THE SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT REPORT ENTITLED

“Study on Promotional strategy and implementation for new products at Swal Crop Ltd.”

SUBMITED TO

SANDIP UNIVERSITY, NASHIK

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD
OF THE DEGREE
OF
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
IN
MARKETING
Industry Integrated Learning Programme (Part – time)

SUBMITTED BY
Sunny Bapu Patil
(210102601040)
GUIDE
Manoj Mahanubhav Sir

(MBA)

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

APRIL 2023

DEPRTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
Industry Integrated Learning Programme (Part – time)

SCHOOL OF COMMERCE & MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

SANDIP UNIVERSITY
MAHIRAVANI, NASHIK- 422213
(2022-2023)

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 SANDIP UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF COMMERCE & MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Summer Internship Project report entitled “Study on Promotional

strategy and implementation for new products at Swal Crop Ltd.” submitted by Sunny

Bapu Patil (210102601040) in partial fulfilment of the degree in Master of Business

Administration (Industry Integrated Learning Programme, Part Time) of Sandip University

is a record of his/her own work carried out under my supervision and guidance. The matter

enclosed here is not submitted elsewhere for award of any degree or diploma.

Manoj Mahanubhav
Guide
Associate Professor Dean
Sandip University, Nashik Sandip University,
Nashik

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 EXAMINERS’ CERTIFIACTE OF APPROVAL

The Summer Internship Project entitled “Study on Promotional strategy and

implementation for new products at Swal Crop Ltd.” submitted by Sunny Bapu Patil
(210102601040) in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of
Master of Business Administration of Sandip University, Nashik is hereby approved for
the award of the degree.

CHAIRMAN: Examiners:
(1) External

(2) Internal

Place: Nashik
Date:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Outlook is part of the Rajan Raheja Group which made its beginning in the construction
business and after building a huge presence in the realty market, the Group diversified
laterally into manufacturing, financial services and media. The various magazines offered
by Outlook Group consist of Outlook English, Outlook Money, Outlook Traveller, Outlook
Hindi, Outlook Profit & Outlook Business. It has recently taken over the Sales & marketing
of Newsweek, an international newsmagazine and Marie Claire, an international women’s
magazine.

The Project “Consumer base and Future Aspects Of magazine” is an attempt to find out new
areas of development through which business can be generated for the company.

Let’s understand the meaning of the project title, consumer base means the group of
customers and/or consumers that a business serves. In the most situations, a large part of this
group is made up of repeat customers with a high ratio of purchase over time. These
customers are the main source of consumer spending.

A future aspect means something that will exist or happen in times to come which will an
appearance to the eye or mind.

Magazines industry is going a long way in developing, formulating and implementing

promotional strategies to cope up with the tough competition. Strategies are formulated not
only keep up with cut throat competition but also to meet the highly volatile consumer
preferences.

The analysis revealed that most of the customers were motivated by the gifts provided by
the subscriptions rather than the price reduction. Thus it brought out that gifts play a key
role in the success of promotional schemes.

The market survey was conducted to confirm the facts revealed by the sales data analysis
vindicated that the speculations were true since most respondents agreed to that they were
motivated by the gifts, especially by the brand value and utility of it.

It has been found that though Outlook is strong in some of the augmented product attributes
like Promotional Schemes and Overall Presentation; it needs to improve the core product
attributes like Quality of content, Coverage.

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Hence from the findings of the market survey and by different analysis performed effective
strategies has been formulated and proposed which might be useful in devising the future
strategies for Outlook

INTRODUCTION

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2. COMPANY PROFILE

2.1 RAJAN RAHEJA GROUP

The Rajan Raheja Group is led by Mr. Rajan Raheja, a renowned businessman involved in
the Real Estate Development business for over 3 decades. The company diversified into
manufacturing and financial services over the last two decades. The emphasis is on setting
up focused companies, which aim to be profitable leaders in their respective fields with a
long term outlook. All Group Companies are professionally managed by independent CEOs.

Most of the Group Companies has a leading position in Market share, Technology, Brand,
Distribution or Profitability.

It's an entrepreneurial journey that has spanned both 'old' and 'new' economies -- building
successful brick-and-mortar businesses to exploring the frontier world of convergence
technologies. The Rajan Raheja Group made its beginning in the construction business.
After building a huge presence in the realty market, the Group diversified laterally into
manufacturing, financial services and media -- each venture initiated, and executed, to fulfil
the objective of assuming leadership in core areas.

The list of the Group's successes is long and eclectic.

 H&R Johnson (India) Limited is the top name in ceramic tiles in India.
 Exide is the strongest brand of batteries in the automotive and industrial field.
 Co-promoters of Supreme Petrochem Ltd. along with Supreme Industries
Ltd, largest processor of plastic materials in India.

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  The Group also joined hands with Oberoi Hotels as co-promoters of Trident
Hotels and luxury resort Rajvilas, which Conde Nast Traveller ranked as one
of the 25 best villa hideaways in the world.
 Prism Cement Ltd. has a production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes.
 The Group is a Co-promoter of Sonata Software Ltd, one of the leading
software companies in India.
 As owners and operators of a fibre optic cable network in Kerala through Asia
net Satellite Communications, the group is also a significant stakeholder in
the growing convergence business in India.
 Co-promoters of RMC Ready mix (India) Pvt. Ltd. along with RMC Group
plc, U.K, the world’s largest manufacturer of Ready-mixed concrete.
 Hathway Cable & Datacom Pvt. Ltd has extensive cable network in 6 major
cities and 7 large towns across India.
 Globus Stores Pvt Ltd. is India’s one of the largest apparel brand chain.
 A 50% JV with the ING group of Netherlands in ING Life Insurance. The
venture is already the 5th largest insurer in India.

2.2 OUTLOOK GROUP

Mr. Rajan Raheja is the owner of OUTLOOK group

Date of Establishment: October 1995

Headquarter Address: AB-10, S.J. Enclave, New Delhi - 110029, India

Branches: Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad

The Outlook group publishes several magazines like Outlook Business, Outlook Profit,
Outlook Money, GEO, Marie Claire, People, Traveller, Career 360 and News
Week. Outlook has been published in New Delhi continuously since October 1995 by the
Outlook Group, whose founding editor-in-chief is Vinod Mehta.

In October 1995, group company Hathway Investments Private Limited entered the print
media. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine headed by Vinod Mehta, galvanised a sluggish

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market reeling under the impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly carved a significant niche
for itself among discerning readers who value its in-depth, investigative reporting as well as
its stylish visual format. Known to be fiercely independent, Outlook has shaken the
establishment on events ranging from Kargil to Kasmir to cricket, sensitised the reading
public to important issues like big dams, education and gender, and provided an unremitting
focus on South Asian geopolitics.

Today, Outlook is the preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in India, and sells more than
11.2 million copies over the year.

2.3 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Outlook: In October 1995, Hathway Investments Private Limited Group Company entered
the print media. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine headed by Vinod Mehta, Outlook, India’s
most exciting weekly newsmagazine covers the entire spectrum of issues from current
affairs, business, sports, lifestyle, technology, international affairs etc. Outlook gives you a
holistic picture, insightful analysis and fresh perspective galvanized a sluggish market
reeling under the impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly carved a significant niche for itself
among discerning readers who value its in-depth, investigative reporting as well as its stylish
visual format. Known to be fiercely independent, Outlook has shaken the establishment on
events ranging from Kargil to Kashmir to cricket, sensitized the reading public to important
issues like big dams, education and gender, and provided an unremitting focus on South
Asian geopolitics. Today, Outlook is the preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in India,
and sells more than 11.2 million copies over the year.

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Outlook Money: In July 1998, the Group launched "Intelligent Investor" re-christened as
"OUTLOOK MONEY" as of 30-Nov-2002, India's first personal finance magazine, which
offers sound strategies for the lay investor, especially the growing segment of salaried
middle and upper middle-class and self-employed professionals. Its message is clear and
simple: 'Invest well, borrow wisely, spend smartly'. Evidently, that message has gone down
well: the magazine sold upwards of 1, 00,000 copies a fortnight within a year. One of its
distinguishing characteristics is that about 93 per cent of readers retain all past issues of
Outlook Money.

Outlook Traveller: Outlook Traveller is a monthly magazine from the stable of Outlook
Publishing India Pvt. Limited and the only significant magazine aimed at the travel reader.
Every month since June 2001 OT has introduced readers to the wonders of unknown
destinations while also encouraging travellers to take a fresh look at familiar places.
Whether people are planning a holiday, or simply dreaming of one, Outlook Traveller
continues to take them closer.

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Outlook Saptahik: Outlook Saptahik, a weekly newsmagazine, was launched in October
2002 to establish significant presence amongst the vast Hindi reading audience. The product
targets the evolved Hindi reader keeping their interests, realities & aspirations in mind.
Outlook Saptahik retains the core strengths of Outlook with objective, fiercely impartial and
bold journalism, while brandishing its own identity through a strong parallel editorial. The
magazine is empathetic to its target audience & is not a translation of its English counterpart.

OUTLOOK GEO: This international magazine by Outlook group covers all the news about
wildlife, Geography etc. It is also one of the best selling magazines in this segment. Outlook
has priced this magazine at seventy five rupees and it comes on a monthly basis.This is a
German based magazine. GEO is a family of educational monthly magazines similar to the
National Geographic magazine. It is known for its profound reports, which are accompanied
by opulent pictures.

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10
OUTLOOK PEOPLE: The celebrity based magazine of Outlook group. This is a
fortnightly magazine by Outlook and is most preferred by the fashion oriented people like
youth, beauty saloons etc. This and Marie Claire of Outlook are one of the best magazines in
the entertainment segment as it also covers the fashion statements, interviews of celebrities,
Bollywood etc.

MARIE CLAIRE: International fashion magazine of OUTLOOK. Most preferred by

youth and other style oriented people.This is a monthly magazine. Marie Clarie, the Indian
edition is about real women and what they want. Gorgeous fashion coverage, beauty tips
and cutting edge feature stories that will make her think, laugh or cry. ''Our edition contains
content that reaches out to the global Indian women who is smart, educated, urban and is
ready to reach out and explore the world.'' Mr Maheswar Peri, President and Publisher of the
Outlook Group said ''Marie Claire will be a magazine for the thinking, evolved and strong-
willed Indian woman.

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OUTLOOK BUSINESS: Another magazine by Outlook which covers the business news,
interviews of business tycoons, the new jobs in offerings. This magazine is most preferred
by Business Schools, business professionals, businessman etc. This is fortnightly magazine
by Outlook.

OUTLOOK PROFIT: This magazine gives you the insight of the share market and is
most preferred by Chartered Accountants and others in the same business. The Outlook
Profit magazine is an India based business magazine, it is a fortnightly edition that packs
market intelligence & incisive analysis of the stock market, while capturing emerging trends
& tracking market experts & their moves. This online magazine promises a unique data
section that marks the markets packed with credible analysis.

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NEWSWEEK: It offers comprehensive coverage of world events with a global network of
correspondents, reporters and editors covering national and international affairs, business,
science, and technology, society and entertainment. Newsweek's Asia edition addresses the
needs of our Asian readers, bringing you deeper understanding of what's happening in Asia
and the world. This edition is circulated throughout Asia, including Australia, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

CAREER 360: It covers information related to numerous career option in

different fields, success mantras, sample questions for exams around the
corner.

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 CHAPTER-3

3. INDUSTRIAL PROFILE

3.1 PRINT MEDIA

The structure of the Indian print media industry is highly fragmented with importance to
regional dominance. The Indian print media segment primarily comprises newspaper and
magazine publishing. Book Publishing also forms part of the print media though currently
the share is not substantial. The print media industry has potential to grow still larger as 369
million literate people in India are still not tapped by any publication.

Currents estimates reveal that the reach of print media in India has increased to 222 million
people. Print media is also the favourite segment for global investors with maximum foreign
investment in this segment.

3.2 READERSHIP SURVEYS

There are two main source of obtaining data to determine readership of any publication:

1. National Readership Survey – NRS

2. Indian Readership Survey – IRS

National Readership Survey is a survey on all media, but especially the print medium,
conducted by the National Readership Studies Council (NRSC) - supported by Audit Bureau
of Circulation (ABC), Advertising Agencies association of India (AAAI) & Indian
Newspapers Society.

It investigates the readership of about 80 major Indian pub, weeklies, biweeklies and
monthlies-in over 475 towns of 57 regions across the length and breadth of the country. The
towns, selected, however are publication centers of dailies. By process of ‘systematic
sampling,’ over 55,000 households in these towns are surveyed, the number of households
in each town proportionate to it population. All men and womenfolk above the age 15 are
questioned for about half an hour on the basis of a structured questionnaire.

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It claimed to be the most thorough readership survey in the country. It provides exhaustive
data (available to its clients on computer disks) readership, radio listenership profile’-the
socio economic characteristics of the readers of various publications, of cinema and TV
viewers, and of listeners to radio, as well as the degree of duplication among publications
and between media. Research agencies involved are: IMRB, TNS Sofres Mode, AC Nielsen
in collaboration with ORG.

Indian Readership Survey is conducted by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC).
IRS 2002 is the largest continuous media survey ever conducted (sample size of 229,000
individuals) providing a single-source database for demographics, media habits and
product / brand usage across 986 towns and 2858 villages in India. The survey was
conducted over two rounds with the field work between November 2001 and November
2002.

This all-India survey conducted jointly with the Media Research Users' Council (MRUC)
also provides product / brand penetration information for over 50 different products
allowing one to link media habits and product usage data for adults and children from the
age of 12 years.

Both NRS & IRS

 Gives media consumption habits, product ownership & consumption, lifestyle

indicators information on macro demographic & geographic parameters.

Population coverage: 12 years & above

Sample size: over 200, 000

Geographic coverage: All India (Urban + Rural)

Sample Frame: Electoral rolls based on 2001 Census definition of Urban

Agglomeration

According to NRS 2005,

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  Press adds 34 million readers in the last 2 years.
 Press continues to grow, adding 21 million readers between 2002 and 2005.

 Over the last 3 years the number of readers of dailies and magazines put together
among those aged 15 years and above has grown from 179 mn to 200 mn - a growth
of 4% every year. (Note: Recently the scope of NRS has been expanded to include
those aged 12 years and above but the 15 years age cut-off has been applied for the
sake of comparison with NRS 2002.)

 There is still significant scope for growth, as 314 million people who can read and
understand any language do not read any publication. It is not just affordability that
is a constraint, since 21 million of these literate non-readers belong to the upscale
SEC A and B segments.

According to IRS 2006,

Just when it seemed the print media was booming once again, the Indian Readership
Survey 2006 Round 1 has pricked the bubble. There are few newspapers or magazines that
have seen any growth; most have seen erosion in readership.

Dainik Jagran retains its No 1 position among newspapers with 19.07 million readers,
Dainik Bhaskar follows second with 14.57 million, and Daily Thanthi is third with a
readership of 10.23 million. Amar Ujala is still at four with 9.89 million readers.

Malayala Manorama (9.35 million) and Hindustan (9.72 million) have interchanged
positions at number five and six. Lokmat, Eenadu, Mathrubhumi and Times of India take the
seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth spots with 8.10 million, 7.94 million, 7.65 million, and 7.08
million readers, respectively.

ToI is the only English daily to find a place in the top 10. Except for Amar Ujala and
Hindustan, every other publication in the top ten list has experienced a marginal decline in
readership.

For the IRS 2006 R1 an annual sample size of 2.4 lakh was covered spread equally over two
rounds. A total of 1,178 towns and 2,894 villages were surveyed. The data represents
fieldwork during the full year Jan-Dec 2005. The mid-point of the survey is June 1, 2005.

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Being a continuous survey, the reporting takes place every six months based on a Moving
Annual Total.

Among magazines, Saras Salil (Hindi) leads the pack with a readership of 7.36 million. A
distant second is Kungumam (Tamil) with 3.76 million, followed by Vanitha with 3.52
million readers. India Today English is fourth with a readership of 3.51 million.
Grihashobha (Hindi) has moved up a notch to number five, and is followed by Tamil weekly
Kumudam, India Today Hindi, Malayala Manorama, Tamil weekly Anand Vikatan, and
Hindi monthly Meri Saheli. Kungumam, Anand Vikatan, and Meri Saheli and newcomers in
the top ten list.

Most English dailies have seen a fall in readership, though on the whole any English daily
readership has shown an increase from the 17,396,000 in IRS 2005 R2 to 17,435,000 in IRS
2006 R1. Both the top two, the Times of India and Hindustan Times have seen a decline
with the former dropping from 72.87 lak to 70.84 lakh and the latter from 35.21 lakh to
35.08 lakh. Third-placed Hindu has increased its readership marginally from 27.87 lakh to
27.97 lakh.

Deccan Chronicle’s too has grown from 10.14 lakh to its current 11.32 lakh. The
Telegraph (10.82 lakh), Mid Day (7.37 lakh), Deccan Herald (6.04 lakh), the Indian
Express (5.65 lakh), the Tribune (4.83 lakh), the Statesman (4.22 lakh), the Assam Tribune
(3.45 lakh) all have seen fall in readership.

Among English magazines, number one India Today has dropped by 10 per cent from 38.99
lakh to 35.09 lakh. Sister concern, Reader’s Digest too has seen a 12 per cent fall and is at
23.06 lakh from 26.37 lakh. Filmfare has seen one the steepest falls in its readership fell 21
per cent to 16.71 lakh. Outlook has dropped by 11 per cent and is at 11.44 lakh. Stardust,
too, has dropped and is currently at 10.95 lakh in comparison to the 13.11 lakh in the
previous round.

From women’s magazines , Femina, Women’s Era, Cosmopolitan, New Woman, Elle and
Savvy to special interest titles like The Sportstar, Auto India, Overdrive, Outlook Traveller,
Capital Market, Living Digital, all have seen a dip in readership, with some titles like PC
Quest and Junior Science Refresher dropping by almost 23 per cent.

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According to the survey, the number of households has grown by 1.4 per cent over 2005 to
reach 210 million. Individual growth rate has been slightly lower than household growth rate
at 0.85 taking the total 12 yrs + population to 784 million. With single age-breaks now
available from the Census, the age group data has been realigned. The proportion of the total
share of 20-29 age group has declined from 25 per cent to 23.6 per cent.

The data shows that the reach of mass media has stagnated in the last three years. Press
reach has been hovering around at 24 per cent, TV at 55 per cent, radio at 21 per cent, and
Internet at 1.5 per cent at the all India level. In urban India, press and TV have declined. The
press reach declined from 42.9 per cent in 2005 to 41.7 per cent in 2006. Though TV
declined from 80.2 per cent to 78.9 per cent in the last three years, C&S has shown some
growth, from 53.5 per cent in 2005 to 54.4 per cent in 2006.

The main source of revenue for any publishing group is advertising. An advertiser would
like to know the facts and figures before investing his money in advertising. And before
investing the money, the advertiser ought to know how many people buy which publication
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 Accountant working in accordance with the rules/procedures set by the
Bureau

CHAPTER-4

4. LITERATURE REVIEW

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Advertising synergy

The concept of synergy is not new for communication researchers and advertising
professionals. It is defined as “the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their
combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effect” (American Heritage
College Dictionary 1997). As a matter of fact, advertisers frequently use multiple
communication tools (e.g., advertising, public relations, etc.) or channels (e.g., television,
press, the Web, etc.) within a single campaign at the ultimate goal of integrating multiple
communication vehicles to create the optimal persuasive effect (Chang & Thorson, 2004).

Synergy is the fundamental concept of Integrated Marketing Communication. It differs

from simple repetition in that it is believed to bring in integrated increment rather than just
simple addition of different components. As Chang and Thorson (2004) elaborated:

“An advertisement is usually viewed more than once. The effect resulting from
repeated exposure to the same advertisement is called the repetition effect and is assumed to
be the incremental effect of each additional advertising exposure. The effect resulting from
exposure to coordinated advertisement is called the synergy effect.”

As observed, advertising synergy could be operated into content level and medium
level. The former is usually seen within a single medium, using a series of ads with slight
difference in image, sound or stories, to convey a consistent persuasive message. While the
latter, going one step beyond, employs several media at a time for the same purpose.

TV, Print and Web ads

Conventional advertising, predominantly TV-commercials and print ads, still dominates

today’s advertising market. However, a diversity of new advertising formats emerges. One
major “threat” comes from the Internet, which advertising investment is constantly seen to
be on the rise (Janoschka, 2004). As Leong and his colleagues (1998) suggested, “the
phenomenal growth of consumers and businesses connected to the Internet indicate a viable
audience for advertising and promotional messages for many companies”.

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 The Internet is the latest developed electronic mass medium of the 20 th century. With
its decentralized, internationally operating network and multimedia functions, this new
communication tool has soon captured the attention of provident advertisers and became the
4th largest advertising medium (Janoschka, 2004). Some researchers estimated that online
advertising would begin to get surpluses this year, and the share of advertising expenditure
for webs would increase from 3.5% to 6.5% by the year 2009 (Ads4cn.com, 2005) , U.S.
websites will see a triple in their advertising revenue.

There are various types of online advertising, including “emails, newsletters,

screensavers, e-sponsoring, asynchronous and synchronous chat groups, infomercials, online
games, and web sites” (Janoschka, 2004: 43). Provided the scope of the current study,
spotlight will be given to web ads, which encompass a variety of hypermedia formats, such
as “banners, buttons, and pop-up windows, etc.” (Janoschka, 2004: 43).

Similar to other types of advertisements, web ads are paid or unpaid form of
communication aim at informing the existence of a product or service and/or persuading
consumers to take actions. And Janoschka (2004: 49) found one major difference is that web
ads are hyperlinks in nature, which enable activation by their users. They not only contain
promotional messages on themselves which tries to attract consumers’ attention, but also
embedded with hyperlinks and then point to a much greater information pool, such as the
corporation’s website.

This inherent difference enables a lot of unique features of web ads. As Leong, Huang
and Stanners (1998) summarized in their study with advertisers, web ads were perceived to
be:

1). Excellent for conveying information and detail.

2). Cost-effective.

3). Rational and not effective in stimulating emotions.

4). Effective in precipitating action.

and serve as complementary ad carriers to the two conventional but predominant media
5). Effective for both short- and long-term promotional objectives.

6). Less effective for changing and maintaining attitudes.

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 Two conceptual maps may further contribute to our understanding of the characteristics
among TV, print and web as advertising media.

First is Hoffman and Novak’s (1996) conceptual typology based on objective

characteristics (Figure1) of 35 media. The horizontal axis differentiates impersonal from
personal communication media, while the vertical axis differentiates dynamic from static
media. Findings showed that traditional mass media, such as TV and print resided in the
upper left and lower left quadrants, whereas interpersonal media mainly take up the upper
and lower right quadrants. New media occupied largely intermediate positions, “in
agreement with Reardon and Rogers (1988), who view new interactive media as combining
properties of mass (impersonal) and face-to-face (personal) communication channels.”

The three media to be investigated in the current study, namely, TV, print and web
were all found to be mass-targeted (impersonal) media which package their information for
a large group of people. Yet they serve different functions. As Hoffman and Novak (1996)
explained, broadcast media provide relatively short-term exposure with low information
content, print media provide relatively long-term exposure with high information content,
whereas advertising strategy on the web can responsible for both short-term (decision of
which link to select next) and long-term (detail information reading) exposure.

Web incorporates texts, images, audio and sometimes, video contents as well. It stands
in the central part of the media map, corresponding to a very important strategic
interpretation that it should be included into the marketing mix

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 CHAPTER-5

5. JOB ASSIGNMENT

5.1OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT

1. To understand consumer’s preference towards magazines through market research.

2. To identify and understand the consumer base of outlook magazines.

3. To know about the brand awareness in the consumer of different products of outlook
magazine.
4. How to generate sales for outlook group magazines by increasing circulation in the
selected segment.
5. To understand the future aspect of outlook magazines.

6. To find out the tools to improve the sales of outlook magazines.

7. To find out the factors that influence decision making for subscription.

5.2 PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT

The main purpose of this project is to understand the consumer base of outlook magazines.
In order to do so the target market needs to be surveyed thoroughly so as to understand what
exactly the customer is looking for in the product that will satisfy his/her needs and
requirements. After converting prospect into customers it is essential to retain these
customers so as to create brand loyalty. This can be done by using various promotional
schemes. This research has also been conducted to understand where outlook stands few
years from now and also finding out ways and methods to improve the sales of outlook
magazines and also increase the number of customers.

5.3 CONSUMER BASE

The customer base is the group of customers and/or consumers that a business serves. In the
most situations, a large part of this group is made up of repeat customers with a high ratio of
purchase over time. These customers are the main source of consumer spending. In many

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cases, the customer base is considered the business's target market, where customer
behaviours are well understood through market research or past experience. All actions the
company takes would be through consideration of its customer base.

5.4 BUILDING CONSUMER BASE

All businesses begin with no customers. These start-ups begin with an abstract idea that
slowly evolves into something someone will buy. As these products evolve from abstract
ideas into primitive objects that are then further refined, the business that created the
product begins to gain customers. The satisfied customers become the repeat buyers and
core customer of the company. Most often, successful start-ups begin with low-end or down
market customers with low income and low costs. As the products or services that are being
bought are polished and remade, a company gains higher-end customers who gain interest in
the product as it reaches higher levels of functionality, use, and/or value of some kind. As
the shift to these higher priority customers continue, they begin to be a larger source of
income for the company, and slowly become the main base whom the business lends the
most importance. This process, of moving from low-end customers to more expensive and
more profitable customers, is known as up streaming.

Businesses work very competitively to keep their core market intact. The sellers will
research their buyers to increase customer awareness. Keeping products customer oriented
has become so huge a priority, in fact, that it has become a large focus of business schools to
teach all types of business administrators, from manager to marketer, to keeping the
customer in mind for the improvement and creation of sellable products. It is very rare for
an established company to lose its core customers to incumbents, and it has been stated that
when an established company loses their consumer base via sudden and straightforward
methods, it was not an ingenious move of the incumbent that allowed this to happen, but
rather a result of the established company “dropping the ball”.

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5.5 MARKET RESEARCH
Throughout the lifespan of one company, the people that are being sold to are studied so that
they can be provided with more attractive products or services. The main market doing the
buying is, of course, that company’s consumer base. Analyzing and understanding such
customers is the main method of keeping them, and is why most assets are poured
into Research and Development (R&D).

R&D is the process by which old products and new ideas become refined into better, more
profitable packages. It consists of a lot of customer data: interviews, observation, product
testing, and plenty of questions. Innumerable details are dug up to gain an insight into who
the core customers are, and what they want or need. This is where brand creation, market
consideration, and market testing comes into play. Anything that the customer base will not
buy will not be made.

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How a company listens to their customers is vital. Listening to what they say they want and
providing that is a sure-fire means to failure. It turns out that it’s not as simple as just
listening, because customers often do not know what they want or why they want it.
Customers do not really understand the creation process, and should only be asked concise
questions that a company's R&D team can make into something their customers would
value. It is through this careful insight into customer minds that a business improves their
product and gains more buyers and more revenue.

5.6 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Relationship marketing focuses on using customer service and quality of service as
benchmarks in a company’s marketing activities. Relationship marketing campaigns are
developed by looking at the lifetime relationship with clients rather than the individual
dealings in order to increase profit. In relationship marketing, the goal is to satisfy and retain
clients in order to create long-term profitable relationships.

It’s obvious that there is a lot to be gained by marketing to your existing client base. Here
are some of the positive results:

 Happier clients who trust you and your business

 Repeat and new business from existing clients means more profitable relationships

 Client-provided feedback and quality insight into your business

 A boost in word of mouth referrals and recommendations

 A willingness to pay more for your services

 Brand engagement and loyalty

Plus, studies have shown that it costs less to keep an existing customer than it does to
acquire a new customer, both in terms of marketing and the new-relationship learning curve.

There are also benefits from relationship marketing to the client. Because their needs
become a primary focus in your business, they get better service, quicker responses and
have to do less work to make sure their needs are being met.

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5.7 FUTURE ASPECT OF PRINT MEDIA

While the rest of the world is combating challenges to grab maximum reach through online
media and social networking tools, India, with a population of more than one billion but less
than 80 million Internet users, has seen a continued growth in traditional print and electronic
media over the decade.

Indian print media continues to grow, and foreign publishers are also cashing in on the
opportunity, launching Indian editions of titles such as Forbes, Harper's Bazaar, Technology
Review, Entrepreneur, and even celebrity gossip magazines like People and Hello.

According to the country's first-ever youth readership survey undertaken by the National
Book Trust-National Council of Applied Economic Research, more than two-thirds of the
333 million or so literate youth in the country prefer newspapers to any other media when it
comes to news and current affairs.With television news broadcasters completely focused on
chasing television ratings in the 24-hour news cycle, the medium is largely perceived as a
source of entertainment, and in general lacks the seriousness to establish credibility with its
audiences.

The Internet, meanwhile, is just gaining a foothold, and radio continues to be the major
source of information in urban India, as in comparison to magazines, while only one in four
read books in leisure time, Indian Express reported.

The survey, conducted in November and December 2009, found that television is the largest
media with more than 77 percent of the 333 million literate people exposed to it.

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Newspapers maintain their dominance at 53 percent in terms of the preferred source for
news and current affairs, with around two-thirds (63.4 percent) choosing them for credible
information over television, which had just 22.2 percent .Although digital media around the
world is being said to replace print, in India, no Web site can measure the readership of a
printed newspaper, with a print classifieds market reaching about US$300 million.

5.8 STEPS IN GENERATING SALES

The following methodology has been carried out while conducting this research:

 A list of prospective clients in each segment is prepared

After the segments have been identified, a list of prospective clients is made in each segment
with the help of Internet and Telephone Directory services. The list would consist of all
details of the clients including Name, Address, and Telephone Number etc.

 Gather information about a client and the key decision maker

This step consists of gathering information about the client as to whether it is currently
taking any magazines and at what prices. Also the key decision maker in the company is
determined and his/her details are found out.

 Take appointment

The next step involves calling up the decision maker in the client organization and making
him interested in the product and taking an appointment with him/her. Here it is necessary to
mention the actual price and the discounted price(if any) of the magazines along with the
gifts for each respective magazine.

 Meet the client

Once an appointment has been taken, the next step is to meet the client on the appointed
time. It is very important to arrive on time. The appointment should begin with introducing
the products to the client. The Client should be asked if he is buying any other magazines
and if yes, at what price. The client should also be asked if magazines are already a part of
his business. Then the client should be explained in detail the various features of the product
and in what ways it is better than the competitors. The various options like cover-on-cover
are offered to him. Sample copies are shown to display the various options.

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 Send Proposal

If the client shows interest in the proposition offered to him, the next step is to send a
proposal. The proposal consists of various details like price, option being offered and other
details about the delivery, payment in advance etc. The proposal is send through mail.

 Follow Up

Once the proposal is sent, follow up is required until the decision maker in the organization
takes a decision regarding ordering and the number of copies to be ordered.

 Settle Terms and Conditions

Once the client shows his readiness to order, the terms and conditions are settled with him
with regard to number of copies, delivery – whether it is single point or multipoint, payment
in advance, time period of subscription. Also, price, if negotiated by the client, is settled. A
customized sample copy is also shown to the client and his approval is seek.

 Contract

Once all the terms and conditions are settled, the agreement is made. The agreement consists
of all the terms and conditions agreeable to both the parties and is duly signed by both the
parties i.e. the client and Outlook.

 Delivery and POD

The client gives all the details of delivery to Outlook as to whether the magazines are to be
delivered to the client itself or directly to the customers. If the magazines are to be delivered
directly to the customers, then all the address details of the client’s customers are taken.
After the magazines are delivered, the Proof of Delivery (POD) is shown to the client for
verification. If any copies are undelivered due to any reason, the client is informed about it.

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 6.SWOT ANALYSIS OF OUTLOOK MAGAZINES

STRENGTHS:

Published on Fridays so it covers all special news and events which take place especially on
Friday. News of stock market as it closes on Friday, courts close on Fridays and also new
movies are released on Friday. Hence it is the biggest strength for outlook.
Outlook magazines also cover international financial market.

1.It has been famous for sensational stories like the “Kargil Bungle” and the “match fixing
controversy”.

2. It also covered and published important meetings held like of Agra summit which was
held on Friday.

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3. It offers very good subscription schemes with highly attractive gifts with them.

4. It has distinguished and specialised magazines like Outlook Traveller, Outlook Money.

5. Outlook traveller has been awarded international awards for best selling magazine.

6. The survey has shown that 93% of readers retain all past issues of Outlook Money and
this is its distinguishing characteristic.

WEAKNESSES:

1. Outlook has just been for thirteen years in publication.

2. It is on a back hand from India today Hindi in Market share of Hindi magazines.

3. From the survey it has come out that the Quality of content is not good.

4. Even magazine’s paper quality, print quality and coverage have not been considered
up to the mark.

5. Its sales are mainly based on advertising.

6. It basically publish English magazine does not focus on Hindi reader.

OPPORTUNITIES:

1.As Outlook has distinguished products like Outlook Traveller and Outlook Money, so the
company should focus more on it.

2.As its near competitor India today has major market share in Hindi magazine segment so
Outlook should focus on English magazine segment.

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3. It Should focus on quality of the content and this will eventually turn up the sales and
popularity of the magazine. Keep offering good Promotional schemes to retain their
customers and also to attract new ones.

THREATS:

1.India today is its near competitor which has a well known name and it has been in this
publication business for more than thirty years.

2. India today Hindi covers major market share leaving little future prospect for Outlook
Hindi.

3. Outlook does not pay much attention on customer retention.

4. If outlook does not improve its service it will lost customer loyalty.

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 CHAPTER-7

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology defines what the activity of research is, how to proceed, how to
measure progress, and what constitutes success. It provides us an advancement of wealth of
human knowledge, tools of the trade to carry out research, tools to look at things in life
objectively; develops a critical and scientific attitude, disciplined thinking to observe
objectively (scientific deduction and inductive thinking); skills of research particularly in
the ‘age of information’.

TYPE OF RESEARCH: The type of research adopted was descriptive in nature . The object
of descriptive research is ‘to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or
situations’ .This is necessary to have a clear picture of the phenomena to collect data prior to
the collection of data. Description in management and business research has a very clear
place. However, it should be thought of as a means to an end rather an end in itself.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: A simple random sample is a set of individuals (a sample)

chosen from a larger set a population. Each individual is chosen randomly and entirely by
chance, such that each individual has the same probability of being chosen at any stage
during the sampling process,

The sample size that was taken into consideration was 100(approx) .These prospects were
randomly selected from the sample area and were asked to fill questionnaire.

The Sample area that has been selected for conducting the research was Delhi, NCR. The
sample size was taken randomly from all parts of Delhi and NCR region. The questionnaire
are being distributed to the various prospects in the sample area the prospects involved are
doctors, college students ,lawyers, employees ,teachers etc.

TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION:

The report is based on primary as well as secondary data, however primary data collection is
given more importance since it is overhearing factor in attitude studies. Research is being

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done by primary data collection and primary data collection is being done by interacting
with various people. The secondary data has been collected through various journals and
websites.

 Primary data :

Primary date were collected though questionnaires .The questionnaire were

accordingly prepared to find out the consumer base and the future aspects of
magazines

 Secondary data: Journals ,websites .

TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS:

The tools that were used for analysing the data that have been collected through the
questionnaire and other sources are as follows:

1. Pie chart

2. Bar diagram

3. Column chart

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 CHAPTER-8

RESEARCH ANALYSIS

1. No of respondents who read magazines

From the analysis of 100 respondents 65% of people used to read magazine while 35%
does not read.

2. Types of magazines preferred by the reader?

From the above data we can say that from 100 respondents 42% are of India today, 32%
of Outlook, 11% of Frontline, 10% of Saptahik and remaining 5% others.

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 3.Gender preferences for English magazines:

From the analysis of 100 respondents it can be determined that out of total readers of
English magazines there are 47% females and 63% males.

4. Respondents having internet connection

Respondents having internet connection

120 113

100

80

60

40
25

20

82% 18%
0

yes no

From the analysis of 100 respondents it can be determined that 82% have internet
connection.

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 5. Internet usage preference

internet usage

70
63
60

50 45

40
30
30

20

10

0 22% 46% 33%

Reading Articles Reading new s Reading magazine

From the analysis of 100 respondents it can be determined that 46% read news, 22% read
articles and 33% read magazine on internet.

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6. Type of magazine according to preferences by respondents:

From the survey of 100 respondents 85% preferred to read business

magazines, 46% preferred political magazines, 60% preferred fashion
magazine, 72% tech savvy magazines, 48% preferred movies magazines,
39% preferred women’s magazines and 20%preferred other sort of
magazines.

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 7. Analysis of the reading habit of the respondents:

From the survey, analysis of the reading habit of the respondents showed that 8%
regularly readers, 45% whenever getting bored, 12% while waiting, 30% to get
information, 5% read other magazines.

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 8. Places from where magazines are purchased:

From the results of 100 respondents 46% had subscription for the magazine, 23% from
the news stand, 8% from book stall, 7% second hand purchase and 14% buy online.

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 9. Motivational factor for magazine subscription:

From the survey of 100 respondents the factors that motivated subscribers to subscribe
for any magazine were that 43% got motivated due to gifts with them, 26% got motivated
due to discounts they were getting, 14% due to ease of purchase, 7% were motivated by
their friends, and 10% due to other factors.

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 10. Gift evaluation parameters:

From the Analysis to evaluate gift parameters, 80% prefer brand value in a gift, 64%
prefer the utility of the product, 55% prefer attractive gifts, 48% go for the price of gift
and 20% went for other parameters.

11. Analysis of Outlook magazines on the basis of attributes:

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Page
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From the analysis 75% liked schemes of the Outlook magazine offered, 66% went for the
value of money, 65% for unbiased reporting, 56% for overall presentation, 42% for
coverage, 38% went for paper quality, only 35% liked the quality of content and 33% for
coverage.

12. Perception of customers about Outlook magazine:

From the survey of 100 respondents6% regarded it as a very good magazine, 62%
regarded it as a good magazine, 28% as fair magazine to read, 4% did not like the
magazine.

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 13. Purchase behaviour of consumer

online purchasing perference

50
44
45 41
40
35
30 28

25
20
15 13 12
10
5
0 30% 32% 20% 9% 9%
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

From the survey of 100 respondents 32% agree to buy magazine online, while only
12% strongly disagree

14. Respondents would like to buy magazines online because

preference for buying e magzine

80 73
70

60

50
39
40

30 26

20

10

0 53% 19% 28%

Timely delivered Easy access No storage issue

From the survey of 100 respondents 53% would like to go for e magazine because of
timely delivery problem of subscriptions. 39% see e magazine as no storage issue.

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15. Areas over which Outlook needs improvement:

From 100 respondents 68% wanted improvement in quality of content, 21% in print quality
and 11% in coverage

CHAPTER-9
FINDINGS

1. From the research it has been found that most people do not have reading habits.
Hence magazines have to be pushed for sales.
2. It has been observed that gifts offered along with the subscription for respective
magazines plays a vital role in generating sales.
3. From the analysis it can also be observed that the trend of reading magazines from the
internet is also rising.
4. The content and print quality of outlook magazines is found not to be satisfactory
5. From the analysis it has been found that majority who read English magazines are
men.
6. From the data it has been found that content and service of outlook magazine is not
satisfactory.

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 CHAPTER-10

RECOMMENDATION

1. From the market survey it was able to identify that the motivating factors are the gifts
provided along with the subscriptions and according to most of the consumers a good gifts
are one which have good brand value associated with it and those which offer better utility
therefore outlook should concentrate on this promotional tool.

2. From the information obtained from Outlook, if was identified that Outlook does
nothing for customer retention. Outlook needs to formulate and implement customer
retention and loyalty programs to retain the customers.
 Greet the customers with exciting gifts during special occasions.

 Sell the subscription renewal at discount.

 Allow grace period for subscription expiry.

 Send loyalty gifts.

 Organize entertainment events for subscribers.

 Organize get – together.

 Offer free Medical claim/Insurance Policy.

3. The most important task is that company should give its priority to coverage. If the
company could cover home towns, cities and villages then it will create their more
magazines readers.

4. From the market survey it was revealed that the strengths of Outlook Magazine are
Promotional Schemes and unbiased reporting. Its weaknesses are its Content quality, Paper
quality and Print quality so it should work on it to increase the customer’s satisfaction. If the
product is able to satisfy customers in its core product attributes, then the customer will be
tend to be loyal as their expectations are fulfilled.

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5. Company should appoint some executives to make strong relationships with customer.
6. Company should improve its service so its customer should get their magazines timely.

CHAPTER-11
CONCLUSION

Promotional decisions are crucial decisions as far as marketing of a product or service is

concerned because of tough competition offered by similar kinds of products available in
the market. Magazine industry is also not free from competition and the publishers and
circulation managers need to be very alert since the consumer purchasing patterns has
become more volatile. Consumers are aware of most of the options available for them and it
is the publishers who have to motivate them for the acquisition and conversion of them it in
sales.

From the different analysis performed and market survey conducted, as a part of sincere
effort to formulate an effective strategy for Outlook magazine it has been found out that
promotional schemes are on right track and it is able to increase its subscription sales. At the
same time it was revealed by the market survey that the customers or potential customers

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were not satisfied by the Quality of content and coverage of magazine which needs to be
addressed because customer dissatisfaction might cause future loss in sales.

Further, by careful and subjective analysis a number of promotional strategies has been
formulated and presented for devising future promotional schemes and strategies for
Outlook. Some of these strategies are inspired by the existing industry practices and others
are new to be implemented. These strategies can be definitely be helpful in improving
subscription sales as well as market share which can make Outlook magazine more
competitive and will make a considerable contribution in Outlook’s journey to become a
future leader in the Indian News magazine Industry.

Chapter-12

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books referred:

 Kotler Philip, Armstrong Gary,Agnihothri.Prafulla Y(Edition 2011)Principle of

Marketing
 Chunawalla S.A.(Edition 2008)Principles and Practice.
 Kotler Philip:Keller Kevin Lane: Koshy Abraham And Jha Mithileshwar
(13th Edition 2009)Marketing Management
 Chisnall .P(Edition1995) Consumer Behaviour,Mc Graws Hill Book Company

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  Srivastava T N, Rego Shailaja (Edition 2011) Business Research Methodology

Websites:

 www.outlookindia.com
 www.outlookgroup.com
 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/outlook_(magazines)
 www.outlookindia.com/archievecontents.asp

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 ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

PERSONAL DETAILS:

Name............................. Gender: M ( ), F ( )

Occupation...................... Email address....................

Phone No.........................

1. Do you read magazines?

YES ( ) NO ( )

2. Which magazines do you read?

Outlook ( ) India Today ( ) Frontline ( ) Pratiyogita darpan ( )

3. Do you have internet connection?

YES ( ) NO ( )

4. You spend time on internet for

 Reading Articles ( )
 Reading news ( )
 Reading magazine ( )

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5. What type of magazines do you like to read?

Rank them according to your higher preference to lower between 1 to 7:

 Business magazines ( )
 Political magazines ( )
 Fashion ( )
 Technical savvy ( )
 Movies ( )
 Women’s magazines ( )
 Others ( )

6. How often you read magazines?

 Regularly _____
 Whenever getting bored _____
 While waiting _____
 For information _____
 Others _____

7. How you want to purchase or receive your magazines?

 News stands ______

 Book stalls ______
 Subscriptions ______
 Online ______

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8. What made you subscribe for the magazine?
Tick the options:
 Content ( )
 Low Price ( )
 Gifts ( )
 Suggested by a friend/ relative ( )
 Others ( )

9. On what basis you evaluate a gift?

 Price ( )
 Utility ( )
 Durability ( )
 Branded ( )
 Necessity ( )
 Others ( )

10 .From the attributes mentioned, tick those which are best suited
For outlook magazines?

 Quality of content ( )
 Coverage ( )
 Print quality ( )
 Value for money ( )
 Promotional schemes ( )
 Unbiased reporting ( )

11. What do you feel about the outlook magazine?

 Very good ( )
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 Good ( )
 Fair ( )
 Not good ( )

12. Are you satisfied with outlook delivery service?

YES ( ) NO ( )
13. You prefer magazines online?
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

14. You would like to buy e-magazine because?

 Timely delivered

 Easy access

 No storage issue

15. Would you like to continue reading the outlook magazines?

Yes ( ) No ( )

16. Mention any feature in which you think outlook magazine should
improve on:

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___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Thank you

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