TRAINING REPORT ON CONSUMER BASED AND FUTURE ASPECTS OF MAGAZINE Submitted to GUAHATI UNIVERSITY, GUWAHATI Submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the award of the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISRATION (INDUSTRY INTEGRATED) (II Semester) Submitted by Anuj Chhanra Regn. No. Roll No. NEW ERA INSTITUTE OF PROFFESIONAL STUDIES (ELC CODE ) Dwarka Phase-2, New Delhi
1

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that ANKUSH TRIPATHI a student of the INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT has prepared his Training Report entitled CONSUMER BASED at VALUE MAX SYSTEM Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, under my guidance. He has fulfilled all requirements leading to award of the degree of B.B.A . This report is the record of bonafide training undertaken by him and no part of it has been submitted to any other University or Educational Institution for award of any other degree/diploma/fellowship or similar title or prizes.

I wish him all success in life.

<Signature of the faculty guide> <Name of faculty guide> <Designation> <Qualification> <Seal of the elc>

STUDENTS DECLARATION I hereby declare that the Training Report conducted at

VALUE MAX SYSTEM PRIVATE LIMITED, NEW DELHI Under the guidance of Ankur Chawla Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION TO GURU GOBIND SINGH INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY, DELHI Is my original work and the same has not been submitted for the award of any other degree/diploma/fellowship or other similar titles or prizes. Place: NEW DELHI Date: Ankush Tripathi Regn. No.: Roll no.

Acknowledgement

At first, I wish all the best to GURU GOBIND SINGH INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY, DELHI for the project work activities in the curriculum in Bachelor level. I have got great chance to have practical knowledge in the field of management. This activity proves student to enrich aim writing and knowledge in the practical field. I would like to express my deepest sense of gratitude to Mr. Ankur Chawla, Manager for giving me this opportunity to undergo Summer Training at VALUE MAX SYSTEM Pvt. Ltd. I would also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to him for his constant encouragement and valuable insight, guidance and facilities at all phases of the project. I would also like to acknowledge the support and guidance of Mr. Ankur Chawla, TEAM LEADER, VALUE MAX SYSTEM Pvt. Ltd. Without his help and encouragement it would have been practically impossible to complete this project. Im deeply in debated to my respected Director N.K. OBEROI for his unflagging support, guidance and advice through the entire process of preparing this report.

Ankush Tripathi BBA V Semester

Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION (Pg.)

General introduction about Industry Profile. Origin of the organization .Growth and development Present status of the Functional department Product and services of Competitors Market profile of the

the sector

Chapter 2

PROFILE OF

THE ORGANIZATION (Pg.)

of organisation organisation

organisation

organisation

Chapter 3

DISCUSSION
5

Work profile.

ON TRANNING (Pg.)

Key learning.

Chapter 4

STUDY OF

SELECTED RESEARCH PROBLEM (Pg.)

Statement of research problem Statement of research objectives Research design and methodology

Chapter 5 ANALYSIS (Pg. )

Analysis of data and

findings

Chapter 6

SUMMARY &

Summary of Learning

CONCLUSIONS(Pg.)

Experience. Conclusions and

Recommendations.

APPENDICES (Pg. )

Customer satisfaction Copy of questionnaires

questionnaire.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (Pg.)

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

GENERAL INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE SECTOR

8

Marketing is very necessary for every organization. It helps organizations in determining what product and services may interest customers and also strategies for use in product development, sales and promotions.

The Project STUDY OF OUTLOOK SUBSCRIBERS SATISFACTION is an attempt to find out the factors and causes which affect the degree of satisfaction among the customers of Outlook Magazines.In this tough time of competition magazines industry is going a long way in developing, formulating and implementing promotional strategies to cope up with this tough competition. Though there are many aspects which can be improvised in the services of Outlook magazine.Strategies are formulated not only keep up with cut throat competition but also to meet the highly volatile consumer preferences.

There are several factors which influences the purchase. These factors may be internal and external as well. Internal factors include perception towards the thing, knowledge about product, purchasers attitude, lifestyle, motivational status etc. Motivation is the driving force which comes into play when customer has better experience with the product.This leads to the repurchase decision of the customer.Whereas external factors include culture, group or peer influence, the situation in which purchase is made etc. Questionnaires were prepared and market survey was conducted and then evaluation of primary data is done.

The analysis revealed that there are some factors e.g. the customer perceived value and value preposition when meets leads to customer satisfaction .If that is consistent then leads to customer loyality .That is the key factor of customer retention etc. which affect the purchase of magazines of Outlook group.

It also revealed the fact that there is a small opportunity of improvement in the area of quality of content and promotional schemes. The customers agreed upon the fact that gifts are good in quality but they added that these promotional schemes can be more attractive.

INDUSTRY PROFILE
10

There are the two main sources of obtaining data to determine readership of any publication: National Readership Survey NRS Indian Readership Survey IRS

Here we have some surveys on the basis of market segmentation on all media include news papers buyers . National Readership Survey is a survey on all media, but especially the print medium, conducted by the National Readership Studies Council (NRSC) supported by Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), Advertising Agencies association of India (AAAI) & Indian Newspapers Society. It investigates the readership of about 80 major Indian publications-dailies, weeklies, biweeklies and monthlies-in over 475 towns of 57 regions across the length and breadth of the country. The towns, selected, however are publication centres of dailies. By process of systematic sampling. It claimed to be the most thorough readership survey in the country. It provides exhaustive data (available to its clients on computer disks) readership, radio listener ship profile-the socio economic characteristics of the readers of various publications, of cinema and TV viewers, and of listeners to radio, as well as the degree of duplication among publications and between media. Research agencies involved are: IMRB, TNS Software Mode, AC Nielsen in collaboration with ORG. Indian Readership Survey is conducted by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC). IRS 2007 is the largest continuous media survey ever conducted (sample size of 229,000 individuals) providing a single-source database for demographics, media habits and product / brand usage across 986 towns and 2858 villages in 11

India. The survey was conducted over two rounds with the field work between November 2007 and November 2008. This all-India survey conducted jointly with the Media Research Users' Council (MRUC) also provides product / brand penetration information for over 50 different products allowing one to link media habits and product usage data for adults and children from the age of 12 years. Both NRS & IRS Gives media consumption habits, product ownership & consumption, lifestyle indicators information on Psychographic , macro demographic & geographic parameters. Population coverage: 12 years & above Sample size: over 500 Geographic coverage: Delhi region

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CHAPTER 2

PROFILE OF THE ORGANISATION

13

ORIGIN OF THE ORGANISATION

A Rajan Raheja Group Mr Rajan Raheja is the owner of OUTLOOK group Date of Establishment: October 1995 Headquarter Address: AB-10, S.J. Enclave, New Delhi - 110029, India Branches : Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad

MANAGEMENT TEAM NAME Suresh Selvaraj Indranil Roy Alok Mathur Anup Dwivedi Vidya Menon Gaurav Vashisht Himanshu Pandey Alex Joseph Gitanjali Singh DESIGNATION Vice President Vice President Assistant Vice President General Manager, Production & Systems General Manager, Advertising Deputy General Manager National Head, Business Development National Head, Retail National Head, Marketing

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GROWTH OF THE ORGANISATION

Outlook is

an Indian weekly

and

monthly newsmagazine in

publication

since

October 1995. Mr Vinod Mehta has been the founding editor-in-chief. Since its inception, investigative reporting has been the forte of the magazine. Outlook has also spawned the specialized magazines Outlook Traveler, Outlook Money, Mand the Hindi Outlook . Outlook has been famous for many of it's sensational stories like the "Kargil Bungle" and the "Match Fixing controversy" but many view its editorial tilt as being against the right like the RSS , often highlighting opposing sections in negative light.

Achievements

The company is a proud recipient of National Tourism Award in 2001-2002, given by the Department of Tourism, Government of India. The Government of India has also recognized Outlook Traveler Getaways as the Best Travel Publication in the year 2002-2003.

15

Present status the organization

Our company is one of the leading company in the magazine industry. We have wide range of magazine products which have strong position in the market. So the present status of the Organisation is very strong in the Market . We are the pioneers of magazine Industry, we produce the best of the selling magazine not only in India but all over the world. Outlook group is known as the best renowned group among the other publishing companies. It have the widest range in magazines for better choice of consumer, according to their taste.

16

FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENTS OF THE ORGANISATIONAL

17

PRODUCT AND SERVICES OF THE ORGANISATION

18

MEDIA SERVICES

Print Media Web Media

Outlook is part of the Rajan Raheja Group which made its beginning in the construction business and after building a huge presence in the realty market, the Group diversified laterally into manufacturing, financial services and media. The magazine division of Outlook consists of Outlook, Outlook Money, Outlook Traveler, Outlook Sapthahik, Outlook Business and Delhi City Limits. It has recently taken over the Sales & marketing of Newsweek, an international newsmagazine and Marie Claire, an international womens magazine. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine has been instrumental in providing wide range of news and information. It also has magazines including Outlook Money, Outlook Traveller and Outlook Saptahik under its umbrella. As a part of web media, it has launched websites like outlookindia.com, outlooktraveller.com and outlookmoney.com. It caters to a base of 1.5 million readers in India and sells more than 11.2 million copies annually. The observations of the Markets studied for the sale of Newsweek was that Time and Newsweek have a similar sales pattern and the POP display was maximum from the Outlook Group. The major segments identified for the market segmentation of Outlook buyers Hotels Coaching institutes 19

Corporate offices PVR Cinemas Premium Clubs

For the coaching Institutions which prepare students for MBA, the idea proposed by Outlook was that the copies of Outlook English ,and Outlook Bussines as their Interest happens only with these two magazines, with the advertisement of the institution with the cover-on-cover option would be distributed to prospective students who are aspiring to clear CAT and other MBA entrances in various DU and Engineering colleges in Delhi and NCRs. This idea appealed as in this way the institution would be able to communicate with its prospective students. For the premium clubs, the proposed selling strategy was similar to that adopted for golf courses with the monthly bill being sent with the magazine by Outlook . The idea proposed to corporate offices that their Interest only towards Outlook Money , Outlook Profit because it resembles with their Business. Hotels keep magazines in the following places : Rooms, Business Centers Lounges, Public Places and cars. Their more focus towards Outlook Traveler Magazines, and Fashion magazine like Marie Claire ,this type of Interest bys hotels shows their psychographic segmentation. The concept given was that initially Outlook was as follows: Outlook would distribute free copies of the magazine on a weekend when the business is high. And take the details of the customers. In the next step, the PVR Cinemas to these cinemagoers who had come to watch a movie on weekend would send the magazine with a flap containing the discount coupon for a weekday. Hence, on receiving a discount coupon, there is a high probability that the cinema-goers will come to watch the movie.

20

THE OUTLOOK UMBERELLA

PRINT MEDIA OUTLOOK: In October 1995,group company hath way investment private limited entered in the print media. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine headed by Vinod Mehta, galvanised a sluggish market reeling under the impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly carved a significant niche for itself among discerning readers who value its in-depth, investigative reporting as well as its stylish visual format. Known to be fiercely independent, Outlook has shaken the establishment on events ranging from Kargil to Kashmir to cricket, sensitised the reading public to important issues like big dams, education and gender, and provided an unremitting focus on South Asian geopolitics. Today, Outlook is the preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in India, and sells more than 11.2 million copies over the year. OUTLOOK MONEY: In July 1998, the Group launched "Intelligent Investor" rechristened as "OUTLOOK MONEY" as of 30-Nov-2002, India's first personal finance magazine, which offers sound strategies for the lay investor, especially the growing segment of salaried middle and upper middle-class and self-employed professionals. Its message is clear and simple: 'Invest well, borrow wisely, spend smartly'. Evidently, that message has gone down well: the magazine sold upwards of 1,00,000 copies a fortnight within a year. One of its distinguishing characteristics is that about 93 per cent of readers retain all past issues of Outlook Money. OUTLOOK TRAVELER: Outlook Traveler is a monthly magazine from the stable of Outlook Publishing India Pvt. Limited and the only significant magazine aimed at the travel reader. Every month since June 2001 OT has introduced readers to the wonders of unknown destinations while also encouraging travelers to take a fresh look at familiar 21

places. Whether people are planning a holiday, or simply dreaming of one, Outlook Traveler continues to take them closer. OUTLOOK SAPTAHIK : Outlook Saptahik, a weekly newsmagazine, was launched in October 2002 to establish significant presence amongst the vast Hindi reading audience. The product targets the evolved Hindi reader keeping their interests, realities & aspirations in mind. Outlook Saptahik retains the core strengths of Outlook with objective, fiercely impartial and bold journalism, while brandishing its own identity through a strong paral .

WEB MEDIA OUTLOOKINDIA.COM: In 1998, Outlook went online as outlookindia.com, drawing into its fold the vast, nascent readership of expatriate Indians. outlookindia.com is both Outlook magazine's home on the Internet and an online publication. Apart from Outlook's print edition in its entirety - supplemented with links to related articles on its own site and elsewhere on the Web - outlookindia.com also offers an array of original Webonly columns and and news updates every day with a very lively interactive section. OUTLOOKTRAVELLER.COM: Inaugurated as a web resource in 2000, this travel Website has since come a long way. Outlooktraveller began by opening up new vistas in web-driven vacation planning, with its highly focused editorial features on an array of destinations. Still a highlight of the website, these are supported by tools and resources that make putting together your holiday a breeze ? from selecting your destination, to choosing your mode of transport, finding your way around the map, selecting a place to stay to catching the local festivities, plus ferreting out the nearest ATM, fuel stop or cyber cafe. Here there is something for everyone; themed vacation ideas from 'A for adventure' to 'W for wildlife', honeymooners dream destinations, foodies delights, first-person travelogues, a message room where you can exchange notes or ask us for more info that you want? And don't forget to book your copies of our international award-winning bestsellers from 22

Outlook Traveler Getaways, available at a special price when you order on the website. If you want a sneak preview, there're excerpts from the guide books by renowned authors, including the likes of Prabhu Ghate, Ruskin Bond and Jug Suraiya. Outlookmoney.Com: outlookmoney.com takes forward the philosophy and beliefs ushered in by Intelligent Investor (the personal finance magazine that was launched in mid-1998, now known as Outlook Money). The site has six channels -- Stocks, Mutual Funds, Loans, Retirement Planning, Taxation and Insurance -- that address broad areas of the personal finance spectrum. Outlookmoney.com comes with many interactive tools. The Loans channel alone sports calculators that do all the number crunching a visitor may want on home, car, personal or equity loans. outlookmoney.com seeks to provide total solutions to personal finance issues -- from disseminating information to providing avenues for ecommerce transactions.

23

COMPETITORS
HOME MAGAZINE OUTLOOK MONEY OUTLOOK BUSINESS COMPETITORS MONEY TODAY BUSINESS ECONOMY,BUSINESS TODAY OUTLOOK TRAVELLER OUTLOOK HINDI OUTLOOK PROFIT MARIE CLAIRE NEWS WEEK TRAVEL TODAY SAPTAHIK NO COMPETITORS COSMO,FEMINA,NEW WOMAN,VOGUE TIMES (Worlds leading international news magazine) OUTLOOK (ENGLISH) INDIA TODAY

MARKET PROFILE OF THE ORGANISATION UMBRELLA PRODUCTS OF OUTLOOK

24

Magazine Magazine division division

Internet division Internet division

Events Events division division

Books Books division division

Outlook Outlook English English Outlook Hindi Outlook Hindi Outlook Outlook Money Money Outlook Outlook Business Business Outlook Profit Outlook Profit Marie Claire Marie Claire People People GEO GEO Outlook Outlook Traveler Traveler

Outlook Money Outlook Money outlookindia.com outlookindia.com outlookmoney.com outlookmoney.com outlooktraveller.com outlooktraveller.com Personal fin. Personal fin. show show OLM awards OLM awards

OLT OLT Getaways Getaways OLM Guides OLM Guides Outlook Outlook Classis Classis

25

CHAPTER 3

DISCUSSION ON TRAINING

WORK PROFILE
26

As a management trainee I joined OUTLOOK MAGZINESNew Delhi and I was given the profile of a RELATIONSHIP EXECUTIVE. I worked in the company as a RELATIONSHIP EXECUTIVE and my primary work in the company was to face individual to facilitate and participate in the planning and execution of field of marketing activites. I worked with my team,i met many customers and received their feedback and I was involved in business development activity. My profile was to do cold calling and to promote tha magzines so that the numbers of readership will increase.

27

KEY LEARNING
1. I got to know about the atmosphere of the organization. 2. The working condition of the company. 3. Code of conduct in a company and its rules and regulations. 4. Process and procedure of working. 5. Learned to take orders by superiors. 6. Way of communicating right thing at right time to subordinates and to superiors. 7. coordination at work. 8. Creating strategy on daily basis to achieve my daily target and make the job easier 9. Coordinate with everyone to achieve the target. 10. Creating hygienic atmosphere to work. 11. Learned how to work in stress.

CHAPTER 4 STUDY OF SELECTED RESEARCH PROBLEM

28

STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

1. Gender preferences for English magazines: From the analysis of 138 respondents it can be determined that out of total readers of English magazines there are 47% females and 63% males. 2. Type of magazine according to preferences by respondents: From the survey of 138 respondents 85% preferred to read business magazines, 46% preferred political magazines, 60% preferred fashion magazine, 72% tech savvy magazines, 48% preferred movies magazines, 39% preferred womens magazines and 20%preferred other sort of magazines. 3. Analysis of the reading habit of the respondents: From the survey, analysis of the reading habit of the respondents showed that 8% regularly readers, 45% whenever getting bored, 12% while waiting, 30% to get information, 5% read other magazines. 4. Places from where magazines are purchased : From the results of 138 respondents 46% had subscription for the magazine, 23% from the news stand, 8% from book stall, 7% second hand purchase and 14% from other ways. 5. Magazines subscribed by the respondents: From the 138 respondents estimate has been made that 53% prefer to read India Today, 26% prefer to read Outlook magazines and 21% prefer other magazines.

29

6. Motivation for magazine subscription: From the survey of 138 respondents the factors that motivated subscribers to subscribe for any magazine were that 43% got motivated due to gifts with them, 26% got motivated due to discounts they were getting, 14% due to ease of purchase, 7% were motivated by their friends, and 10% due to other factors.

7. Evaluation of magazines on the basis of various attributes:

From the survey the analysis to attributes shows that 72% give weight age to quality of content, 45% to coverage, 36% to print quality, 38% to paper quality, 62% go for value of money, 52% to schemes, 67% to unbiased reporting, 48% to Overall presentation.

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

From the analysis 75% liked schemes of the Outlook magazine offered, 66% went for the value of money, 65% for unbiased reporting, 56% for overall presentation, 42% for coverage, 38% went for paper quality, only 35% liked the quality of content and 33% for coverage. 9. Perception of customers about Outlook magazine: From the survey of 138 respondents6% regarded it as a very good magazine, 62% regarded it as a good magazine, 28% as fair magazine to read, 4% did not like the magazine. 10. Areas over which Outlook needs improvement: From 138 respondents 68% wanted improvement in quality of content, 21% in print quality and 11% in coverage.

30

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

To identify new segments and listing out potential customers.

Make strategy to approach them and create awareness.

Generate sales for outlook group magazines by increasing circulation in these segments.

To check the process of delivering the magazine to the subscriber within 25 days of subscription.

To improve readership profile.

31

RESEARCH METHEODLOGY
Problem Definition To determine the degree of satisfaction among the Outlook subscribers in aspects of Quality content and price of the Outlook magazines.. To determine the consumer repurchasing or renewing the Outlook subscription frequency. To determine the degree of relativeness between customer satisfaction and brand loyality for Outlook magazines. To determine the efficiency of Outlooks product delivery system.

Management Decision Problem Should Outlook increase its magazines subscription rates in comparision to its competitors? Should Outlook increase the efforts for making the present customer care services more effective? What efforts could be taken to promote the brand loyalty among the present customers? Do Outlook processes need more automation?

32

CHAPTER 5

ANALYSIS

33

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Question 1# Have you ever renewed the subscription of Outlook magazine? Ans. Yes - 27% No - 73% FINDING ;

Only 27% subscribers renewed their subscription ,rest 73% has never renewed their subscription.Which means that somewhere there is less motivation for the rebuying behaviour. Question 2# Have you ever used the customer care service of Outlook ? Ans. YES 81 % NO - 19%

FINDING; 81 % Consumers or subscribers have used the customer care service.It means that huge number of customers have some or the other Query. That gives an insight that the service delivery is at question and certainly needs some improvement.

Question 3# How would you rate the experience of Query solution of customer care service of Outlook? Ans. Excellent - 43% Good - 21%

Satisfactory-21% Poor -10%

Very poor -5%

34

FINDING; The customer care service is excellent for only 43% subscribers. Almost 20 % said good and satifactory.This gives an insight that upto some extent services are good, but when carefully observed it came out that few queries solution needs sometime to get solved which also become a reason for dissatisfaction among the customers who find this service poor or very poor. Question 4# How would you rate the delivery service of Outlook magazines at your place? Ans. Excellent - 20% Good - 25%

Satisfactory-20% Poor -19%

Very poor -16%

FINDING; Product delivery service has got mixed response.Those customers who got their magazines and gifts items at time are satisfied or given the rating good or excellent.But the customers who got the magazines or gift item one day late also has given the rating as Poor and very poor for those who didnt get any magazine or sometimes encountered no gifts. .

Question 5# How would you rate the Quality content of the Outlook magazine? Ans. Excellent - 41% Good - 35%

Satisfactory - 22% Poor Very FINDING; 35 - 2% poor nil

Outlook is a very big brand in itself.Any brand becomes popular for its Quality and fulfillment of the perceived value of the brand.As there are so many competitors in the media sector,this response for Outlook is really appreciative. 41% of respondents responded as the Quality of Outlook is excellent.It means still Outlook is giving great competition to its competitors. Question 6# How would you rate the competitiveness of our Outlook magazines with other magazines,in the sense do they represent the best value for the total cost of your subscription ownership? ANS. Excellent - 35% Good - 39%

Satisfactory 15% Poor - 10%

Very poor 1%

FINDING; When surveyed most of the magazine readers suggested that the Performance of Outlook is excellent or good or satisfactory because the problems like Query Solution or delayed product delivery is the issue with all the known and reknowned magazines or newspapers.It means with all the above covered issues , Outlook has maintained its position because it give and satisfies the content need of the readers. Question 7# How would you rate Outlooks total Quality and service management to ensure complete customer satisfaction? ANS. Excellent Good - 16% -39%

Satisfactory- 31% Poor - 10 % 36

Very poor - 4%

Findings This data provides the conclusion that still there is a lot of scope to improvise for Outlook though it is performing well in the market and penetrating very rapidly.It could be a market leader if it concentrates few aspects of customer satifaction .Still 39% of respondents responding it as good is not bad at all.

S.W.O.T ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION

STRENGTHS: Well organized and experienced staff . Innovative and customer oriented products. Direct approach to the customer Customer satisfaction. Strong distribution network Efficient and fast delivery system.

WEAKNESS Price of some magazines is high. Customer perception that outlook serves to a political party.

37

OPPORTUNITIES: It has many products capturing all sectors information so it has an opportunity to

become a market leader. THREATS: Number of competitors in the market. India today has already captured the big market share

38

CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

SUMMARY OF LEARNING EXPERIENCE

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. I got to know about the atmosphere of the organization. The working condition of the company. Code of conduct in a company and its rules and regulations. Process and procedure of working. Learned to take orders by superiors. 39

6. Way of communicating right thing at right time to subordinates and to superiors. 7. coordination at work. 8. Creating strategy on daily basis to achieve my daily target and make the job easier 9. Coordinate with everyone to achieve the target. 10. Creating hygienic atmosphere to work. 11. Learned how to work in stress. 12. Flexible towards changing working environment. 13. Ability to keep time/cost factor under control

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Effective promotional scheme a strategy for consumer motivation

It is important to motivate the consumer to subscribe for the magazine for boosting the sales and its obvious that most of the consumers will not get motivated unless and until they get what they want. From the market survey it was able to identify that the motivating factors are the gifts provided along with the subscriptions and according 40

to most of the consumers a good gifts are one which have good brand value associated with it and those which offer better utility. 2. Offline referral marketing a strategy for customer or subscriber motivation Referral marketing can be effectively used to improve the subscription sales. The existing customer can be motivated to refer to their friends, relatives etc. to subscribe for the magazine by means of exciting and attractive gifts as incentives. The magazine should provide Business reply cards exclusive for existing subscriber along with subscribers copies during the magazine delivery so that they can refer their friends and relatives for magazine subscription. The business reply card should offer the facility to be filled with at least ten references. Subscribers should be able to send them free of cost. Now these subscribers can be provided with attractive gifts.

3. Customer retention

It is a normal saying that customer acquisition is good, retention is better. This is because a customer retained is equal to five new customers as the money spent for acquiring a customer is calculated to be five times the money spent to retain a customer. From the information obtained from Outlook, if was identified that Outlook does nothing for customer retention. Outlook needs to formulate and implement customer retention and loyalty programs to retain the customers. Greet the customers with exciting gifts during special occasions Sell the subscription renewal at discount Auto renewal of subscription Allow grace period for subscription expiry Send loyalty gifts Organize entertainment events for subscribers 41

Organize get togethers Offer free Medical claim/Insurance Policy

4. Improved magazine for customer satisfaction From the market survey it was revealed that the strengths of Outlook Magazine are Promotional Schemes and unbiased reporting. Its weaknesses are its Content quality, Paper quality and Print quality so it should work on it to increase the customers satisfaction. If the product is able to satisfy customers in its core product attributes, then the customer will be tend to be loyal as their expectations are fulfilled. So to improve customer loyalty and thereby increase voluntary sales outlook magazine has to work on its weaknesses as expected by the customers of the magazine Since the quality of content and coverage are subjective in nature, Outlook needs to identify what are weaknesses of the current contents and coverage of the magazine as well as the customers expectations about them. For this Outlook should go for detailed survey and customers feedback so that it can understand the customers expectations as far as content and coverage of the magazine are concerned. Once the customer expectation is identified Outlook need to restructure the magazine by implementing the customer requirements and demands in order to improve their satisfaction level which will in turn boost the magazine as well as subscription sales

42

CONCLUSION
1. Encourage Face-to-Face Dealings 2. Respond to Messages Promptly & Keep Your Clients Informed 3. Be Friendly and Approachable 4. Have a Clearly-Defined Customer Service PolicY 5. Attention to Detail

43

6. Anticipate Your Client's Needs & Go Out Of Your Way to Help Them Out 7. Honour Your Promises

APPENDICES CUSTOMER SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE

MAGAZINES

Customer Name: .. Date:.. Sex: . 44 Customer contact:

Age: .. Profession: . Qualification:..

We would be grateful if you could spare a few minutes to complete this Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire to help us ensure that our standard of customer care exceeds expectations wherever possible. NOTE: This test is taken for the purpose of research and the information given by you will be kept confidential. Hence give your answer without hesitation

Questionnaire :
1. Which of the following magazines have you read? ANS. .......... Outlook ... Business ... Traveller ... Geo Money .... Out look Hindi . Career 360 . Marie Claire 45 . Profit . People Lounge ... News Week

... Business Week 2. . Which magazine are you currently reading of Outlook? ANS. . .......... Outlook ... Business ... Traveller ... Geo Money .... Out look Hindi . Career 360 . Marie Claire . Profit . People Lounge ... News Week

... Business Week 3. Which other magazine do you read? ANS. . .. .

4. Which is your most favorite magazine of Outlook? ANS. 5.Which is your most favorite magazine of all the magazines you know or you have read yet? Why?(Describe briefly) ANS. 6. What is the means of purchase for the magazine of your interest?

46

ANS... News paper vendor Subscription

Book shop

7.Does News paper vendor give you any consession on buying magazines from him? ANS. Yes ..No

8.If your answer of Question No.7 is Yes , then is that consession is more than or equal to or less than the subscription charges of the magazines? ANS ..More ..Equal .Less 9.Have you ever subscribed any of the Outlook Magazine? ANS. .yes no

10. If your answer of Question No.9 is Yes , then how many times you have renewed the subscription? ANS. ..Never ..Specify the counts of renewal Please tick the appropriate box to indicate your degree of satisfaction. Where 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 4.Poor. 5.Very poor 11. You subscribed any of the outlook magazine through Ans. 1 ..Online 2 ..Relationship executive of outlook 3Directly filling up the form given in one of the outlook magazine. 47

12.If the answer of Question No.11 is option no.3 then, When our Relationship executives went to you,How would you rate their dealing with you? ANS. 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 4.Poor. 5.Very poor 13.Have you ever used the customer care service of Outlook magazines? ANS. ..Yes No 14. If the answer of question no.13 is YES ,then how would you rate your experience of query solution of customer care service of Outlook Magazine? ANS. 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 4.Poor. 5.Very poor 15. How would you rate the efficiency of your Query solution related to Outlook magazine? ANS. 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 4.Poor. 5.Very poor 16.How would you rate the delivery of the Outlook magazine to your address which you have ever subscribed? 48

ANS. 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 4.Poor. 5.Very poor 17.How would you rate the Quality of content of any of the Outlook magazine which you have ever subscribed? ANS. 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 4.Poor. 5.Very poor

18.How would you rate the competitiveness of our Outlook magazines with other magazines,in the sense do they represent the best value for the total cost of your subscription ownership? ANS. 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 4.Poor. 5.Very poor 19.How would you rate Outlooks total Quality and service management to ensure complete customer satisfaction? ANS. 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 49

4.Poor. 5.Very poor 20.How would you rate overall Outlook magazines? ANS. 1.Excellent 2.Good.. 3.Satisfactory.. 4.Poor. 5.Very poor

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Referred Books: 1.Solomon, Michael R., Consumer Behavior-Buying,Having and Being, 2009 Pearson Education Inc., 2.Malhotra,Naresh K., Dash, Satyabhusan., Marketing Reseach,An applied orientation,2010,Pearson Education Inc., 3. Cooper & Schindler, Business Research 4. Belch George, Belch Michael , Avertising and promotion 5.Kotler Phillip, Marketing Management

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