Summer+Internship+project+on+MINT+AUTO 05

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Centre For Management Studies, Dharmsinh Desai University

Summer Internship Project On

“To study the perception of consumer with reference to MINT

business daily newspaper”

By

Satyam.M.Dalwadi

Roll No – 05 ,Batch - 17

SUBMITTED TO:

H.T.MEDIA LTD [MINT]

JUlY, 2015

CENTER OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

DHARMSINH DESAI UNIVERSITY

NADIAD

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COLLEGE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Satyam.M.Dalwadi has completed his

summer internship from 20st

May, 2015 to 30th

June, 2015 and

prepared a project report titled on “To study the perception of

consumer with reference to MINT business daily newspaper”

under my supervision and guidance.

Signature of Signature of

Head of Department Internal Guide

Date: Place:

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project has been a great learning experience for me & I would like to express my sincere

gratitude to all the people who guide me through the project and without the valuable guidance

and suggestions of these people this project would not have been completely successful.

I owe enormous intellectual debt towards my Industry Mentor Mr Hemang Gandhi, Dy

Manager, HT Media Lt., & Faculty Mentor Prof. Naresh shah, Asst. Professor. CMS (DDU),

Nadiad , for their continuous support & cooperation throughout my project without which the

present work would not have been possible.

I would also like to thank Mr Hardik Joshi for his valuable inputs and also other staff members of

Mint who have shown their co-operation.

I like to thank our Mr. NARESH PATEL (Head of Department) of DHARMSINH DESAI

UNIVERSITY for playing the role of mentor as well being source of inspiration.

At last but not the list I would like to express my gratitude to Professor MANSI RATHOD. She

is the summer internship coordinator as well guidance about the project.

I would like to thank all the respondents whom I interacted during my project & all the

customers and retailers for their cooperation without this I may not able to complete it

successfully.

Satyam Dalwadi MBA (Batch - 17)

Roll No.05

CMS [DDU],Nadiad

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To study brand awareness of MINT and its supplement and

acknowledge corporate customer about business news paper and

their benefits.

2. How to increase visibility of MINT in Key Market Area.

3. To know about perception of consumer towards business news

paper they subscribe to.

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Definition Consumer perception applies the concept of sensory perception to marketing and advertising.

Just as sensory perception relates to how humans perceive and process sensory stimuli through

their five senses, consumer perception pertains to how individuals form opinions about

companies and the merchandise they offer through the purchases they make. Merchants apply

consumer perception theory to determine how their customers perceive them. They also use

consumer perception theory to develop marketing and advertising strategies intended to retain

current customers -- and attract new ones.

Self Perception Self perception theory attempts to explain how individuals develop an understanding of the

motivations behind their own behavior. Self perception by customers relates to values and

motivations that drive buying behavior -- which is also an important aspect of consumer

perception theory. For instance, a study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts at

Amherst addressed how self perception shaped consumers' buying behavior. The study

considered the question of whether consumers believed their buying decisions had a real effect

on issues such as environmental impact. The researchers concluded that consumers' self

perception was a driving factor in whether or not they placed a priority on socially conscious

purchase and consumption practices. Consumers who viewed themselves as socially conscious

tended to place more weight on issues such as environmental impact when making buying

decisions than consumers who did not hold similar views of themselves.

Related Reading: Reactance Theory & Employee Performance

Price Perception While mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart emphasize low prices as an inherent virtue, upscale

merchants attempt to emphasize quality and value for money to appeal to potential customers.

Researchers at the School of Business Administration at LaSalle University and LeBow College

of Business at Drexel University considered several factors, including price perception --

whether consumers believed they were being charged fair prices -- in determining whether online

shoppers would make repeat purchases through the same website. The researchers concluded that

price perception strongly influenced whether customers were satisfied with their purchases and

whether they would make future purchases. Two factors that shaped price perception were the

perceived quality of the merchandise or service in question and price comparisons with

merchants offering similar merchandise or services.

Benefit Perception "It's good, and it's good for you." Many consumers are familiar with this phrase frequently

associated with food advertising. Researchers from Marquette University, Louisiana State

University and the University of Arkansas surveyed customers to determine how nutrition claims

associated with food affected their perception of that food's nutritional value. The researchers

found that consumers tend to reject general, unsupported claims of enhanced nutrition, especially

concerning high nutritional value for foods that are traditionally viewed as unhealthy. The

researchers also theorized that consumers would demonstrate a trend toward applying more

scrutiny to nutrition claims and would demand more specific information about the foods they

purchase.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reactance-theory-employee-performance-34456.html

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Importance of customer perception

The theoretical outline of this thesis will be divided into three main parts, the theories behind

customer perceptions of service, store image and products. Before introducing and analyzing

the importance of customer perception within these different categories, a short definition of

perception and its elements will follow. The definition of perception can be said as the process

in which a person select, arrange and interpret stimuli, these stimuli are filtered and adjusted to

become ones own view of the world. Even though exposed to the same thing, in the same

environment, two persons will never experience the same. (See e.g. Schiffman and Kanuk). We

live in a world today where we daily are exposed to millions of different stimuli; different

smells, sounds, tastes, sights and textures. Our brain takes in and processes only a small

number of all these stimuli. (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, 2006, 36) The whole

perception process is made up by three stages, the exposure stage, the attention stage and the

interpretation stage. The brain takes in the stimuli in the attention stage and interprets the

stimuli, according to our previous experiences 14 and desires, in the interpretation stage.

Ultimately, these three stages form our perceptions. (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg,

2006, 36) It is only when the customers’ perceptions of the business, the products and the

services are known, that you truly know whether or not the business is going in the right

direction. All interactions that occur between the customers and the business will ultimately

affect the customers’ view and image of the business. Excellent customer service is far from

enough, for example, if the store is located far from the customers and on a place where there

are no parking places outside these aspects will effect the perceptions. Selling top class

products is a prerequisite for many stores in order to keep customers, but if the staff is

unfriendly, the store will eventually start to lose its customers. All what customers see, hear

and experience is linked together and forms their overall perception of the business, this is why

it is essential for the case company, Sisustus CASA, as well as for all businesses to know the

customers perceptions. The meaning of customer perception is most often used in the content

of how customers perceive the quality of the service they are offered. More widely speaking

customer perception is also the customers’ overall picture of the company, including company

image, expectations, external influences, service quality etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the most matured economies the print media faces stiff competition and a shrinking share of

advertising pie, in India it continued to dominate media budgets. Yet during the year in review the,

there was tremendous pressure on advertising budgeted and this impacted company’s revenues.

Mint is India's second largest business newspaper published by HT Media Ltd, the Delhi-based

media group which also publishes the Hindustan Times. It mostly targets readers who are business

executives and policy makers. It is India's first newspaper to be published in the Berliner format.

Mint exclusively carries "Wall Street Journal" branded editorial content in its pages by virtue of the

content sharing partnership between HT Media and Wall Street Journal.

My project title was to identify the customer perception of ‘Mint’ a business newspaper from HT

Media with special reference to Ahmadabad (different area) region. Objective of the project was to

identify the brand awareness & perception for Mint and also the availability for the Mint newspaper.

It also involves the work to find out some measures for enhancing the corporate reach of the

newspaper. There were other newspapers in the market like The Economic Times, Business Line,

The Financial Express and Business Standard which were different from Mint because all these were

hardcore financial newspapers but Mint gives casual business reading to the readers.

For the study I visited more than 300 companies in various location of Ahmadabad (different area), vallabh vidhyanagar, Anand , Nadiad. I also sample the Mint during the period of visits to corporate

houses.

In training I was also assigned to generate the sales of mint. This was done through cold calling in

the corporate offices and to working professionals. For this purpose I did sales presentation, follow

ups, etc. At the end of the training I contributed with 11 mint newspaper subscription to the

company.

Without collecting data and its analysis any project is incomplete, thus I surveyed 150 people by

way of a structured questionnaire.

Research Objectives

To penetrate the market, or can say MARKET DEVELOPMENT.

If company wants to develop their product than which criteria should be considered So

PRODUCT DEVELOPEMENT.

To understand the consumer Behaviour, Research methodology states how the research study is

under taken. It includes specification of research design source of data, method of primary data

collection, sampling design and analysis procedure adopted. Research methodology states

what procedures were employed to carry out the research study.

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Table of Contents

Sr No. Content Page No.

1 Introduction of company 07

2 Journey 08

3 Vision and Mission 13

4 Product Analysis 14

5 Department Details-Mint 23

6 Hierarchy of Mint Gujarat 29

7 Distribution Channel 30

8 SWOT Analysis of Mint 31

9 Comparison with competitors 32

10 Research Methodology 34

11 Data Analysis and Interpretation 37

12 Findings and Recommendations 52

13 Limitations 55

14 Learning from the project 56

15 Learning of soft skills 57

16 Conclusion 58

17 Bibliography 59

18 Questionnaire 60

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INTRODUCTION

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HT MEDIA LIMITED

History-

Hindustan Times was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1924. Since then, the newspaper

has established its presence as a newspaper with editorial excellence and integrity. One of

India's leading and most respected English dailies, HT have always prided itself in spotting

emerging trends and reflecting the same through its unmatched editorial prowess. Today,

Hindustan Times-Delhi edition has the unique distinction of being the largest selling single

edition English newspaper in India.

QUICK OVERVIEW OF HISTORY

The Hindustan Times was the brainchild of the Akalis who felt that a newspaper in English

would enable them to reach an audience other than the Punjabi-reading one. This was in

the year 1922. From the outset the newspaper was set up to oppose the British. The

Hindustan Times finally came into being on September 1924 and was inaugurated by

Mahatma Gandhi. The newspaper was to become a premier nationalist newspaper of the

capital in the turbulent years preceding independence. From a humble beginning in a three-

storey building, the company has expanded its operations from print to other media

channels like radio, internet, events and marketing, and strategic partnerships, as part of its

endeavour to establish itself as a giant media conglomerate in the present times.

September 26, 1924

This date marked the august beginnings of Hindustan Times with Mahatma Gandhi, the

Father of the Nation inaugurating the newspaper.

1927 Hindustan Times was reborn as Hindustan Times Ltd., a limited liability company.

1936 The Hindi daily Hindustan was launched, which remains the dominant newspaper in the

Core Hindi belt of northern India.

1937

Devdas Gandhi was appointed the Managing Editor of the newspaper and remained the

managing editor till his death in 1957.

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1942 The Hindustan Times was one of the few newspapers that stopped publishing the newspaper for

four and a half months as it refused to accept the British imposition of censorship on all

newspapers. 1947 The year India gained its freedom was also the year Hindustan Times attained the status of being

the dominant newspaper in Delhi. 1957 The newspaper circulation grew from 58,693 copies to 144,287 in 1970 after KK Birla took over

the mantle from GD Birla. 1960 The Hindi literary magazine Kadambini was launched. 1964 The group started actively targeting the youth of India and launched the Nandan magazine. 1991

At the start of liberalization of India, Hindustan Times moved to becoming an autonomous power centre in a mature democracy. 1999 The Hindustan Times celebrated its platinum anniversary. 2001 With a focus on localization, five new editions for Calcutta, Bhopal, Ranchi, Chandigarh and

Jaipur were launched. 2003 The media business of was de-merged and incorporated under HT Media Ltd. 2004 HT Media Ltd was listed as a public company and attracted external funding. 2005 Hindustan Times successfully entered the Mumbai market with a refreshingly new product and

content mix. 2006 Fever 104 FM is launched, in technical collaboration with the Virgin Group. Hindustan was

relaunched re-establishing the company's prominent presence in the regional news space

2007

Mint, the business paper in partnership with The Wall Street Journal was launched in Delhi

and Mumbai. In the internet space, Hindustantimes.com was relaunched and Livemint.com was

introduced.

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2008 Firefly e-Ventures, an HT Media Company launched its first portal for job seekers, Shine.com

Details of the company

HT Media Limited found its beginning in 1924 when its flagship newspaper, Hindustan Times

was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. HT Media (BSE, NSE) has today grown to become one of

India's largest media companies. Produced by an editorial team known for its quality, innovation

and integrity, Hindustan Times (English) and Hindustan (Hindi), have a combined daily

circulation of 2.25 million copies and a readership base of 12.4 million readers to their credit.

Both dailies enjoy strong brand recognition among readers as well as advertisers. To cater to the

large readership base, HT Media Limited operates 19 printing facilities across India with an

installed capacity of 1.5 million copies per hour. In addition to Hindustan Times and Hindustan, HT Media Limited also publishes a national

business newspaper, Mint. Mint is a one-of-its-kind newspaper in the sense that the company has

an exclusive agreement with the Wall Street Journal to publish Journal-branded news and

information in India. Mint is today the second-largest business newspaper in India with presence

in the key markets of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. HT Media Limited, through its subsidiary HT Music and Entertainment Company Ltd., has made

its foray into electronic media. Diversifying its ambit of operations, the company in a consulting

partnership with Virgin Radio, has launched the FM radio channel - Fever 104. Currently

available in Delhi and Mumbai, Fever 104 has established a strong presence as being one of the

most vibrant channels on air. In a short span of two years, the channel's rise has been meteoric

considering its position in Delhi as the No. 2 station on the popularity charts. Internet businesses of HT Media Limited, incorporated under Firefly e-ventures, operate leading

web portals Hindustantimes.com and livemint.com in the general and business news categories

respectively. The company has recently launched Shine.com, a job portal which has received

high appreciation from consumers and industry for its innovative design and usability

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HT Media Limited reported FY 2015 annual revenue of Rs. 23,630 million. FOR

the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, the company reported a 12% increase in revenue to Rs.

5,859 million and a 22% increase EBITDA to 1,175 million from the year-ago quarter.

The Board of Directors and Management of HT Media Limited comprises eminent persons from diverse professional fields, who bring with them vast professional experience to the company.

A rich mix of veterans in media and top leaders from non-media sectors, from both India and

abroad, HT Media Limited Management team reflects the company's desire to be the best by

leveraging diverse strengths. The management team comprises people from varied verticals such

as media, FMCG, telecom, automobiles, each of whom add fresh perspective to the rich

experience of media industry stalwarts. This rich talent pool is ably assisted by our Global Think

Tank

Board of Directors:-

Chairperson - Shobhna Bhartiya

Chief Executive Officer - Rajiv Verma

Directors - KN Memani, NK Singh, Ajay Relan, Mukesh Aghi

Whole time Directors - Priyavrat Singh, Shamit Bhartiya

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CHAIRPERSON

SHOBHANA BHARTIA

Chairperson 1.(H.T.Media Ltd.)

Mrs. Shobhana Bhartia, who has been associated with the company since its inception, has

taken over as the Chairperson on September 18, 2008. She has spearheaded the company's

long-term vision and strategy. Mrs. Bhartia is in charge of formulating and directing the

editorial policies of the company and has more than 20 years of experience in the newspaper

industry Mrs. Bhartia is a graduate from Calcutta University and is a recipient of the Padma Shri Award by the Government of India in 2005. Mrs. Bhartia has received several other awards, including the Outstanding Business Woman of the Year (2001) by PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Global Leader for Tomorrow (1996) by the World Economic Forum, Davos and the National Press India Award (1992). She has been on the board of Indian Airlines Limited and on the North Regional Board of the Reserve Bank of India.

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VISION & MISSION

VISION

1. To stand at a respectful position in this competitive marathon and also to keep up the pace of the changing needs of their value readers.

2. To win more and more readers to their cause.

MISSION

1. The mission is to create space for the market share of MINT by tapping uncovered market and by taking bites from competitor’s bit from market share.

2. Getting the benefits of the paper to be known to the market.

3. They endeavor to improve the quality of people’s lives by empowering them through information entertainment & education.

The values personified by HT Media are:

Courage To encourage the ability that meets opposition with skill, competence and

fortitude. Responsibility Be accountable for results in line with the company’s objectives,

Strategies and values.

Empowerment Support our people and give them the freedom to perform and to provide our

readers with information to influence their environment.

Continuous Self Renewal Determination to constantly re-examine and re-invent ourselves for further

innovation and creativity.

People Centric People are our greatest asset. We invest in them expect a lot and know that the rest will

follow.

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PRODUCT PROFILE

HT Media

Limited

Print Radio Internet

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PRINT

English

Hindustan Times Mint Brunch

Hindi

Hindustan Nandan Kadambini

RADIO

Fever 104 FM

INTERNET

With brands like HindustanTimes.com, Livemint, Desimartini and Shine.com, Firefly

spearheads Hindustan Media Ventures Limited foray into the Internet media space.

Firefly e-Ventures Ltd., a 100% Hindustan Media Ventures subsidiary, focuses on creating and

building brands and businesses in the Internet media space. Firefly aims to combine Hindustan Media’s 84-year old legacy as one of India’s largest and most respected names in the media

industry, with the innovation and energy that characterize the Internet space.

Compelling product ideas, creative use of design and intuitive user interface, backed by a

knowledgeable sales force and customer service are the hallmarks of Firefly products. With

brands like Hindustantimes.com, Livemint.com, Desimartini.com and Shine.com in its portfolio,

Firefly promises to be an exciting addition to the Hindustan Media family.

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Some internet contact-

Livehindustan.com

Livehindustan.com is the online edition of the Hindi newspaper Hindustan. It offers browsers a Multimedia news experience that brings news to life. It offers instant business updates, ball by

ball cricket coverage, and special online-only features. Livemint.com Livemint.com is the online version of the business daily Mint. It offers

online global news, breaking news, current news, along with financial, technological and economic news.

Shine.com

Shine.com is a job portal that helps the candidates to get the right job. It

enables job seekers and employers to reach out to each other in novel

ways. Shine.com now offers social media hiring through tie-up with

MyParichay. With an ever increasing database of job seekers and employers, it is one of the leading job

portals of India.Shine Jobs, a weekly supplement in association with Shine.com, offers readers a

cross platform access to jobs on a recruitment platform that spans both the print and online

mediums. This offers job seekers and employers a combined platform to reach out to and engage

with each other.

Shine Jobs was re-launched with a brand new look and feel, with the promise of a variety of jobs

for its readers. It now carries top jobs from leading companies in the country, showcasing the

best jobs available on Shine.com across managerial levels, industries and cities. It offers the most

valuable content on overall career development, interview tips, HR trends, hot hiring sectors and

many more useful career related.

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DesiMartini.com

Desimartini.com is an online movie review platform that offers information, updates and reviews

about new as well as upcoming movies. It is India’s one of the most popular movies review &

rating site with its viewership growing from 3 Million page views a month to 7 Million page

views a month. Its primary proposition and differentiation is “Public Reviews and Ratings”.

Hindustan Times

With multiple new initiatives to build business and editorial excellence, the Company’s flagship

Newspaper Hindustan Times (HT) achieved new milestones of success during the year. It

remained the leading English daily in Delhi for the 13th Indian Readership Survey (IRS) round

in a row, and was the second largest newspaper (broadsheet) by readership in Mumbai. With a

steadily growing reader base at the national level, the newspaper has a readership of 4.34

Million, as per the IRS results for 2013.Amongst one of the widely-read English dailies in the

country, Hindustan Times is published from Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, Mohali, Jalandhar,

Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhopal, Indore, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur and

Kolkata.HT continued to be ahead of competition in Delhi and NCR. It registered a daily

readership (Average Issue Readership or AIR) of 2.27 Million. In NCR alone, HT registered a

healthy 11 percent growth in readership over the year

HT Mumbai continued to be a strong growth centre in terms of readership. The

newspaper consolidated its No. 2 position in the city, with an AIR of 1.36 Million. It has

remained the No. 2 English broadsheet in the city for the last 10 IRS rounds.

Punjab also added the maximum number of readers among all English newspapers in the state. In

addition to growing its readership in Chandigarh, the newspaper has also made major inroads

into the top cities of Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

HT City & Brunch Hindustan Times’ supplements, HT City and Brunch, continued to gain popularity among

readers during the year. Research shows that about 75 percent of all Hindustan Times readers

read HT City, which offers them the best in Entertainment, City & Campus, Art & Lifestyle. As

part of its special focus on City & Campus, a special series on Women Safety called ‘Safe in the

City’ was launched in the wake of the tragic December 16 incident. Other initiatives included

Campus Calling, Fresh on Campus and Youth Nexus, which focused on the new session of Delhi

University.

Brunch, HT’s weekly Sunday magazine, is the largest read English lifestyle magazine in India

with a weighted average per week circulation of 1.1 Million.

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Mint Mint, the vibrant business daily of HT Media, continued on its exciting

journey of growth and expansion during the year. While retaining its

No.2 position in the niche business newspaper segment in the

country,it expanded globally with the launch of its Singapore edition.

Maintaining a steady position, it has emerged as the preferred choice of the discerning reader.

Mint has maintained its dominant presence in metros with the best readership profile among

business dailies. It commands a combined readership share of 28 percent in key markets of

Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai & Ahmadabad put together. It has a

readership (AIR) of 0.31 Million (IRS 2013), and an exclusive readership of 90 percent. In a first for an Indian media company, Mint went global on April 5, 2013. With the launch of

its Singapore edition, it took a major step forward in its goal of becoming a regional media brand.

MintAsia will be published every Friday in Singapore, presenting clear-minded weekly in-depth

analysis and sharp insights that will keep the global audience abreast of developments shaping

the Indian economy and markets.

Mint, which reaches the who’s who of corporate India, achieved a milestone in its journey of excellence during the year by winning the glorious Media Tenor’s Best Business Media Award, 2012. The award holds great prestige globally and honors diverse, informative and balanced

business coverage. Mint has already won two SOPA (Society of Publishers in Asia) awards for

its journalistic initiatives on the changing role of people and on the status of women in India.

SUPPLEMENTS OF MINT

1. MINT LOUNGE

Lounge is the weekend edition of Mint. Every Saturday, Lounge presents a visually

engaging look at the "Business of Life". With articles on Travel, Gadgets, Fashion, Books,

Culture,Parenting and Food, the editors and columnists of Lounge bring the perfect work-life

balance to the week.

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2. MINT MONEY

Mint Money is a daily section on Markets & Personal Finance that comes inside Mint.

Through its researched and analyzed content, Mint Money helps its readers develop an

understanding of how various financial products and markets work. It provides clear and

credible coverage across the entire gamut of investment products – Equities, Mutual Funds,

Commodities, Real Estate and Insurance, which helps its readers, become smart money

managers.

Consumers are seeking to bridge the gap between information and understanding so that they

can take the right calls in today’s changing market scenario. With its clear and analyzed

content, Mint Money seeks to aid the consumer in bridging this gap

3. MINT INDULGE

Mint Indulge is the Luxury and Lifestyle quarterly publication.

A complimentary read for Mint’s readers across India, Mint Indulge focuses on the passions

& indulgences of India's top business leaders and serve as their best buying guide for the

season. Mint Indulge showcases the most inspirational international brands which look at

India as a promising market to drive the next growth wave for them.

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MINT as your Business paper:

The Berliner size, refreshing printing & easy language just adds to the pleasure of reading

financial news. Get yourself updated with the Current Affairs in the Financial & Political arena of the country

MINT Leisure section can be used a perfect weekend planner

MINT Money – Provides deep insights on the Stock Market & other financial products, from its News to its Performance. Get updated with the World financial news with ‘The Wall Street Journal’ section

MINT Lounge – the weekend magazine, gives information about Entertainment/ Travel/ Health/ Lifestyle/ Technology

The strong MINT Editorial Team gives you a clear & unbiased view on the current happenings of our Financial sector The investment expert gives you guidance on Money Management.

MINT Indulge (separately subscribed)– that comes monthly/bi-monthly, gives insights on the

various Luxury Brands/ Products across the globe

Hindustan

Maintaining pace with the growing Hindi readership, Hindustan retained its No. 2 position at

national level in the IRS (2013) results. With a Total Readership (TR) of 39.1 Million and an

AIR at 14.25 Million, the daily continued to consolidate its position during CY 2014.

Hindustan continues to reap the benefits of completing its expansion process in Uttar Pradesh

(U.P.) & Uttarakhand. The most impressive gains for the newspaper came in U.P. - 16 percent

over the last 2 years - to post 14.8 Million readers.

Hindustan has established a pan-U.P. presence, with 12 editions and 1.1 Million copies distributed daily across the state. Hindustan now has 7.63 Million AIR in U.P. & Uttarakhand. Hindustan continues to post robust growth in relative market share across all key cities of U.P. It

retains its No. 1 position in Bareilly while continuing gains from new launches in Aligarh &

Moradabad.

Hindustan continues to dominate Bihar and Jharkhand as the single largest daily. It has an AIR

of 4.27 Million readers and a readership share of 68 percent in Bihar. Similarly, it has a 1.40

Million AIR, with a reader share of 46 percent in Jharkhand.

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Partners

Partners of Hindustan Times Media Limited

Burda

Redmatch

The Wall Street Journal

Velti

Virgin Burda

Burda has interests in publishing, radio, event management and the internet. Apart from staging

the largest premium annual digital conference in Europe, Burda also publishes and prints several

hundred magazines including local editions of Elle, Playboy and Focus, and catalogs. In June

2008, Dr Burda was conferred with the "Hall of Fame 2008" award in Germany by the Manager

magazine earlier this week for his outstanding contribution to the economic, social and political

development of Germany. Redmatch

Redmatch is a world leader in online recruitment solutions. Using unique Real-Time Job

Matching technology, Redmatch enables recruiters to find and hire the best people, faster and

more cost effectively. Thousands of satisfied users are already using the Redmatch products.

Redmatch provides a variety of products including:- Job portals solutions, newspaper online

employment advertising solutions, corporate Applicant Tracking Systems, staffing companies

solutions and more.

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ;

www.dowjones.com), is the world's leading business publication. Founded in 1889, The Wall

Street Journal has a print and online circulation of nearly 2.1 million, reaching the nation's top

business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 31 Pulitzer Prizes

for outstanding journalism, the Journal seeks to help its readers succeed by providing essential

and relevant information, presented accurately and fairly, from an authoritative and trusted

source. The Wall Street Journal print franchise has more than 600 journalists world-wide, part of

the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,900 business and financial news staff. Other publications that

are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of 2.7 million, include The

Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at

WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. In 2006, the Journal was ranked

No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the seventh consecutive year

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Velti Velti’s market-leading mobile marketing technology platform, coupled with its experience in the

mobile advertising industry, enables clients around the world to deliver an extensive range of

highly targeted marketing campaigns. With operations in 25 countries, and a mobile marketing

joint venture with the Interpublic group, a top global holding group of advertising agencies, Velti

has the ability to reach through its platform an estimated 1.4 billion consumers. Velti’s unique

Mobile Marketing and Advertising Platform manages the full cycle of planning, execution and monitoring of multiple

campaigns across differing mobile formats and channels, offering customers more than 70

mobile marketing and advertising templates, which can be managed from one user interface.

Virgin

One of the most respected brands in Britain - is involved in a variety of businesses including

airlines, trains, finance, soft drinks, mobile phones, holidays, cars, wines, publishing, fashion and

of course Music. What tie all these businesses together are the values of the brand and the vision

and ambition of its founder Sir Richard Branson. Virgin Radio went on-air in London at

12.15pm on 30 April 1993 - promising to play classic album tracks and today's best music. It has

since been sold to Ginger Media (which was subsequently bought by SMG plc). Virgin also

currently broadcasts on DAB across England, Scotland and Wales, on digital TV and cable.

Print Works

Print Works a one stop shop for space selling in any of the publications in HT, has remarkably

maintained the tradition of ours as the first Indian media company to have organized this expo,

much to the chagrin of other media houses. Held for five days in April end-May, it fetched huge

ad revenues to the company. The novel concept, undoubtedly, set our company in the league of

top notch organizations which are always in the lookout of avenues to widen their clientele.

Moreover, it took place barely a few months after the media marketing departments of Hindustan

Times, Hindustan and Mint were integrated. It won’t be wrong to say that Print Works reaped the

harvest, seeds of which were sown during this integration. To woo the advertisers, a mega prize

of Volvo S80 will also be given after a lucky draw to be taken place in April 2009.HT Media

Limited is a mammoth player in the print media in India.

The extent of its presence is undisputed in that it is the top leader in the English newspaper

market in North India and occupies second place in the Hindi newspaper market in North India

and East India. The group now intends to further consolidate its already established position as a

vibrant and modern media powerhouse.

P a g e | 25


SALES AND DISTRIBUTION

A sale is a transaction, dealing, trade or what? Sale can have different meanings but what is the

most important thing in it, is to understand the importance of it. Without sale no revenue can be

generated but just earning revenue is not to sale, it is the right type selling to the right customer

with the right attitude. Customer relationship is most important, maintaining the brand image is

also important. Delivering on the brand promises becomes a moment of truth in any customer

relationship.

This moment of truth can be either positive or with negative impact on the customer’s perception

about your brand. There might be great marketing communication and a highly superior product,

but the buying experience always stands between the seller and the customer. If the customer has

a negative impact about the product then it is a direct deterioration of the brand equity. Hence,

sales and distribution is a vital activity. Sales hence comprises of the outcome of what all which

was done to manufacture that product. Success of selling department is the success of the

company.

MINT is the product where the maximum demand would be in the early morning. It is highly

perishable product. The product should reach the customer in due time otherwise the importance

is lost. Hence time management is something very vital for the sales and distribution people.

Hence I can mainly divide the supply of the newspaper in two main categories:

PRE-PRESS ACTIVITY POST-PRESS ACTIVITY

PRE-PRESS ACTIVITY

It involves all the editorial departments work where they have to collect the news

and it has to be given to the production department in a prescribed limit. This time limit is said as

the cut off time or releasing time.

POST-PRESS ACTIVITY

It is the distribution. MINT has divided Gujarat in two main sections, i.e. Ahmadabad and

upcountry market. This upcountry market has about 7 centers.

P a g e | 26


MINT gets involved in many kinds of sale activity. They are:

Subscription Sale A one year subscription by paying fixed amount is sale by subscription Cash Sales Customers when paying the amount to purchase a newspaper directly to the book stall in cash

then the sale is said to be a cash sales.

Line Sales Line sale is the in which it is post paid billing. When the customer gets the MINT copy through

the vendor and pays in the end of month, it is line sale

Institutional Sales Few corporate, hotels and colleges take copy in bulk, which is said to be as institutional sale.

MINT has the responsibility till the delivery at their doorstep and further distribution is on the

Company or the institution concerned Corporate Sales In corporate sales, executives have to do cold calling or they have to take appointment from the

concerned person and then after meet, executive must convince the client. If it is big corporate

and staff are such that, they read financial daily at their home, then for bulk subscription they

have to try

P a g e | 27


DEPARTMENT DETAILS A brief department detail to give an idea of where the things are placed in MINT is as follows:

MARKET DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT / CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

This department is responsible for the circulation of the newspaper in the whole region.

This department also looks after the daily back room operations which include giving print

P a g e | 28


orders for the regular supply of subscription, complementary copies and sponsored copies are

also being distributed by this department. They also check the dispatch and payment received for

the month. And also looks forward to expand the market of the newspaper by adding more

customers to its list. They are the people who not only think about selling the newspaper but also

how to promote it.

SPACE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

It is the major source of revenue generation for any media industry. Because the actual

cost of the newspaper goes up to 18/- to 20/- Rs. And sold at Rs. 3/-.So the advertisements are

the medium to compensate for the cost generated. I was taught about the marketing department

contact different corporate for advertisement and the channel through which the advertisement

comes and are prepared and how the space is allotted depending upon the space given by the

editorial department. There is an agent in between the client and the publisher, which helps in

making the arrangements of ads.

How this media get advertisement from clients?

Actually this media have their agents who collect contract from the clients and then these

agents decide what the expectation of client is; and on that bases agent selects any media.

Advertisement is generally designed by agent but only circulated by media. But sometimes

media also design some advertisement, but they get client from only agents.

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Editorial department is considered as the backbone of the print media because without

any good matter to publish and which is not edited nicely it is just a crap for the readers. Readers

want to have the columns with good matter, so without having an effective and efficient editorial

team no newspaper can grow. This department collects the news mainly from the News Agencies

and they have their own network to publish the articles too. The news can be by telephone, fax or

through internet or other communication medium. This news is edited and then sent to Mumbai

and Delhi for the adjustment.

SCHEDULING DEPARTMENT

This department deals with the scheduling of the edited matter and the advertisements. It

is the work of this department to adjust and frame the edited matter with the advertisement, by

allotting the empty space to advertise, which matter and advertisement should be in which page

is the looked out by scheduling people.

P a g e | 29


SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT

The systems department is responsible for communication network as well as all the

technical related problems in the company. All the branches of MINT are linked with V_SAT

and with the dedicated leased line along with the Head Office.

The most important work of the system department is to connect all the telephone line with

EPBX system and connect all the branches to the head office with Hot Lines, which helps to

reduce STD cost of the company. The system department at Ahmedabad receives a facsimile

copy of newspaper every day and forwards its printout on the butter paper to the production

department.

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

After receiving the facsimile copy on the butter paper from the systems department, the

work of production department starts. This butter copy is framed on the aluminum plate. This

plate is then fixed in the printing machine and then as per the printing orders the printing starts.

Machine which is used for the production is known as Film Processor which costs

approximately Rs. 2.5 lakh . The machine is divided into four different units i.e. Developer Unit,

Fixed Unit, Wash Unit, and Dryer Unit.

Production Department is used mainly four colors for the hard copy, which are Black,

Yellow, Cyan and magenta, orange manly. Some colors are used at the time of the final printing

of the newspaper at press. Raw material for this department is paper and aluminum plate. Print

comes in the form of reel.

DISPATCH DEPARTMENT

Dispatch department is responsible for the regular dispatch of the total number of copies at

various destinations at the right time. It is also responsible for no. of copies to be delivered at

each centre.

There are about 46 upcountry and 6 in Ahmadabad. The distribution at these centers is very

important to be on time. Even the commission has to be taken off. The function of function

department is to generate rush mail and put it on the parcel. Rush mail shows the number of the

copies in the parcel and its destination address. With this a route control statement is also there

for each taxi driver, which shows the number of parcels for each and every destination, comes

under his route.There are also two other departments without which the company cannot run

smoothly. They are the Financial Department and Human Resource Department.

P a g e | 30


FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT

This department is responsible for all the financial matters. Matters are related to

employees’ salary, operational expenses and other sundry expenses. It is also responsible for the

reducing the cost of the publication.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

This is the department responsible for the HR supply in the company. For MINT, this

department is not in Ahmadabad, but it is in New Delhi. It means that the MINT has a centrally

located HR department who takes care of the supply in any of the branch.

All these departments identify the need of the customer i.e. the quality and pricing demanded

by the customers. In this industry this strategy is very important as the selling price of the

newspaper is always less than its cost of production. The main reason for this type of pricing is

to create awareness and generate reading behavior amongst the audience of the newspaper.

Hence all these departments are interlinked and proper cooperation and coordination is a

must in newspaper industry. This helped me in getting a better understanding of teamwork, and

the importance of every second, because newspapers are published daily and a delay of single

second or a minute mistake can lead to a blunder.

P a g e | 31


HIERARCHY OF MINT, GUJARAT

P a g e | 32


DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Distribution is exactly for maintaining the brand equity in the market. The promises

which were made to the customers can be fulfilled by the proper channel and the right time

delivery of the newspaper.

How MINT reaches to you?

P a g e | 33


SWOT ANALYSIS OF MINT

STRANGTH Beneficial to entrepreneurs. Index is given to find specific news. Experience management with focus on diversification. It is cheapest then other newspapers. Covered news from all areas. Pictorial & colourful presentations. Wild reach across India with a strong readership.

WEAKNESSES Continuous increasing advertising. Compressed news more. No supplements on weekdays. Less news of economy and finance. Less graphical presentations. Weekly one paper have high price. More number of pages.

OPPORTUNITY Provide good content. To cover whole India means more than 9 states. Give good supplements to customers. Can be provide more analytical 7 corporate news. Should cover more finance related news.

THREATS Less branding. Less number of editions. Competitors are vary strongs.IE, ET, B.S, BL. Customer’s interest may be loss due to less finance news.

P a g e | 34


COMPARISION WITH COMPETITORS

BUSINESS STANDARAD ECONOMIC TIMES

PRICE

MON-WED = 6RS

TUE,THU,FRI =5RS

SAT,SUN = 8RS,

WEEKLY=35RS,

MONTHLY=140RS

YEARLY=1820RS

MON,WED,FRI = 3.50RS

TUE,THU = 3RS

SUN=10RS,

WEEKLY=30,MONTHLY=120,

YEARLY=1560

SUPPLEMENT The Smart Investor

The Strategies Brand Equity

STOCK PAGE 6 Pages per week

(TUE,WED,THU)

5 Pages per week

(TUE,WED,THU,FRI,SAT)

GROUP KOTAK MAHINDRA

BENNETT COLEMAN &

CO.LTD

AVERAGE PAGES 20 18

NO.OF EDITION 13 11

FEATURE

COMMAN:

Companies, politics, opinion,

issue & insight, finance &

market, economy, stock,

brand world,commodity,take

two, private equity.

UNCOMMAN:

RBI return, personal

technology, winner & losers

off, business law, accent

west, B.S weekend, digital

consume, personal

finance,primary market, new

accounting standards, money

strategist.

COMMAN:

Pure Politics, business of

brand,companies,market finance ,

economy, world view, sport.

UNCOMMAN:

Brand equity, special features,

career& business life, global

business, baking ideas, cutting edge

& companies,

P a g e | 35


MINT BUSINESS LINE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

PRICE

MON-FRI = 4RS

SAT = 10RS,

WEKKLY=34,

MONTHLY=136,

YEARLY=1664

TUE,WED,THUR,FRI =

6RS

MON, SAT = 8RS,

WEEKLY=40,

MONTHLY=160

YEARLY=1920

MON-FRI = 4RS, SAT=

6RS

SUN = 8RS,WEEKLY=32,

MONTHLY=128,

YEARLY=1664

SUPPLEMENT (weekly)

Lounge Magazine BLINK BRAND WAGONE

STOCK PAGE 10 Pages per week

(MON,TUE,WED,THU

)

10 Per week

(MON,TUE,WED,THU)

15 Per week

(TUE,WED,THU,FRI,SAT)

GROUP HUNDUSTAN TIMES KASTURI & SON LTD THE EXPRESS GROUP

AVERAGE PAGES 32 20 18

NO.OF EDITION 9 17 11

FEATURE

COMMAN:

Leading the

news,politics,corporate

news,policy,market &

finance,views,mint

global, mint Asia,the

last world, mint money,

life.

UNCOMMAN:

Leadership insight,

enterprise,innovation,

baking&

finance,charticle,mint

lounge(weekly),advertis

ing & management,

digital edge, business of

sport.

COMMAN:

News, banking,

commodities, IT & telecom,

think, world, politics, market

watch, stock, agri-business,

commodities, variety.

UNCOMMAN:

Ariety, technophile, cat-a-

lyst(Friday),auto focus,

pulse,

BL-ink, the big story, your

money, fund, people firm

calls, technicality, beyond

stock, real assets, net worth,

the global investor, take 500,

emerging, entrepreneurs

COMMAN:

Economy, corporate, reflect,

money & market,

commodities, finance,

international, corporate,

politics,

stock, nation.

UNCOMMAN:

Brand wagon, the big

picture, monetary policy,

PSU power,

FE gadget, small & medium

business, personal finance,

edge, news, business,

(Sunday- opinion, news, idea

exchange world worth, sport

light, leisure, FE lines, mind

& games, panorama

P a g e | 36


RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1. Define the problem and the research objectives: Clarity on the following helps define the problem appropriately:

What is to be researched (the content, the scope)?

Why it is to be researched (the decisions that are to be made)? The objectives of the study are as follows: To measure the brand awareness and perception of people of Ahmadabad, Nadiad, Anand,

v.v.Nagar towards ‘Mint Newspaper’.

To increase the market share of MINT by providing sales promotion schemes.

To make aware about MINT to the new (potential) customers in the market.

The purpose of research is to generate meaningful information, which will help in taking

objectives. 2. Develop the research plan: The second stage of marketing requires developing the most efficient plan for gathering the

required information. This involves decisions on the data sources, research approaches, research

instruments, sampling plan, and contact methods.

(a) Data Sources:

Data were collected from primary as well as secondary sources. Investigation was

started by examining secondary data.

Primary Sources: Primary data are freshly gathered data for a specific purpose or for a

specific research project. Here the primary data were collected for a specific research project.

Response was taken from the respondents through personal survey.

Secondary Sources: Secondary data are that were collected for another purpose, and already

exist somewhere. The secondary data were obtained from information from the websites.

(b) Research approach:

Primary data can be collected in five ways: through observation, focus groups surveys,

behavioural data, and experiments. Here the primary data were collected by survey method.

Survey: Surveys are best suited for descriptive research. Survey approach was chosen to

learn about brand awareness and people’s perception towards MINT. Survey method required

P a g e | 37


development of a survey instrument, a questionnaire, which the respondents were asked to fill

up. Primary data were collected through survey. (c) Research Instrument:

To collect primary data, instruments like questionnaires, qualitative measures, and

technological devices are used. Here questionnaires are as a means to collect primary data.

Questionnaires: - A questionnaire consists of questions presented to respondents.

Because of its flexibility, it is by far the most common instrument used to collect primary data.

The questionnaires were carefully developed, tested, and debugged before administering them on

a large scale. The form, wording, and sequence of the question can all influence the response.

The questionnaire included closed-end questions. Closed-end questions specify all the possible

answers and provide answers that are easier to interpret and tabulate. Here the main aim was to

measure how many people think a certain way. It contained 16 questions.

The language of the questions was very easy to understand. Sophisticated or uncommon

words were not used. Only words in common speech were used. Ambiguous words such as

“usually” or “frequently” were avoided as they have no specific meaning. Questions with

negative in them were avoided. The questions were made as simple as possible. To avoid

confusion no question included multiple ideas or two questions in one. Personal details like

name, age, gender, occupation, monthly income and education were asked.

(d) Sampling Plan: After deciding on the research approach and instruments, the sampling plan was

designed. This called for three decisions:

Sampling Unit: Who should be surveyed? The sampling unit included (A) Service

persons (B) Investors and Stock brokers (C) Businessmen (D) Bankers (E) Management students

and professors (F) Chartered Accountants & other Professionals.

Sample Size: How many people should be surveyed? Large samples give more reliable

results, but it’s not necessary to sample the entire target population to achieve reliable results. So

150 people were targeted to be surveyed from the entire population.

Sampling Procedure: How should the respondents be chosen? Non probability samples

were selected. In that convenience sample was selected in which the most accessible

population members were selected for getting response.

P a g e | 38


Type of Research: Descriptive. (e) Contact Method:

Now it was decided how to contact the subjects. There are mainly four contact methods.

But here in person contact method was chosen for getting responses.

Personal Interview: Personal interviewing is the most versatile method. More questions

could be asked and recording of additional observations about the respondent were recorded. In-

home survey was done to get response from friends, relatives and neighbours. 3. Collect the Information:

This stage included collecting questionnaires from the respondents. The data collection

phase of marketing research is generally the most prone to error as some respondents could give

answers which were biased or dishonest because of unknown reasons. Some respondents refused

to cooperate. 4. Analyse the information:

The next step in the process was to extract findings by tabulating the data and

“To Measure the brand awareness and perception of people of Ahmedabad towards Mint Newspaper” developing frequency distributions. Statistical techniques like average, percentage were used to

analyse the information. 5. Present the findings:

The findings were presented in graphical manner with the outcomes by using graphs,

charts, tables, etc. Interpretation was done after presenting them in a graphical manner.

Conclusions were drawn on the basis of the findings. Research findings are presented in as

understandable and compelling a fashion as possible. 6. Recommendations and Suggestions:

Recommendations and Suggestions were given on the basis of the research

findings.

P a g e | 39


Data Analysis and Interpretation

1. Do you read Newspaper?

INTERPRETATION The above pie chart shows about the status of readers of financial daily. and we can see that form the

question that 70% people are reading Financial Newspaper and 30% people are not reading financial

newspaper or not any kind of newspaper, so we can see readership from the above pie chart.

70%

30%

Readership

YES NO

P a g e | 40


2. Which financial newspaper do you read daily?

Interpretation

The preference of newsreaders is more towards Economic Times than others i.e., 57.67%

and respectively the acceptance of business standard is of 6.98%, after that comes Mint which is

having the share of 23.65 % of the total readers, then comes the Business Line with a total of

09% of the market capture, where Business line comprises of 9.67% of total readership base out

of the customers which we have surveyed. According to the market survey we can get that in a state like Gujarat which is the business hub

of the nation consisting of a huge crowd of readers going for business related stuff. The place

shows a great potential for the acceptance of the business daily due to the business atmosphere

given to family from the very beginning.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Busniness standard Eeconmics Times Mint Business Line

Business standard 6.98%

Economics Times 57.67%

Mint 23.65

Business Line 9.67

P a g e | 41


3. Why do you read newspaper?

Interpretation

We can see that from above char that 30.22% people reading financial newspaper for

their knowledge, while 18.13% people reading newspaper for their Business and updating their

businesses, and 7.69% people reading financial newspapers for research and analysis, and

43.96% people reading newspaper for updating yourself .

30.22%

18.13%

7.69%

43.96%

for knowledge for business for research for updating your self

P a g e | 42


4. How often do you read newspaper?

Interpretation

We can see that from above char that 57.05% people reads financial newspaper on daily

bases, and 30.20% people reading financial newspaper sometimes, while 7.38% people reading

financial newspaper on weekly base and in the case 5.37% people reading newspaper rarely.

57.05%

30.20%

7.38%

5.37%

Daily Sometimes Weekly Rarely

P a g e | 43


5. Through which medium you read newspaper?

Interpretation

We can see that in above char 18.60% people reading newspaper through internet

or on online website of newspaper, and 62.79%people reading newspaper offline means

hard copy which is daily come at our home, while 18.02% people reading newspaper on

their smart phone through particular android application and very few people 0.58% have

physical disability of blindness so those people listing news through radio or television .

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Online/internet

Offile

Android App

Radio (listen)

percentage

P a g e | 44


6. When do you read newspaper?

Interpretation

We can see that from above graph that mostly people preferred to read news paper

at office its 44.25% and 31.03% people reading newspaper at their home and 13.21%

people reading newspaper other way at the time of free or somewhere else , and 11.49%

people reads newspaper while they are travelling from home to office .

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

50.00%

At home At office Whiletravelling

other

timing of redaing newspaper

P a g e | 45


7. Which kind of information is more trustable to you?

Interpretation

We can see in above chart that 50.98% people are more trustable on newspaper and

31.37% people are trustable on television and nowadays its very good in updated of any news or

information ,and 16.67% people are trust on internet source , and some of people having trust

on friends whatever information they give that’s true .

Television Newspaper internet souce Depending onfriends

31.37%

50.95

16.67

0.98

P a g e | 46


8. Are you looking for any offer in Newspaper?

Interpretation

We can see that in above chart that 64.43% people are expecting cash discount on

annually subscription, and 19.46% people are expecting Gift voucher at the time of

subscription, while 16.11% people are expecting monthly gift like given by other general

newspapers.

Monthly giftGift voucher

or Discount onyeary

subscription

16.11% 19.46%

64.43%

P a g e | 47


9. Which kind of improvement you want in newspaper?

Interpretation

We can see that in above chart that 34.52% people want improvement in story analysis

information, and 22.62% people want improvement to increase daily different supplement,

and 13.10% people want improvement in change size because newspaper having broadsheet

size so sometimes it’s difficult to read through hand ,you have to adjust the paper, and

29.76% expecting weekly magazine.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

supplement

Change in size

Story analysis information

Weekly magazine

22.62%

13.10%

34.52%

29.76%

Percentage

P a g e | 48


10. Which kind of subscription you preferred mostly?

Interpretation

We can see from above chart that 54.55% people like to subscribed newspaper for

annually, while 29.92% people are interested to subscribed newspaper for 6 month means.and

11.04% people are interested to subscribed newspaper on week base, and 6.49%people are

interested to subscribed newspaper 3 days or some days in week because the reader interested to

read more than 1newspaper in week.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Yearly Half yearly Weekly 3 days in Week

54.55%

27.92%

11.04%

6.49%

Percentage of liking subcsription

P a g e | 49


11. Which kind of articles do you like in newspaper?

Interpretation

We can see from above chart 52.58% people like current affairs in business and their

news, and 17.84% people interested in news of stocks and commodities market, and 15.49%

people are interested in sports news particular (cricket), and 14.08% people are interested in

political news.

Sport Business stock &Commodities

Political

15.49%

52.58%

17.84%14.08%

Article likes by People

P a g e | 50


12. How much amount are you ready to spend for a newspaper?

Interpretation

We can see from above pie char that mostly 49.34%people are spent 5.Rs per newspaper, and

22.37% people are spent 4.Rs per newspaper, and 16.45% people are spent 3.Rs per

newspaper, and rarely 11.84%people are spent 6.Rs per newspaper.

16.45%22.37%

49.34%

12.37%

Amount reday for spent

3.Rs 4.Rs 5.Rs 6.Rs

P a g e | 51


13. Which grade would you like to give MINT?

Interpretation

We can see from above chart that 53.15% people give highest “B” grade to mint, and

21.68% people give second highest “c” grade to mint, and 20.28% people give “A” grade to

mint it is vary less rating, and 4.90% people give “D” grade to mint newspaper.

A 20.28%

B53.15%

C21.68%

D4.90%

Grade for Mint

P a g e | 52


14. Which other financial newspaper do you find relatively quality newspaper compared to

MINT?

Interpretation

We can see from above chart that 44.59% people compared MINT with Economics

Times because its leading financial news in the market and it is having 1st rank in the market

in financial newspaper, and 21.02% people compared mint newspaper with two different

newspaper it is business line and financial express both, while 13.38% people are compare

with business standard.

44.59%

13.38%

21.02%

21.02%

Economics Times

Business Standard

Business Line

Financial Express

Percentage of comparesion

P a g e | 53


15. Have you ever find any wrong information in newspaper?

Interpretation

We see from above pie chart that 36.76% people perception is they find sometimes find

wrong newspaper, 36.76% people not found any wrong information in newspaper, while

5.88% people are found wrong information in financial newspaper.

5.88%

57.35%

36.76%

YES NO SOMETIMES

P a g e | 54


FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Economics times in India’s 1st largest financial newspaper they have more than 8lacs

readers, while MINT is India’s 2nd largest newspaper 3.4lacs readers across India

I came to know about that most of people read general newspaper compared to financial

newspaper and they like to read newspaper in their mother tong.

And 70% professional people like C.A[charter accountant] ,bank manager and

employees, financial intuitions, and college students are reads financial newspape

Most of the readers agree that the language used in MINT is simple for them.

The supplements of MINT [indulge] are fairly popular amongst target audience which is

good for the brand.

Cover all subjects; vary fewer rounds about technology for architectural practices,

software, trends etc.

Upcoming trends and technology news include with all news.

People want content not glossy paper and price doesn’t matter for readers.

Some of people not ready to give the grade to MINT newspaper ,they can’t give any

justification.

Tenders are not available in newspaper, so give tenders.

Require tender page separately not sheltered like combined is always in one page.

Provide employment news like accent in TOI.

(IT related people)Due to increase in the usage of Internet, people prefer to do surfing on

the net and thereby collect more information on the different aspects simultaneously.

P a g e | 55


News channels and Internet media has affected the reading pattern of the readers up to a

considerable extent.

Lack of airline industry news as well as local news and also agriculture industry news

were not provided

Service problem is the main problem with newspaper, because in our survey we met so

many people who did not get newspaper on daily basis in initial stages.

Providesupplement like “mint money” it is very good for the people those who

are investing in stock market, and people happy for it.

MINT provides information news and data after analyzed. so it is very good thing for

their readers.

MINT newspaper price and annual subscription is less than other financial newspapers.

It was found during research that most of people subscribe newspaper through their Local

Vendors, to whom they can trust easily.

During the research it was observed that News channels and Internet media had adversely

affected the reading pattern of the readers up to a considerable extent.

After making sales it was found that company took lots of time to start subscription. It

will take almost 1 month to start a copy to the customer after booking date of subscription

P a g e | 56


RECOMMENDATIONS

Mint Business Daily Newspaper must promote its offering during Business functions,

National Conferences, Trade Fair, Business School Events, Induction Program, and MBA

coaching centers to achieve the target as early as possible in their life stage.

Mint Business Daily Newspaper must start the Sunday Edition with a price slightly lower

than its competitors.

A section regarding mutual funds must be introduced in The Smart Investor

Supplement for readers so that they must have an idea about the Mutual Funds.

Give more job related advertisements

Build proper positioning in the minds of the readers

Provide small vouchers package at the time of Diwali or any other festivals.

Number of centers should be increased from where the newspaper is available because

availability of MINT on street shops is very less.

Make some events with corporate to spread awareness of MINT.

The customer support should be more effective to help the customers.

Product promotion and branding should be done in effective advertisement modes to tell

about the product and its availability in the market.

The distribution of the newspaper to the customer should be made more proper to maintain a

continuous supply.

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LIMITATIONS

The analysis is based on the survey of 150 respondents which is very less than its

target population. So it can’t give me the accurate information.

As far as survey part is concerned, while collecting primary data through questionnaire

some respondents were not able to give right answer of some questions. While some have

given irrelevant answers.

Survey is based on Ahmedabad, Nadiad, Anand, vallabh vidhyangar, region. So

different geographical areas were not covered in survey.

The project was required complete within a certain time period and this was another

constraint for study.

Interaction with the respondents was limited due to their busy work

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LEARNINGS FROM THE PROJECT

My work at MINT was of hard core selling with a research on consumer behavior for the

one and half months. I personally went to many corporate offices and got subscriptions for the

company.

There were certain concepts which I had learnt during my academic year and were used

in the training period.

They were:

Relational Purchasing:

Due to the loyal customer base HT has, the new product got many advantages; like consumers

are already aware about brand and quality of HT and its services. The unbiased opinion and

judgments, the authors and analysts had put the benchmark in quality` standards and occupied

the mindshare of customer. This boosts the new product sale a lot.

And I have actually seen people buying the subscription due to their understanding of brand.

Attractive Pricing:

HT had offered huge discount up to 47% in the price of yearly subscription of product and

services and also lather wallet, aimed at increasing the market share. This special subscription

rates attracted a huge amount of potential customers.

Sales penetration: This is a calculation indicating how much of a particular market for a product or service has

been gained by the active sales.

Customer Retention: Retaining customer for a long term transaction and not for a mere one time interaction.

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LEARNINGS OF SOFT SKILLS

While undergoing summer training at MINT, with the above mentioned learning, I had

learned certain soft skills. These soft skills are as follows:

Communicating with people: Through telephone Through face to face Door to Door marketing in corporate places [banks,c.a offices ,gov offices etc] Convincing them: Convincing people to give an appointment and listen to the scheme Convincing customers to buy the subscription Language of Corporate World: During my SIP, I had learnt the language of corporate world. How they are responding. How

they are behaving. How they are talking, performing their operations, their life style, and the

way they are working. Handling clashes with the superiors and with customers: During the fulfilment of my summer training I had faced certain clashes with my direct

superiors. This one and half month’s period taught me how to handle the situation. Also learnt

how to solve the complaints and clarify the doubts of the customers. Handling pressures:

While I was working at MINT for subscription, there was a constant pressure of achieving

the targets and also there was a pressure of behaving well with the customers as I was

representatives of MINT there

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CONCLUSION

As there are many strong competitors in the market like Economic times, Business

Standard, Financial Express, so to reduce the competition MINT must use aggressive selling

techniques. People are mostly satisfied with the product but they must give quality services to

those customers who are not satisfied and also do the sales promotion schemes to increase the

sales.

Service problem is the main problem with newspaper, because in my survey I personally

met so many people who were facing the problem of not getting newspaper regularly.

Mint is growing in the media market tremendously. The finance news provided by Mint is

convenient and easy to understand in language. It is now no. 2 in finance sector newspaper

because of its marketing techniques and better customer profiling. One can feel proud to do

internship in Mint. It is one best medium to improve our marketing skills of a person.

Large percentage of people was not ready to switch over to other business daily. As 80%

people thought that only their newspaper can give them a maximum satisfaction or they like the

content of the newspaper they currently subscribe to.

52.58% of the people are more focused on the information about business article and it is

analyzed as first attribute while selecting any business newspaper in comparison to price and

other attribute.

More then70% people prefer to read economic times than other business newspaper.

13.3% people like MINT because of its paper size and graphical presentation.

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BIBILIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES:-

Publish material of the firm & magazines.

Company’s Presentation.

Project reports.

WEB REFERENCES:-

www.livemint.com http://www.htmedia.in/Section.aspx?Page=Page-HTMedia-AboutUs www.tribuneindia.com www.allindianewspaper.com www.economictimes.com http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/media-and-entertainment/2307-hindustan-

times.html

http://www.htmedia.in/Vision.aspx?Page=Page-HTMedia-Vision

http://www.htmedia.in/History.aspx?Page=Page-HTMedia-History

[email protected]

http://www.htmedia.in/investorrelations.aspx?Page=Page-HTMedia-Investor

Textbooks on:-

Business Research Methodology – 9th Edition by Cooper Donald,

Marketing Management by Philip Kotler

Organizational Behavior, etc.

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QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME: - _____________________________________________

1. Do you read newspaper?

Yes No

2. Which financial newspaper do you read daily?

Business standard Economic Times

Mint Business line

3. Why do you read newspaper?

For knowledge For business

For research For updating your self

4. How often do you read newspaper?

Daily Sometimes

Weekly Rarely

5. Through which medium you read newspaper?

Online/internet offline

Android app radio

6. When you read newspaper?

At home At office

While travelling other

7. Which kind of information is more trustable to you?

Television Newspaper

Internet source Depending on friends

8. Are you looking for any offer in newspaper?

Monthly gift Gift voucher

Or discount on yearly subscription

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9. Which kind of improvement you want in newspapers?

Supplements Change in size

Story analysis information Weekly magazine

If other, state here:- ______________________________

10. Which kind of subscription you prefer mostly?

Yearly Half year

Weekly 3 days in week

11. Which kind of story do you like in newspaper?

Sport Business

Stocks &Commodities Political

If other, state here:-_____________________________

12. How much amount you are ready to spent for newspapers?

3Rs 4Rs

5 Rs 6Rs

13. Which grade you give to MINT?

A grade B grade

C grade D grade

14. Which other newspaper do you find relatively closest quality newspaper

compared to MINT?

Economic times Business standard

Business line financial express

15. Have you ever found wrong information in newspaper?

Yes No Sometimes

NOTE:- kindly put your any suggestion / review / comment for newspaper below.

__________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

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Personal detail:-

Age:-_________

Occupation:-________________________________________________________

Address:-___________________________________________________________

Contact No:-__________________

E-Mail ID:-______________________________________

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