On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Sandip — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:01:46 GMT

Dear RR, You have really come to the heart of the issue. It's amusing to remember the "Ed-in-Chief" of the same publishing house( and, by the way - unlike you he does take business decisions) had a favourite slide with a telling image, that he used to present at all media conferences ( the last I saw it was in the Goa Ad-fest 2 years ago where he had presided over a plenary session). It showed the front page of the country's top english daily( the masthead prominently on display) folded into a conical paper cup for "bhel-puri" - with a caption: the bhel inside costs Rs 10 /. www.indianprint.blogspot.com

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Ganesh — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:23:46 GMT

Why is Mint's or HT Media's business team cold to the idea of selling 60,000 copies of mint at Rs 10 each?

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Yash — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:50:57 GMT

Dear Raju, you will be happy to know that the Mail Today offer is not the free jam it is made to look like. The offer has some delightful conditions, which they have omitted to mention, as always. For one, the offer can be redeemed only against one specific show in the Reebok range, and guess what? that is always unavailable. Secondly, it is not a model for ladies, so that knocks off a whole bunch of ladies who thought they had been smart with the household budget. Thirdly, even for men, the shoe seems to take aspirations to new levels, since the designated shop I went for(count this as reason no. 4, very few select outlets where you can redeem)told me that ideally they can promise getting stock in sizes 10 and beyond. Leaving me to either ponder over the joys of wearing a shoe two pairs too big, which while useful if a car runs over your feet, can also be very limiting, if running long distances is what you have in mind for them. Finally, my subscription is yet to start.So all in all, not the deal it looks like.

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Veeresh — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:00:50 GMT

1) I would gladly pay 30-50 rupees for a weekly edition of MINT, which I can start reading on a Friday evening. Something about the size of the Economist? Instead of an eminently readable daily analytical newspaper which I sometimes get time to read, sometimes I don't, depends on morning rush &c &c. 2) The famous chaat-wallah off Shah Jahan Road (outside UPSC) will always give much more value for money if you order "take-away" in "sukha" (dry) format. Likewise Sagar at DefCol - you will get enough chutney and sweet dahee for multiple servings of home-made Southie. Haldiram's tends to stinge on the condiments when you eat their Raj Kachori on premises, but the take-away has much more, again useful for home cooking add-ons. Point is, everybody changes with the times. I feel guilty reading a newspaper after 9am, I can read a magazine anytime, even a week later. And you can place the daily "breaking" stories on the Internet anyways . . . like a trailer for the print product. Just a thought. The chaat-wallah funda of more for the take-away customer started just about a decade ago, by the way, before that it was pay extra for the container, bring your own container and no take-away, in reverse chronological order. Maybe this is a short column idea?

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

debu mishra — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:41:39 GMT

Raju==I feel there is nothing wrong in giving reader incentive schemes as that helps in reaching out to more and more readers,as you will agree with me about the low print penetration in India in comparison to the literacy rate.You will agree with me that newspaper is no more a mind product and it should be treated as any other fmcg product..As far as Mail Today is concerned ,it is pitched aganst two well established giants of newspapers and to get a foothold in the desired segment of readers, it is entitled to float incentive campaign for next three years.My only concern is that, in the excitement of giving lucrative offers to the readers, the sales guys tend to offer such low price that the newspaper, instead of going to the readers land up at waste paper merchants' place.

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Famous Grouse — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:50:42 GMT

Raju - Read somewhere that free newspapers are making a comeback in the west, targeted at the tube / MRT commuter. True? If so, would it be sustainable in a downturn (with ads being the only revenue). Salil - Excellent observations.

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Salil — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:02:41 GMT

Karthi, Your example of cost of eat-in-vs-take-out made me think, what reflects the price. I live in London, which has a highly competitive restaurant industry, and many cafes/restaurants don't last more than a year. Why do they offer what's takeoutable at a cheaper price than what's consumed within, the cost of styrofoam being real? I think if you look at the cost structure, it is entirely likely that the cost of washing the dishes and cups (wages, water, electricity, soaps) exceeds the cost of styrofoam and disposables given away. On top of that, when you sit in the restaurant (Starbucks, two hours, going over your emails, while drinking one skinny latte) you are using up prime real estate in central London. There are rental costs for that. So it makes a lot of sense to charge more for eating in, vs taking out, given that most civic-minded Londoners would dump their cups only in precisely-placed bins, adding to the consumer's transaction cost (i.e. not dump on the sidewalk, as one can but should not, in India). And in India the paper/styrofoam are charged because the cost of labour - doing the dishes - is low. Yes, the Net gives away a lot of stuff free, but there is an entry barrier - those who can afford a PC, internet access, and so on. Commonplace in the West, but not so in a world of digital divide. By that logic, pricing newspapers is appropriate - however much one likes the "free" content of blogs, we must remember that most blogs *react* to news generated by wires or newspapers; they rarely produce original content that's gone through all checks and balances of an editorial team to ensure authenticity. (The "story" that Palin didn't know if Africa is a continent or a country is an example of the collective gullibility of the Internet). But that's a topic for another discussion... Salil

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Karthi Marshan — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:24:57 GMT

Raju, I empathise with your angst. But allow me to refute. The internet is teaching us everyday that content is hard to price for its own sake. Why even your own content is free to read online, right, as is a lot of quality content worldwide? Then we are merely quibbling over the cost of paper, ink and delivery. And much like a restaurant would be foolish to charge people for containers if they are ordering take-out (we are the only country in the world where this still happens, i am sure), it is possible to argue that the cost of reaching a reader need not be debited to him, since there are other candidates waiting to pick up that tab. Google has established that contextual advertising that reaches a finely targetted audience is quitel likely to become the dominant business model for content companies. Is this forever? Probably not. Hopefully not. But is it for now? I suspect yes. How best can media make its bed with this, and forge a win-win for all stakeholders? It will be interesting to see how it pans out. Cheers

re: On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

V.B.N.Ram — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:22:25 GMT

Raju: Thank you very much for your valued observations , in response to what I wrote on newspaper headlines. FLASH, used to be a weekly newspaper, which, inexplicably,was being distributed absolutely free of cost, till almost one year back. How the owners managed the economics of free distribution, was always a wonderment to me. Just about the time the Delhi Metro trains came into being, I won a contest sponsored by this newspaper-the prize being a pick up and drop back from the residence plus a Metro joy ride ( which was quite a romantic idea, since this train service was a novelty at that time ) During my early school years, a bunch of my frieds and me came up with an imaginative concept, we pooled in our pocket money and created a newsletter, highlighting activiies of peer and school interest. The concept found such a liking by the school authorities, that the school began to completely subsidise it. Coming to the value to the customer, which Mail Today offers I would only state, that the INDIA TODAY group, is daring with ventures like this newspaper, because they have sufficient deployable funds. Moreover, over years , the growth trajectory of this paper, will yield multiple profits, precisely from the strategy of benefits to the customers.

Hollywood Rumors and Gossip » Blog Archive » On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:10:08 GMT

Pingback from Hollywood Rumors and Gossip » Blog Archive » On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit