rich & the affluent who make a style statement with the luxury buys is circulated quarterly with Business Standard in Mumbai, Delhi & Banglore.

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Reader Profile

Business Standard is read by the decision makers & policy makers. A premium product read by the Crme de la crme of corporate India. The reader is upscale, influential and mobile.

Chairman/CEO/MD, 14%

President, Executive Director, Other Directors, 8%

VP/GM, 59%

CFO, CIO, CMO, CTO etc. 20%

Chairman/CEO /MD President, Executive Director, Other Directors CFO,CIO,CMO,CTO etc. VP/GM

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Share Holder In Business Standard

Kotak Mahindra

67.85%

Great Eastern Shipping Corporation

27.76%

Others

4.39%

4.39%

27.76%

67.85%

Kotak Mahindra

Great Eastern Shipping Corporation

Others

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Market Share of Business Standard

Market Share The Economic Times Business Standard Business Line The Financial Express 44% 32% 19% 5%

5%

19%

44%

The Economic Times Business Standard Business Line The Financial Express

32%

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B-SCHOOLS STUDENTS ON BUSINESS STANDARD

More than 20000 students are subscribers of Business Standard.

Business Standard publication is available in 200* B-Schools across India.

These institutes are the top colleges of India like IMM, XLRI, MDI, XIMB etc.

To engage the B School students with Business Standard we have various activities like- Best B School project contest. The students are also offered a special discount on subscriptions.

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READERs sAY

I have been a loyal reader of Business Standard for the last 3 decades Shri Manmohan Singh, Present Prime Minister of India (ex Finance Minister)

I do not have a choice but to read Business Standard first, every morning Mr. P.Chidambaram, Home Minister

It exemplifies exacting standards in enterprise and economic reporting Mr. Mukesh Ambani, CMD Reliance Industries

The FT identifies with and sees Business Standard as its natural growth partner Sir David Bell, Chairman,FT group

Rated the No. 1 professional business media to deal with Orion PR06

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Circulation Chain (LUCKNOW)

Vice-President (Sales)

Branch Head

Territory Incharge

Customer Executives

Salesman

Vendors

Reader

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Production Chain (LUCKNOW)

Raw Material

Printing

Packaging

Despacth Through Taxi

Different Cities

All centers In Cities

Selling

Vendor

Reader

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The Economic Times

The Economic Times launched in 1961.The founder /editor of the paper when it was launched in 1961 was P.S.Hariharan.The current executive editor of the paper is Rahul Joshi.It is the largest financial daily and the worlds second largest financial daily after The World Street Journal. It is published by Indias largest media group, Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd,(this company along with its other group companies is more popularly known as The Times Group),which also publishes The Times of India, The Navbharat Times, The Maharashtra Times, Femina and Filmfare. 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, process of commodities as well as other matters related to finance. The Economic times is characterized by its Salmon-pink paper, all of which is recycled. It is also the favorite newspaper among the citys business houses. It is sold in all major cities in India.

Edition: Ahmadabad Edition Hyderabad Edition Chennai Edition Kolkata Edition Lucknow Edition Delhi Edition Pune Edition Bangalore Edition Bombay Edition Chandigarh Edition

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Format Owner Publisher Editor Founded Headquarters Website

Broadsheet Bennett,coleman & Co Ltd Bennett,coleman & Co Ltd Rahul Joshi 1961 Mumbai The Economic Times

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Supplements:

Brand Equity (Weekly)-This is a weekly colored 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.

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ET Travel is a weekly all-color supplement which covers travel and tourism aimed at the burgeoning band of Indians who wants to see and know about their country and the rest of the world-through Indian eyes. ET Auto Mania 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 advertizing and marketing quiz which attracts corporate entities all over the Indian subcontinent.

Economic Times in the Classroom quiz is a business quiz of UG and PG students all over India.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A Research Methodology defines the purpose of the research, how it proceeds, how to measure progress and what constitute success with respect to the objectives determined for carrying out the research study. Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them. It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research methods/techniques but also the methodology. Researchers not only need to know how to develop certain indices or tests, how to calculate the mean, the mode, the median or the standard deviation or chi-square, how to apply particular research techniques, but they also need to know which of these methods these methods or techniques, are relevant and which are not, and what would they mean and indicate and why.

RESEARCH DESIGN
Formulation of objectives of the study.

Designing methods for the data collection

Select the sample size

Collecting the data

Processing and analysis of data

Reporting the finding.

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Source of Data
The research has been carried out using a combination of primary and secondary data.

Secondary Data: When first considering how to answer their research questions or meet their objectives few researchers consider initially the possibility of reanalyzing data that have already been collected for some other purpose. Such data are known as secondary data. Secondary data include both quantitative and qualitative data, and they are used principally in both descriptive and explanatory research. Secondary data has been collected through Articles, Reports, Journals, Magazines, Newspapers and Internet

Primary data: What is the need for collecting the Primary data after collecting the secondary data? If, after seeking all reasonable secondary data sources, research questions are still not adequately answered, the researcher may question the target respondents to get appropriate information. Primary data was selected from the sample by a self-administrated questionnaire in presence of the interviewer.

Sampling Method
Simple random sampling: It refers where each and every item in the population has an equal chance of inclusion in the sample and each one of the possible samples, in case of finite universe, has the same probability of being selected.

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Sample Unit: The sample unit is Management Student & Professors, Corporate professionals, Chartered Accountant and Investors (Stock brokers).

Sample Size: The sample size for the survey is 100 chosen from the large population. Out of 100 it was Divided in 40-30-15-15 respectively in above categories of sample unit. Research.

The survey is conducted among 100 respondents

Sample Area: Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh, India).The area covered were mainly Faizabad road Gomti Nagar, Indira Nagar, Nishatganj, Kapoorthala, mahanagar, Jopling road, Hazratganj, etc

Sample unit: Individuals, students and Corporate in Lucknow were interviewed in regard to the current research study.

Sampling Technique: NON-PROBABLE-QUOTA sampling technique is generally employed to extract the lucrative results. This includes the overall design, the sampling procedure, the data collection methods, the field methods and the analysis procedures

Sampling procedure actually employed: The process employed to select the sample was simple random sampling. Simple random sampling refers to that sampling technique in which each and every unit of the population has an equal and same opportunity of being on the sample. In simple random sampling, which item gets selected is just a matter of chance.

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The objective of the present study was accomplished by conducting a systematic market research to know the promotional strategies and services of Business Standard Ltd. And to do the comparative analysis between Business Standard and Economic Times. Market research consists 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.

Limitation:
The study have been completed in 60 days, this is not sufficient time to do a survey in big cities like Lucknow. The sample size chosen is limited to 100 respondents; the study may not be applicable to the total market. Hence the data collected may not be a representation of the entire population. There is a possibility of biased answer from the respondents; hence the information collected might not be an accurate one. The study has been done in certain areas in city Lucknow. The findings are regional and do not represent the state or country. As the market being very huge it was not possible to cover each and every area.

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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Data interpretation can be defined as applying statistical procedures to analyze specific facts from a study or body of research. Data interpretation questions are a part of many standardized tests. Data interpretation is sometimes also called data analysis.

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Business Daily Preferences

Business Standard 30% 33% 27% 47% Economic Times 40% 40% 40% 20% Business Line 20% 20% 20% 13% Financial Express 10% 7% 13% 20%

Management Student & Professor Corporate Professionals CA's Investors (stock Broker)

50% 45% 40% 40% 35% 30% 30% 25% 20% 20% 15% 10% 10% 5% 0% Mangement Student & Corporate Professionals Professer Business Standard Economic Times CA's Business Line 7% 13% 20% 20% 27% 33% 40% 40%

47%

20%

20%

13%

Investors (stock Brocker) Financial Express

INTERPRETATION:- From the above data collected, we came to know that ECONOMIC TIMES is the most preferred newspaper by Management Students, Professors & Corporate Professionals. CA's, Investors (Stock Broker) prefers BUSINESS STANDARD.

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FACTORS INFLUENCING SALES

No. of Consumers 65% 15% 10% 7% 3%

Contents Availabilty Cost Services Others

70% 65% 60%

50%

40%

30%

20% 15% 10% 10% 7% 3% 0% Contents Availabilty Cost No. of Consumers Services Others

INTERPRETATION:- From the above study, we came to know that sale of newspaper is influenced by content by 65%, availability by 15%,cost by 10%, services by 7%, and others by 3%.

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SOURCE OF ACCESSING THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER

No Of Respondents Book Stalls Subscriptions Vendors 10% 85% 5%

.
5% 10%

85%

Book Stalls

Subscription

Others

INTERPRETATION:- From the above data, we came to know that 10% of people buy newspaper from book stalls, 85% of people get Subscriptions and rest of the 5% buy newspaper by other means.

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BUSINESS NEWSPAPER PREFERRED SINCE

Business Standard Less Than 6 Months 9%

Economic Times 6%

More Than 6 Months But Less Than 1 Year More Than 1 Year

18%

10%

73%

84%

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Less Than 6 Months MoreThan 6 Months But Less Than 1 Year Business Standard 9% 6% 18% 10% 73%

84%

More Than 1 Year

Economic Times

INTERPRETATION:- From the above data collected, we came to know that since past one year BUSINESS STANDARD is preferred more than ECONOMIC TIMES.

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COMPARISON BETWEEN BUSINESS STANDARD AND ECONOMIC TIMES

Business Standard

Economic Times

Very Good

40%

30%

Good

30%

35%

Average

30%

35%

45% 40% 40% 35% 35% 30% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Very Good Business Standard Good Economic Times Average 30% 30% 35%

INTERPRETATION :- From the above comparison, we came to know that BUSINESS STANDARD has upper hand in the market as compared to ECONOMIC TIMES.

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Stock & commodity market news

Business Economics Standard Times 50% 45% 30% 20% 30% 25%

Very Good Good Average

60%

50% 50% 45% 40%

30% 30%

30% 25% 20%

20%

10%

0% Very Good Business Standard Good Economics Times Average

INTERPRETATION:- From the above data collected, we came to know that Business Standard has the upper hand in Stock & Commodity market news , as compared to Economics Times.

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International Trade News ratings

Business Standard Very Good Good Average 20% 36% 44%

Economic Times 35% 30% 35%

50% 45% 40% 35% 35% 30% 30% 25% 20% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Very Good Business Standard Good Economic Times Average 36% 44%

35%

INTERPRETATION:- From the above study, we came to know that the International Trade News is better in ECONOMIC TIMES than BUSINESS STANDARD.

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Editorial Section ratings

Business Standard

Economic Times

Very Good Good

38%

31%

36%

26%

Average

26%

43%

50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Very Good Business Standard Good Economic Times Average 38% 31% 26% 26% 36% 43%

INTERPRETATION:- From the above study, we came to know that the Editorial Section in BUSINESS STANDARD is better as compared to ECONOMIC TIMES.

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Supplements ratings
Business Standard Economic Times

Very Good

29%

36%

Good

34%

25%

Average

37%

39%

45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Very Good Business Standard Good Economic Times Average 29% 25% 36% 37% 34% 39%

INTERPRETATION:- From the above data collected, we came to know that Supplements are better for ECONOMIC TIMES.

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Sales Promotion offers

For 6 Months(Rs.) For 1 Year (Rs.)

Economic Times

450

800

Business standard

400

750

900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 For 6 Months(Rs.) For 1 Year (Rs.) Economic Times Business standard

INTERPRETATION:- From the above study, we came to know that the promotional offers of BUSINESS STANDARD are more cheaper and profitable for the reader.

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AVERAGE QUALIFYING CIRCULATION

The revealed data is compared for Lucknow Editions only. BUSINESS STANDARD JulyDec2012 JanJune.2012 7170 11208 ECONOMIC TIMES 6339 10317

Chart Title

12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 BUSINESS STANDARD ECONOMIC TIMES

July- Dec 2011 Jan-June2012

The decrease in sales can be given as follows:For Business Standard For Economic Times (7170-6339) = 831 (11208-10317)= 891

INTERPRETATION: Economic times suffered comparatively more sales deficit.

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FINDINGS AND Suggestions

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FINDINGS
During the survey the data shows that Business Standard is having excellent quality and content as compare to any other news paper.

Business standard is lacking brand awareness in some area and lacking in service in some areas.

Individual Investors and stock brokers are the majority users of Business Standard among all the respondents.

Majority of the respondents use Economic Times because of bundle offer with Times of India which is Rs. 450 for 6 months for both news papers.

Economic Times has the benefit of Times of Indias distribution channel because of which it is able to save more distribution expenses.

Most of the business daily readers are reading it from more than 1 year.

It is found that Business Standards editorial part is better than any other business daily.

Business Standards daily supplements Money and Market influence most to Individual investors/ Stock Brokers to purchase it. Most of the readers are also want Business Standard on Sunday because they like to read newspaper on Sunday and this is only business daily which is not having Sunday subscription in Lucknow.

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SUGGESTIONS
Business Standard Ltd. should conduct a series of programs like business quiz etc. among management student and Institution of twin cities.

The company should focus on retention of customers because getting a new customer is more costly.

Business Standard should start its Sunday edition with some better strategies than its competitors who is charging more on the Sunday edition.

The company should improve quality of service and the marketing strategies in terms of advertising, so that the awareness of brand level can be increased in market.

Business Standard uses Eenadus distribution channel for distributing news paper to its customers but there are so many people who are not receiving there copy after completing subscription process.

Business Standard Ltd. should conduct a series of programs like business quiz, B-School Promotion City. The company should focus on retention of customers because getting a new customer is more costly. etc. among management student and Institution of lucknow

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CONCLUSION

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CONCLUSION
After analysing the market of Lucknow I came to know that Business newspapers has become the need of every person to grow.In comparison with Economic Times, Business Standard is better in many ways like magazines, weekly issues, etc published by Business Standard. I also got to know that from past one year Business Standard has been preffered than Economic Times. During my training we visited printing press of Indian express where business standard is also get printed almost 30,000 daily copies of BS in hindi/english r getting printed in lko and r circulated in different regions of uttar pradesh...it was an experience in itself by visiting that printing press. In most of the b-schools the demand of Business Standard is high because of its content and articles on Marketing, HR, Finance etc.Not only in d field of education but also for business purposes its been preffered by the people of Lucknow more. Quality of service is very important in this industry to get success. In this, Business Standard is lacking behind when compared to other business dailies. The market value of Business Standard has been arise in last one year Because of some of its new features and content taken up by the team for making it a better newspaper. Business Standards content, quality and supplements are very good and was liked by business daily customers. The company should follow the saying..If you are not updated, than you are outdated

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BIBLIOGRAP
www.business-standard.com www.economictimes.com www.wikipedia.com

Philip Kotler: Marketing Management Research Methodology: C.R Kothari Business Today Business Standard Office (Lucknow)

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ANNEXURE

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QUESTIONNAIRE

PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: _______________________ Gender: Male Female

Address: ______________________ ________________________ Contact No.__________________ 1. What is your profession:

Management Student & Professor Corporate Professionals CAs Investors(Stock Broker)

2. Which financial news paper you are reading daily:

Business Standard Economic Times Business Line Financial Express

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3. \Which of these factors influence the sale of newspaper ?

Contents Availability Cost Services Others

4. How do get the newspaper?

Book Stalls Subscriptions Vendors

5. For how long you are reading this paper?

Less than 6 months 6 to 12 months Above 12 months

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6. According to you which newspaper is better? Business Standard Very Good Good Average Economic Times Very Good Good Average

7. How do you rate BS and ET over Stock & commodity market Business Standard Very Good Good Average Economic Times Very Good Good Average

8.How do you rate BS and ET over International Trade News?

Business Standard Very Good Good Average

Economic Times Very Good Good Average

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9. How do you rate BS and ET over Editorial Section?

Business Standard Very Good Good Average

Economic Times Very Good Good Average

10. How do you rate BS v/s ET over Supplements? Business Standard Very Good Good Average Economic Times Very Good Good Average

11. According, to you who provide better promotional offers

Business Standard Economics Times