W h e n y o u’ r e s u r e

A Summer Internship Project Report on

Comparative Analysis of Financial Dailies
Developed At

Submitted as a partial requirement for the degree of Master of

Business Administration

Submitted By:

Khushali Thakkar (33)

Guided by:

Mr. Kunal Panchal.

Submitted To:-
Faculty of Management Studies
M.S.University,
Vadodara.

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 Declaration

This is to certify that the project entitled

“Comparative Analysis of Financial
Dailies” which is undertaken at
Business Standard Ltd., Ahmedabad
and is being submitted by Ms. Khushali
Thakkar of Faculty of Management
Studies, Baroda affiliated with The
Maharaja Sayajirao University during
10-05-2010 to 09-07-2010. The matter embodied in this report has not been submitted for award of
other degree of research work.

Internal Project Guide Dean

Prof. (Dr) Jayrajsinh D. Jadeja Prof. (Dr) G. C. Maheshwari

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude towards my institute “Faculty of Management Studies”

for providing me with this opportunity to develop such a project which enhanced my knowledge and
self-confidence.

The development of this project involves the contribution and assistance of a number of people.
At the very start, I would like to pay homage to our respected teachers which constitute the very
inspirational and intellectual guides.

I give my most sincere thanks to Prof. (Dr) Jayrajsinh D. Jadeja and other faculty members
who have always been a guiding, encouraging and motivating force.

I am very grateful for the support of our project guide Mr. Kunal Panchal of Business
Standard Ltd.

I have done sincere efforts in making this project as a useful and an intelligent task.

Khushali Thakkar

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements
Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………….…6
2. Media and Entertainment Industry………………………………………………………….….8
Print Media in India……………………………………………………………….……8
All India Media Penetration….........................................................................................9
3. Business Standard……………………………………………………………………………...10
History…………………………………………………………………………………10
Organizational Profile………………………………………………………………….10
Vision…………………………………………………………………………………..12
Mission…………………………………………………………………………………12
Business Ethics………………………………………………………………………...12
Important Figures………………………………………………………………………13
Organizational Hierarchy……………………………………………………………….15
4. Product Portfolio……………………………………………………………………………….16
The Supplements……………………………………………………………………….18
About Magazines……………………………………………………………………….19
5. Department Details……………………………………………………………………………..23
6. ABC- Audit Bureau of Circulation……………………………………………………………..26
7. Distribution……………………………………………………………………………………..30
8. Porter’s five force model analysis………………………………………………………………31
9. 7-S Framework………………………………………………………………………………….34
10. Competitors……………………………………………………………………………………..36
11. Swot
Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………...38
12. Research
Methodology………………………………………………………………………….39
Research Plan…………………………………………………………………………...39
Market Research
Process………………………………………………………………..39
Target Audience………………………………………………………………………...39
Sampling Method……………………………………………………………………….40
Sample Size……………………………………………………………………………..40
Data
Collection………………………………………………………………………….40
Questionnaire Survey…………………………………………………………………...41

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 Sample
Questionnaire…………………………………………………………………...42

13. Interpretations and Findings…………………………………………………………………....44

No of readers of financial newspaper…………………………………………………..44
Since how long are you reading the newspaper………………………………………..45
Most understandable language………………………………………………………....46
Feature you like the most………………………………………………………………47
Brand Equity…………………………………………………………………………...48
Market Potential…………………………………………………………………….….48
14. Learnings………………………………………………………………………………………49
Concepts…………………………………………………………………………….....49
Strategies………………………………………………………………………………51
15. Suggestions and Recommendations…………………………………………………………...52
16. Selected Customer Responces………………………………………………………………....53
17. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………..54
18. Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………...55

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Newspaper is a product which is required by all. Delay in the distribution can cause many problems to
the readership figures. It is a product which loses its value as the day goes on. It is a product without
which a day cannot be started, without which no business can survive.

Business Standard is a financial daily published from Monday to Saturday. It prides itself on the
coverage of the major happenings in the industry as well as the financial sector. It also provides some
very important news and tips regarding stock markets which are very much helpful to the investors and
stock brokers. Business Standard is ABC Certified and the readership figures given by them give a
proof for the surety of the figures stated.

There are various people & departments involved in assembling the correct information and making it
reach the consumer in the form of a Newspaper. Hence all these departments are interlinked and proper
co-operation and co-ordination is a must in the 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 can lead to a blunder.

Editorial: Editorial department is heart of the Newspaper industry. Because it’s the editorial team who
complete the news paper. This team takes up the role of deciding which news should appear and which
should not.

Scheduling: This department is in-charge of making space and deciding the actual spot for all the news
and the advertisements. There are various factors at work here, hence the scheduling team has to do a
proper job in order to ensure a proper balance between the News items and Advertisements.

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Technical support: This department is acts as a support to all the other departments. Essentially the
Technical Support Team is required to look after the issues and problems related to IT. Since the major
chunk of the work is done online, co-ordination needs to be maintained at all times amongst all the
printing offices of the Country.

Advertising: The Revenue generation for the company is done through Advertisement. Hence this
department gains primary importance in terms of the people and the workforce working. This
department contacts to all the corporates and convinces them to sponsor copy or give advertisements in
the newspaper.

Production: If there is good matter available, many advertisements, efficient technical personal but, a
lack of an effective production team can hamper the quality and the outlook in the minds of the
Consumers. The Production Team is responsible for the printing & packaging process of the newspaper
after it has been designed.

Circulation: This department helps the Consumers obtain the newspaper every morning. The function
of this department is to start the distribution chain of the newspaper after the Production is done with.
The entire process needs to run smoothly in order to ensure the correct delivery of each piece of
newspaper daily.

The report analysis “Consumer Behavior of a Financial Daily”, the survey used the method of a
questionnaire to gauge the consumer response. The findings from the data collected so far, bring forth a
positive image for the Business Standard brand. This also helps me conclude that there is a potential
market for the newspaper to tap.

Overall my 60 days at Business Standard were a perfect training experience where I have learnt many
things:

• how to try and convince people,

• handling the customer,

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 • handle the pressures,

• follow up the customer,

• and many other marketing strategies.

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

Media, the fourth estate, when entwined with the entertainment component represents an effective facet
of consumers in India. Technology has played a key role in influencing the entertainment industry, by
redefining its products, cost structure and distribution.

The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry stood at US$ 12.9 billion in 2009 registering a
1.4 per cent growth over last year, according to a joint report by KPMG and an industry chamber. Over
the next five years, the industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13
per cent to reach the size of US$ 24.04 billion by 2014, the report stated. Additionally, the gaming
segment is expected to be the fastest growing sector in the M&E industry. The sector showed a 22 per
cent growth in 2009 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 32 per cent to reach US$ 705.2 million by
2014, while the animation segment is expected to record a CAGR of 18.7 per cent in the next five years
as per the joint report.

THE PRINT MEDIA INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The print media industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9 per cent and targets to reach around US$
5.93 billion by 2014, according to the joint report by KPMG and an industry chamber.

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Jagran Prakashan of Jagran Group, which publishes one of India's largest read language dailies, stated
that it will acquire all the publications of Mid-Day Multimedia in a stock deal valued nearly at US$ 40
million.

Foreign investment, including foreign direct investments (FDI) and investment by non-resident Indians
(NRIs)/person of Indian origin (PIO)/foreign institutional investor (FII), up to 26 per cent, is permitted
for publishing of newspapers and periodicals dealing with news and current affairs under the
Government route.

FDI policy for publication of Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news and current
affairs is:

• Foreign investment, including FDI and investment by NRIs/PIOs/FII, up to 26 per cent, is

permitted under the Government route.

• 'Magazine', for the purpose of these guidelines, will be defined as a periodical publication,
brought out on non-daily basis, containing public news or comments on public news.

• Foreign investment would also be subject to the Guidelines for Publication of Indian editions of
foreign magazines dealing with news and current affairs issued by the Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting (I&B) on Publishing/printing of Scientific and Technical Magazines/specialty
journals/ periodicals 100per cent FDI is permitted under the Government route.

ALL INDIA MEDIA PENETRATION

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 Source: http://www.battery.com/content/news/Charger/November2007/media_in_india.html

BUSINESS STANDARD-HISTORY

Business Standard: A standard paper for the business class. “When you’re sure” is what we always
believe in at Business Standard. Print media has bought considerable changes in the life of people
around the globe. Business Standard Ltd. was incorporated on 15th December, 1975 under the name of
“Desh Publication Pvt. Ltd.” This was changed to “Business Standard Limited” on 23rd November,
1995. The head office of the company is located at Delhi. The company is managed, under the
leadership and guidance of the board of directors. The company has completed its 30 years in the year
2005. The company believes in ethical conduct through professional management and has a forward
looking outlook.

ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE
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BUSINESS STANDARD is the country's most respected business daily, being the first choice of
serious business readers. It is published in color from 12 centers in India - Mumbai (formerly Bombay),
New Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Bangalore, Chennai (formerly Madras), Ahmedabad,
Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kochi and Bhubaneswar and Pune. The newspaper believes in free,
fair and independent journalism and strives to inculcate these values in its editorial staff. The
journalism practiced by BUSINESS STANDARD lays equal stress on quality, credibility and accuracy.

BUSINESS STANDARD has the country's best economic journalists and columnists working for it. It
is edited by T.N. Ninan, perhaps India’s best-known business journalist, who had earlier undertaken a
complete and highly successful revamp of The Economic Times and was responsible for its
phenomenal growth.

Apart from a business newspaper, BSL publishes several periodicals, including BS Motoring, Indian
Management, Asian Management Review, a quarterly publication, and two regional language business
newspapers – BUSINESS STANDARD in Hindi and BUSINESS STANDARD in Gujarati. The
Hindinewspaper is published simultaneously from seven centers – Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh,
Lucknow, Bhopal, Patna and Kolkata.

The company sees content creation, content processing and content management as its core
competence. It offers complete outsourcing solutions for organizations which want to bring out in-
house or private publications but lack the people and/or resources to do it cost-effectively. The web
properties of BSL, including the online edition of Business Standard, include businessstandard.com,
bsmotoring.com, bshindi.com and bsgujarati.com.

At business-standard.com, you have access to one of the best repositories of Indian and global business
news. Apart from the flagship publication, the website also features content from The Smart Investor
(weekly), The Strategist (Weekly) and BS Motoring (monthly).

businessstandard.com is the online property of Business Standard Ltd (BSL), publisher of India’s
leading business daily, Business Standard. The website attracts 1.5 million unique visitors every month,
the highest such number for any stand-alone business newspaper website in India.

Business Standard 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

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with the reader. All Business Standard journalists sign on to a code of conduct that is available on this
website.

Business Standard has a 200-person editorial team that is led by Sanjaya Baru, and includes well-
known journalists like AK Bhattacharya, Sunil Jain and Shyamal Majumdar.

Business Standard’s 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.

It offers syndicated columns from Martin Feldstein and Dani Rodrick, and content from
Breakingviews.com--with exclusivity in the Indian market.

In addition to two newspapers, BSL publishes two monthly magazines (Indian Management and
Business Standard Motoring), as well as a quarterly (Asian Management Review). The company also
has a books division, which publishes books under the BS Books imprint.

BSL’s website properties include bshindi.com, bsmotoring.com, and smartinvestor.in. This last is a
dedicated information-cum-trading site for investors.

BSL is majority-owned by the Kotak Mahindra Group, but is run independently through a board of
directors, with TN Ninan (a former editor of the newspaper and perhaps India’s best known business
journalist) as chairman and editorial director.

VISION

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  To stand at a respectful position in this marathon and keep up with the pace of the changing
needs of our valuable readers.
 To win more and more readers.
 In addition of being backed up by a strong product, company needs to deliver.

MISSION

 The mission is to expand the market share of Business Standard amongst the potential market present
in the Indian Economy and also to ensure make the publication the Best in the Country.

BUSINESS ETHICS

 Business Standard is neutral and most credible financial newspaper.

 Business Standard is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting information
regarding current events, trends, issues and people.

IMPORTANT FIGURES
Readership of Business Standard:

Business Standard is India’s second largest and fastest growing newspaper having growth rate of 300%
in past four years. It has a readership over a quarter million.

Its readership profile encompasses the brightest and the best from India’s business and finance
communities, readers come from varied occupations in the field of business, finance, government,
policy makers and academics, stock brokers, decision makers, researchers and students and observers
of the Indian Economy.

Attraction:

Rich with informative supplements, a vibrant section on personal finance, banking, careers and
technology, travel, books reviews and reviews of arts and cultures are the major attractive sections. It is

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the most reliable and affordable business newspaper available in Gujarat at Rs. 3/- on weekdays and
Rs. 6/- for the weekend edition (Saturday & Sunday).

Economics of publication house:

A newspaper cost is Rs. 15-17 to the publication house at Business Standard. The cost is covered from
the advertisements that they receive, which is the work of the space marketing department i.e.
collecting advertisements for the dailies. Corporates advertise in only those newspapers where there is
a considerable audience and a large network of circulation. Therefore it is imperative for the
publication house to create a class of readership for the publication in order to attract the advertisers as
well corporates and also build a strong brand image.

Positioning Statement of Business Standard -“When you’re sure”:

To succeed in a competitive environment, one requires a strategy. To manage the distribution channel
properly is not the only that the market development department has to perform. The department has to
take care for the necessary steps required to tape the opportunities prevailing in the market.

Hence the tagline, “When you’re sure” was decided to be associated by the publication house with the
Brand of Business Standard. The tagline infuses a certain amount of confidence amongst the
consumers.

Achievements:

 Business Standard is one of the only Newspapers in India to have a foreign collaboration
(Financial Times Group, London) which helps with the International News Coverage.
 Business Standard also has an annual series of awards to felicitate outstanding leadership in the
corporate world.
 Content tie up with NDTV, a leading Media product in the Country.
 ABC approved

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 ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY
T.N.Ninan
(Chief Managing
editor/director)

Sanjay baru Akila Urankar

(Chief Editor) (CEO)

A.K.Bhattachary Vijay Kadu Sachin Alok

a (V.P. Paniskar Aggrawal
(Group M.D.) Marketing) (V.P. Space (COO)
Marketing)

D.Basu H.L.Gupta Bandana Roy

(Admin/HR) (Production) (Systems)

Kamaldeep Singh
(Finance Head) [16]
 NORTH EAST SOUTH

WEST
Ahmedabad

Pune
Mumbai

Hardik Joshi
(Manager)

Kunal Panchal
(Sr. Officer)
Summer Trainees

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

 About Business Standard Newspaper (Ahmedabad Publication)

• A newspaper which is published from MON to SAT (Sunday edition published only at
Delhi and Bombay)
• Price at the weekdays is Rs. 3/- and on Saturday is Rs. 6/-
• The size of the newspaper is 50, or 51 or 52 cm. in length and 32.9 cm. Width.
• Supplements with newspaper:
 Monday : The Smart Investor
 Tuesday : The Strategist
 Saturday : Weekend
8 pages on Stock Market as Money and Market.
 Six full pages on stock details both in Graphical and alphabetical form.

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  BS 200 which consists of the top 200 companies stock details, calculated on 22
parameters.
 Formulae specifications.
 Mutual Fund details on full page coverage.
 Insurance schemes on half pages
 Guidelines on how to read stock pages and the abbreviations.
• The Accent West section for covering all the news of Gujarat.
• Specific Industry based coverage of news on dedicated pages.
• Collaboration with the international newspaper “FINANCIAL TIMES” London
• Publishes 4 magazines annually.
 The Banking Annual
 BS 1000
 The Billionaire Club
 Fund Manager

Editions from Monday to Friday have a main edition of about 12 pages with colored pages in the
front and the rest are black and white. The following areas are focused:
 National and International news
 Economy and Policy news
 Infrastructure news
 Companies news
 Editorial pages
 Crossword, Sudoku
 Education News
 Business law

Section II: MONEY AND MARKETS

 Stock market news

 Money and currencies

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  Metal an intermediates news
 Commodity news
 BS 200
 Share prices in a alphabetical order
 Mutual fund and insurance

ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS

MONDAY: THE STRATEGIST

 Theories and practices of business managements.

 Brand related news
 Notes by management thinkers
 Book worm
 Quiz column

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 SATURDAY: WEEKEND

 Life and fashion

 Living
 Entertainment
 Motoring

ABOUT MAGAZINES

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A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by
advertising and/or purchase by readers. They are often printed in color on coated paper, and are bound
with a soft cover.

1) THE BANKING ANNUAL

Banking Annual, the one spot information providers regarding everything related to banks. Banks
are not only gives you security but many more things. To get an all round view of banks
functioning and their future action, banking annual provides with all.

 Banks valuation
 Banker of the year
 Innovation bought and which would be coming in the near future
 Data’s related to banks.

2) BS 1000
BS 1000 is a detailed guide to India’s top 100 companies. The issues of
BS 1000 mention those depressing times, providing data on the impact of
the slowdown on corporate, the deterioration in their financials, how they
coped with crisis. Not just bad phases but also the success stories are
mentioned. It also peeks into the future, where which industries booming,
with what phase, with what strategies, etc are discussed. Below are the
main features:

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  BS awards.
 1000 best companies
 ranking and performance of the leaders of the country
 1000 companies growth, gross profit, net profit, etc

3) THE BILLIONAIRE CLUB

This is the only magazine with the listing of India’s billionaire. Billionaire club is much more than
providing the order of rich people, providing the slid down or slid up of individuals, it is also a
snapshot of the changing trends in the Indian economy. By focusing on the spotlight; it showcases
the creators of value in the economy. It too has certain other features which are:

 A list of the richest people of the country

 New person added to the list
 Salary details of CEO & MD

4) FUND MANAGER

Fund Manager, as the name suggests that it gives a full insight to the funds investment. It focuses
on facts and figures on mutual funds. The fund manager seeks to rank mutual funds schemes and

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also rate the best fund manager of the year. Below given are the few additional features of the Fund
Manager:

 Risk return rating over 600 funds

 Futures of new fund offerings
 Best fund pick

OTHER MAGAZINES

MOTORING

Motoring is a monthly magazine. It gives all the information

related to cars and bikes. It gives information about upcoming
models, features and specialties of them. The entire edition
has something special in them. Certain expert’s interview
related to the automobile industry.

INDIAN MANAGEMENT

It is also a stand monthly magazine. It is made especially for

the management students. The students get all the
information they need through the magazine. It is a one
point access to cutting edge ideas in management. It gives:

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  Superior management coverage
 Delivers latest management theories
 Opinions from thought leaders
 Global trends and innovations
 Insights from carefully analyzed case studies
 Book reviews.

THE STRATEGIST

The strategist is the combined edition of the entire strategist section which published weekly with the
newspaper. The strategist contains the pick of the articles over the previous year an a half. The objective of
the annual recollected magazine is to gibe ‘the best’ to the BS reader. The main motto of the magazine being
to take out the strategies out of book, to understand the classic pitfalls of the big brands, to understand many
other things with practical case studies.

THE WORLD OF B-SCHOOLS

It focuses on the best B-schools of India with the articles like the B-school Roadmap, what matters the most
courses, faculty of infrastructure, when you go for B-school hunting, etc provide the all kind of answers to
the mind of a b-school seeker. Hence it gives what students want “An Answer”

DEPARTMENT DETAILS

A brief department detail to give an idea of where the things are placed in Business Standard is as
follows:

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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 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. Another

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function is 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 15/- to 17/- 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.

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Editorial 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 sends to the Mumbai and Delhi for the adjustment. The group
Managing Director of the Business Standard is MR. A. K. Bhattacharya

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 the advertiser, which matter and advertisement should be in which page is the looked out by
scheduling people. For this scheduling the department forms a dummy A-4 size, adjusting the editorials
and the ads in that paper to know the place of the same in the original size paper.

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SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT
System department is responsible for the communication network as well as all the technical related
problems in the company. All the branches of Business Standard 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
everyday 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 system 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 lakhs. 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 is Black, Yellow, Cyan and
magenta. 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. The cost of reel is Rs.
10000.

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 how many copies should be reach at each center
i.e. local or upcountry.

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There are about 46 upcountry and 6 in Ahmedabad. 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.

FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT
This department is responsible for all the financial matters. Matters are related to salary, operational
expenses and other expenses. It is also responsible for the cutting the cost of the publication.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

This is the department responsible for the HR supply in the company. For Business Standard this
department is not in Ahmedabad, but it is in Mumbai. It means that the Business Standard 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 the
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.

ABC –Audit Bureau Circulation

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The ABC is a non-profit, self discipline, voluntary organization consisting of publishers, advertisers
and advertising agencies. It has done pioneering work in developing systems to verify the circulation
data published by those newspaper and periodicals, which have earned the right to display its emblem.
Facts and figures which are checked and certified by an independent body are a very important tool in
the hands of the advertising business community.

What information does an Audit Report provide?

o A total average of distribution is provided.

o Market coverage

o Public access

o Distribution by issue

o Geographic distribution

o One day distribution

o Other details: The explanatory paragraph provides supplemental information and disclosures
and includes an explanation of audit methodology.

An advertiser would like to know the fact and figures before investing his money in advertising. An
advertiser ought to know how many people buy a publication and in which area. The ABC gives all
these vital facts every six months i.e. January to June and July to December. The ABC figures are not
the outcome of opinions or guesswork but they are the result of rigid, in-depth and impartial audits of
paid circulation of member publications by independent and leading firms of Chartered Accountants
working in accordance with the rules procedures prescribed by the bureau.

ABC Audit:-

[29]
What is ABC and how it is working?

ABC: The main function of ABC is to evolve, lay down a standard and uniform procedure by which a
member publisher shall compute its net paid sales. The circulation figure so arrived at is checked and
certified by a firm of Chartered Accountants which are approved by the Bureau. The Bureau issues
ABC certificates every six months to those publishers whose circulation figures confirm to the rules
and regulations as set out by the Bureau.

From a modest beginning it has grown to remarkable proportions. ABC's membership today includes
411 Publishers of national and regional importance, 151 Advertising Agencies, 51 Advertisers & 20
New Agencies and Associations connected with print media and advertising. It covers most of the
major towns in India.

Facts and figures which are checked and certified by an independent body are a very important tool in
the hands of the advertising business community. The details of ABC certified circulation figures are
available online to all members of the Bureau at no extra cost.

An Advertiser would like to know the facts and figures before investing his money in advertising. An
Advertiser ought to know how many people buy a publication and in which area. The ABC gives all
these vital facts every six months. The ABC figures are not the outcome of opinions, claims or
guesswork, but they are the result of rigid, in-depth and impartial audits of paid circulations of member
publications by independent and leading firms of Chartered Accountants working in accordance with
the rules / procedures prescribed by the Bureau.

The Policy formation body of the Bureau is the Council of Management consisting of elected
representatives from publishers (8), advertisers (4) and advertising agency (4) members of the Bureau.
To assist the Council of Management an Executive Committee is appointed by the Council, to guide
and oversee the day-to-day working of the Bureau. The Executive Committee consists of Publishers,
Advertisers and Advertising Agency Members of the Council. The Council of Management and the

[30]
Executive Committee meets regularly as often as required. The Chairman is elected annually by the
council of management.

Few important issues to take care as per ABC certification:

• Trade terms to agents on subscription copies should not exceed

• In case of dailies-40% of the subscription price

• In case of weeklies-45% of the subscription price

• Publishers have to maintain the full record of subscribers with their address, name and
signature.

• There are two types of panels for auditing:

• Auditors Panel

• Publishers Panel

[31]
 DISTRIBUTION

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 Business Standard reaches to you?

[32]
PORTER’S FIVE FORCE MODEL ANALYSIS

[33]
 1. The threat of substitute products:

Substitute product for company can be

• T.V. Media

• Magazines

• Internet

• Seminars and lectures of experts

What can be the factor of substitute product?

1. Buyer propensity to substitute

2. Relative price performance of substitutes

3. Perceived level of product differentiation

2. The threat of the entry of new competitors

Profitable markets that yield high returns will draw firms. The results are many new entrants, which
will effectively decrease profitability. Unless the entry of new firms can be blocked by incumbents, the
profit rate will fall towards a competitive level (perfect competition).

 economies of product differences

 brand equity

 capital requirements

 access to distribution

 learning curve advantages

 expected retaliation by incumbents

 government policies

3. The intensity of competitive rivalry

[34]
 The Competitors of Business Standard are

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

BUSINESS LINE

FINANCIAL EXPRESS

 number of competitors

 rate of industry growth

 exit barriers

 diversity of competitors

 informational complexity and asymmetry

 level of advertising expense

 Economies of scale

 Sustainable competitive advantage through improvisation

4. The bargaining power of customers

 bargaining leverage, particularly in industries with high fixed costs

 buyer volume

 buyer information availability

 availability of existing substitute products

 buyer price sensitivity

 differential advantage (uniqueness) of industry products

[35]
5. The bargaining power of suppliers

 degree of differentiation of inputs

 presence of substitute inputs

 supplier concentration to firm concentration

7‘S’ Framework
HARD “S”

STRUCTURE

Structure of Business Standard is very simple and straight forward. The people to be reported are not
many and so it is very simple to be part.

SYSTEM

A group of interacting, interrelated or interdependent elements forming a complex whole is a system.

System of interaction is very free in Business Standard. People love to eat together at lunch time, stay
there with each other in all times be it good or bad. Legally they follow a hierarchy. The system is well
defined and well managed.

STRATEGY

The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as
possible during peace or war is strategy. Strategies vary from time to time but what remains are the
truthfulness and the attitude. For the Business Standard what matters is its firm value and so all the
strategies are planned accordingly.

SOFT “ S”
[36]
STYLE

The way in which the work is to be done or expressed is Style. Business Standard is trying to do
everything openly but with a blast; a blast to make the others move from their chairs. They believe in
slow but steady reach to top so that readership is strong.

STAFF

Staff comprises of the people working in the Business Standard. People working together specialized in
their own areas of concern. But one thing is made sure that everyone’s work at Business Standard is
challenging. Everyone is appreciated for their work and they all work as a group.

SHARED VALUE

Shared Values are what engender trust and link in an organization. Shared values are also the identity
by which an organization is known throughout its business areas. These values must be stated as both
corporate objective and individual values. And at Business Standard people have joined the individual
and corporate goals; if necessary people are also ready to devote hours even after their service hour.

SKILLS

Proficiency, facility or dexterity is acquires or developed through training or experience is skills. Skills
are at times found inbuilt and most of the times is expected to learn on job. This helps them to
understand the stupid mistakes that they might do in a recent job oriented.

COMPETITORS
[37]
Competitors are unavoidable in today’s competitive scenario. The intensity will depend on your own
firms’ position and your competitors’ position. The following are the competitors of Business Standard.

 The Economic Times.

 The Financial Express.

 Business Line.

Comparison of Business Standard with its Competitors

[38]
SR. BUSINESS THE ECONOMIC FINANCIAL
PARAMETER BUSINESS LINE
NO. STANDARD TIMES EXPRESS

Price Cover price:1092

1 Cover Price:1534 Cover Price: 1460 Cover Price:1768
(One Year) Subscription: 650.

BS 200, 6 full
Stock market
2 page of share Good coverage Good information Good
analysis
details

Business +
4 Type of News Only Business Business + General Business
General

Bennett, Coleman The Hindu(Kasturi The Express

5 Group Kotak Mahindra
& Co. ltd. group) Group

Pages
6 20-28 22-24 20-24 12-24
(Average)

7 Color of pages Pink Pink White Pink

Week update on
8 Updates No No No
Sunday

9 Language Easy Moderate Hard Moderate

No. of location
10 12 cities 11 cities 14 cities 11 cities
of Publication

Position in the
11 2nd 1st 3rd 4th
Market

[39]
SWOT analysis of Business Standard

[40]
 STRENGTH WEAKNESS OPPORTUNITY THREAT

Systematic approach Low Brand Image Can give an extra page Availability of Online
covering all sectors. on Ahmedabad related news & analysis
news

Nominal price Product Features Increasing Literacy & Low Pricing Strategy
Income Earnings
.

Separate Money & No own publication Potential Market Toughest Competition

Market section house. Availability From The Economic
Times

BS 200 Display of ads Tie-ups with renowned Not having Sunday

sometimes creates a national newspaper edition
fuss. brands.

Over view of the whole Small Font Size and Can provide a section
week is given in more no. of pages on SME( The Fastest
weekend which require long time Growing Industry)
to read

Detailed analysis of Poor Service Quality

Companies with
graphical representation

[41]
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The objective of the present study could have accomplished by conducting a systematic market
research to know the promotional strategies and services of Business Standard Ltd. Market research
consist of the systematic collection, recording, analysis, Interpretation and reporting of
information about various facts of a phenomenon under study. It plays a truly analytical
approach to decision that will be take.

Research Plan

[42]
Research plan states how and when 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 plan states how and when procedures were employed to carry out the
research study. The data are primary. Research approach is Survey.

Market Research Process

Problem identification

Development of an approach to the problem

Research design formulation

Fieldwork or data collection

Data preparation and analysis

Report preparation and presentation

TARGET AUDIENCE

The financial newspapers generally cater to the following target audience (120):

 Corporate executives (20)

 Investors and Stock brokers (20)
 Businessmen (20)
 Bankers (20)
 Management students and professors (20)
 Chartered Accountants & other Professionals (20)

[43]
 SAMPLING METHOD

There was a little scope for change due to the duration of the study. So non-probability sampling was
preferred accordingly, convenient sampling method was used.

SAMPLE SIZE

The numbers of readers of business newspaper were decided on the basis of different types of
occupation and their designation. Sample size of 120 was taken for the research.

DATA COLLECTION

Since, data collection signifies a very crucial place in a pilot survey; I have collected primary data by
personal interview through structured questionnaires. I had used only this method because of time
constraints.

QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

The questionnaire for the purpose of this study was carefully drafted and very well developed. Proper
care has been taken in asking the questions, in wording them and in maintaining the sequence of the
question.

The questions asked were in open-ended and close-ended form, open-ended question were to get
customer’s own views and in close-ended questions, multiple-choice questions and dichotomies
questions were included.

This part of the data collection method can be termed as “quantitative survey” and the questions were
very specific. The data has been analyzed based on the statistical factors and been described through a
graphical analysis in the further pages.

[44]
 SAMPLE QUESTIONAIRE

1. Do you read a financial news paper?

Yes No

• If NO, then what is the reason?

Language

TV (News Channels, etc)

Internet

Vernacular Newspaper

[45]
 • If YES, then which Financial Newspaper do you read?

The Economic Times Financial Express

Business Standard Business Line

2. Since how long have you been reading the newspaper?

<2 yrs

3-5 yrs

6-10 yrs

>10 yrs

3. Which newspaper has most understandable language?

4. Which feature of the financial newspaper are you interested in?

Company news

Stock Information

Editorial

Economy/Political News

5. Please rank the following supplements from 1-4 (1 being the best).

Brand Equity (E.T.)

Investor’s Guide (E.T)

The Strategist (B.S)

[46]
 Weekend (B.S)

6. Would you like to switch-over to another newspaper if it provides you discounts or gifts?

Yes

No

7. PERSONAL DETAILS:

Name: Age:

Occupation/Designation: Organization:

Email: Contact No.:

Address:

INTERPRETATION AND FINDINGS

Which Financial newspaper do you read?

[47]
When asked to the population whether you read a financial newspaper or not, then 86% of the people
answered positively and the remaining 14% of them said no. When further asked about which financial
daily they read, 59% of the people read The Economic Times, 34% of them read Business Standard,
where as only 5% and 2% of the people read Financial Express and Business Line respectively.

Since how long do you read the newspaper?

Less than 3 yrs 3 to 6 yrs

7-10 yrs More than 10 yrs

[48]
From the above drawn pie charts, it is evident that there are a lot of loyal readers of The Economic
Times and very less of them for Business Standard. Out of the total number of people who have been
reading financial newspaper for more than 10 yrs, 95% of them are reading The Economic Times.

Whereas out of those who have just started reading the financial newspaper or have been reading it for
less than 3 yrs, 75% of them are reading Business Standard. This shows that there is a lot of potential
market out there for Business Standard, to retain its customers for a long time and to strengthen
Business Standard as a brand.

Which of the financial daily has the most understandable language?

Mostunderstandablelanguage

4.540

38.64
56.82 The Economic Times
Business Standard
Financial Express

[49]
This question was asked to find out the perception of readers of A Financial daily about the simplicity
of its language. I found that among sample readers 56.82% believe that ‘The Economic Times’ has the
most understandable language. Readers who believe that ‘Business Standard’ has the most
understandable language are 38.64% and readers who believed so about Financial Express are 4.54%.
This result makes some conflicts with our analysis about all financial dailies in which it was
ascertained that Business Standard is the financial daily with the most understandable language.

Which features of the newspaper do you like the most?

[50]
From the above graph it is evident that a majority of the people reading a financial newspaper are
interested in the stock market news. The second preferred area of interest is the company news.

Business Standard provides a separate, 12 page section on stock market news. Its USP (Unique Selling
Proposition) is BS200. Bs200 gives information on the top 20 scripts in terms of 20-22 key parameters.
Hence Business Standard has a lot of chance to capture the market by providing a detailed information
on Stock Market.

BrandEquity
5 3 EconomicTimes

37 Business
Standard
100 Financial
express
Business Line

[51]
 Market Potential

Sales(in ‘000’)
EconomicTimes
15
24 1.2 Business
0.8 Standard
150 Financial
express
BusinessLine

Learning’s from the project

My work at Business Standard was of that hard core selling for the first month along with the market
survey and research. It tested our capability to communicate effectively and convert the Consumer into
a Customer. I personally went to many corporate offices and got subscriptions for the company. My
contribution was of 37 yearly subscriptions. I have also cracked bulk deals for the B-schools students’
subscriptions.

Concepts

There were certain concepts which I had learnt during my training period.

[52]
They were:

Relational purchasing:
 The way consumers habitually brands, products and services based on their
understanding of and belief about, the brand product and the company.
 And I have actually seen people buying the subscription due to their understanding of
brand.

Price cutting:
 A marketing technique involving temporary reductions in the price of a product or
services, aimed at increasing the market share.
 The special subscription rates were a pure example of price cutting.

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.
 After the monthly target achieved I used to calculate how much part the market has been
captured by the team.

Customer Retention:

 Retaining customer for a long term transaction and not for a mere one time interaction.

Network marketing:

[53]
  The marketing of Business Standard through a network of agent of agent, be it
household or corporate networking.

During the full project my learning’s were many. According to me working in the newspaper industry
as a first experience has opened many future avenues for me. I have also learnt the basics of the
management of a newspaper, distribution, sales, space selling and marketing.

STRATEGIES

During this tenure of two months I had practically applied a lot of concepts learnt during academic year
for the marketing and promotion of Business standard. Here are few concepts listed below:

Customer retention
It is the retaining customer for a long term transaction and not for a mere one time interaction. I
learnt how important this customer retention is for any company as the cost of making new
customers is very high as compared to retaining old ones.

Viral marketing

[54]
 The marketing of business standard through a network of agent, is it household or corporate
networking.

Referral marketing
o Contacting references for the business enhancement
o Referrals are very cost-effective

Guerrilla marketing
It is an unconventional way of performing promotional activities on a very low budget. Such
promotions are sometimes designed so that the target audience is left unaware they have been
marketed to and may therefore be a form of undercover marketing. It is an unconventional
marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources.

Door to door marketing

This is the marketing strategy which has the maximum impact on the customers. While our training
period these were the concepts taught to us for implementation of relevant topics and using other
when the need arises.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECCOMENDATIONS

From the study carried out and the analysis of the result obtained from the survey, the following
suggestions and recommendations can help the firm to improve upon the product and the sales.

1) Add the news on IT and Information, on Gujarat region and on SMEs in much more detail.
2) Give scrip codes of BSE and NSE companies.
3) Increase the font size of stock detail.
4) Give more job related advertisements.
5) Improve paper quality.
6) Build proper positioning in the minds of the readers.

[55]
 7) Publishing their Club and giving membership to regular customers.
8) Sponsor Events and programs that give visibility.
9) There is a lot of need to improve service. This can be done by giving regular commission to
vendors, who supply the newspapers to the customers who have subscribed it for the whole
year.
10) Should make Deals or agreements with companies or Banks having nation-wide existence for
supplying the newspaper at all of their branches.

SELECTED CUSTOMER RESPONCES

“I have been reading BUSINESS STANDARD and THE ECONOMIC TIMES since last 5 years. I have
observed that the quality of editorial has surely improved. The quarterly results of different companies
that are published in the newspapers have also increased with time. So according to me BUSINESS
STANDARD is surely making a positive growth.”

-Mr. Vinod Tripathi

Officer, Bank of India

[56]
“I am reading BUSINESS STANDARD since last 3 years and I think that the newspaper is really good
as far as the content of news is concerned. It provides serious news regarding Stock Market but if
Supplements are concerned, I would prefer THE ECONOMIC TIMES”

-Mr Gupta

Manager, SBI Bank, Mehsana

Conclusion

Research has taken place for market development and product development. From the findings I find
that opportunity for business standard is too much because in the market there are so many people who
even do not know the BS. So we can say that awareness of BS is too low, whereas The Economic
Times is market leader.

From my findings I came to know that the readers of BS are complaining that the paper is not reaching
properly and when complaints are made, no response is available that can satisfy consumer. Though the
number of such consumers is less but still organization should be consumer oriented. Proper service
can be a weakness because it can make many consumers to shift to another financial daily and one
dissatisfied consumer can stop five consumers to take service and also damage brand image of
organization.

[57]
Business Standard is not using any other kind of marketing communication mix like Events, Public
relation, Direct Marketing,

The overall experience of doing Summer Internship with Business Standard was a great one, which
helped me enhance my knowledge about print media and business of financial daily. Recent concepts
such as Viral Marketing & Referral Marketing were also learnt by me. Another great achievement for
me at Business Standard, and a personal milestone for me was that I managed to achieve the maximum
sales of subscriptions of all the Trainees who were with us. This really boasted my confidence as to my
ability of selling and communicating with people. An enriching experience for which I would sincerely
like to thank the Team at BS Ahmedabad, espy Mr. Kunal & Mr. Manoj.

Bibliography
The project report on Business Standard on the topic “Consumer Behavior of Financial Daily” could
be successful with the co-operation of the project and the faculty guides. But along with the training
period I had taken the Help of the following books and links to know more about the subject

Book References

• Marketing Management (13 Edition), Pearson Education Ltd. By Kotler Philip, Keller
Kevin Lane, Koshy Abraham, Zha Mithileshwar,
• Business Research Method, By Suchdev.

Web References

[58]
• www.business-standard.com

[59]