THE HINDU

Executive summary
THE HINDU

1. INTRODUCTION

Topic chosen:

“Marketing mix 4 ps - with special reference to THE HINDU”

Specific chosen:

As my specialization is marketing, so I have chose my dissertation topic on

marketing. I have taken up marketing mix 4 ps as my topic to this dissertation.

Introduction to topic:

Marketing mix is the very important part of marketing; this topic mainly deals in
the 4 ps of marketing mix. The 4 ps mainly consist of

Product
Price
Place
Promotion

Market:
Market consists of all the potential consumers who have a particular need or
want and might be willing and able to engage in exchange to satisfy that need or want.

Marketing system:
In the marketing system sellers sends products, Services, and communication
the market; in return they receive money and information from the market.
THE HINDU

MARKETING:

Marketing is the comprehensive term and it includes all resources and a set of
activities necessary to direct and facilitate the flow of goods and services from
producer to consumer in the process of distribution.

Marketing management:

“Marketing is set of human activities directed at facilitating and consumer

Hangs” the essence of Marketing is exchange of products and the transaction Satisfies
human needs and want. A considerable amount of work and skills are necessary to
cope with satisfying Market’s needs. Marketing manager manage demand by carrying
out Marketing research, planning, implementing, and controlling the Marketing
activities. Within Marketing planning, Marketers must make decisions on target
Markets. Market positioning, product development, pricing, distribution channels,
physical distribution, communication and promotion.

Marketing myopia:

“Marketing myopia means a colored and crooked perception of marketing and

a short – sited ness about the business. Excessive attention to production or product or
selling aspects at the cost of the customers and his actual needs. Creates this myopia.
Myopia leads to a wrong or inadequate understanding of the market and the survey
nature of the business in which a given organizing is engaged. Hence, fails in the
market place and effects the future of the business as well”.
THE HINDU

The Marketing concept:

Only the Marketing concept is capable of keeping the organization free from
marketing myopia. Marketing concept holds that the key to achieving organizational
goals consists of being more effective than competitors in integrating Marketing
activities towards determining and satisfying the needs and wants of target mark

Overview of the industry:

Marketing starts with human needs, wants, demands and human satisfaction.
People satisfy their needs and wants with products. A product is anything that can be
offered to satisfy a need or want. So, a social and managerial process by which
individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and
exchanging products of value with others – that is called marketing.

Actually, selling is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his product into cash,
but marketing is the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the
product and the whole cluster of things associated with creating, delivering and finally
consuming it.
THE HINDU

Chapter-2
RESEARCH DESIGN

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research is a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a

specific topic. It is a careful investigation through search for new facts in any branch

of knowledge.

According to Kerlinger, “Research is a systematic, controlled, presume

relations among natural phenomena.”

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The important asset of an organization is it’s marketing and in field of

marketing as it is the functional efficiency of the market that contributes to the growth

of an organization. The customers vary in wide range and different respect of

satisfaction. The knowledge of the customer requirements and what satisfies them is

very essential factor in the service center.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study enables to understand the perception of the market segment in a

better way. It also provides an opportunity to the marketer to satisfy the needs of

their potential consumer in a unique way.

THE HINDU

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To find out the customer opinion towards ‘THE HINDU’.

2. To find out the customers the quality of information rendered by ‘THE

HINDU’.

3. To analyze readers expectations towards ‘THE HINDU’.

4. To find out the readers satisfaction level towards ‘THE HINDU’.

5. To give the suggestions if necessary.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH

1 Research is a critical and systematic investigation into a phenomenon.

2 It is not a mere compilation, but a purposive investigation in order to describe,

interpret and explain a phenomenon.

3 Research emphasizes on the development of generalization principles and

theories.

4 Research is based on the observation, experience or empirical evidence.

5 It adopts scientific methods for investigation.

THE HINDU

METHODOLOGY

The research was descriptive research questionnaires survey approach was

descriptive research. The survey was conducted to learn about consumer’s perception

towards the brand and product, price, technology and others about vehicle. A

structured questionnaire was given to fill in the answer required to analyze their

perception.

SAMPLING PLAN:

In marketing research it is not possible to study the whole respondents, hence,

sampling becomes inevitable. The plan calls for three decisions.

a. Sampling Unit

b. Sampling Size

c. Sampling Procedure

a) SAMPLING UNIT: (who was the respondent?)

The respondents were users of THE HINDU. To understand their perception

in a better way they were classified into their preference, occupation and their

monthly income.
THE HINDU

b) SAMPLING SIZE (How many respondents were surveyed?)

Large sample size gives more reliable data than small size however, it was not

possible to sample the entire THE HINDU readers in a short period, and hence the

sample size was only 100 respondents.

c) SAMPLING PROCEDURE: (how respondents are chosen?)

To obtain representative sample of TH readers, profitability sampling method

was adopted every reader was given equal chance to respond as representative. This is

known as simple random sampling method.

TOOLS FOR COLLECTION OF DATA

The data is classified in two ways.

1. Primary data

2. Secondary data

1) Primary data

The original data collected fresh-hand by the researcher.

Primary data are collected by the following ways:-

1 Through personnel visit to the company.

2 Discussion with officials.

3 Through research instrument

4 Through survey (Questionnaire)

THE HINDU

Secondary data

The data, which are already prepared and are available for present

study, are known as secondary data.

Secondary data for this study is collected as listed below:-

1 Company’s manual.

2 Reference books on Marketing.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT [QUESTIONNAIRE]

The questionnaire consists of a set of questions presented to respondents for

their answers. The questionnaire was carefully developed, tested and debugged before

they were administered on a large scale.

The questionnaire consists of simple, direct, unbiased wording. The sequence

of questions, wordings errors was corrected in a casually prepared questionnaire.

Before it was printed in large numbers, a sample of it was prepared and given to few

respondents to check its effectiveness.

Questionnaire includes both open-ended & close-ended questions.

CLOSED – ENDED:

Questions pre-specific the possible answer and respondents make a choice

among them. Close – ended question provides answers that are easier to interpret and

tabulate.
THE HINDU

OPEN – ENDED:

Questions allow respondents to answer in their own words. These questions

often reveal more because they do not constrain respondents answers. Open – ended

questions are useful in looking for insight as to how people think rather than in

measuring how many people think a certain way.

PLANS OF ANALYSIS:

The data collected from the questionnaires was processed and analyzed. The
information was carefully handled and scored out under various heading. Each
question was treated under different head and tabulated.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

Just like any product, which is doing well in the market, having good figures,
good packages, good quality and it is from branded company. With all these futures,
we can’t say it is flow less, every product has its own limitation whether a good or a
bad

In the same way, how much ever effort a student puts into a project it will have
one or the other limitation. The limitations of my project are.
1. The area covered was restricted to Bangalore city limits only.
2. There was lack of interest from some readers.
3. The study size was considerably small, it confirms only to respondents.
4. Due to the confidentiality of certain information, all the details could not be
obtained from the company.
5. The biggest limitation was the incomplete answering of the questionnaire with
particular to general information.
THE HINDU

CHAPTER-3

INTRODUCTION

In India the wheels of journalism were set in motion in 1700 when the

Bengal Gazette was started by James Augustus Hicky in Kolkata. It was a two-sheet

weekly newspaper and specialized in writing on the private lives of the sahibs of the

East Indian Company.

It lasted till the 1830s when its circulation was overtaken by another weekly

The Englishman (also published from Kolkata from 1818, and now known as the

statesman). India Gazette, Calcutta Gazette, Bengal journal were the other weeklies

along with a monthly called The Oriental Magazine of Calcutta Amusement.

Chennai got its first newspaper when Richard Johnson started The Madras

Courier in 1785. Its second newspaper was Hurkaru, started by Hugh Boyd in 1791.

Boyd, who was the editor of the Courier quit and founded the Hurkaru.

From those early days newspapers have come a long way in India. Today,

India has more newspapers than any other nation in the world and is the world’s

second largest newspaper market with 78.8 million copies sold daily. Newspapers like

The Hindu, The Times of India and The Statesmen that were started in the 19th

century are still around.

THE HINDU

Introduction of the company

The Hindu is a leading English-language Indian daily. With a circulation of

1.17 million copies, The Hindu is the Third largest circulated English Daily
in India and slightly ahead of Hindustan Times and slightly ahead of
Economic Times and has its largest base of circulation in South India,
especially Tamil Nadu. Begun in 1878, it was founded on the principles of
fairness and justice. Headquartered at Chennai (formerly called Madras),
The Hindu was published weekly when it was launched and started
publishing daily in 1889.

The Hindu became, in 1995, the first Indian newspaper to offer an online edition.
The Hindu is the most circulated periodical in India with a circulation of 1,102,783
copies, according to the Registrar of Newspapers for India (The Sunday Times of
India is second with a circulation of 1,038,954 copies).

The Hindu is published from 12 locations - Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore,

Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Madurai, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli,
Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. According to Indian Readership Survey 2008,
Round 2, The Hindu has a readership of 5.2 million.
THE HINDU

History of the company

Pre-Independence

The first issue of The Hindu was published on September 20, 1878, by a group
of six young men, led by G. Subramania Aiyer, a radical social reformer and school
teacher from Thiruvaiyyar near Thanjavur. Aiyer, then 23, along with his 21-year-old
fellow-tutor and friend at Pachaiyappa's College, M. Veeraraghavachariar of
Chingleput, and four law students, T.T. Rangachariar, P.V. Rangachariar, D. Kesava
Rao Pant and N. Subba Rao Pantulu were members of the Triplicane Literary Society.
The British-controlled English language local newspapers had been campaigning
against the appointment of the first Indian, T. Muthuswami Iyer, to the Bench of the
Madras High Court in 1878. "The Triplicate Six," in an attempt to counter the
dominant attitudes in the English language press started The Hindu on one British
rupee and twelve annas of borrowed money. Aiyer was the editor and
Veeraraghavachariar the Managing Director. The first editorial declared, "[the] Press
does not only give expression to public opinion, but also modifies and moulds it."

Three of the students soon left the paper and took up careers in law, while
Pantulu continued to write for The Hindu. The founders of the newspaper maintained
a neutral stance regarding British rule, and occasionally, as in an editorial of 1894,
held that British rule had been beneficial to Indian people. "However, it was equally
convinced that the Anglo-Indian Press should be challenged, despotic bureaucrats
condemned, and the abuse of power exposed," writes historian S. Muthiah.
THE HINDU

Initially printing 80 copies a week at the Srinidhi Press in Mint Street, Black Town,
The Hindu was published every Wednesday evening as an eight-page paper, each a
quarter of today's page size and sold for four annas (1/4 Rupee). After a month of
printing from the Srinidhi Press, the newspaper switched to the Scottish Press, also in
Black Town. The earliest available issue of the paper is dated June 21, 1881. In 1881,
it moved to Ragoonada Row's 'The Hindu Press' of Mylapore, with the intention of
making it tri-weekly. This plan did not materialize until it moved to the Empress of
India Press, where, starting on October 1, 1883, is was published on every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday evening; it continued maintaining the same size as before.

The offices moved to rented premises at 100 Mount Road on December

3, 1883. The newspaper started printing at its own press there, christened "The
National Press," which was established on borrowed capital as public subscriptions
were not forthcoming. The building itself became The Hindu's in 1892, after the
Maharaja of Vizianagaram, Ananda Gajapathi Raju, gave The National Press a loan
both for the building and to carry out needed expansion.

Its assertive editorials earned The Hindu the nickname, the Maha Vishnu of
Mount Road. "From the new address, 100 Mount Road, which to remain The Hindu's
home till 1939, there issued a quarto-size paper with a front-page full of
advertisements - a practice that came to an end only in 1958 when it followed the lead
of its idol, the pre-Thomson Times - and three back pages also at the service of the
advertiser. In between, there were more views than news."[3]After 1887, when the
annual session of Indian National Congress was held in Madras, the paper's coverage
of national news increased significantly, and led to the paper becoming an evening
daily starting April 1, 1889.
THE HINDU

The partnership between Veeraraghavachariar and Subramania Aiyer was dissolved in

October 1898. Aiyer quit the paper and Veeraraghavachariar became the sole owner
and appointed C. Karunakara Menon as editor. However, The Hindu's
adventurousness began to decline in the 1900s and so did its circulation, which was
down to 800 copies when the sole proprietor decided to sell out. The purchaser was
The Hindu's Legal Adviser from 1895, S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, a politically
ambitious lawyer who had migrated from a Kumbakonam village to practise in
Coimbatore and from thence to Madras. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar's ancestors had served
the courts of Vijayanagar and Mahratta Tanjore. He traded law, in which his success
was middling but his interest minimal, for journalism, pursuing his penchant for
politics honed in Coimbatore and by his association with the `Egmore Group' led by
C. Sankaran Nair and Dr T.M. Nair.
THE HINDU

Post-Independence

In late 1980s when its ownership passed into the hands of the family's younger
members, a change in political leaning was observed. Worldpress.org lists the Hindu
as a left-leaning independent newspaper. This political polarization is supposed to
have taken place since N. Ram took over as editor-in-chief. Joint Managing Director
N. Murali said in July 2003, "It is true that our readers have been complaining that
some of our reports are partial and lack objectivity. But it also depends on reader
beliefs." N. Ram was appointed on June 27, 2003 as its editor-in-chief with a mandate
to "improve the structures and other mechanisms to uphold and strengthen quality and
objectivity in news reports and opinion pieces", authorized to "restructure the editorial
framework and functions in line with the competitive environment". On September 3
and 23, 2003, the reader's letters column carried responses from readers saying the
editorial was biased. An editorial in August 2003 observed that the newspaper was
affected by the 'editorializing as news reporting' virus, and expressed a determination
to buck the trend, restore the professionally sound lines of demarcation, and
strengthen objectivity and factuality in its coverage.

In 1987-'88 The Hindu's coverage of the Bofors arms deal scandal, a series of
document-backed exclusives set the terms of the national political discourse on this
subject. The Bofors scandal broke in April 1987 with Swedish Radio alleging that
bribes had been paid to top Indian political leaders, officials and Army officers in
return for the Swedish arms manufacturing company winning a hefty contract with the
Government of India for the purchase of 155 mm howitzers. During a six-month
period the newspaper published scores of copies of original papers that documented
the secret payments, amounting to $50 million, into Swiss bank accounts, the
agreements behind the payments, communications relating to the payments and the
crisis response, and other material.
THE HINDU

The investigation was led by part-time correspondent of The Hindu,

Chitra Subramanian reporting from Geneva, and was supported by Ram in Chennai.
The scandal was a major embarrassment to the party in power at the centre, the Indian
National Congress, and its leader Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The paper's editorial
accused the Prime Minister of being party to massive fraud and cover up.

In 1991, Deputy Editor N. Ravi, Ram's younger brother replaced G. Kasturi

as Editor. Nirmala Lakshman, Kasturi Srinivasan's granddaughter, became Joint
Editor of The Hindu and her sister, Malini Parthasarathy, Executive Editor.

In 2003, the Jayalalitha Government of the state of Tamil Nadu, of

which Chennai is the capital, filed cases against the paper for "breach of privilege" of
the state legislative body. The move was widely perceived as a government's assault
on freedom of the press. However, The Hindu emerged unscathed from the ordeal,
scoring both political and legal victories, as it instantly commanded the support of the
journalistic community throughout the country, as well as the national government's
political leadership.

The younger generation of The Hindu's editors have also contributed

much to its commercial success. They built a modern infrastructure for news-
gathering, printing and distribution. On the look of the newspaper, editor-in-chief
Ram writes, "The Hindu has been through many evolutionary changes in layout and
design, for instance, moving news to the front page that used to be an ad kingdom;
adopting modular layout and make-up; using large photographs; introducing colour;
transforming the format of the editorial page to make it a purely 'views' page;
avoiding carry-over of news stories from one page to another; and introducing boxes,
panels, highlights, and briefs." Major layout changes appeared starting (redesign by
Edwin Taylor) and starting Apr 14, 2005 (redesign by Mario Garcia and Jan Kny).
THE HINDU

The Hindu, like many other Indian publishing houses, is family-run. It was
headed by G. Kasturi from 1965 to 1991, N. Ravi from 1991 to 2003, and by his
brother, N. Ram, since June 27th 2003. Other family members, including Nirmala
Lakshman, Malini Parthasarathy, Nalini Krishnan, N Murali, K Balaji, K Venugopal
and Ramesh Rangarajan are directors of The Hindu and its parent company, Kasturi
and Sons. S Rangarajan, former managing director and chairman since April 2006,
died on 8 February 2007. Ananth Krishnan, who is the first member of the youngest
generation of the family to join the business has been working as a special
correspondent in Chennai and Mumbai since 2007.

List of Managing Directors

 G. Subramanian Iyer (1878-1898)

 M. Veeraraghavachariar (1898-1904)

 Kasturi Ranga Iyengar (1904-1923)

 S. Rangaswami (1923-1926)

 K. Srinivasan (1926-1959)

 G. Narasimhan(1959-1977)

 N. Ram (1977-)
THE HINDU

Achievements

The Hindu has many firsts in India to its credit, which include the following

1 1940 - First to introduce color

2 1963 - First to own fleet of aircraft for distribution

3 1969 - First to adopt facsimile system of page transmission

4 1980 - First to use computer aided photo composing

5 1986 - First to use satellite for facsimile transmission

6 1994 - First to adopt wholly computerized integration of text and graphics in page
make-up and remote imaging

7 1995 - First newspaper to go on Internet

8 1999 - Becomes India national news paper

THE HINDU

Nature of business

THE saga of the development of the "business" of The Hindu over 125
years of its existence has been one of having to continuously strike a fine balance
between two seemingly competing considerations — the public mission or larger
societal purpose encompassing the credible information providing, educational,
opinion building and watchdog role of The Hindu, the newspaper, versus the
commerce part of conducting its operations as a business.

Throughout the first quarter century of its history, fired by the ideals and
public spiritedness of its six young founders and reflecting the times, the newspaper
was run primarily as a public mission, without too much concern for commercial
considerations.

Like the other native papers of that era, The Hindu had to struggle its way
through vicissitudes. Starting as a weekly in 1878 and subsequently becoming a tri-
weekly, it turned a daily in 1889. Its circulation was barely 800 copies.

In 1901, one of its founders and then its sole proprietor, M. Veeraraghavachariar,
failed in his attempt to make The Hindu a limited company by inviting public
subscriptions for Rs. 1, 20,000, in order to give the paper stability and strength as well
as a permanent

In 1905, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, the paper's legal adviser bought

The Hindu and the National Press where it was printed for Rs. 75,000.

When Kasturi Ranga Iyengar died in 1923, the circulation of The Hindu
was 17,000 copies with good advertising support and it had already become a force to
reckon with. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar had also installed the first Rotary printing press in
South India and modern Linotype composing machines. The Hindu was a pioneer in
newspaper technology even then.
THE HINDU

The Hindu continued to progress. Run by a partnership firm of Kasturi Srinivasan and
Kasturi Gopalan, the sons of Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, it was converted to a private
limited company in 1940. It became a public limited company in 1959 when
debentures and redeemable preference shares were issued to finance its
modernization. These were redeemed in due course and Kasturi and Sons Limited, the
company publishing The Hindu and its sister publications, became a totally family
owned company.

The media scene, particularly the print media scene, now is a far cry
from the environment in which The Hindu had been functioning for most part of its
existence. The changes have been particularly far- reaching in the last ten years

Newspapers are not only facing stiff intra media competition but have
to compete with the electronic media as well. From one satellite channel in 1991,
there are over 75 channels now beaming an array of programmes.
THE HINDU

The advertising pie in India expanded rapidly in the wake of the economic
liberalization policies embarked upon by the country in the early 1990s. However, the
last two years have witnessed a sharp slump in advertising volumes as a result of the
slowdown in the economy as a whole. The print medium is still the dominant medium
for advertising with 52.7 per cent of the total ad spend of Rs. 9,500 corers in 2002
while television's share was 38.7 per cent. Starting from a much lower base, the rate
of growth of TV's share has been higher in the last ten years while the share of print
has come down from 63 per cent in 1993. It has to be noted that the growth in
aggregate adspend has tapered off since 2000 largely as a result of the severe
advertising downturn.

It would be interesting to note that Indian newspapers are amongst the

lowest priced anywhere in the world. This gross under recovery of costs from the
selling price automatically places unduly high reliance on advertising for not only
covering direct costs and overheads but also to provide for newspapers' profits and
investments in product improvements, in technological up gradation and also in
marketing initiatives. And when an advertising slump comes along as presently seen,
one can well imagine the plight of newspapers which are literally burning the candle
at both ends.
THE HINDU

India's largest English newspaper started a price war a few years ago in certain
markets, which has further distorted the balance between advertising and circulation
revenue.

Another discernible trend is the emergence of the winner take-all situation. In almost
all markets, invariably the No. 1 newspaper and No. 2 in some cases take away the
cream of advertising and the smaller players are left fighting for the crumbs. In many
markets, the competition is so fierce and the numbers game has become so critically
important to attract advertising that it has virtually become a dog-eat-dog business.

It is this difficult terrain that sets up the battleground for newspapers in India as they
are currently going through the throes of unprecedented competitive pressures and a
revenue squeeze. For a newspaper like The Hindu with a heritage of 125 years the
continuous challenge has been to fashion its growth without compromising on its core
values.
THE HINDU

The story of The Hindu is the story of its quest for high levels of excellence
and greater heights and its sustained success over tens of decades to emerge as a
premier newspaper of India. The Hindu has evolved into an institution and indeed a
way of life with tens of thousands of its trusted readers. The paper goes hand in hand
with the morning cup of legendary South Indian coffee in over nine hundred thousand
homes presently.

What are The Hindu's core values that have made it a highly successful and respected
newspaper? What are the strategies behind its success? And how is it poised for the
future?

At the time of India's Independence in 1947, The Hindu's circulation was 65,000
copies and it is now over 9, 33,000 copies.
THE HINDU

Its continuing quest for high quality standards — in journalism, in publishing and
printing technology and in its marketing and distribution, in short, in all facets of its
activities — has been the sine qua non of its success.

Quality in journalism

Over the decades, The Hindu has been striving to continuously uphold and practice
the highest standards in journalism. It has tried unwaveringly to adhere to the core
journalistic values, of pursuit of truth without fear or favor, fairness, objectivity,
authenticity, independence and a sense of balance.
THE HINDU

Quality in technology

The Hindu has always been in the forefront in introducing technological innovations
in newspaper publishing in India. These technological developments are discussed in
detail elsewhere in this supplement. The paper has a list of many technology "firsts"
to its credit.

The management's philosophy has always been to modernize painlessly without

retrenchment of any employees. The employees have been retrained to adapt to and
absorb new technology

Quality service initiatives

In a country of vast distances like India, newspapers have always had to grapple with
the twin problems of time and distance. The Hindu started venturing out of its city of
publication many decades ago only by rail and by surface transport. Apart from the
delays in the receipt of the newspaper copies, it had to print only an evening or `dark'
edition as it was called in those days. The Hindu's sales and distribution network has
over 4,600 newsagents, over 250 surface transport routes and rail and air services,
where required

Reader feedback

Market information and readers' feedback are an important input for The Hindu. Apart
from the feedback captured through the sales force, market research through
independent market research agencies is conducted periodically either across its
markets or in specific markets. In addition, The Hindu participates in National
Readership Surveys that are conducted on an industry-wide basis through apex
bodies.
THE HINDU

Advertising and sales promotion

Gone are the days when it was considered that The Hindu or indeed any
newspaper could sell on its name or reputation alone. In to-day's highly competitive
marketplace a consumer goods approach to marketing is being adopted by The Hindu
now. In recent years, The Hindu has taken recourse to advertising and publicity
extensively and outdoor medium or the billboard is largely used. The Hindu also gives
special thrust to sales promotion.

Sponsorships of events such as sports tournaments, particularly cricket,

collegiate activities, quiz competitions, painting competitions for children under the
banner of the `Young World' supplement, advertising club programmes, seminars and
similar activities are also undertaken to identify with issues and activities which
would enhance the salience of the newspaper.

Customers:

There are many customers who exist in the market for the Hindu, as customers are
the king, the company has a large no of customers for its products.

List of customers who buy the Hindu.

 The general public

 The contractors
 The news agencies
 The multinationals
 The retail stores
 The residents
 The government departments
 The government agencies
 The hospitals
As the Hindu is a national paper, so it has a large customer scope and good customer
relation is maintained.
THE HINDU

Products:

1. The Hindu business line - Business Daily

2. The Sports star - weekly sports magazine
3. Frontline - Fortnightly features magazine
4. Survey Of Indian Industry - An annual review of Indian industries
5. Survey Of Indian agriculture - An annual review of Indian agriculture
6. Indian cricket - An annual record book on cricket
7. The Hindu index-monthly and cumulated annual
8. Special publications under the series THE HINDU SPEAKS ON libraries
9. Special publication under the series FROM THE PAGES OF THE HINDU:
MAHATHA GANDHI- THE LAST 200 DAYS

Supplements

 On Mondays

 Metro Plus

 Business Review

 On Tuesdays

 Young World, an exclusive children's supplement

 Education

 Book Review

 Improve Your English

 On Wednesdays

 Job Opportunities
THE HINDU

On Thursdays

 Metro Plus

 Science, Engineering, Technology & Agriculture

 On Fridays

 Friday Features covering cinema, arts, music and entertainment

 On Saturdays

 Metro Plus Weekend

 On Sundays

 Weekly Magazine covering social issues, art, literature, gardening,

travel, health, cuisine, hobbies etc.

 Open Page

 Literary Review , every first Sunday

Popular Columns include This day that age , The Hindu Crossword and Religion.
There is a Sudoku every day.

 NXg is a weekly tabloid from the Hindu, started to share the views of
"next generation".

Competitors:

 The times of India

 Deccan Herald
 DNA
 Deccan Chronicle
 Bangalore mirror
 Mid day
 Vijay times
and many other regional competitors exist
THE HINDU

CHAPTER-4

Analysis and Interpretation

OCCUPATION OF RESPONDENTS

TABLE- 1

Occupation No. Of Respondents Percentage

Business 20 40%

Student 10 20%

Employed 7 14%

Professional 7 14%

Others 6 12%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

In the above analysis 40% of the respondents are Business

people, 20% are student, 14% are employed, 14% are professional and 12%
are others [i.e. ne who are retired person and another is house wife]
THE HINDU

CHART-1

OCCUPATION OF RESPONDENTS

Others
12%

proesionaal Business
Business
14% 40% Student
Employed
proesionaal
Employed
14% Others

Student
20%

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be observe that more number of

readers belongs to the business mans and students.
There fore, the majority of readers of THE HINDU are business
mans and students.
THE HINDU

FAMILY MONTHLY INCOME OF RESPONDENTS

TABLE-2

MONTHLY INCOME No. Of Respondents Percentage

Below 5,000 10 20%

5,001-10,000 20 40%

10,001-15,000 13 26%

15,000 & above 7 14%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

In the above analysis 40% of respondents monthly income is

between 5,001-10,000, 26% of respondent’s monthly income is between
10,001-15,000, 20% of respondent’s monthly income is between below 5,000
& 7% are from Rs 15,000 & above.
THE HINDU

CHART-2

CHART SHOWING THE RESPONDENTS MONTHLY INCOME

40%
40%

35%

30% 25%
25% 20%

20% 15%
15%

10%

5%

0%
Below 5001- 10001- 15000 &
5000 10000 15000 above
Series1 20% 40% 25% 15%

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be observe that more number of

customers belong to the income group of 5001-10,000.
THE HINDU

PRODUCT INFLUENCE ON THE READERS TO BUY IT

TABLE-3

Particulars No. Of Respondents Percentage

Quality information 10 20%

Price 25 50%

Color pages 5 10%

All the above 10 20%

TOTAL 50 50%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that the product Price plays an important
role for the readers to buy the product, 50% of the customer’s responded that
Price influences them to buy. 20% of the customers responded that Quality
information influences them to buy. 05% of the customers influenced by the
color pages. And 20% o the customer responded that all the aspects influence
to buy THE HINDU.
THE HINDU

CHART-3

GRAPHS SHOWING THE PRODUCT INFLUENCE ON THE READERS TO

BUY IT

``

Colour
Pages All the
10% above
20%
Quality of information
Price
Price Colour Pages
50% Quality of All the above
information
20%

INFERENCE

From the above graphs it can be observed that the price of the

product influences more the customers & also the all the above information

influences the readers purchase behavior.

THE HINDU

OPINION OF RESPONDENTS SATISFACTION LEVEL TOWARDS THE

HINDU

TABLE-4

Satisfaction level No. Of Respondents Percentage

Highly Satisfied 28 56%

Satisfied 15 30%

Fair 7 14%

Not Satisfied 0 0%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows the satisfaction of the Readers towards

Vijay Times, 56% of them are highly satisfied. 30% are satisfied, 14% of

readers just fair about the product. 0% of them are not satisfied.
THE HINDU

CHART-4

OPINION OF RESPONDENTS SATISFACTION LEVEL TOWARDS THE

HINDU

satisfied
30%

Highly satisfied
fair
14% satisfied
fair
not satisfied
not satisfied
0%
Highly satisfied
56%

INFERENCE

The above graphs shows that the readers are highly satisfied

with the product. And also shows maximum number of readers also satisfied.
THE HINDU

OPINION OF RESPONDENTS TOWARDS PRICE OF THE PRODUCT

TABLE-5

Particulars No. Of Respondents Percentage

YES 50 100%

NO 00 0%

TOTAL 50
100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows the satisfaction of the Readers towards

the price is 100%. So the price plays important role in purchase.

THE HINDU

GRAPH-5

OPINION OF RESPONDENTS TOWARDS PRICE OF THE PRODUCT

NO
0%

YES
NO

YES
100%

INFERENCE

The above graph shows that satisfaction of the Readers towards

the price is 100%. So the price plays important role in purchase.

THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS AWARENESS ABOUT THE HINDU

TABLE-6

AWARENESS No. Of Respondents Percentage

Friends 14 28%

Advertisement 24 48%

Media 10 20%

Others 2 4%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

In the above analysis 48% of the respondents come to know

about the THE HINDU through Advertisement, 28% of respondents come to

know through friends & 20% of respondents come to know through Media &

4% of respondents come to know through others.

THE HINDU

CHART-6

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS AWARENESS ABOUT THE HINDU

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Friends Advertisement Media Others
Series1 28% 48% 20% 4%

INFERENCE

The above graphs shows that 48% of respondent’s awareness

of advertisement & 2% of respondents awareness through others. So

Advertising is the best medium through which awareness among customer

can be increased.
THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS COMPARISON OF PRICE WITH COMPETITORS OF THE

HINDU

TABLE-7

Competable Price No. Of Respondents Percentage

Yes 40 80%

No 10 20%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that the readers perception towards

price of the product is, 80% of the respondents fell it is competable with others

& 20 % of the respondents fell it is not much competable.

THE HINDU

CHART-7

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS COMPARISON OF PRICE WITH

COMPETITORS

No
20%

Yes
No

Yes
80%

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that 80% of the

readers fell it is very computable price compare to other competitors of the

THE HINDU. So price is very worth to purchase the product.

THE HINDU

OPINION OF RESPONDENTS TOWARDS COLOUR PHOTOS

ATTRACTION

TABLE-8

Colour photos No. Of Respondents Percentage

attraction
Yes 38 76%

No 12 24%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 76% of the respondents have the

good opinion (attraction) towards color photos, & other 20% of the

respondents have no attraction towards color photos of the newspaper.

THE HINDU

CHART-8

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS COLOUR

PHOTOS ATTRACTION

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Yes No
Series1 76% 24%

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 76% of the

readers are more attracted by color photos. So it helps in attracting the more

number of readers of THE HINDU.

THE HINDU

OPINION OF RESPONDENTS TOWARDS INFORMATION SUFFICIENCY

OF THE HINDU

TABLE-9

Sufficient Information No. Of Respondents Percentage

Yes 19 38%

Neutral 8 16%

Fine 5 10%

Not Sufficient 18 36%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 38% of the readers are satisfied

with the information of the THE HINDU newspaper, 16% of the readers say it

is neutral & 10% of the readers say it is fine, 36% of the readers say it is not

sufficient.
THE HINDU

CHART-9

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS SATISFACTION LEVEL TOWARDS

INFORMATION OF THE HINDU

40% 38%
36%
35%
30%
25%
20%
Series1
16%
15%
10% 10%

5%

0%
Yes Neutral Fine Not sufficient

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 38% of the

readers are said information is satisfied & 36% are not satisfied with the

information. It indicates that the unsatisfaction level is little bit more in regard

o whole information. So it is have to be improved.

THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS DIFFERENT SECTION OF THE

HINDU

TABLE-10

Likeness of different No. Osf Respondents Percentage

section
Business section 15 30%

Sports section 13 26%

Classifieds 14 28%

General News 8 16%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 30% of the readers like the

Business section & 26% of the readers like the Sports section, 28% of the

readers like the Classifieds & 8% of the readers like the General News.
THE HINDU

CHART-10

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS DIFFERENT

SECTION

General news

Classified

Sports section

Business
section

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Series1

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 30% of the

readers like more about business, 28% for classified & 26% for sports section.

This shows that business related news preferred by more readers.

THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS DELIVERY OF THE HINDU NEWS

PAPER

TABLE-11

Difficulty in delivery No. Of Respondents Percentage

Yes 39 78%

No 11 22%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 78% of the readers find difficulty in

delivery of newspaper & 22% of the readers not find any difficulty in delivery

of newspaper.
THE HINDU

CHART-11

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS DELIVERY OF

NEWS PAPER

80%
70%
60%
50%
40% 78%
Series1
30%
20%
10% 22%

0%
Yes No

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 78% of the

readers not satisfied with the delivery, so it should be rectified to maintain the

reader loyalty towards THE HINDU.

THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS QUALITY OF THE THE HINDU

NEWS PAPER

TABLE-12

Quality of News No. Of Respondents Percentage

Paper
Normal 23 46%

Good 27 54%

Bad 00 00%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 54% of the readers fell that paper

quality is Good & 46% of the reader fells it is normal & 0% of readers are not

there in last one.

THE HINDU

CHART-12

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS QUALITY OF

THE NEWS PAPER

Bad
0%

Normal
Normal
46%
Good
Good
54% Bad

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 54% of the

readers fully satisfied with the quality of paper & 46% of readers is said quality

is Normal.
THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE HINDU NEWS AND

ABOUT IT’S PHOTOS

TABLE-13

Perception towards No. Of Respondents Percentage

News and Photos
Good 35 70%

Bad 15 30%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 70% of the readers accepted the

News & photos printed are good & 30% of the readers said the News &

photos printed are some time Bad.

THE HINDU

CHART-13

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE HINDU

NEWS AND ABOUT IT’S PHOTOS

70%
60%
50%
40%
30% Series1

20%
10%
0%
Good Bad
Series1 70% 30%

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 70% of the

readers fully satisfied with the News &photos & 30% of readers is not fully

satisfied with the News & photos printed in the THE HINDU.
THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS THE HINDU NEWS PAPER

POSITION IN MARKET

TABLE-14

News Paper Position No. Of Respondents Percentage

in Market
Very High 35 70%

Not Good 15 30%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 70% of the readers given very high

opinion in regard to position of newspaper in market & 30% of the readers

given Not Good opinion in regard to position of newspaper in market.

THE HINDU

CHART-14

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS OPINION TOWARDS QUALITY OF

THE NEWS PAPER

70%
60%
50%
40%
30% Series1

20%
10%
0%
Very High Not Good
Series1 70% 30%

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 70% of the

readers fully satisfied with position of newspaper in the market & 30% of

readers is not fully satisfied position of newspaper in the market. It shows the

well growth of THE HINDU in the Market.

THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS OVER ALL RATING TOWARDS THE HINDU NEWS

PAPER

TABLE-15

Opinion towards No. Of Respondents Percentage

THE HINDU
Excellent 20 40%

Good 25 50%

Satisfactory 5 10%

Poor 0 0%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 50% of the readers given Excellent

opinion in regard to overall ranking of newspaper & 40% of the readers given

Good opinion & 10% of the readers given as satisfactory rating

THE HINDU

CHART-15

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS OVER ALL RATING TOWARDS THE

HINDU

50%

40%

30%

20% Series1

10%

0%
Excellent Good Satisactory poor
Series1 40% 50% 10% 0%

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 50% of the

readers given Good position to newspaper for overall quality & 40% of

readers given as Excellent position to newspaper. 10% of the reader’s

satisfactory position to newspaper for overall quality. This shows it’s standard

in the readers mind.

THE HINDU

RESPONDENTS RECOMMENDATION TO OTHERS IN PURCHASING OF

THE HINDU NEWS PAPER

TABLE-16

Recommendation To No. Of Respondents Percentage

Others in Purchase
Yes 45 90

No 5 10%

TOTAL 50 100%

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, 90% of the readers are ready to

recommend to others in purchase of THE HINDU newspaper. Only 10% of the

readers are not ready to recommend to others in purchase.

THE HINDU

CHART-16

CHART SHOWING RESPONDENTS RECOMMENDATION TO OTHERS IN

PURCHASING OF THE HINDU

No
10%

Yes
90%

INFERENCE

From the above graph it can be identified that, 90% are fully

satisfied with newspaper so they ready to recommend to others in purchase &

10% of readers is not fully satisfied so they are not ready to recommend to

others in purchase of THE HINDU.

THE HINDU

FINDINGS

1. From the above survey it was found that most of the readers belongs to the
monthly income of 5,001to 10,000.
2. The majority of readers are Business people.
3. Majority of readers influenced by price of the product.
4. From the above survey it was found that most of the readers are highly
satisfied with THE HINDU.
5. Majority of readers are buying the THE HINDU from the past 4 years
continuously.
6. Majority of readers came to know about THE HINDU through advertisement.
7. Majority of readers feel that price of THE HINDU is comparatively less
compare to other competitors.
8. Majority of readers feel that the delivery of newspaper is not satisfied.
9. Majority of readers feel that the information in THE HINDU newspaper is not
fully satisfied.
10. The majority of the readers look more for business section and classifieds
section.
11. There is no any bias in the news coming in THE HINDU.
12. Most of them feel the quality of the paper is good.
13. According to the readers the THE HINDU made the mark in the market.
14. The readers rated the THE HINDU as Excellent News paper.
15. So it is recommended by the readers to others in purchasing THE HINDU.
THE HINDU

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

THE HINDU Newspaper in Bangalore. It is a company that has provided one

of the best products to the readers and satisfying them to a great extent.

It is very difficult to find any drawback to suggest them to take corrective

Measures. Some suggestions that may help for the betterment of the company to reach

the peak of Reader’s Perception are listed below.

1 It is clear from the study that the readers do not find the proper distribution
regularly. So the company should employ their own executives rather than
giving to contract.
2 Since readers are highly influenced by the media the company should increase
in advertising the product through various channels.
3 THE HINDU must give more information not only related to Bangalore but
also all over Karnataka and all over India with depth information.
4 Management should maintain good relationship with customers.
THE HINDU

CONCLUSION

In today’s competitive world marketing a product and satisfying the customers

is not simple. Because customer’s demand consistent quality besides increased
customerization.
The study analysis the quality of the product rendered to the customer’s by
THE HINDU.
1 There is high level of satisfaction of readers towards THE HINDU.
2 The quality, price and other preference are found to be good in THE HINDU.
3 Readers have a good perception and positive approach to the product of THE
HINDU.
THE HINDU

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. PHILIP KOTLER & GARY ARMSTRONG,

Principle of Marketing, 8th edition

Prentice All of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1999.

2. MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Pillai and Bhagavathi

4. MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Ramaswamy Namakumari

5. Website: www.thehindu.com
THE HINDU

QUESTIONNAIRE

Respected Sir/Madam,

I, JUNAID AHMED is doing final year M.B.A in LORVEN

EDUCATION CENTRE. As per the requirement of BANGALORE

UNIVERSITY syllabus, I am doing my project on “MARKETING MIX 4 PS”. I

kindly request you to help me in filling up this questionnaire.

Personal Data:

a) Name :-…………………………….

b) Age :-…………………………….

c) Sex :-……………………………..

1. Occupation:

Business Student

Employed Professional

Other

2. What is the family monthly income?

Below 5000

5001- 10,000

10,001- 15,000

15001 & above

THE HINDU

3. What influence you to buy it?

Quality information

Price

Color pages

All the above

4. Are you satisfied with THE HINDU?

Highly Satisfied

Satisfied

Fair

Not Satisfied

5. Does price influence you in buying THE HINDU?

Yes No

6. How long are you buying this News Paper?

recently from one year

From 2 years more than two year

7. Which media of advertisement influence your purchase?

Through Friends

Through advertisement

Through Media

Others
THE HINDU

8. Do you think our price is competable with our competitors?

Yes No

9. Do you think all color photos in newspaper attract the customer?

Yes No

10. Does the newspaper give you sufficient information?

Yes Neutral

Fine No

11. Which section of the News Paper do you like most?

Business Section

Sports Section

Classified

General News

12. Do you feel that there is any bias in the news coming in the News

Paper?

Yes No

13. Do you find any difficulty in delivery o the newspaper to your destiny?

Yes No

14. What do you think about the “Quality of the Paper”?

Normal

Good

Bad
THE HINDU

15. Do you feel bad about the pictures & photos the come in the News

Paper?

Good Bad

16. Do you think THE HINDU has made its mark in the market?

Very High Not Good

17. How do you rate THE HINDU?

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Poor

18. Do you recommend others to buy the THE HINDU News Paper?

Yes No

19. Do you have any suggestions for the improvement of THE HINDU?

………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………

Signature:

Date :
THE HINDU