Brand Management Strategies For

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GRAND PROJECT REPORT

Brand Management Strategies ForThe Economic Times

Towards partial fulfilment of Maters of BusinessAdministration programme.

S. K. Patel Institute Of Management & Computer Studies,Gandhinagar.

Submitted by : Amish P. Shah (Roll No.03)Dipti Kadam (Roll No.21)Neelima Jani (Roll No.42)

Brand Management Strategies for The Economic Times Amish Shah, Dipti Kadam & Neelima Jani 1


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Research is to see what everybody else has been seeing,And to think, what nobody else has thought of.

(Albert Szent - Gyorgyi)



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PREFACE

ews is transient, so are its form and articulations. In the cyclical karma of anewspaper, news is reinvented constantly. It dies each day to be re-born the

next day. And it is for this very reason that newspapers do exist even after decadesof their invention. They simply never go out of fashion.N

The scenario in India goes long decades back when the Baniya community(who are believed to be the forefathers of business in India), laid the foundations oftrade. Since then, to up-till now has been a long journey of decades and centuriesbut the spirit of business still remains the same. Technology has revolutionised theway businesses are done today. Print media (read business newspapers) adds fuelto the fire of burning desire to grow, achieve and conquer the businesses.

The world of business newspapers; is a big-big world, as businesses are 24 x

7 x 365 across the globe. They are moving, revolving and evolving all the times.And it is due to this, that we find number of people who crave for sources ofinformation to remain updated and hooked to the business happenings all the time.

Though new different mediums might have cropped to threaten the veryexistence of business newspapers, but still they remain alive, as always they did.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT



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We firmly believe that a work of significant proportion cannot be attributed toa single person for his/her efforts; the overall success depends upon all thoseindividuals who contributed in their unique way to the accomplishment of itsbroader objectives.

Any efforts made for this project remains incomplete without mentioningabout the tremendous guidance and knowledge, which we have receivedthroughout the time period of this project. We thank all those highly esteemedpersonnel who were motivating towards a successful completion of this project.

We are thankful to Mr. Ashok Solanki (Manager, H.R., TOI) and Mr. KalpeshPatel (Sr. Magager, RMD, TOI) for giving us this opportunity to work on the project at

The Times Of India. We even express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Subodh Sinha(Asst. Manager, RMD) for the invaluable guidance throughout this project andwithout whom this project would not have been possible.

Thanking you all,

Amish ShahDipti KadamNeelima Jani

PROJECT OBJECTIVES, IN BRIEF



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Primary Objective : The main objective of this project was the study ofbrand The Economic Times based on various factors. This included analysisbased on the 4 Cs of modern marketing, namely

Company Offering Cost Convenience Competition Communication

Based on the data gathered we aimed to co-relate the data to actualcompanys success at achieving the branding objectives.

Secondary Objectives : The several other secondary objectives were,

Finding the value equity of the ET brand, i.e. to consider the quality, priceand convenience offered by the brand

Help tabulate the brand equity, i.e to help realise factors like the brandawareness, customer attitude towards the brand, customer perception ofbrand ethics and communication effectiveness.

To derive the conclusion for the value proposition offered by the brand i.e. isthe experience, worth the money spent

TABLE OF CONTENTS


1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


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2.1 History In Brief2.2 Products Profile2.3 Organisation Structure

2.4 RMD Department2.5 Latest At The Company

3.1 Company Offering3.2 Cost3.3 Conveniency3.4 Communication3.5 Competition3.6 Customer Satisfaction

5.1 Research Design5.2 Data Collection Methods5.3 Questionnaire Copy

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Every morning in the African jungle, a gazelle wakes up to know that it mustrun faster or else a lion will kill it. Also, every morning a lion wakes up to know thatit must run faster than the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death.


2. INTRODUCTION : THE BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD.

3. INTRODUCTION : THE ECONOMIC TIMES

4. PROJECT OBJECTIVE

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

6. DATA ANALYSIS

7. FINDINGS / CONCLUSION

8. RECOMMENDATIONS

9. THE LEARNING PROCESS

10.BIBLIOGRAPHY


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It does not matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle, the hunter or thehunted, when the sun comes up you better be running.

The same applies to the corporate jungle too.

With intensifying competition and the presence of number of other

competitive players, companies are finding it extremely difficult to survive themarket. The shift from selling to marketing is the major reason contributed for this.

The focus remains not the short term immediate sale - immediate profit but long-term creation of markets and generation of demand. Also to survive thecompetition, it has become mandatory for companies to shift their focus and thinkbeyond simple advertising and promotions to branding of their products. Thebrand takes into account not only the aspects of actual sales in figures; but also thebrand awareness, brand recall, brand loyalty, brand positioning, brand association,brand personification and strengths of brand vis--vis to its competitors. Its basedon all this aspects, that it becomes possible for the company to conclude on theactual market strength of its products.

Our project remains an effort towards analysing and assessing the brandstrengths of The Economic Times on all this important parameters.

2. INTRODUCTION : THE BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD

2.1 History In Brief



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The first edition of The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, laterto be called The Times of India, was launched in Bombay in 1838. Afterseveral years of change, evolution and growth in the paper's character,Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, the proprietors of The Times of India Group, wasestablished with the principal objective of publishing newspapers, journals,magazines and books.

Today, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd is India's largest media house. TheTimes Group is a multi-edition, multi-product, multi-media organisation, andhas to its credit several leading publications.

Among the company's publications are The Times of India, TheEconomic Times, Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times, Femina and Filmfare.

The Group also has interests in the entertainment and online mediaindustries in the form of Radio Mirchi, Planet M, Times Music and TimesMultimedia.

In April 2000, Times Internet Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bennett,

Coleman & Co. Ltd, was floated to handle the Group's Internet properties.Times Internet Ltd's mother brand is www.indiatimes.com.

The Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. is recognized the world over for theenviable standards they have set in publishing and media

A brief with "the times" machine

1838 (Editor : J.E. Brenan) The first edition appeared on November 3, 1838known as "The Bombay Times & Journal of Commerce", later to be known as

"The Time of India". The issue was published twice a week. It was basically acity paper protecting the interest of Bombay's business community.

1840 (Editor : Dr. George Buist) The newspaper experienced proprietarychange in 1846. In the year 1850 shareholders decided to increase the sharecapital and the paper was converted into a daily. The paper in these periodsreflected the, " Imperialistic Policy" i.e. the voice of the ruling government.

1861 (Editor : Robert Knight) The paper was by then called "The Times ofIndia"

(it was an amalgamation of three newspapers i.e., Bombay Times, BombayStandard and Bombay Telegraph and Courier). By this time Bombay hadbecome the commercial capital of India. TOI was recognized as the nationalnewspaper because its circulations were not confined to the boundaries ofBombay city alone.



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1892 Mr. T.J. Bennett, then editor of Times of India laid the foundation andbecame the sole proprietor of the newspaper. Mr. F.W. Coleman with hisexperience in newspaper production entered into partnership with Mr. T.J.Bennett to form "Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd."

1907 (Editor : Sir Stanely Reed) "The Times of India" became anopinion-forming instrument.

1923 (Editor : S.T. Sheppard) Ownership was passed on to Mr.Ramkrishna Dalmia.

1948 (Editor : Ivor S. Jehu) Sehu Jain Group became the owners of thecompany. Mr. Shanti Prasad Jain was the first chairman of the group.

1952 Filmfare magazine launched to cater to the entertainment and moviefreak readers.

1959 Femina magazine launched catering to the niche market of womenonly

segment.

1961 The Economic Times was launched to cater the growingcorporate needs, and the business community of India. TheEconomic Times proved to be a complete and comprehensivebusiness newspaper and went ahead to become the secondlargest business newspaper of the world (in sales figures).

1972 The launch of Illustrated Weekly.

1976 Under the able leadership of Late Shri Ashok Jain (Chairman) TheBennett,

Coleman & Co. Ltd., The Times of India Group has become the country'slargest media group and has survived for more than 150 years.

1984 Sameer and Vineet Jain join The Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

2000 Launch of the most happening webiste www.indiatimes.com

2002 Enters into a joint venture with The Economist Newspaper, UK for amarketing tie-up to promote the international magazines of The EconomistGroup.

http://www.indiatimes.com/http://www.indiatimes.com/


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2004 Among the company's current publications are The Times of India, TheEconomic Times, Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times, Femina and Filmfare.

The Group also has interests in the entertainment and online mediaindustry in the form of Radio Mirchi, Zoom, Planet M, Times Music and Times

Multimedia.

2.2 Products Profile

A broadly diversified, multifunctional unit, the Bennett, Coleman & Co.Ltd. takes charge of a range of product lines towards its audience. Theseproducts described are included in the following aspects :

1) Print Media

Newspapers Magazines Journals

2) Television Media & Others

The group has centers in Delhi and Mumbai and its media organizers takecharge for :

Zoom T.V. Channel Programmes for Delhi Doordarshan Programmes for Sony Entertainment Television Femina Miss India Brand Equity Quizzes

3) Radio Channel

Radio Mirchi, the most hip and happening radio channel waves throughcities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune and Indore.

4) Multimedia

The group provides quality information and entertainment through

times CD ROM titles which range from movies, religious and spiritual titles,cartoons, study oriented, etc.

5) Retailing

The group holds in its tag the very popular retail store. Planet M, themusic retail store can be termed as vibrant-pulsating that channelisestoday's youth trend, besides selling books, CD ROMS and music that teams



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up quality buying with grand ambience. This retail outlet has its base in all 4metropolitan cities besides seeking for aggressive expansion.

6) Online Products

The group flaunts its very famous online offering.

Indiatimes.com - a versatile website for e-mail, cards, teen, contests andtrivia.

Timescity.com - an online service portal that sorts and serves informationregarding services and events in major cities.

Times Syndication Services (TSS) which provides value added features formobile phone owners through it 8888 service numbers.

7) Music Production

This production company is involved in the production of audio

cassettes and compact discs containing the recording of eminent artists ofboth classical and contemporary repute. Some quite reputed ones beingAbida, Garbh Sanskars, etc.

Some reputed print publications of The Bennett, Coleman &Co.Ltd.,

The Times of India

The Times of India is the flagship brand of the Group. It is India's

premier English daily and world's largest circulated English broadsheet daily.It is published from ten cities across India, has a circulation of over 25,22,842copies, and is read by over 4.42 million people.

Navbharat Times

Navbharat Times, launched in 1950, is a widely read and influentialHindi daily. It is published from Delhi and Mumbai and has a combinedcirculation of over 430,000 copies and a readership of over 1.7 million.

Maharashtra Times

Maharashtra Times is a Marathi newspaper published from Mumbai. Ithas a circulation of over 200,000 copies and a readership of over a million.



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Filmfare

Filmfare has evolved as an entertainment medium in itself. Themonthly magazine covers the gamut of happenings in show biz, includingmovies, music and television. Gossip, interviews, previews, reviews, profiles -it's all there. The magazine also sponsors the annual Filmfare awards for

excellence in Indian Cinema. It was started in the 1952.

Femina

The No. 1 women's magazine in India, Femina caters to the woman ofsubstance. Femina also organizes and sponsors the Miss India pageantannually. The winners of these contests represent India in the Miss Universe,Miss World and Miss Asia-Pacific contests.

The Group beyond newspapers and magazines - An Ideal

Institution

Besides the number of business interests, the company evenacts in the true spirit of a responsible corporate citizen. The group hasundertook a number of other activities which stretch beyond its normalbusiness profile, as being mentioned below,

The Times Eye Research Foundation The Times school of Media studies The Times School of Marketing The Times Newspaper in Education Program

The Times fellowship Council The Bharatiya Jnanpath award The Times of India News Service The Economic Times Research Bureau Times Relief Fund

2.3 Organisation Structure


Executive DireDirBusDir

RDir

Corp

Chairman

Vice Chairman

ExecutiveDirector

Managing Director

Dpty ManagingDirector

ExecutiveDirector

DirectorResponse (W)

Director

Response(S)

DirectorResponse (N)

DirectorModernization

DirectorProduction

DirectorE.T.

ExecutiveDirector

Director

Personnel

DirectorH.R.

ExecutiveDirector

Director

Business

DirectorCorporate

DirectorRMD


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2.4 RMD Department

The department, which works to create the audience, is known as RMD(Result and Market Development Department), as its main aim is to increasethe customer base for its various product offerings. The company has aseparate department, which is involved in space selling, known as theresponse department. So here as against to the general approach of manycompanies to assign the task of marketing, advertising and branding to just



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one single department, the Times Group has separated this important tasksbetween two departments. No doubt that both this department are expectedto work in co-ordination, but for the RMD department the focus remains tosell the product to the customers and create audience, while the responsedepartment has to sell the products to the advertisers, which is known asspace selling. They have to sell the space available in the newspaper to the

advertisers. The rate of space selling is decided on the customer base of thecompany hence, both the departments are interrelated.

Objectives of the RMD department

Marketing of various print offerings of Times Group Ensure co-ordination for smooth functioning of the distribution channel Ensure a dominant market share position through aggressive sales

campaign Organize events and seminars for promoting of the product offerings Oversee to the functioning of the Economic Times Club Increase the circulations which should benefit the advertisers Ensure an appreciating service to its readers through timely deliveries,

easy product availability in market, etc

Functions of the RMD department

Sales and market development

Dispatch

Billing and accounts

RMD international sales

Promotion and publicity

MIS

Certification of circulation figures by ABC

Subscription

2.5 Latest At The Company

The company made the latest foray into the television media through thelaunch of Zoom a life-style channel targeting the urban youth. Besides thisthe company is assessing the options of launching other new channels too.



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Also that, Zoom has being able to garnish the number one slot amongst allthe entertainment and life-style channels within just months of its launch.

The company has also garnished the top slot amongst the private radiostations through its successful venture Radio Mirchi

Also that indiatimes was selected as the Superbrand 2005, was a momentof true pride for the only profitable commercial internet website of India.

It seems, as if the company is becoming omnipresent in all the fields ofmedia with market leadership in majorly all categories.

3. INTRODUCTION : THE ECONOMIC TIMES

3.1 Company Offering



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The Economic Times was launched in 1961 with the mission to becomethe number one business newspaper in the world. For all this years ET hasbeen able to maintain a consistent business growth, which could be largelyattributed to its shared values given below,

- To stick to the media ethics- To ensure that news is separate from views- Factual and timely reporting- Not to abuse the information available or gathered

If asked What are the milestones and achievements of The EconomicTimes over the past few years? , than what could be the most probable replyfrom the company. To quote a few of the likely replies are, The Economic

Times has grown at an exponential rate to become the world's second-largestbusiness and financial newspaper in English. Today, it sells six-and-a-halftimes more than the next financial newspaper in India. It occupies a collectivemind-space in corporate India. It is also one of the biggest drivers of the stockmarket through the sheer influence it exercises over the business landscapeof India. They do not hanker for influence, but it is a fact that what ET writeshas a huge impact on how the market moves. It has been their constantendeavour to reach out to as many intelligent and successful members of thesociety as possible.

True to its USP "The Power Of Knowledge", ET has been organisingseminars: presided by international celebrities. Targeted at CEOs of

corporate India, bringing the best minds of business to one platform in superachiever's forum, giving annual ET awards to the best industrialists, etc.

They also focus India as a brand to international readers throughvarious columns like great Indian Diaspora (now the global Indian).

What are the processes followed by ET before it goes to actual publication ?,To be specific it maintains five sections : News Bureau News Desk Design Desk Features And Et Intelligence



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In addition ET sources news from news agencies like PTI, UNI, Reuters,Dow Jones, India Abroad News Service, etc. Apart from these it has a

syndication arrangement with some foreign news magazines like BusinessWeek, Forbes, Economist, etc. (to reproduce articles on a limited basis).

Supplements - Brand Equity

It is a weekly colour supplement that covers marketing, advertising,media and market research. The advertising and marketing fraternity acceptit as the best trade magazine in the market. ET sees its highest circulationon Wednesdays, the day brand equity appears. The annual brand equity quiztargeted at corporates is the most popular business quiz in India, drawingthrongs of crowds. Brand equity also conducts the MTV - brand equity youth

marketing forum, an annual event attended by the who's who of themarketing world. Promo power, is yet another seminar on brand promotions.

Corporate Dossier

Another numero uno supplement of the ET is corporate dossier, whichis positioned at the CEOs of corporate India, with a special focus on



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management and strategy. Corporate Dossier has featuredmanagement gurus including Sumantra Ghoshal, Jack Trout andGary Hamel. The idea is to provide the understanding and capture corporatetrends as they happen in the biggest markets of the world.

Through its two biggest events - the super achiever's forum and theleadership series - Corporate Dossier has a strong offline presence by

reaching out to Indian CEOs. Corporate Dossier has played host to thebiggest names around the world such as - Bill Gates of Microsoft and ClarenceChandran of Nortel networks, Sanjaya Kumar of Computer Associates, haveall been invited to this forum.

Rewards system for the ET staff members

Rewards / Incentives for staff from wage board category are governedby wage board rules. Executives and journalists on contract are rewarded ontheir performance-based ratings assigned by the department head. Inaddition to the existing rewards performance system, the staff is periodicallymotivated by the executive editor, by his positive comments on the days'paper and he also shows his appreciation in the weekly staff meetings heldon Fridays. Top rated journalists, are also given opportunities to go abroad oncertain 'junkets' with a view to bring back growth-oriented experiences toshare with others and which in turn not only benefit the individual but alsothe organisation.

High fliers are granted special study leave to go on sabbaticals like theBritish Chevening scholarships and others. The company authorises seniorstaff, eligible to air-travel in j class, to travel by y class and motivate theothers in the department by offering him/her the differential amount asincentive.

Freedom to act & training & development our HRD section is fullyequipped to undertake training and development needs of the staff for thespecific area of knowledge. Apart from these, The Economic Times has beeninviting eminent personalities like Mr. P S Subraminam of Unit Trust of India,Mr. Dharam (MD, Dow Elanco Nocil), Mr. Raj Kapoor of Times Of Money, etc.to talk on different topics of interest. The likes of Mr. Swaminathan AnklesariaAiyar have been delivering useful tips to the journalists in augmenting theirknowledge on international perspectives etc.

Expected behaviour from the ET Journalists

The ET journalists are advised to maintain a balanced view whilereporting. They are expected of timely, relevant andunbiased reporting and not to abuse the information available with them.

They are not to indulge in activities that

may be beneficial to them on a personal level with the information that isofficially garnered by them. In fact, in a long and detailed note "(et)hical way,



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highlights each and every area where a journalist may succumb. Useful tipson discipline are also given from time to time.

If you are looking for the business barometer of the country, then TheEconomic Times is what you would turn to. Read by close to a million people,ET captures the sentiment of every individual and institution that has a stake

in India's tomorrow. You could say it is the first and last word on mattersimportant for today's executives and businesses. With the coming of everynew media vehicle, pundits forecast a dim picture for newspapers. But if youcan spur the imagination of a million people and give them the power to buildon those dreams, the future is yours. When you read ET you must know thatthe words written have the power to launch a thousand businesses (not ships,please dont be mistaken).

A recent study by Goldman Sachs predicts that India will be aneconomic superpower in the foreseeable future. To some it may appeardramatic but at ET we cannot agree with them more. We have our ideas onhow India can get there. And that's the essence that ET always strives to

capture.

The Economic Times : History in brief

ET was born in the early hours of March 5th, 1961. And she getsyounger and stronger every day. Coming from the experienced stable of TheBennett, Coleman & Co, that also owns The Times Of India, in the early yearsET witnessed the country in two wars with her neighbours. So right from thestart ET had to prove that it had what it took to guide business through thecountry's most hazardous economic minefield since independence. Call itbaptism by fire literally! Then followed the slump in agricultural production,then the mainstay of the economy signalled a decline. Clearly the sixties wasa period when every notion in the country had to be revisited. A change thatwas inevitable. A change, that ET was ready for. Through this whole periodthe economy was still protectionist but the steps of progress had begun. Yet,while the world started swarming India for its karmic powers, in its own wayET has started projecting her industrial future. The mid 70s sawa political turmoil with the declaration of emergency and curbs on pressfreedom. When the emergency ended, the press was equipped, more thanother institutions, to cope with opposition. And the economic times emergedmore mature.

The 1980s marked the greatest period of economic flux, from globalrecession to stock-market boom. ET seized the initiative and established itselfas the leader in influencing policy and business decisions. From then to now,the circulation is ranked among the top three English dailies in the world. Ifthe process of globalisation in the west was spread over a period of morethan 200 years, in India it has come in a compressed form of ten years. Is it asurprise that



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ET is the first to acknowledge this --- by instituting an ET award of CorporateExcellence for the global Indian.

If you expected a business paper to be staid and serious, naturally ETwill come as a surprise to you. And why not? With a country population of ----under twenty-five years of age ET captures the hope of optimism of thatyoung audience.

The one common thread among the readers is that they are fresh intheir minds, positive in their approach and successful in attitude. Else an ETreader could be a head honcho of a multinational corporation - as somepeople expect- or a management trainee with unbridled enthusiasm whocan't wait to climb the corporate ladder. He or she could be a marketing dudespotting a new consumer line or a bean-counter reading more between thelines. It could be an I.T. professional routing Linux and a commodity traderbetting on Futures. One of the erroneous assumptions is that pink papersare read by stock market traders only. The diversity of the ET audience is afitting rejoinder to such conventional wisdom and a tribute to its universalappeal. Indeed while business is the main domain of ET, its broad perspectivein areas of politics, arts and leisure making it a complete paper and acompelling reading experience.

Its value additions, like Corporate Dossier and Brand Equity are strongbrands in their own right. Brand equity presents the racy world of theadvertising and marketing world; Corporate Dossier quietens the stiff upperlip of the corner office. "Big Bucks" replays the casino effect of the stockmarket while "Hard Drive" brings out the urban cowboy. "Rural Mural" getsyou back to roots and "ET Cetera" on sport and leisure gives you a readyescape. Add to that infrastructure index, commodity guide, corporatecounsel, ET In The Classroom and you have a heady mixture that promisesto keep you up and about.

Recent developments

When you bring out a new product everyday nothing seems recent,does it? True to the newspaper sentiment, ET is recent always and willremain ever so.



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Promotion

As aggressive in its marketing strategies as any of the players in itsfront page, ET dared to price the product at a price that challenged even itsbig brother- The Times Of India, and created the market for a business paper

in the bargain. Competition copied the "invitation pricing" strategy but nonecould emulate the success.

The advertising for ET is as much known for winning creative awardsas it is for influencing a prospect.

"Power of knowledge" was the founding spirit of the paper and stillstrikes a chord in today's knowledge economy. The foundation of the brandhas not changed, the expression ever so often. The Brand Equity Quiz thatstarted in Bangalore in 1991 is the only event that brings back memories ofcollege extravaganzas to an office goer. In The Economic Times SuperAchiever's Forum and the Corporate Dossier leadership series, ET invites theIndian businessmen to interact with global leaders. The Economic Times(ETIG) knowledge forum is a platform for industry experts to exchange ideas.ET club creates a healthy interphase between university and industry. ETencourages the inventive Indian mind to dream and dream big. The ETAwards for Corporate Excellence were instituted to honour men, women andorganizations that have made a fundamental difference to the way businessis done and a source of inspiration for the rest. A rigorous process ofresearch, survey and dialogue before the winners are selected, it is ET way oftelling the industry and indeed the country that "we care".

Brand values

The reader is central to everything ET embodies. ET aims to project astyle that is cool, hip and with loads of attitude. It portrays the feel goodfactor of a growing economy and the aspirations of a young country in all itsmyriad shapes and colours. It is an idea factory, a concept creator and anopinion leader. It is smart, incisive and innovative in its reporting - cuttingedge, as its readers would say. It conforms to the traditional newspapervalues of accuracy and simplicity - but that is not a euphemism for staid orconventional thinking. The economic times aims to be ahead of the times,every time. It strives to give a delightful start to everyday.

3.2 Cost

The ET Ahmedabad Edition comes at Rs.3/- from Monday to Friday,which the company terms it as invitation pricing, while the Saturday Editioncomes as Rs.6/-. The company doesnt have any Sunday Edition.

The cost structure of ET has two important aspects. Whatever pricethat has been charged to the actual readers doesnt supplement the actual



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cost of the newspaper. The company helps supplement the cost by the wayof advertising revenues generated. The benefit of this is partially beingpassed on to the readers while the remaining remains the company profit.

As against this the price of ET for the ET Club Members is only Rs.300/-which covers the supply of 125 copies to the member during the academic

year. The company doesnt have any net revenue generation from thisdeeply discounted price and works on the no profit no loss concept here.

3.3 Conveniency

The ET Ahmedabad Edition witnesses its highest sales by in-linecopies which are the newspaper copies delivered throughout the month bythe readers newspaper vendor. While a small proportion of sales is being soldas news-stand copies. The buyers of these copies are mostly occasionalreaders who would be buying with predefined specific objective.

Besides the in-line copies, the company has the highest sales fromthe ET Club Members. The memberships are offered to students of graduationand post graduation students of various educational institutes at extremelydiscounted prices. The copies are delivered at the door-steps of theeducational institutes from where these students would be collecting theircopies. The company has a definite distribution network in this respect.

The actual distribution of the copies whether to the newspapervendors, newspaper stalls or ET Club members is being routed throughdistributors appointed by the company in each important geographicallocation.

3.4 Communication

Brands need not be advertised always. ET is undoubtedly the mostwidely recognisable brand of the company, next to The Times of India. Forover these years, the newspaper has developed extremely loyal readers andthe readers too feel a strong brand association with ET. ET also remains incontinuous lime-light for the quotes cited from this newspaper by eminentpersonalities and also for its Brand Equity Quiz. The Corporate Dossier isthe real show of the brand strength, which is being attended by the topcorporates of this country. ET does occasionally advertise and promote the

product but only either in Times of India, Radio Mirchi and Zoom Channel (Asper the company policy, only cross promotions are being permitted. Noexternal medias are used for it.)

The company does run another marketing initiative under the nameET Club which invites membership from students of graduation or post-



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graduation of various academic institutions and are provided the ET copies ata deep discounted price. The aim of this initiative is to help develop a marketfor future from the students of today, and the corporate executives oftomorrow. The habit of reading ET is where the company sees it real termgrowth for the future.

3.5 Competition

Direct Competitors

Business Standard

One of the nearest competitors of ET, it is being backed by stronginvestors with one of them being a financial powerhouse of India and theother being The Financial Times , one of the leading financial newspaperacross the globe. The newspaper has been able to garnish a respectablemarket share and has won readers for its language simplicity for the toughest

business terms.

Financial Express

The newspaper has a major emphasizes on the finance related newsand has an in-depth coverage for the stock market related news, but fails toprovide complete competition to any business newspaper. The FinancialExpress has a much streamlined target group as against the broadlydiversified of any business newspaper.

Others

Small players like Business Line do provide some sort of competition ofET, but are way behind for the comprehensive and in-depth news, analysisand coverage of ET. Also the newspaper lacks a well reached distributionnetwork.


The ET brand power,clearly visible at ET


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Indirect Competitors

National & International magazines

There are various national and international magazines in the businessnews and information segment. Also they are much focussed on the research

and analysis related to any of business news. One of the competitiveadvantage of ET is that of day-to-day updates as against that of the weekly,fortnightly or monthly issues of business magazines. Also people are muchhabituated to the idea of reading a newspaper as vis-a-vis to any magazine.Some of the reputed national business magazines are Business India,Business Today, Business Week, etc. Also there are a number of internationaleditions catering to high segment corporates of the Indian population.

English daily newspapers

With the intensifying competition in the newspaper industry most ofthe daily newspapers have made a tremendous change in the contentscovered. Most of them have been providing business related news coverage,which is sufficient to satisfy the appetite of not-so-curious reader of businessarticles. This idea has been even extended to few of vernacular languagenewspapers, but the proportion to the overall ratio is quite small. The newsand contents covered are not so in-depth as any business newspaper, but bystimulating an interest of general readers in business related news, thesedailies could help generate a market for the business newspapers in future.

Business news channels

The television news channels provide an indirect competition too, as

most of them host all the news and information as covered by ET, and quiteof them go into much detail. The international news channels like CNBC, CNN,BBC, etc. and the national news channels like STAR NEWS, NDTV NEWS, AAJ

TAK, ZEE NEWS, SAHARA NEWS, DD NEWS, etc. are one of toughest indirectcompetitors due to the lightning speed at which they disburse the latest newsand information.

Internet

With the growth and advancement of the Internet technology, it hasbecome possible to gain access to any sort of information with the help ofinternet. As the Internet is rightly termed as a ocean of news and information,

the youth of today find it a more convenient option as compared to reading abusiness newspapers. But ET has been able to sustain that competition by itsown website www.economictimes.com, which has quite customised featuresfor all its readers and the net surfers.

http://www.economictimes.com/http://www.economictimes.com/


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3.6 Customer Satisfaction

For more than 40 years of its existence, ET has always held its readershead high. The ET has been considered the most reliable business newspaperand the brand for which the corporates could swear for. Also that thecustomer satisfaction for ET can be reflected by the huge market share itenjoys across India, which is much-much ahead of its nearest competitor. Thetop-corporates have openly admitted to being habituated to reading ET,which they consider it the most vital ingredients for their business to survive.

We commonly find praises and accolades for ETs comprehensivecontent coverage and in-depth analysis whether it be for the yearly budget,railway budget, articles on industry analysis, brand equity quizzes or even theelection news coverage. Truly to say, With ET you cant be let down.

While the management students consider this Bible next only toPhilip Kotlers Marketing Management, to swear for.

Also our survey results would help conclude about the immense faith,pride and respect for T Power of Knowledge

3.7 Nice 2Know

Recently The Economic Times created a history by publishing a specialSunday Edition on 27th Feb, 2005 to give a complete coverage to the RailwayBudget 2005.

The Economic Times has won the first-ever legal victory of a domain name by

any Indian company.

In the process, The Economic Times has also created history and hassecured a unique place in the annals of Indian Cyber law. www.theeconomictimes.com has been the first domain name, which has beenacquired by any Indian company from the Uniform Domain Names DisputeResolution Policy of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN) that has come into force. On 11 March 2000, panellist W.R. Cornishof the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration andMediation Centre delivered the administrative panel decision in the casesentitled Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd Vs. Steven S Lalwani and BennettColeman & Co. Ltd Vs. Long Distance Telephone Company. In both the

cases, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. was the complainant before the WIPOArbitration and Mediation Centre. Since 1996, the complainant has held thedomain names, www.economictimes.com and www.timesofindia.com, usingthem for the electronic publication of their respective newspapers. However,in 1998, Steven S. Lalwani, USA registered the domain namewww.theeconomictimes.com with Network Solutions. It may be also be notedthat the domain name www.thetimesofindia.com was also registered withNetwork Solutions by Long Distance Telephone Company, having the sameaddress of Steven S. Lalwani, USA. The said domain names were duly

http://www.theeconomictimes.com/http://www.theeconomictimes.com/http://www.thetimesofindia.com/http://www.theeconomictimes.com/http://www.theeconomictimes.com/http://www.thetimesofindia.com/


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registered by Network Solutions, the then sole registrar for TLDs (Top LevelDomains) as the same were available to be registered on a first-come-firstserved basis. Needless to mention, Network Solutions does not prescribe anyrestrictions on the registration of the domain names.

Thereafter, Steven S. Lalwani and Long Distance Telephone Co., being a

front of Lalwani, built up their websites on the two domain names whichredirected Internet users and netizens to www.indiaheadlines.com whichprovides India related news and articles. The effect of this was that anynetizen legitimately wanting to go the site of The Economic Times and The

Times of India would type the said names in his browser and he would beredirected to the site ofwww.indiaheadlines.com. This re-directional exerciseadopted by Lalwani caused tremendous harm and damage to The Economic

Times and The Times of India apart from misleading bonafide and genuinenetizens.

By means of a detailed and well reasoned judgment, the WIPO Arbitrationand Mediation Centre delivered its ruling that the respondents domain name

www.theeconomictimes.com should be transferred to the complainantBennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. Thus, The Economic Times created history in theannals of Cyberlaw in India by being the first Indian domain name which wasdirected to be transferred in the name of complainant under the new ICANNdomain name dispute policy. In the connected case, WIPO further directedthat the domain name www.thetimesofindia.com be also transferred toBennett Coleman & Co Ltd. (Data Source : Internet)

ET was the first Indian paper to go salmon pink like some internationalpapers.

ET lays equal emphasis on visual and graphics as on words. After all a picturecan often speak a thousand words.

Nine out of ten Indian CEOs read ET.

22 % of et readers are women.

4. PROJECT OBJECTIVES

http://www.indiaheadlines.com/http://www.theeconomictimes.com/http://www.thetimesofindia.com/http://www.indiaheadlines.com/http://www.theeconomictimes.com/http://www.thetimesofindia.com/


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Primary Objective : The main objective of this project was the study ofbrand The Economic Times based on various factors. This included analysisbased on the 4 Cs of modern marketing, namely

Company Offering Cost Convenience Competition Communication

Based on the data gathered we aimed to co-relate the data to actualcompanys success at achieving the branding objectives.

Secondary Objectives : The several other secondary objectives were,

Finding the value equity of the ET brand, i.e. to consider the quality, price

and convenience offered by the brand

Help tabulate the brand equity, i.e to help realise factors like the brandawareness, customer attitude towards the brand, customer perception ofbrand ethics and communication effectiveness.

To derive the conclusion for the value proposition offered by the brand i.e isthe experience, worth the money spent

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



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5.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

In theoretical context,

The study can be termed as descriptive as the major emphasize would be tostudy the behavioural variable of the people without getting into establishingthe association of the data.

The survey type is experimental design with field-testing procedures. Communication approaches would be questioning with structured and well-

formatted clear questions.

Medium of interaction would remain personal i.e. face-to-face interview andthe questionnaire would contain self-administered response, i.e. questionform is simply handed to respondents.

Sample size would be 150, and the basis of selection for samples would beconvenience sampling i.e. the researchers select the most accessible

population from whom to obtain the information for the survey. The sampletesting area is Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. There would be no criterias forsegmentation of the samples into specific categories, demographicsegmentation.

The levels of measurement used in the question would be a combination ofnominal, ordinal, interval and ratio.

The questionnaire satisfies the following criterias of good measurement ofsurvey as per Marketing Research (7th Edition) By David J. Luck and RonaldS. Rubin

A pilot study was conducted with ten questionnaire samples and based on thefeedback, the updates and changes were made accordingly.

Use of measurement scaling methods like itemized rating scale, rank order,semantic differential scale, likert scale and staple scale. Also used areprojective techniques like association and sentence completion.

Question type ranged from dichotomous, checklist, rating and ranking also.

In practical context,

ProblemFind the actual readers brand perception for ET, and co-relate them to thecompanys branding objective, and that how successful it had been.

Research ObjectivesGain insights into brand management of a business newspaper

Designing the questionnaireThe questionnaire contained all kind of following question type,

Lead-in question



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Qualifying question Warm-up question Specific question Demographics

Also worth to be mentioned is, that we conducted a pilot study for the designedquestionnaire with the target size of 5% of the actual sample size, i.e. 10 samples.Based on the feedback received during this period and the problems we faced whilefilling up this questionnaires we made the adequate changes in the final draft.

Market research and survey

Data analysis and interpretation

5.2 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

The data was collected in two different phases, namely,

Unstructured interviewThis part of the data collection method can be termed as qualitative survey

and the questions were asked in context how did respondents perceive ET as abrand based of questions framed on the 4 Cs of marketing. As it was difficult to geta concrete analysis on the data collected for the unstructured questions, the studyanalysis was confined to only making a descriptive analysis and making therecommendations based on this data to improve and strengthen ET brand.

Questionnaire surveyThis part of the data collection method can be termed as quantitative

survey and the questions were very specific. The data has been analysed based onthe statistical factors and been described through a graphical analysis in the furtherpages.

5.3 QUESTIONNAIRE COPY (REFITTED AS PER CURRENT SIZE)The Times Group


QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY


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Do you read any business newspaper ?

Yes No

Please help fill the following details,

Business Newspaper Aware Read Read TimeDuration

Occasionally Regularly (If, readregularly)

Economic Times(ET) _______ _____________ _________ _______________Financial Express _______ _____________ _________ _______________Business Standard _______ _____________ _________ _______________Business Line _______ _____________ _________ _______________Any other (please specify) _______ _____________ _________

_______________

You choose to read a business newspaper on the basis of

The Economic Times(ET), what is the first thing that comes to yourmind.

Does the paper pink colour help identify ET more easily ?

Yes No

Which section of ET do you enjoy reading the most ?

_____ Finance & Economics _____ Business News_____ Stock Market News _____ Expert Opinion /

Debates_____ Shipping & Logistics _____ Political News_____ Commodity & Foreign Exchange _____ Any other (please

specify)

What do you feel about the language used in ET ?

____ Very ____ Somewhat ____ Neutral ____ Somewhat ____ VeryDifficult Difficult Easy Easy

Do you feel that reading ET provides you with any kind of benefits ?Please help fill the details,

Knowledge & Information 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910



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Financial Benefits 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910

Status 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910How would you rate the news and information of ET on a scale ofreliability ?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How would you rate the supplementaries of ET ?

Big Bucks ____ Poor ____ Average ____ Good ____ Excellent

Brand Equity ____ Poor ____ Average ____ Good ____ Excellent

As per your opinion, what should be the price of ET ?

Monday Friday EditionRs.___________ (Actual Price Rs.3)Saturday Edition Rs.___________ (Actual Price

Rs.6)

Where do you get the ET copy from ?

_____ Buy from vendor_____ Get it at your work place_____ Read neighbours / friends / others copy_____ Any other (please specify)

When do you prefer reading ET the most ?

_____ With morning tea / coffee_____ On reaching work-place_____ During lunch hours_____ At evenings / later than that

_____ Any other (please specify)

Where do you prefer reading ET the most ?

_____At home _____At workplace _____At any library _____Any other

Give competitive ranking to the various business newspapers. (From1- 5)



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______ Economic Times______ Financial Express

______ Business Standard______ Business Line______ Any other (Please specify)

Which one would you prefer the most ? (rank them)

_____ Reading ET_____ Surfing any business websites_____ Watching any business television channels_____ Any other (please specify)

Rank the following activities, that you would prefer in your free time?

_____ Watching a movie_____ Chatting on phone_____ Just lazing around_____ Sipping up a tea / coffee along with ET in hand

How would you like any business newspaper brand to resemblelike ?

______ Rugged______ Sincere______ Sophisticated______ Competitive______ Exciting

As per your perception, what does ET as a brand resemble like ?

______ Rugged______ Sincere

______ Sophisticated______ Competitive______ Exciting

As per your opinion, the ET brand resembles most too,

______ Amitabh Bachan (Talented, balanced character, sincere, devoted,reliable)



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______ Shahrukh Khan (Numero uno, social, dominating)______ Rahul Dev (Smart, intelligent, boy-next-door looks)______ Fardeen Khan (Flamboyant, modern, trendy, stylish)

Have you heard about the latest ET Campaign ?

Media Aware Response

Radio Campaign ______ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Print Campaign ______ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

T.V. Campaign ______ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Which type of ET promotional campaign is likely to attract yourhighest attention ?

_____ Outdoor advertisement (Hoardings)_____ Television Commercials_____ Kiosks at news-stand_____ Radio jingles_____ Internet advertisement_____ Print Advertisement

Would you refer reading ET to anybody else ?

Yes No

Mention the parameters of ET that you like dislike the most ?

Likes Dislikes

____________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ____________________________

Have you ever gone through the ET website(www.economictimes.com) ?

Yes No

If yes,Regular Occasionally


Personal Information
http://www.economictimes.com/http://www.economictimes.com/


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Name : _____________________________________________Age : _______________________ Sex : Male / FemaleOccupation : _____________________________________________Contact Nos : _____________________________________________Address : _____________________________________________

thanx 4 ur co-operation

5.4 PRACTICAL APPROACH TOWARDS THE PROJECT

This is all about the kind of step-by-step method, that was adopted for thedata collection.

Phase 1 (Qualitative Primary Study)

It was all about gathering the primary data through unstructured andinformal interview method.

Phase 2 (Quantitative Primary Study)

Gathering the primary data through questionnaire survey with 200 asour sample size.

Phase 3 (Data Analysis & Interpretation)

Based on the primary data collected, the statistical analysis wasprepared and interpreted in relation to the project objectives. An effortwas also made to co-relate this data to the actual companys objective.



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6. DATA ANLYSIS

Readers of Business Newspaper

Yes 98%

No 2%

Yes

No

Brand Awarene

197

78

130

188

12

0

50

100

150

200

250

ET FE BS BL A.O.


This graph shows that 197samples were aware about ET,188 samples were aware aboutBusiness Line while 130 wereaware about Business Standard.

This signifies that ET, along withBL and BS already has high brandawareness. This also signifieshigh top-of-the-mind brandrecall (aided response).

This graph shows that 98% of oursample size, were readers of anybusiness newspaper. Thissignifies that majority of thesample target segment areexisting readers of business


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Brand Pe rcept ion - How w ould

responde nts l ike a ny business ne w

brand to resem ble l ike ?

5

45

92

30 31

0

50

100

R ug ge d S in ce re S o ph ist C om p tv Ex c itin g

Brand Perception - As per respondents w

does the ET brand resemble like ?

0

29

60

24

5

0

20

40

60

80

Rugge d Since re Sophist Comptv Ex citing

Brand Pe rsona lity Association - As p

responde nt w hat does ET brand resem b

?

106

42 28 28

0

50

100

150

AB SRK RD FK


This graph shows that 92respondents expected that anybusiness newspaper brand toresemble to the

sophistication factor. Whilethe other factors like sincere,exciting and competitive didnot receive those high ratings.

This factor could be helpfulwhen framing the marketingand promotion policies for ET.

This graph shows that 60respondents said that ETresembled to a sophisticatedbrand, which was quite similarto the expected brandperception for any newspaperas shown in the previous graph.

This helps us claim that ET hasbeen successful at achieving anexpected brand perception.

This question was asked totestify a brand personalityassociation for ET, for whichabout 106 respondents optedfor Amitabh Bachan, while 42respondents opted for ShahRukh Khan. A few of them even

opted for Rahul Dev andFardeen Khan. This questionhelped us to testify about thebrand attributes, that resembled


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Compa ny Offering - Does the paper

colour of ET help it identify more ea

132

68

Yes

No

C o m p a n y O f fe r i n g - W h i c h s e c t io n o f E T d o y o

1 0

5 26 3

4 7

1 1

8 9

6 8

2 4

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

1 0 0

1 2 0

F in & E c o S t o c k S h i p p in gC o m & F EB u s N e w sE O / D e bP o l N e w s A . O .


The question was asked totestify that how, a productattribute such as colour couldhelp identify the product more

easily. It was quite encouragingto know that about 61% of therespondents had found it easierto identify ET because of its pinkcolour.

The question wasasked about whichsegments of ET werethe most preferred bythe respondents, forwhich we had thehighest preferencecoming for Business -News, Finance -

Economics andExpert Opinions /Debates. This datacould help us analyseto decide about thelikely productpositioning for ET.

The question wasasked as how therespondents feltabout the languageof ET?, for whichabout 46% of therespondents felt thatthe language wassomewhat difficult ,while 39% of themfelt that they had nosuch specificdifficulty i.e.neutral approach.Only 6% of theoverall respondentsfelt the language to


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Company Offering - What do you fee l about the languag

16

9278

102

0

20

4060

80

10 0

V.D iff S om D iff N e utral Som E as Ve r Eas

Company Offering - Does reading ET provide wi

you any kind of benefits ?

0 0 2 0 0

66

37

56

169 4

0

20

40

60

80

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10KNOWLEDGE & INFORMATION ON A SCALE OF 0-1


The question wasasked about whetherreading ET providedthe respondents withany kind of benefit.

The respondents hadto rate their repliesfor the knowledgeand informationbenefit on a scale of0-10. A majority ofthe responses camefor the 5 - 7 category.

This feedback couldhelp us align themarketing andpromotional goals forET.


The respondents hadto rate their repliesfor the financialbenefits, if any, on ascale of 0-10. Amajority of theresponses came forthe 5th category. Hereit could also be

noted, that 9respondents were


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C omp any Offering - Does reading ET p rovide w ith

kind of be nefits ?

9 7 1016

9

57

3024

177 10

0

20

40

60

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FINANC IAL BEN IFITS ON A SCALE O

Company Offering - Does reading E T prov ide with yo

of bene fits ?

16

0 59

17

56

40

216

5 4

0

20

40

60

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

STATUS ON A SCALE OF

b



The respondents hadto rate their replies incontext to any kind ofstatus benefitderived i.e. pride ofassociation to thebrand, on a scale of0-10. A majority of

the responses camefor the 5th 6th

category. Around48% of therespondents hadopted for thiscategory. The prideof association helpsfor devising the kindof branding


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Company Offering - How do the respond

rate the news of ET on a "scale of reliabili

10 12

04 1

38 35 33 35

23

7

0

10

20

30

40

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SCALE-0-1

Company Offering - Rating of

supplementaries of ET - BIG BUCKS

2

80 80

28

12

0

20

40

60

80

100

poor

avera

ge

good

excell

ent

noreply


The question wasasked to testify thetrust and faith thatthe respondents haveon the reliability ofET. It was more likereassuring for a fact,as nearly 70% hadresponded betweenhigher than averagecategory. (5th 8th

grading)

The question wasasked to rate the ETsupplementary BigBucks from the rangeof poor to excellent.About 40% of themconsidered it asaverage, while 40%of them considered tobe good. Only 1% ofthem consideredpoor. While 6% of therespondents were,no

response.


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C o m p a n y O f fe rin g - R a tin g

s u p p l e m e n ta rie s o f E T -B R A N D

0 4

6 8

1 1

1 0

0

5 0

1 0 0

1 5 0

p o or a ve ra g e g o od e xc e lle nt no r e ply

Co st - Custom er perceived price o f ET- price fr

to Friday-3 Rs/-

0 12

97 92

00

50

100

150

0-0 .99 1 -1.9 9 2 -2 .99 3-3 .99 4 -4 .99

R U P E E


The question wasasked to rate the ETsupplementary Brand

Equity from the rangeof poor to excellent.About 56% of themconsidered it asexcellent, while 34%of them consideredbeing good. Theacceptance to BrandEquitys popularitycan also be proven byactual ET sales figure.

Here, therespondents wereasked to rate theprice they wouldprefer paying for ET(Mon-Fir Edition), asthis question wasasked to testify theprice dissonance forET and to helpconclude the valueequity for ET. About48% respondentsreasserted theirsatisfaction for theprice paid for ET, wileabout 46% wereprepared to pay arupee extra than theactual price.


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Cos t - Customer perce ived p r ice o f ET

Saturda y-6 Rs/-

0 2 0

40

6 2

8 7

10

0

50

10 0

0-0.991-1.992-2.993-3.994-4.995-5.996-6.99

RUPEE

C o n v e n ie n c y - W h e r e d o t h e r e s p o n d e n t s g e

4 8

6 6

3 0

4 8

4

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

Buy W o r k P laceR e ad A t O t he r

P la ce

A t H o m e NR


Here, therespondents wereasked to rate theprice they would

prefer paying for ET(Sat Edition), as thisquestion was askedto testify the pricedissonance for ET andto help conclude thevalue equity for ET.But here, the slope isnegative, assignificant proport-ionof the sampleadvocates for pricelesser than the actualprice of Rs.6/- perissue.

Here, therespondents wereasked about Wheredo they get their ETcopies from? forwhich the responseswere spread over forpeople who werebuying their owncopies, to people whoread at their workplace and others too.

The data wascollected with theintention to helpdevise the point-of-purchase promotions.


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C o n v e n i e n c y - W h e n d o t h e r e s p o n d e n ts p r e f e r

5 9

38

2 4

6 7

104

0

20

40

60

80

M o rn in g R ea c W . P . L un c h A t E ve A . O . lib ra ry N R

Conveniency - Where do the respondents pre

reading ET ?

97

3148

9 10

020406080

100120

Home Work

Place

Lib At Home NR

b


Here, therespondents wereasked about Whendo they preferreading the ET ? for

which about 33% ofthe respondentspreferred during theevening hours while30% of thempreferred during themorning hours. Thisdata could help servethe purpose, whendrafting themarketing media andpromotion strategy.

Here, therespondents wereasked about Wheredo they preferreading the ET ? forwhich about 48%

respondentspreferred at home.This data help usconclude thatthough a largeproportion of therespondents werenot buying the ETcopy for themselves,they preferredreading at home.

This data could alsohelp serve the

purpose of draftingan effectivemarketing andpromotion strategy.

Here, therespondents had torank the preferencefor ET along withother directcompetitors likeBusiness Standard,Business Line andFinancial Express.Weights had beenassigned for theranks from 1-5 andbased on thecumulative total forthe different ranksassigned to eachcompetitor, a finalanalysis had beenprepared whichproved ET, BS, BLand FE on an equalcompetitiveplatform. Thissection did not

comply with otherfindings of the


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Direct Competitive Ranking given by respondents

to news papers

21%

21%

22%

22%

14%

ET

FE

BS

BL

A.O.

Co mp etition - Ind irect - Com petitive rankings

responden ts to bu siness new spapers ?

57

40

90

5 20

20

40

60

80

100

R ead N ew Surf W eb W a TV C h A.O. N R


Here, therespondents wereasked to give thepreference for theactivity they wouldprefer the most, forgetting the businessnews. About 45% ofthe respondentspreferred watchingbusiness TVchannels, as againstonly 28% preferringto read businessnewspaper. Thisdata could help usconclude about theimpact of in -directcompetition.

This question wasextremely unique, as itwas based on theShare of Valletphenomenon. Thequestion was asked asWhich activity would

you prefer the most? ,with the options aswatching a movie(36%), sipping a teawith ET in hand (24%),Chatting on the phone(17%) and lazingaround (15%). Whileabout 3% were noresponses. Theintention of thisquestion was to findthe Share of Valet of

ET as against otherequally weighableoptions.


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C o m p e t it io n - S h a r e o f v a l le t / s h a r e o f r

p h e n o m e n o n fo r E T ?

7

7 3

35 3 0

48

0

20

40

60

80

N R W a tch M o v ieC h att in g o n

P h o n e

J u s t L a z i n g S i p in g t e a

wi th E T

Communication-Respondents awareness for t

various media campaigns

40

59

24

122 122 122

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Radio Print T.V.

Aware

Not Aware


The question that wasasked was Whether

the respondent wereable to recollect any ofthe marketing andpromotion campaignrecently launched byET?. For which, about61% of the actualrespondents were notaware of any of themedia campaigns,while the remainingfrom 39% proved thatthe print media

campaign had thehighest exposure.

This question wasasked as Which

promotional campaignof ET was most likelyto attract therespondentsattention? for thefeedback was spreadout with no specificoption that could betermed as the bestoption. It seems thatthe marketingcampaign must be inconsideration with the

IMC Mix, to reach outto every possibletar et audience.


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Communcation - Respondents preferenc

poss ible p rom otional campa ign of E

82 9662 54 64 68

0

50

100150

Out

Door

T.V.

Com

Kiosks

Radio

Jin

InterA

dv

PrintA

dv

Co mmu nication - W ord of mou th advertising - R

of ET to anybo dy else.

91%

7% 2%

Yes

No

NR


This question wasasked as Would you

refer ET to anybodyelse for reading?. Themain aim of thisquestion was to testifythe brand power forthe word of mouthadvertising category.And without fail andtrue to it strengths thefigure proved that EThad an outstanding91% respondents whoagreed to it.


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Communication - Respondent accessing the ET

website.

129

68

3

Yes

No

NR

Communication - Respondent accessing the ETwebsite.

28

101

Regularly

Not Regularly


Based on the earlierquestion, thisdichotomous questionwas asked to knowwhether from all thoserespondents who hadaccessed the ETwebsite earlier, howmany of them wereregularly accessing it?for which about 50% ofthe respondents wereregular while 15% had

done onlyoccasionall .

This question wasasked to knowwhether therespondents didaccess the ET website.

Around 65% hadaccessed through theET webiste. This wouldhelp us devise a moreeffective marketingstrategy usingdifferent form of mediavehicles.


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7. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMNENDATIONS

It can be concluded that ET has high brand awareness of 98% amongst thetotal sample surveyed.

Our survey concluded that respondents brand perception to any businessnewspaper was in line to ETs brand perception. It proves that ET has beensuccessful at its brand management strategies and the degree of differencebetween and ideal brand and ET is nil.

ET as a brand closely resembles to Amitabh Bachhans personality attributesand factors like talent, balanced character, sincere, devoted and reliable.

The paper pink colour of ET helps identify the brand more easily.

For the sections of preference for ET, the respondents could conclude thatbusiness news, finance and economics and debates or expert opinions arethe top priority. So hence forth ET must aim to position itself as a paper ofany of these preferred segments.



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It could be concluded that readers are finding language of ET to be difficultand thus ET must work towards more simplification of its business jargons.

The survey proves that brand equity has been rated as an excellentsupplementary. This would help ET for further sub-brand extensions of whichbrand equity quiz already exists.

As far as cost is concerned, respondents are ready to pay a rupee more forthe Monday to Friday edition, but the Saturday edition seems to be costly forthem.

Most of the respondents prefer reading ET either in morning or laterevenings. This could help us define a more effective marketing and mediastrategy.

Even though most of the respondents get their copies at workplace, still amajority of them prefer reading at home.

Based on competitive rankings, ET stands at a strong threat from BusinessLine, Business Standard and Financial Express. But actually this was quitecontradictory when the actual sales and market share were compared, as EThad a clear six times lead in the market share as compared to its nearestcompetitor and was an unchallenged market leader too.

The respondents are looking towards television channels as a more preferredsegment to access to the business news as compared to a newspaper, i.e.the respondents are diverting from the traditional habit of reading newspaperand are more inclined towards electronic media.

About 61% of the respondents were not aware about any of the recent mediacampaigns for marketing and promotion of ET. That proves a lesser reach oreven the effectiveness of the media campaign

Based on the respondents preferred media campaign for the marketing andpromotion of ET, it seems that none of the specific media segments emergesout to be a clear winner and therefore the company must seriously think

about an IMC promotion mix.

About 91% of the respondents supported word of mouth advertising for ET.

Only 65% of the respondents had accessed the ET website and the regularvisitors to this web site were much lower than this



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9. THE LEARNING PROCESS

We are extremely obliged to have the opportunity to work on a subject like brandmanagement .



51/53

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marketing Management (11th Edition) By Philip Kotler

Consumer Behaviour (8th Edition) By Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie LazarKanuk

Advertising Management (5th Edition) By Rajeev Batra, John G. Myers andDavid A. Aaker

Marketing Research (7th Edition) By David J. Luck and Ronald S. Rubin Times Of India, RMD department, Ahmedabad Crossword Book Store at Mithakali, Ahmedabad Research methodology by Zigmund Business research methods by Cooper & Schindler



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Thank you

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