Professional Documents
Culture Documents
THE WEEK
Submitted for partial fulfilment for award of
Acknowledgements
This project is an outcome of the support and encouragement provided by a number of people at Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. that embodies some of the best aspect of Indian corporate world .I would like to express my sense of gratitude to the company for giving me this valuable learning opportunity and for allowing me to conduct this summer project .I sincerely thanks my project guide Mr. SANJEEV SHARMA, Sales Manager, Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. for guiding me through out the project and helpful in furnishing the required information.
I am very grateful to our Mr. Hemendra Sharma (DEAN FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT) and all faculty members for their excellent guidance in the completion of my project work.
I would also like to thank my colleagues who were working with me during the internship in Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. for their corporation & support during the entire period.
Preface
The practical training is a life of a management student. In modern world, the importance of management is increasing day by day. Industrial training provide a student sufficient knowledge to develop an education to connect theory and practical. I am student of M.B.A. being a part of our syllabus. I have taken training from Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. .I am very glad to represent this project report before you as it involves my hard work, experience as well as co-ordination of all staff members. Such type of training is very helpful to management students as it helps in strengthening confidence and gives experience to check the theoretical knowledge.
Ashwani Kumar
Declaration
I hereby declare that the project report entitled Study Techniques Of Sales Promotion Of THE WEEK submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration at GLOBAL GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS , LUCKNOW is my original work and not submitted for the award of any other degree, fellowship or any other similar title or prizes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
S. NO.
1. 2. 3. 5.
PARTICULARS
Introduction Company Profile Product Profile Subscription details of the week magazine
PAGE NO.
6-9 10 15 16 - 21 22 - 24
6.
25 - 33
7.
SWOT Analysis
34 - 37
8.
38 - 39
9.
Research Methodology
40 - 43
10.
Data analysis
44 70 71 72 73 74 75 77 78 - 79
INTRODUCTION
Brief description about the project
The project has been made by conducting a survey of about 400 people. A questionnaire had been designed for the purpose and individuals were asked to fill the same. After this each question has been discussed with its implication or relevance to the topic. The answers to each question have been analyzed and then the respective findings have been discussed. Thereafter I have provided my recommendations on the analysis and the findings and have tried to suggest some of mine viewpoints so as to promote the sales of the magazine and also to expand the market share. While working with the project it was found that: Majority of the people have a know-how of The Week magazine but still a large percentage of the people are still unaware of the existence of this magazine as well as its belongingness to Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. Promotion programs through subscriptions have come out as the best way to expand the sales of The Week magazine whereas retail sales is also more or less desired the same way for expansion of the sales whereas institutional sales is not considered as the best method. Today is the world of internet and technology, which is renewing itself day by day, hour by hour and second by second and in such a kind of atmosphere it becomes quite a bit difficult for print media to establish itself in the market especially when every second adds a news and this news
at the same time appears on the various news channels and the web pages of different sites. Thus, in such a competitive and modernized world wherein, one side, we have the ages-old print media where you have to wait at least for some hours to know the news and, the other side we have the internet and the various e-sites to enrich every bit of second with an updated news, it is a work of great reward for Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. to be the No. 1 publication house and that too, with growing popularity and growing number of readers for its various products, be it Manorama Yearbook, The Week Magazine , Vanita Magazine, The Man Magazine, various newspapers or Magic Pot and also for keeping the interest of the people alive in print media still today. The Week magazine is a weekly product of Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. and it is a GIEM G- General I- Interest E- English M- Magazine The Week magazine has strongly rooted itself in the South Indian market but it still has to strengthen its position in the North India wherein its two strongest competitors India Today and Outlook are still dominating. Thus a survey of 400 people has been conducted with an objective of knowing how this magazine can be promoted and what are the best ways to deliver it ,so as to maximize the number of readers. The survey was conducted by taking 400 people as the sample size belonging to different age groups and having different incomes and occupation. The summary of the study can e described through these points: Promotion of the week magazine has been carried out since past so many times but still a major part of the population is unaware of this magazine and
most the people who are aware of it read other magazines such as India Today and Outlook. According to the study, the contents of The Week magazine have still to have their own uniqueness and also has to prove its degree of catering good information.
VISION
'The most successful and admired magazine company, which means that we are the most trusted company, the easiest to deal with, offer the best value for money, and set the standards in the industry'.
OBJECTIVE
Determining the factors that allure a reader to subscribes to a business magazine. Awareness about The Week among reader in Lucknow. Weekly journals having highest and 2nd highest reader ship in Lucknow.
VALUE
Values that we observe while we work: Integrity Innovation Customer centric People Care One for all and all for ones Teamwork
Joy and Simplicity
The best way for the promotion of the magazine, as it comes out through the study, is through the subscriptions.
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People prefer to have subscriptions for the short term period rather than for long term duration.
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Date of Establishment Revenue Market Cap Corporate Address Branches Management Team Owner
1888 Not Available Not Available K K Road, Kottayam, Kerala - 686001, India Not Available George Jacob Director Malayala Manorama Group
Headquarters
Kottayam
Website
manoramaoline.com
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Overview
wholly
owned
family
enterprise,
Malayalam
Manorama is an ISO 9001 company. It is India's largest circulated regional newspaper. It has nine units in Kerala and three units outside Kerala. It is the first newspaper for which offices are connected on a high speed Wide Area Network using the fibre optic cable network of the DOT. The product offering of Malayala Manorama & Company includes The Week, Bashaposhini,
Karshakashree, Manorama Weekly, Manorama Annual, Vijayaveedhi , Vanitha, Vanitha Hindi, Kalikkudukka, Magic Pot, Balarama, Balarama Digest, Amar Chitra Katha, Thozhilveedhi, Knowledge Adventure CDROM, Hindi Year Book, English Year Book, Tamil Year Book, Malayalam Year Book, Bengali Year Book and Malayala Manorama Newspaper. The company publishes in five different languages.
Malayalam Manorama (Malayalam: ) is a popular Malayalam daily with a very strong readership in Kerala, India. The Manorama group, which manages the newspaper, also runs the Manorama Yearbook, largest circulated yearbook in the region. Malayalam Manorama, which first appeared on 14 March 1890, as a weekly, currently has a readership of over 16 million, with a circulation base of over 18[lakh]] copies. Malayalam Manorama is very
13
popular among Christians and the supporters of the Indian National Congress party in Kerala. Manorama is acclaimed of its highly attractive page layouts. The Malayalam word "manorama" roughly translates to "entertainer". The Week (India), an Indian weekly is also brought out by the Manorama Group. Manorama Yearbook is yet another popular yearly publication by the Kottayam-based Manorama group.
A joint stock publishing company, destined to acquire the status of the first joint stock publishing company of Republic of India, was incorporated by in 1888 by Kandathil Varghese Mappillai at, then a small town in the Kingdom of currently, a part of Kerala state, India. The first issue of Malayalam Manorama was published on 22 March 1890 from the press owned by Malankara Metropoltan H.G. Joseph Mar Dionysius of the Orthodox Church. The name Malayalam Manorama was chosen by the poet, Raghavan Nambiar, Villuvarvattathu from Tiruvalla. Kerala Varma granted the symbol which is a part of the Travancore kingdom symbol. In a period of two years, from the date of incorporation until the publication commenced, the company witnessed several challenges. It also publishes an information oriented monthly called Tell Me Why. Editions
14
Kannur Kollam Palakkad Malappuram Pathanamthitta Bangalore Mangalore Chennai Mumbai Delhi Dubai Bahrain
The newspaper is criticised for its number of advertisement space. The newspaper is known for giving more importance to advertisements and less importance to news.The manorama group are also open promoters of capitalist policies and shows strong opposition to socialism.
Timeline
1888 Malayalam Manorama founded 1890 First issue of Malayalam Manorama was published on 14 March 1892 Publication of Bhashaposhini commenced 1901 Malayalam Manorama becomes bi-weekly 1904 Kandathil Varghese Mappillai, the key figure passes away on 6 July 1915 Malayalam Manorama commences publication of daily World War I supplements 1918 Malayalam Manorama becomes triweekly on 2 July 1928 Malayalam Manorama becomes a daily from 2 July 1929 On 29 May, Akhila Kerala Balajana Sakhyam formed
15
1930 Malayalam Manoramas first Annual Number appears 1937 Commencement of Malayalam Manorama Weekly from 8 August 1938 Travancore state proscribes Malayalam Manorama on 10 September
o
An issue appears on 14 September from the state of Cochin- from the Kunnamkulam press of the Orthodox church.
1939 K. C. Mammen Mappillai was convicted and imprisoned on trumpeted charges of corruption and fraud
1941 Mammen Mappilla released after being absolved of all false cases 1947 From 29 November, Malayala Manorama re-commences regular publication 1950 Installation of the first rotary press 2007 Becomes the only regional language daily in India to cross 15 lakh copies.
Journalists
Prominent journalists who have worked with the Manorama daily or other Manorama publications include Vaikkom Chandrasekharan Nair, E. V. Krishna Pillai, E.V. Sreedharan, T. V. R. Shenoy, K. Gopalakrishnan, Babu Chengannoor, K. R. Chummar, Moorkoth Kunjappa, K. M.Tharakan, T. K. G. Nair, K. G Nedungadi, VKB (V. K. Bhargavan Nair) Others include Thomas Jacob and Joy Sasthampadickal who are currently working.
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PRODUCT PROFILE
The Week is the country's most respected business daily, being the first choice of serious business readers. The magazine believes in free, fair and independent journalism and strives to inculcate these values in its editorial staff. The journalism practiced by The Week lays equal stress on quality, credibility and accuracy. 1. First page consist of the headlines, news of the last day. On the top of the page, there is a line, which indicates the volume number, publishing centers from where this magazine is being printed. 2. Below that line there is the header The Week in association with Financial Times of London. 3. On left side of the whole page there are certain columns like In Brief, Market watch and opinion poll. 4. On the bottom right corner of the page there is a sole add generally. 5. Second and third pages consist of the news related to the Economy. 6. There is a separate page for International news and State news. 7. Tenth and Eleventh page generally consist of Issues & Insights and Opinion respectively.
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Next is the back page. 8. After back page, a different section called Money and Markets comes which contains all the news related to currency, daily stock market fluctuation and also about the commodity market. This section is completely made for money and markets only, to give the detailed news of each and every factor.
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Language: Malayalam
VANITHA : MALAYALAM
Largest read and circulated Womens magazine in India. Circulation: 4.79 lakhs(ABC Jan-Jun 2010) Readership: 30.67 lakhs(IRS 2010 Round 1) Cover Price: Rs. 14 Periodicity: fortnightly Language: Malayalam
BALRAMA:
Largest read and circulated childrens weekly in India. Circulation: 2.74 lakhs(ABC Jan-Jun 2010) Readership: 21.24 lakhs (IRS 2010 Round 1) Cover price : Rs. 8 Periodicity: weekly Language: Malayalam
19
Magic Pot
Largest selling magazine for nursery school children in India. Circulation: Not available(ABC Jan-June 2010) Readership: 0.92 lakhs (IRS 2010 Round 1) Cover price: Rs. 12 Periodicity: Fortnightly Language: English
20
Language: English
THE MAN
21
TELL ME WHY
22
23
Subscriptions for The Week magazine can be: Short term subscription. Long term subscriptions. Short term subscriptions are for a period of 6 months whereas long term subscriptions are for 1 year, 3years or 5years. Attractive gifts are given to the subscribers with these subscriptions. Subscriptions are the best way for the promotion of The Week magazine and these are helping a lot to build up the position of the magazine. The summer trainees were to do the promotion through the 6 monthly subscription plans. The various subscription plans are describe:
5 YEARS SUBSCRIPTION
Total issues of The Week magazine offered in 5 years (52*5) New stand price of 260 issues (260*52) Discount on 5 year subscription (50% of 5200) Thus, subscription cost of 5 year subscriptions (5200-2600 : : : : 260 Rs. 5200 Rs. 2600 Rs. 2600
Gift: GE Cordless Phone/leather bag pack, Mrp Balance amount Cost per copy (1005/260) Copies to be delivered through courier
: :
Rs.3.86
3YEARS SUBSCRIPTION
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Total issues of The Week in 3 years (52*3) New stand price of 156 issues (156*20) Discount on 3 year subscriptions (45% of 3120) Subscription cost of 3 year subscription Gift: Beetle Caller ID Phone or 3 year subscription TMY/ Balance amount Cost per copy Copies will be sent by courier
: : : :
1year TM
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION
Total issues of The Week in 1 year Newstand price of 52 issues Discount on 1 year subscription Cost of 1 year subscription Gift: TraveBag OR 1 year TMW// Leather Wallet Balance amount Cost per copy Copies will be sent by courier : Rs. 7.67 : 52 : Rs. 1040 : Rs. 441 : Rs. 599 : Rs. 240 : Rs. 240 : Rs. 399
6 MONTHS SUBSCRIPTION
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Total no. of issues in 6 months Newstand price of 26 subscriptions Discount on 6 months subscription Cost of 6 months subscription Gifts: I Manorama Yearbook and 1 Britannica Encyclopedia CD Cost per copy almost free Copies will be sent by courier
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: Rs. 330
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The Week is Indias fastest growing G.I.E.M i.e. General Interest English Magazine. Its periodicity is one week. It has about 3.5 lakh readers and is under continuous growth in the number of readers. Cover price of this magazine is Rs. 20. The Week is fastest growing news magazine having a circulation both nationally and internationally. It is written and designed to be fast, clear and concise and easy to follow magazine for every educated home and concerned citizens. It is packed with latest news and views from every corner of India plus highlights from whole world.
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COVER STORY
Column of cover story covers the most talked about topic of the week or any such topic which is very sensitive and needs to be given special attention, maybe it is related to politics, society, business or art or style. This column covers a long description of the topic chosen and also interviews regarding the topic from eminent personalities of the concerned fields and also some other related information.
APERITIF
This is the column where small articles covering news from all over the country and which are worth mentioning are published. These articles are very small and are of just two or three sentences long. These articles give a brief idea of the various happenings which went by throughout the past week. This column also contains a sub-column called Power Point where Sachidananda Murthi,Resident Editor, Delhi, puts his words into ink on any specific issue. There is also a column of milestones which covers milestones set by the various personalities in different fields. Aperitif also covers one more sub-column point blank which covers the quotes as said by eminent personalities of the world and which has been found worth mentioning.
LETTERS
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Column of Letters contains letters from the readers of The Week magazine regarding various queries related to any field.
CURRENT EVENTS
As the name suggests this column gives the information regarding the most recent events that took place throughout the world. Thus, this magazine acts as a very good informative diary for all the people who love to be updated with the newest information.
STATESCAN
States can contains an article on any specific news of particularly one state from all over India. The news may be of any kind whether it is political unrest in U.P. or attacks on nonmaharashtrians in Maharashtra.
SPECIAL REPORT
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Special report focuses mainly on drawing societys , administrators, officials and everybody else attention on a most sensitive issue which has to be taken utmost care of and which needs immediate actions to be taken to be brought onto the path required.
CINEMA
Cinema is the column which desires to fulfill the wants of Bollywood and Hollywood lovers and provides them with spicy news from all the corners of the world related to the cinema world.
SOCIETY
This column of The Week magazine brings to the front the various issues related to the society and thus develops peoples concern regarding that issue and hence makes the society a bit aware of any injustice being done to anyone, any environmental damage, any flaw going on in any system, any wrong being done to society, the various social evils or any other thing.
FORECAST
Forecast as the name suggests gives the horoscope of people belonging to different zodiac signs. The predictions are made by Mr. K.K. Vamanan Nampoorthiri.
THE SEXES
It is the column wherein the famous writer, Shobhaa De speaks about any issue putting her own views and her own thoughts into words.
TIME OUT
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This column gives the news about the various events or shows or other things like seasonal wears etc. which have soon begun or are about to begin and thus forces people to go for these things as soon as possible and that is how the name goes like.
BIZ BUZZ
The column of Biz Buzz gives the news of the corporate sector and talks about the various changes going on in the bigger companies throughout the world, their CEOs, their General Managers and the growing competition and the job opportunities created, if any.
LAST WORD
Last Word is the column wherein people like Amjad Ali Khan, Mahesh Dattani and Jon Stock put their views regarding some issue, from India and the whole world, at the last page of The Week magazine. This is the article that ends up the weekly news magazine.
THE WEEK
THE WEEK was launched in 1982. It is one of the products among the 27 products of the MANORAMA GROUP. It itself is the Brand Extension so has no other Brand Extension. The sales have now touched the figure of 10.98 lakhs in todays date. The sales figures are as follows. YEAR AVERAGE WEEKLY FIGURES (LAKHS) 2010 7.55 Lakhs
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Expected at the end of 2012 Above 2 There was a fall in sales in 2012. This fall was due to the iLucknowease in information boom i.e. there are approximately 25 news channels across the nation, which provide the same news, and within a few minutes. For e.g. when there were bomb blasts all the news channels provided the same news with video clippings in no time. And so there was no point in printing the same report after a week. People started losing interest in reading, as the same news didnt seem interesting to them afterwards. Even the economy wasnt proper and people were busy and tensed with their tensions and hence the sales started declining. To overcome this loss the prices of the other magazines were Lucknow eased from rs.30 to rs.35. The logic behind Lucknowe asing the price even when the sales were declining was that less copies sold at a higher price helped them to cope up with the losses. But THE WEEK preferred to stay at same price. They felt that keeping price low will benefit their magazine and they were right to a certain extent. And so the scene is changed. Seeing the current situation the sales are expected to rise above 2 lakhs in the end of this year.
Distribution: THE WEEK has its distributors all over India. According THE WEEK the subscriptions are more profitable to them as the user is locked for a particular period and is habituated to reading the magazine and likes to continue it further. Out of every 100,99 people subscribe THE WEEK. Their assured subscriptions are 80,000. They offer 26% discount to the newsstand sellers and dont give them any return protection whereas they take all the unsold copies. They decide the number of copies to be published depending on statistics of Audit Bureau Circulation, market
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condition, contents of issue, cover page etc. their present figure is 1,80,000.
Advertisements Expenditure:
The profit margin of the company is 15% per year. According to them there should be at least 17-20 pages of advertisements for a magazine to run on no profit no loss basis. The ratio kept by THE WEEK is 30:70.i.e. 30%advertisements and 70% news. While taking the advertisements, preference is given to advertisements regarding services like banks, financial institutions, educational institutions, insurance companies etc. They do not take liquor and friendship advertisements. They take advertisements of 2 competitive companies e.g. NOKIA & SAMSUNG for the same issue as it doesnt matter for them.
Promotions:
THE WEEK gives advertisements in magazines like Times of India, Hindustan Times. They also advertise on CNN, CNBC, and NDTV in form of barter. I.e. the channels show their advertisements and THE WEEK prints their advertisements. Hoardings, posters and banners of the upcoming issue are always put at various places in the country. This helps in capturing new readers as the subject covered in the issue is displayed beforehand. They also provide sponsorships fro the college events, as THE WEEK is popular in students committee. They have sponsored events of IIT Mumbai, NM, Wilson College etc. They do this in cash or kind or both.
value Propositions)
They provide free gifts with their subscriptions like Leather Wallet with one-year subscription,
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Timex Watch with 3 years subscription and digital diary with 5-year subscription.
They also constantly give offers like Scratch and Win, King of Offers, Sporting Offers, Khel Re and so on
Features
First Punch: - Here political news is conveyed by funny pictures.
Letters: - Letters written by the people regarding the previous issues, their opinions are expressed
Development: - Development made in some states i.e. taking people out of their problems.
Cover Story: - This has the detail story of a current topic or situation.
Global Village: - Global News is published. The news published is very rare.
Forecast: - The forecast is given by a very famous person i.e. K.K.VAMANAN NAMPOOTHIRI. It is one of the main features, which is provided only by THE WEEK among the GIEM (General interest English magazines).
The introduction of this had also lead to a tremendous I Lucknow ease in the sales. A person
34
generally goes straight to this page and then the rest of news.
We were told that Mr. Damodaran of UTI when once met Mr.Pinakki Chattopadhya marketing manager of THE WEEK told him that he and his wife read first the forecast and they had done a good job by introducing this feature. Mr. Pinakki Chattopadhya immediately gave him the offer that why dont you advertise your UTI on just next page And the same moment the deal was done.
The page was sold for 40 lakh for a year. So we always see the UTI advertisement just opposite the forecast page.
Markets
Their main markets include metro politant cities in which first is Delhi then Mumbai, Chennai, followed by the rest. In other words North then West then South and East in the end. This magazine is also available all over India.
Cover Page They keep their cover page same throughout the nation. They had changed it only once in case of Jay Lalitha as the news was more effective in south and not in rest of India. They had the Kashmirs cover in rest of India Selection of News If there is only one news, which can be printed, and there are two news one political and other general, then meeting is held as to which is to be selected i.e. which is more effective to the people. But mostly it is the general news as THE WEEK is a General interest English magazine
35
SWOT ANALYSIS
36
S
Company Reputation Quality of analysis Honest and in-depth reporting Distribution effectiveness High price
W
Less no. of pages Less add on supplements
T
Market downfall Competitors may further lower the price
S--strength,
W-- weaknesses,
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Strength:
The company publishes The Week magazine, which has a daily readership of approximately 120,000 and daily circulation of 217,764 (IRS 2007). In its endeavor to provide its readers with greater value, it has revamped its existing supplements and added new ones to its portfolio, offering a daily supplement catering to specific target audiences. The Week is read by the decision & policy makers. The Week stands for reporting that stresses accuracy and credibility, comment that is informed, independent and fair, and journalism that is rooted in ethical conduct and defined by a sacrosanct bond with the reader. The Week has a 200-person editorial team that is led by Sanjaya Baru, and includes wellknown journalists like AK Bhattacharya, Sunil Jain and Shyamal Majumdar. The Weeks stable of specialist contributors includes some of the sharpest minds writing on economics and business. Among them: Bimal Jalan, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Shankar Acharya, former chief economic advisor, Government of India; Deepak Lal, professor of economics, UCLA; Suman Bery, director-general, National Council of Applied Economic Research; Abheek Barua, chief economist of HDFC Bank; Nitin Desai, former chief economic advisor and former under-secretary general at the United Nations; Surjit Bhalla, chairman of Oxus; Arvind Subramanian, professor at the Peterson Institute of International Economics; M. Govinda Rao, director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; AV Rajwade, well-known foreign exchange consultant; and Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak
38
It has a market presence for past 35 yrs. The Week publishes a variety of periodicals in the automotive, lifestyle and business categories. Titles include Indian and Asian Economy, BS Motoring and Indian Management. BS Motoring has total circulation of 80,000 copies per month (2007). The majority of periodicals are published on a monthly basis.
Weakness:
Lack of product awareness and brand equity. Single product as a business magazine in magazine section. Absence of proper advertisement and promotion. Not proper facility to deliver the newly subscribed copies instantly.
Opportunity:
Magazines only reach 35% of the adult population, of which 65% is literate; there is significant room for growth. The sheer number of publications has created fierce competition which has kept prices low which in turn has caused publishers to depend more on advertising revenues.
Threats:
ET the top most players in Business magazines comes with lower subscription rates and also has combo offer with TOI.
Other combo offers as Business Line with The Hindu and HT Mint with HT.
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MORDERN BOOK STALL VISHAL PATRIKA SUBHASH PUSTAK BHANDAR PANDIT PUSTAK BHANDHAR S K PUSTAK BHANDHAR AMIT PUSTAK BHANDAR MANNU BOOK STALL TANDON BOOK STALL BHOLA BOOK STALL PARAG BOOK STALL KALA KUNJ BOOK STALL MODERN MAGZINE SHOP VIBHOR & RAINA BOOK STALL VIRENDRA VERMA UMESH BOOK STALL
VINOD ARORA VISHAL SONI DIXIT VIJAY AMIT MANNU RAMESH TONDON SRI RAM DIGVIJAY ARORA JI ADITYA KOTHARI
JANPATH NEAR UMRAO CINEMA OPP. CHARBAGH CHOWK CHOWK DALIGANJ HAZRATGANJ HAZRATGANJ HAZRATGANJ HAZRATGANJ HAZRATGANJ KAPURTHALA KHURRAM NAGAR
VIRENDRA UMESH
URMILA BOOK CENTER CITY BOOK SHOP MAMA MAGZINE CENTER SAROJ MAGZINE CENTER BHANJA BANDHU BOOK CENTER RAJU MAGZINE CENTER BANSAL BOOK HOUSE
JANKIPURAM SEC-Q ALIGANJ SHRI PLAZA VIKAS NAGAR VIKAS NAGAR VIKAS NAGAR KAPURTHALA BHOOTHNATH MARKET
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GARIMA BOOK STALL MISHRA BOOK STALL VIBHOR BOOK DEPO GOPAL SHARMA BOOK STALL
ANUJ SHARMA
27.
RAJ KUMAR
28.
OM PRAKESH
29.
RAJENDRA
30.
SUDAMA MISHRA
SHYAM MAGZINE CENTER VERMA BOOK STALL SHYAM MAGZINE CENTER TIWARI COMPETITION & BOOK CENTER
35.
NITIN
NAHRIA CHAURAHA
36. 37.
VIKAS ARUN
ALAMBAGH AMINABAD
41
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
TITLE:
To determine customer-buying behavior with a focus on market segmentation for Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd.
TITLE JUSTIFICATION:
The above title is self explanatory. The study deals mainly with studying the buying pattern in
the insurance industry with a special focus on THE WEEK MAGAZINE. The various segments of the markets divided in terms of magazine Needs, Age groups , Satisfaction levels etc will also studied.
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SAMPLING METHODOLOGY
SamplingTechnique: Initially, a rough draft was prepared keeping in mind the objective of the research. A pilot study was done in order to know the accuracy of the Questionnaire. The final Questionnaire was arrived only after certain important changes were done. Thus the sampling came out to be judgemental and convenient. Sampling Unit: The respondants who were asked to fill out questionnaires are the sampling units. These comprise of employees of MNCs, Govt. Employees, and Self Employed etc. Sample size: The sample size was restricted to only 100, which comprised of mainly peoples from different regions of Lucknow due to time constraints. Sampling Area : The area of the research was Lucknow .
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1) PRIMARY METHOD:
Survey is done through QUESTIONNAIRE taking 4OO people as a sample size of every age group with different qualifications and professions and of several salary packages of both The Week readers and non-readers of The Week in mixed form in consideration.
2) SECONDARY METHOD:
Interview method is also adopted. This is done while interviewing various readers of The Week and other magazines. This stage occurs only after preparing QUESTIONNAIRE, i.e. after preparing questionnaire I asked, 400 customers of both non- WEEK readers and WEEK readers about The WEEK magazine, various questions mentioned in the questionnaire in order to accomplish my survey work.
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46
Q.1 AGE? 15-25 25-40 40-50 50-60 QUALIFICATION ? UNDER GRADUATE GRADUATE POST GRADUATE OTHERS PROFESSION? STUDENT BUSINESS SALARIED OTHERS MONTHLY INCOME? <25000 <50000 <75000 >75000
NOTE: The following pie charts show the percentage of people surveyed of different age
group, qualification, profession and income group.
AGE
2% 10%
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QUALIFICATION
0% 16% 14%
PROFESSION
Student Business Salaried Others
5% 20% 45%
30%
NOTE:
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INCOME GROUP
10% 4% 3% 35% 0 <25000 <50000 48% <75000 >75000
NOTE: In the chart, 0 income group include the students surveyed who do not earn. SAMPLE SIZE: The survey was conducted with the help of questionnaire taking 400 people
as a sample size of every age group with different qualification and profession and of several salary package like 48% people surveyed are earning less than or equal to Rs.25000, 10% are earning less than or equal to Rs.50000, 4% of them are earning less than or equal to Rs.75000, 3% of them are earning greater than or equal to Rs.75000 while 35% of them have no earnings as they are students. The people surveyed are of different qualification like 16% of people surveyed are post graduate, 70% are simply graduates among whom there are 58% of the people interviewed aged less than or equal to 25, 30% of the people aged less than or equal to 40, 10% of them are less than or equal to 50 and 2% of people are up to an age of 60 years. The
survey includes the people of different profession too like 20% of the people surveyed are salaried people, 30% of them are in business, 45% are students while 5% of them includes Doctors, C.As etc.
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Q.2 Do you know about Weekly News Magazines? (i)AWARE Implication of the question
The purpose of this question to the people is to know about the awareness of the weekly news magazines among the public. This question helps to judge as to how many people are still unaware of the weekly news magazines.
(ii) UNAWARE
11%
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SAMPLE SIZE:
According to the survey of THE WEEK magazine, which is done with the help of 400 people as a sample size of every age group with different qualification, profession and of several salary packages, it is found that-
(i)
89% of people interviewed said that YES they know about the weekly news magazines.
(ii)
11% of the people interviewed said that NO they dont know about weekly magazines.
Findings
Thus, as per the survey results we found that majority of the people are having a basic idea of weekly news magazines. Also through the survey it was found that most of the salaried class people and students are aware of weekly news magazines either they are published in HINDI language or in ENGLISH language.
Recommendations
After analyzing the answers of the interviews I would like to recommend Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. to make the remaining 11% of the population which includes businessmen as well, aware of the weekly magazines, especially THE WEEK magazine and thus to expand its sales.
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Q.3 Do you read weekly news magazines? If YES, then which one of these? A. THE WEEK B. INDIA TODAY C. OUTLOOK D. OPEN E. Others Implication of the question
The purpose of this question is to know the percentage of the people who read different weekly news magazines like The Week, India Today, Outlook, Open or others and which magazine is been read most by the readers.
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SAMPLE SIZE:
Whole surveying on the 400 people of different age groups and qualifications, who have different professions and income, it was found that (i) 74% of the people interviewed read weekly news magazines. (ii) 26% of the people surveyed do not read any weekly news magazine. The percentage of the people who are customers of the different news magazines is likewisei. ii. iii. iv. v. INDIA TODAYOUTLOOK THE WEEK OPEN Others 55% 23% 17% 3% 2%
Findings
Thus analysis of the answers given by the people surveyed, it was found that majority of the people are reading weekly news magazines. Also, the second part of the question shows that majority of the people read India Today; thereafter they read Outlook and then The Week magazine. Thus The Week magazine is lagging behind the two magazines and has to compete with these two major selling magazines.
Recommendations
Thus, through the study it can be recommended that the Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. should concentrate on expanding its share in the weekly news magazines market and try to give the best
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product to the customers through the best features, it should also go for an extensive promotion program so as to acquire a larger market share.
Q.4 Do you know about The Week magazine? (i)YES Implication of the question
This question has been included in the questionnaire to know as to how many people i.e. what percentage of North Indians are aware of the existence of The Week magazine, since it is a major publication in South India and has emerged from the South Indian markets and still a lot of people find themselves unaware of this magazine.
(ii) NO
35%
YES NO 65%
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SAMPLE SIZE:
Through the survey, it was found that(i) 65% of the people said Yes, that they know about The Week ,magazine. (ii) 35% of the people show there unawareness about The Week magazine.
Findings
Thus as per the results of the survey it is found that majority of the people know about The Week magazine but still many of them do not have any information about this magazine.
Recommendations
After analysis of the survey it can be recommended that Malayala Manorama Company Limited should go about with advertisements and promotion programs especially in Northern region since many people react as if they have heard the name of the company and the magazine for the first time where as on the other hand India Today and Outlook are quite popular with the people surveyed.
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Q.5 Would you like (i) to subscribe, or (ii) buy the magazine from a retail store. Implication of the question
Through this question we aim to know the general mode through which the customers buy the magazine and we can thus know a better way to deliver the magazine.
38%
62%
subscriptions
retail
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SAMPLES
Through this question, it was found that _ (i) 62% percent of the customers have the propensity of buying the books through subscriptions. (ii) 38% of the customers like to buy the magazine from a retail store.
Findings
Thus through this study we can find that majority of the customer find it beneficial to get the magazine subscribed rather than buying these from the retail stores.
Recommendations
Looking at the above analysis, I would suggest Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. to try to expand its business more into subscription and make the good promotional schemes so as to cover majority through the subscription.
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Q.6 What other gift / discount will be better other than MANORAMA YEAR BOOK for 6 months subscription? (i) SUNGLASSES (ii) T-SHIRT (iii) SET OF PENS (iv) DISCOUNT OF 20% (v) MANORAMA YEAR BOOK Implication of the question
This question implies you that how many % of the people wants these gifts & discount with the subscription by the company.
5% 15% 20% Sunglasses t-shirt Set of pen discount of 20% 35% 25% Manorama year book
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SAMPLES
Through this question, it was found that _ (i) 15% of peoples want sunglasses. (ii) 40% of peoples want t-shirts. (iii) 25% of peoples want set of pens. (iv) 20% of peoples want discount. (v) 5% of peoples want Manorama Year Book
Findings
Thus through this study we find that more % of people want t-shirt more than any other things.
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Q.7 The week Magazine provide us with information from different fields may be it is politics, art or science, society or fashion etc. do you find these contents sufficient enough to provide you with good information? (i)YES (ii)NO
33%
67%
Yes
No
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SAMPLE SIZE:
Through this survey, it was found that: (i) 67% of people who read The Week magazine was satisfied with its matter content while, (ii) 33% of people are not satisfied with the matter content
Findings
Through this question it was analyzed that majority of the readers of The week magazine were satisfied with the contents of information of this magazine and that they found this information as really useful, investing and sufficient enough to quench their thirst for knowledge while 33% of people still found the magazine unable to provide them with the required information.
Recommendations
After analyzing this data, I would like to suggest Malayala Manorama Company Limited to get the surveys and research work done at a large scale so as to find out what are the contents or the information in which the magazine is lagging behind and find out the ways to improve.
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Q.8 Do the contents of The Week magazine bear any similarity to the contents of any other magazine? (i)Yes (ii) No
46% 54%
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SAMPLE SIZE:
Analyzing the answers to the above questions, it was found that(i) 46% of the readers of the week magazine found that the contents of magazine were some or the other way similar to any other weekly magazine, whereas (ii) 54% of the people found the contents as different from others.
Findings
After analyzing the answers for the above questions it was found that nearly half of the population still feels that contents of The Week magazine have resemblance with any other weekly magazine and thus has still has space for making its own identity well established. Thus it has a lot of room to improve and be the best amongst the weekly magazines.
Recommendations
Thus, I would like to suggest Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. that it should go for innovating some of the contents of the week magazine which become a completely different and interesting taste for the readers so that they keep their loyalty with the magazine.
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Q.9 In your opinion, which feature of The week magazine attracts you most to read this magazine? (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Prompt delivery of the news. The column of COVER STORY every week. Column of cinema. Column of business.
Implication
The purpose behind asking this questioning is to know which feature of the week magazine is the cause of the inclination towards the week magazine and how can the company improve other features so as to make other features equally good.
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SAMPLE SIZE:
(i) Analyzing the above question, it was found that,
60% of the readers of the week magazine found prompt delivery of the news as the best feature which attracts them to read this magazine. (ii) 20% of the readers found the COVER STORY column as the best part. (iii)15% of the readers found the Business column as the best part. (iv) 5% of the readers found the cinema column as the best part.
Findings
Through the above analysis it was found that major feature of attraction for all the readers was the prompt delivery of actual news and that is a good sign for the future of this magazine.
Recommendations
I would suggest the Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. to keep 100% accuracy in delivering the actual news as well as to make other columns such as the business column or the cinema column more attractive & appealing.
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Q.10 Which type of subscription of The Week magazine would you like to have1. Short term (6 months) 2. Long term (1yr/3yr/5yr) Implication of the question
The purpose of asking this question is to know of how much percent of the people find shortterm subscriptions as beneficial for them and how much percent find long-term subscriptions as beneficial.
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SAMPLE SIZE:
After going through the answers for the above question it was found that: (i) 77% of the people wanted to have short-term subscriptions. (ii) 33% of the people wanted to have long term subscriptions.
Findings
After analyzing the answers for the above question it was found that most of the people wanted to have weekly magazines through the short term subscription sale while only 33% of the people wanted to have the magazine through the long term sales. Thus, we can deduce that most of the people either do not have sufficient funds to go for long term subscriptions or they do not have enough loyalty towards the magazine.
Recommendations
Thus, I would like to suggest the Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. that it should try to develop brand loyalty by providing good news as well as proper delivery of the magazine to the customers and also by catering to the needs of the readers.
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Q.11 Do you feel that creating awareness among public about weekly news magazines through extensive promotion programs would lead to growth in weekly magazines usage? 1) YES Implication of the question
The purpose of asking this question is to know whether the extensive promotion programs are fruitful or not, and whether the promotion programs lead to an expansion of the business or not.
2) NO
35%
Yes 65% No
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SAMPLE SIZE:
On analyzing the above question it was found that: (i) 65% of the people surveyed said yes, the promotion programs would lead to a growth in the usage of weekly news magazines. (ii) While remaining 35%of the people said that they dont think that these promotional programs are of any use for the growth in the number of readers.
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Q.12 Which medium of promotion would you like to suggest to the Malayala Manorama Company Ltd., whose product is the the week magazine, so as to be successful? Institutional sales Retail sale Subscription sale Implication of the question
The purpose of asking this question is to know as to which medium of sales is most profit earning for the organization or which medium is preferred most by the public for getting the magazine whether it is through subscriptions or through retail or through institutional sales.
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SAMPLE SIZE:
On analyzing the analysis of the answers for the above question it was found that: (i) 40% of the people preferred to have the magazines through the subscriptions (ii) 38% of the people preferred to have the magazines through the retail sale
(iii) 22% of the people preferred to have the magazine through the institutional sales.
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Conclusion
Through the survey it was deduced that most of the people are aware of the weekly news magazines, specially the salaried class and the students. Majority of the people surveyed are reading weekly news magazines and the most preferred magazine is India Today, thereafter people prefer reading Outlook and then comes The Week magazine, which is at the third position as found through the survey. Majority of the people have a know-how of The Week magazine but still a large percentage of the people are still unaware of the existence of this magazine as well as its belongingness to Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. Some of the people found that the contents of The Week magazine as not so informative as are the contents of other magazines like Outlook or India Today. Majority of the people prefer having a subscription in comparison to retail buying. Also, the subscription periods favored by them are of the short term rather than of long term. People who prefer The Week magazine choose it because of prompt the delivery of this magazine. Promotion programs through subscriptions have come out as the best way to expand the sales of The Week magazine whereas retail sales is also more or less desired the same way for expansion of the sales whereas institutional sales is not considered as the best method.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the analysis of the survey, I would like to recommend to the Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. to make people aware of the The Week magazine so that at least all the people have a consideration of this magazine whenever they are to buy or subscribe the magazine. Some of the contents of the week magazine need to be innovated and made more attractive so as to make it a differentiated product in the weekly magazine market. Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. should go extensive promotional programs as well as for advertisements through various Medias. Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. should try to expand its sale through covering the magazine market through subscriptions especially short term subscriptions. I would suggest the Company to deliver actual news with 100% accuracy and to make the columns of business and cinema more attractive and appealing. It should provide good service and properly deliver the copies to the customers and also cater to the needs of the readers. Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. should come out with new promotional schemes especially through subscriptions so as to keep existing readers loyal as well as attract new customers
The company should go for extensive promotion programs especially in sub-urban areas
so as to maximize its sale since sub-urban areas give the space for a new market wherein most of the competitors are still to find a way.
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QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME: ................................................
Q.1)AGE? QUALIFICATION ? PROFESSION? 15-25 25-40 40-50 50-60 UNDER GRADUATE STUDENT GRADUATE POST GRADUATE OTHERS BUSINESS SALRIED OTHERS MONTHLY INCOME? <25000 <50000 <75000 <75000
Q.3) Do you read weekly news magazines? If YES, then which one of these?
F. THE WEEK G. INDIA TODAY H. OUTLOOK I. OPEN J. Others
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Q.5) The Week magazine belong to Malayala Manorama Company limited, the largest publication house of India. Do you know that? (i)YES (ii) NO
Q.6) The week Magazine provide us with information from different fields may be it is politics, art or science, society or fashion etc. do you find these contents sufficient enough to provide you with good information? (i)YES (ii) NO
Q 7) Do the contents of The Week magazine bear any similarity to the contents of any other magazine? (i)Yes (ii) No
Q.8) Would you like (i) to subscribe, or (ii) buy the magazine from a retail store. Q 9) In your opinion, which feature of The week magazine attracts you most to read
this magazine? (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Prompt delivery of the news. The column of COVER STORY every week. Column of cinema. Column of business.
Q 10) Which type of subscription of The Week magazine would you like to have Short term (6 months) Long term (1yr/3yr/5yr)
Q.11) Do you feel that creating awareness among public about weekly news magazines through extensive promotion programs would lead to growth in weekly magazines usage? (i)Yes (ii) No
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Q.12 Which medium of promotion would you like to suggest to the Malayala Manorama Company Ltd., whose product is the the week magazine, so as to be successful? Institutional sales Retail sale Subscription sale
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Bibliography
http://weekly.manoramaonline.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayala_Manorama http://freelance.afaqs.com/perl/news/interviews/index.html?id=275 http://www.emagazinecatalog.com/india-emagazines.php http://www.linkroll.com/Children-Education-Reference-and-Education--185086magazine-listmens-magazinemagazinesubscriptionindian-magazine.html http://www.the-week.com/ http://digg.com/television/The_Week_magazine_Ad_Malayala_Manorama_group http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayala_Manorama http://www.aboutus.org/The-Week.com
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