Project report On

Identification of Segments and Generation of Sales for Outlook Group’s magazines – Newsweek and Outlook Business

Under the Esteemed Guidance of:-

Mr. Sumit Bhardwaj, Assistant Manager

On 15th august, 2010

Submitted By:

Ashu goyal(0900170015)

Anand Engineering College, Agra

DECLARATION

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I hereby certify that the work, which is being presented in the summer internship report, entitled

“Identification of Segments and Generation of Sales for Outlook Group’s

magazines – Newsweek and Outlook Business”, in partial fulfillment of the

requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration and submitted

to the institution is an authentic record of my/our own work carried out during the period June

2010 to August 2010 under the supervision of Mr. Sumit Bhardwaj. I also cited the reference

about the text(s)/figure(s)/table(s) from where they have been taken. The matter presented in

this report is not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any other degree or diploma from

any institution.

Date: Signature of the Candidate

ASHU GOYAL

M.B.A. (2009-2011)

Roll No. 0900170015

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ACKNOWLEDEGMENT

I hereby offer my sincere and profound thanks to Mr. Sumit Bhardwaj who provide me such a

challenging task and also provide me a vast knowledge to complete this challenging project and

guided me throughout my project including implementation of sales and marketing concepts and

analysis. Without them I would not been able to complete my project successfully

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. No. Title Page No.

1. Executive Summary 6

2.Industry Profile

9

3. Company Profile & staff 17

4. SWOT analysis 28

5. Problem of the organization 31

6.Outlook Umbrella

32

7. Product portfolio 33

8. Print media 34

9. Web media 38

10. Book division 40

11. Event division 42

12. About the product 43

13. Promotional options offered 45

14. Competition 46

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15. Literature review 48

16. Objective 52

17. Scope of the study 53

18. Research methodology 54

19. Parameters for Segment Identification 57

20. Segments identified 58

21. Procedure Adopted 59

22. Implementation 61

23. Data interpretation and analysis 83

24. Findings 93

25.

26.

Suggestions 94

Limitations 96

27. Conclusion 97

28. References 98

29. Bibliography 99

30. Annexure 100

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The two main objectives of any publishing group are:

To increase Geographic Dispersion / Circulation

To Improve Readership profile

This is because the main source of revenue for any publishing group is advertising and an

advertiser would like to know the facts and figures before investing his money in advertising.

Outlook is part of the Rajan Raheja Group which made its beginning in the construction business

and after building a huge presence in the realty market, the Group diversified laterally into

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manufacturing, financial services and media. The magazine division of Outlook consists of

Outlook, Outlook Money, Outlook Traveller, Outlook Saptahik, Outlook Business, Outlook

Profit, Geo, People and Career 360. It has recently taken over the Sales & marketing of

Newsweek, an international news magazine and Marie Claire, an international women’s

magazine.

The objective of the project was to identify segments and generate Sales for Outlook Group’s

magazines – Newsweek and Outlook Business.

Another objective was to find out the sale of Newsweek by Outlook at various Magazine shops

in Green Park, Basant Lok Complex, Vasant Vihar C Block, Hauz Khas, IIT.

The observations of the Markets studied for the sale of Newsweek and Business

The major segments identified for the sale of the two products were

- Golf Courses

- Hotels

- Coaching institutes

- Car Rentals

- PVR Cinemas

- Premium Clubs

For the nonprofit making Golf Courses, Outlook proposed to use a value package from the

Outlook Group as the carrier of their monthly bills ensuring that the Golf Course saves the

money that it was spending in dispatching these bills. For private Golf Courses, the product

offered was Newsweek with the cover-on-cover option. The magazine would be send to the

database of the members which would be provided by the club to basically strengthen the

relationship with the members

For the coaching Institutions which prepare students for MBA, the idea proposed by Outlook

was that the copies of Outlook Business with the advertisement of the institution with the cover-

on-cover option would be distributed to prospective students who are aspiring to clear CAT and

other MBA entrances in various DU and Engineering colleges in Delhi and NCR’s. This idea

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appealed as in this way the institution would be able to communicate with its prospective

students.

For the premium clubs, the proposed selling strategy was similar to that adopted for golf courses

with the monthly bill are being sent with the magazine by Outlook and hence the club saving the

cost involved in dispatching the bills.

The idea proposed to car rental companies was that they can increase their business if their

customers are satisfied by their services and would come back to them again. Newsweek being

an International Newsmagazine, if kept in the cars that they rent out would be highly appreciated

by their customers as during the journey they would be able to read the magazine that they

associate with.

Hotels keep magazines in the following places: Rooms, Business Centers/ Lounges, Public

Places and cars. The option offered to the hotels was cover-on-cover wherein they could

advertise about the hotel on the cover at the back and front of the magazine

The concept given was that initially Outlook was as follows: Outlook would distribute free

copies of the magazine on a weekend when the business is high. And take the details of the

customers. In the next step, the magazine with a flap containing the discount coupon for a

weekday would be sent by the PVR Cinemas to these cinema-goers who had come to watch a

movie on weekend. Hence, on receiving a discount coupon, there is a high probability that the

cinema-gore will come to watch the movie.

Other Segments suggested that could be opened are :

- Investment Firms

- Pharmacy Companies

- Builders

- Credit Card Companies

- Hospitals / Nursing Homes

- MBA Institutes

- Builders

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

PUBLISHING

India Magazine Industry Thriving, Big Players Moving In

When Conde Nast launched its premium lifestyle magazine

Vogue in India last year, it carried a whopping 168 pages of

advertisements of a total 400 pages.

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Now, the publisher is preparing to launch its luxury men's magazine GQ and expects a similar

rush of advertisers in Asia's third-largest economy, where rising incomes and growing literacy

are boosting readership and revenues of magazines and newspapers.

From specialist magazines on whiskey, golf and parenting, to regional-language newspapers and

financial dailies, new titles are coming thick and fast in one of the few markets in the world

where advertising and readership for print media are expanding.

"It's a fast growing economy and with consumption so robust and with incomes rising, it's a

fertile ground for the print media," says Vivek Couto, executive director of Hong Kong-based

research firm Media Partners Asia. "There is also a buoyancy in print advertising that is

encouraging new launches and niche publications in particular."

Print publication advertising revenues in India generated Rs 9,400 crore ($2.4 billion) in 2007, or

48 per cent of all of the country's media advertising revenues, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC)

said in a recent report. TV ads generated 41 per cent.

With the economy having grown at an average rate of 8.75 per cent in the last four years, middle

class incomes have risen, boosting demand for niche magazines on health, leisure and finances.

Growing prosperity in rural areas is also encouraging demand for publications in India's more

than 20 official regional languages.

Revenue for newspapers and magazines in India, where reading at least one newspaper in the

morning is sacrosanct, grew at an average rate of 15 percent in the last four years, higher than

anywhere in the world, PWC said. The growth is helped by a young demographic, more working

women, rapid urbanization and smaller households, the report added.

The print publication boom in India contrasts sharply with more mature markets in the West

where circulation figures and advertising revenues are down as readers move to the Internet.

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Boom

India in 2005 allowed 100 per cent foreign investment in non-news publications, keeping the cap

for news at 26 per cent.

Early investments included Independent News and Media's 26 per cent stake in newspaper

publisher Dainik Jagran, Pearson Plc's 14 per cent in Business Standard newspaper, Henderson

Ventures' investment in HT Media and BBC Worldwide magazine venture with Bennett,

Coleman & Co.

More recently, private equity firm Blackstone Group put $150 million in regional publisher

Ushodaya Enterprises, Warburg Pincus moved $33 million into the Dainik Group and DE Shaw

invested $39 million in Amar Ujala Publications, according to research firm Venture

Intelligence.

News Corp, which has a content alliance for The Wall Street Journal with HT Media's business

daily, is keen on more launches. Pearson, which has sold its Business Standard stake, is reported

to be in talks for a new venture.

"There's huge investor interest in the growth potential, because the segment is still quite under-

penetrated," said Atul Phadnis, chief executive of consultancy Media e2e.

Local firms are also seizing the opportunity: Business Standard and Bennett, Coleman's

Economic Times have launched Hindi and Gujarati-language editions of their financial dailies.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings has launched a business daily to compete with five others, and new

regional-language and city papers are hitting the stands nearly every day.

The boom in advertising revenue is not limited just to print. As new media grows and controls

are eased in television, these will attract greater investments and advertising revenues. Specialist

publications have a better chance of scoring with advertisers and readers in the increasing clutter,

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says Phadnis. "Niche publications are almost immediately profitable: Advertising more than

makes up for lower subscriptions, and there are easy synergies with other verticals, like radio or

internet."

Glut

But it's not all good news. The large number of players jostling in the market place could lead to

a drop off in advertising revenues in the coming years, analysts say. "One of the worries is that

publishers are taking ad revenues for granted," points out Phadnis.

"Everyone thinks it will keep rising, but as early as 2009 we are going to see a glut in inventory

in TV, print and the internet because of so many players. We will see intense price competition,

and smaller firms may be forced out," he says.

Investors are also chasing only a handful of large media firms, he adds, nudging up already high

valuations: Deccan Chronicle shares trade at 10.3 times forecast earnings, while Jagran

Prakashan trades at 19.3 times and Mid-Day Multimedia quotes at 19.7 times forecast earnings.

Rising newsprint prices are also bumping up production costs.

Still, Conde Nast expects Vogue will break even in its first or second year of operation compared

to an average break-even period of five or six years in more mature markets, says Alex

Kuruvilla, managing director in India, referring to Europe and the US. "We are optimistic and

bullish," he says of the potential. "But also cautious: In this market, you have to be smart."

Attracting the attention of vendors who hawk magazines at traffic lights and getting space on

shelves in overcrowded news stands across Mumbai is not easy for new entrants.

"I am already running out of space," says K.B. Singh, pointing to a low wooden bench on a busy

sidewalk piled high with dozens of glossy magazines and newspapers. "Where will I put the new

ones?"

There are the two main sources of obtaining data to determine readership of any publication:

National Readership Survey – NRS

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Indian Readership Survey – IRS

Here we have some surveys on the basis of market segmentation on all media include news paper buyers.

National Readership Survey  is a survey on all media, but especially the print medium, conducted by

the National Readership Studies Council (NRSC) - supported by Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC),

Advertising Agencies association of India (AAAI) & Indian Newspapers Society.

It investigates the readership of about 80 major Indian publications-dailies, weeklies, bi-weeklies and

monthlies-in over 450+ towns of 57 regions across the length and breadth of the country. The towns

selected, however are publication centers of dailies.

It is claimed to be the most thorough readership survey in the country. It provides exhaustive data

(available to its clients on computer disks) readership, radio listener ship profile -the socio economic

characteristics of the readers of various publications, of cinema and TV viewers, and of listeners to radio,

as well as the degree of duplication among publications and between media. Research agencies involved

are: IMRB, TNS Software Mode, AC Nielsen in collaboration with ORG.

Indian Readership Survey  is conducted by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC). IRS 2009

is the largest continuous media survey ever conducted (sample size of 229,000 individuals) providing

a single-source database for demographics, media habits and product / brand usage across 986 towns

and 2858 villages in India. The survey was conducted over two rounds with the field work between

November 2008 and November 2009.

This all-India survey conducted jointly with the Media Research Users' Council (MRUC) also provides

product / brand penetration information for over 50 different products allowing one to link media habits

and product usage data for adults and children from the age of 12 years.

Both NRS & IRS

Gives media consumption habits, product ownership & consumption, lifestyle indicators information on

Psychographic, macro demographic & geographic parameters.

Population coverage: 12 years & above

Sample size: over 500

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Geographic coverage: Delhi region

According to NRS 2009,

Press adds 34 million readers in the last 2 years,

Press continues to grow, adding 21 million readers between 2006 and 2009,

Over the last 3 years the number of readers of dailies and magazines put together among those aged 15

years and above has grown from 179 mm to 200 mm - a growth of 4% every year.  (Note: Recently the

scope of NRS has been expanded to include those aged 12 years and above but the 15 years age cut-off

has been applied for the sake of comparison with NRS 2002.)

There is still significant scope for growth, as 314 million people who can read and understand any

language do not read any publication. It is not just affordability that is a constraint, since 21 million of

these literate non-readers belong to the upscale SEC A and B segments.

According to IRS 2009,

Just when it seemed the print media was booming once again, the Indian Readership Survey 2009 Round

1 has pricked the bubble. There are few newsmagazines that have seen any growth most see erosion in

readership Retains its No 1 position among newspapers with 19.07 million readers it separates Danik

Jagran from others just because of its different market segmentation among customers, Danik Bhaskar

follows second with 14.57 million, and Daily Thanthi is third with a readership of 10.23 million. Amar

Ujala is still at four with 9.89 million readers.

Malayala Manorama (9.35 million) and Hindustan (9.72 million) have interchanged positions at number

five and six. Lokmat, Eenadu, Mathrubhumi and Times of India take the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth

spots with 8.10 million, 7.94 million, 7.65 million, and 7.08 million readers, respectively. TOI is the only

English daily to find a place in the top 10. Except for Amar Ujala and Hindustan, every other publication

in the top ten list has experienced a marginal decline in readership.

For the IRS 2006 R1 an annual sample size of 2.4 Lakh was covered spread equally over two rounds. A

total of 1,178 towns and 2,894 villages were surveyed. The data represents fieldwork during the full year

Jan-Dec 2005. The mid-point of the survey is June 1, 2005. Being a continuous survey, the reporting

takes place every six months based on a Moving Annual Total.

Among magazines, Saras Salil (Hindi) leads the pack with a readership of 7.36 million. A distant second

is Kungumam (Tamil) with 3.76 million, followed by Vanitha with 3.52 million readers. India Today

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English is fourth with a readership of 3.51 million. Grihashobha (Hindi) has moved up a notch to number

five, and is followed by Tamil weekly Kumudam, India Today Hindi, Malayala Manorama, Tamil weekly

Anand Vikatan, and Hindi monthly Meri Saheli. Kungumam , Anand Vikatan , and Meri Saheli and

newcomers in the top ten list.

Most English dailies have seen a fall in readership, though on the whole any English daily readership has

shown an increase from the 17,396,000 in IRS 2005 R2 to 17,435,000 in IRS 2006 R1. Both the top two?

the Times of India and Hindustan Times have seen a decline with the former dropping from 72.87 lakh to

70.84 lakh and the latter from 35.21 lakh to 35.08 lakh. Third-placed Hindu has increased its readership

marginally from 27.87 lakh to 27.97 lakh. Deccan Chronicle’s too has growth from 10.14 lakh to its

current 11.32 lakh. The Telegraph (10.82 lakh), Mid Day (7.37 lakh), Deccan Herald (6.04 lakh), the

Indian Express (5.65 lakh), the Tribune (4.83 lakh), the Statesman (4.22 lakh), the Assam Tribune (3.45

lakh) all have seen fall in readership.

Among English magazines, number one India Today has dropped by 10 per cent from 38.99 lakh to 35.09

lakh. Sister concern Reader’s Digest too has seen a 12 per cent fall and is at 23.06 lakh from 26.37 lakh.

Filmfare has seen one the steepest falls its readership fell 21 per cent to 16.71 lakh. Outlook has dropped

by 11 per cent and is at 11.44 lakh. Stardust, too, has dropped and is currently at 10.95 lakh in comparison

to the 13.11 lakh in the previous round.

From women’s magazines, Femina, Women’s Era, Cosmopolitan, New Woman, Elle and Savvy  to

special interest titles like The Sport star , Auto India, Overdrive, Outlook Traveler, Capital Market,

Living Digital, all have seen a dip in readership, with some titles like PC Quest and Junior Science

Refresher dropping by almost 23 per cent.

According to the survey, the number of households has grown by 1.4 per cent over 2006 to reach 210

million. Individual growth rate has been slightly lower than household growth rate at 0.85 taking the total

12 yrs + population to 784 million. With single age-breaks now available from the Census, the age group

data has been realigned. The proportion of the total share of 20-29 age group has declined from 25 per

cent to 23.6 per cent.

The data shows that the reach of mass media has stagnated in the last three years. Press reach has been

hovering around at 24 per cent, TV at 55 per cent, radio at 21 per cent, and Internet at 1.5 per cent at the

all India level. In urban India, press and TV have declined. The press reach declined from 42.9 per cent in

2004 to 41.7 per cent in 2006. Though TV declined from 80.2 per cent to 78.9 per cent in the last three

years, C&S has shown some growth, from 53.5 per cent in 2004 to 54.4 per cent in 2006.

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The main source of revenue for any publishing group is advertising. An advertiser would like to know the

facts and figures before investing his money in advertising. And before investing the money, the

advertiser ought to know how many people buy which publication 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

set by the Bureau.  

With more than 30 years of experience, Outlook Group provides a range of packaging products and direct

marketing solutions for commercial and industrial clients. Its products include stickers, postcards,

coupons, game pieces, puzzles, labels, cartons, blisters and mailers. The company's products are used for

packing DVDs, CDs, electronic appliances, and coffee and food items. It offers foil stamping, embossing,

die cutting, folding, gluing, shrink wrapping, hand assembling, contract manufacturing, pouch making,

digital printing and sampling services. The company additionally provides design consultation,

engineering, project management, product fulfillment, Web portal design, warehousing, distribution and

transportation services. It offers packaging solutions under the MicroLiner brand. The company serves the

foodservice, entertainment, health care and beverage industries. Outlook Group is a member of the

Contract Packaging Association and the Wisconsin Manufacturer Association.

In a recent survey conducted by the outlook Company – the Delhi’s leading provider of marketing

information and audience measurement – Living Digital is perceived to be a very interesting magazine

providing the latest news and reviews.

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COMPANY PROFILE

It's an entrepreneurial journey that has spanned both 'old' and 'new' economies -- building

successful brick-and-mortar businesses to exploring the frontier world of convergence

technologies. About a quarter-century before the onset of the ICE age, the Rajan Raheja Group

made its beginning in the construction business. After building a huge presence in the realty

market, the Group diversified laterally into manufacturing, financial services and media -- each

venture initiated, and executed, to fulfill the objective of assuming leadership in core areas.

The list of the Group's successes is long and eclectic. Today, H&R Johnson (India) Limited is

the top name in ceramic tiles in India. Exide is the strongest brand of batteries in the automotive

and industrial field. Supreme Petrochemicals is the largest processor of plastic materials in India.

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The Group also joined hands with Oberoi Hotels as co-promoters of Trident Hotels and luxury

resort Rajvilas, which Conde Nast Traveller ranked as one of the 25 best villa hideaways in the

world.

Other triumphs include Templeton Asset Management (India) Ltd, a venture with the Templeton

Group which manages funds worth $220 billion; Prism Cement Ltd, with a production capacity

of 2.1 million tons; and Sonata Software, a leading name in this cutting-edge field. As owners

and operators of a fiber optic cable network in Kerala through Asianet Satellite Communications,

the group is also a significant stakeholder in the growing convergence business in India.

PROFILE OF THE ORGANISATION

A Rajan Raheja Group

Mr. Rajan Raheja is the owner of OUTLOOK group

Date of Establishment: October 1995

Headquarter Address: AB-10, S.J. Enclave, New Delhi - 110029, India

Branches: Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad

The Rajan Raheja Group is led by Mr. Rajan Raheja, a renowned businessman involved in the

Real Estate Development business for over 3 decades. The company diversified into

manufacturing and financial services over the last two decades. The emphasis is on setting up

focused companies, which aim to be profitable leaders in their respective fields with a long term

outlook. All Group Companies are professionally managed by independent CEOs.

Most of the Group Companies has a leading position in Market share, Technology, Brand,

Distribution or Profitability. The Rajan Raheja Group is a Strategic/Financial partner in many of

the businesses where it has management control. It is also an equal JV partner/strategic investor

in quite a few ventures.

Highlights:

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Total Turnover: Over Rs. 86 billion ($ 2.1 billion)

Total Capital Employed: Over Rs. 57 billion ($ 1.4 billion)

Total Employees: 19,000

Group Companies

1. R. Raheja Properties (Property Development)

As understood by name this wing of Rajan Raheja Group is dealing in property. It is a Real

Estate Development Group of the company and developing numerous prestigious residential and

commercial complex in Mumbai.

2. H & R Johnson (India) Ltd. (Ceramic Tiles )

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It deals in manufacturing of Ceramic Tiles. Started in collaboration with H & R Johnson UK and

in 1993 they acquired H & R Johnson (India) Ltd.

3. Exide Industries Ltd. (Battery)

This is a common brand dealing in Automotive and Industrial battery segment.

4. Prism Cement Ltd. (Cement)

A cement production company commissioned in June 1997, and has a plant in Satna, Madhya

Pradesh.

5. RMC Ready mix (India) Pvt. Ltd. (Concrete)

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RMC stands for Ready Mixed Concrete which was established by RR Group in India

6. Asia net Satellite Communications Ltd. (Cable TV)

A well Known Cable TV network in Southern state of Kerala since 1999, in which group owns

100%.

7. Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd. (Publishing House)

8. Globus Stores Pvt. Ltd. (Retailing)

Apparel Retailing the group has set up a chain of apparel stores under the name “Globus”.

Fully owned by the group company, the focus of Globus is to build Globus & F21 as strong

fashion led brands for apparel.

The company has a strong design and supply chain team. It is one of the few brands in India

which has apparel products in all major categories for men, women and kids.

18 stores across India, 15 more stores to open shortly and plans to expand to 125 stores in 4-5

years makes Globus a formidable player in the retail business. It is well on track to become

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India’s largest own brand apparel chain. The company has recently launched Globus Inter-

Exchange which is India’s first retail youth portal – www.gix.in

9. Hathway Cable and Datacom Pvt. Ltd. (Cable TV)

The company dealing in Cable Television in which group owns 63% with Star TV having 22%.

Joint Ventures

1. Food world Supermarkets Ltd. (Retailing)

Food Retailing

The group has an effective stake of over 25% in FSL.

Dairy Farm (part of Jardine Matheson group) that controls 49% stake is an Asian focused retailer

operating supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, health & beauty stores, home,

furnishing stores & restaurants. Dairy Farm operates 3300 outlets in 8 countries / territories with

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62000 employees and has sales of $5.5 billion. FSL has 58 stores in Bangalore, Hyderabad &

Chennai. The company plans to expand to over 250 stores within 4 years, with a turnover of Rs.

15 billion ($320 million).

2. Health & Glow (Retailing)

Health & Beauty Retailing.The group has an effective stake of 25% in the company.

Dairy Farm controls a 50% stake. The company has 43 stores in Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad,

Vizag & Bangalore with an annual turnover of Rs. 640 million ($16 million).

Expansion plans to cover 240 stores within 4 years, with a turnover of Rs. 1.9 billion ($ 40

million) are in the wings.

3. ING Vyasa Life Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd. (Insurance)

A JV between following companies :

• Exide with 50 %.

• ING Group N.V. Netherlands with 26 %

• Ambuja Cement and Enam with rest of holding.

4. ING Vyasa Mutual Fund (MF)

The Group has a 39% stake in the company; ING controls a 42.5% stake with Kirti Equities

holding the balance.

5. Sonata Software Ltd. (Software)

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The Rajan Raheja group is one of the co-promoters of the company, which is one of the leading

software companies in India.

6. Supreme Petrochem Ltd. (Petrochemical)

Petrochemicals

The Rajan Raheja Group are co-promoters of Supreme Petrochem Ltd. along with Supreme

Industries Ltd., the largest processor of plastic materials in India.

7. Raj Vilas & Trident-Hilton (Hospitality)

This group is a co-promoter in Hospitality Industry with Oberoi Rajvilas Group.

8. J.W. Marriott (Hospitality)

The group is a co-promoter of the prestigious J. W. Marriott, Mumbai. Globus Stores Pvt. Ltd.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Vinod Mehta

Publisher: Maheshwer Peri

Editor: Krishna Prasad

Executive Editor: Bishwadeep Moitra

Managing Editor: Nandini Mehta

Foreign Editor: Ajaz Ashraf

Business Editor: Sunit Arora

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Senior Editors: Ajith Pillai, Sunil Menon, Anjali Puri

Political Editor: Smita Gupta

Bureau Chiefs: Saba Naqvi Bhaumik (Delhi) Smruti Koppikar

(Mumbai)Books Editor: Sheela Reddy

Photo Editor: T. Narayan

Sr Assistant Editor: S.B. Easwaran

Associate Foreign Editor: Pranay Sharma

Assistant Editors: Namrata Joshi, Manisha Saroop, Arindam

Mukherjee,Lola Nayar, Anuradha Raman

Web designing

www.outlookindia .com

Editor: Sundeep Dougal

IT-Manager: Raman Awasthi

Software Engineers: Anwar Ahmad Khan, Manav Mishra

Web Designer: Praveen Uprety

Senior Special Correspondents: Saikat Datta, Arti Sharma

Special Correspondents: Rohit Mahajan, Pragya Singh, Chandrani

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Banerjee, Amba Batra Bakshi 

Correspondent: Shruti Ravindran, Debarshi Dasgupta,

Omair Ahmad

Mumbai:  Payal Kapadia

Kolkata: Dola Mitra

Bangalore: Sugata Srinivasaraju (Associate Editor, South)

Chennai: Pushpa Iyengar (Bureau Chief)

Chandigarh: Chander Suta Dogra (Bureau Chief, North)

Bhopal: K.S. Shaini

Copy Desk:  Sasi Nair (Deputy Copy Editor), Paromita Mukhopadhyay, Saikat

Niyogi

Photographers:

Narendra Bisht (Deputy Photo Editor)

Jitender Gupta (Chief Photographer)

Tribhuvan Tiwari, Dinesh Parab, Apoorva Guptay, Sandipan Chatterjee, Apoorva Salkade, S. Rakshit (Senior Coordinator), J.S. Adhikari (Photo-researcher)

Design:Deepak Sharma (Art Director), Bonita Vaz-Shimray, Ashish Bagchi, Tanmoy Chakraborty (Graphics Editor), Devi Prasad, Padam Gupta

Promotions: Ashish Rozario

Illustrator: Sandeep Adhwaryu, Sorit

Editorial Manager: Sasidharan Kollery

Library: Alka Gupta

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BUSINESS OFFICE:

President: Suresh Selvaraj

Vice President (features): Alok Mathur

Vice President (Circulation): Niraj Rawlley

General Managers:   Anand Dutt (Advertising)

Asst General Managers :  Kabir Khattar (Corp), Rajeshwari Chowdhury (West),

Swaroop Rao (Bangalore), Moushumi Banerjee Ghosh

(East), Uma Srinivasan (Chennai), Rakesh Mishra

(Production)

National Heads:  Himanshu Pandey (Business Development), Alex Joseph (Retail)

Regional Managers:  Arokia Raj

Senior Managers: B.S. Johar, Darryl Arahna, Kartiki Jha, Keshav

Sharma, Pankaj Sahni, Rajendra Kurup

Manager (Brands) : Shrutika Dewan

Managers: Ashish Arora,Anindya Banerjee, Anjeet Trivedi, Chetan

Budhiraja, Chetana Shetty, Deshraj Jaswal, D.R.

Wadhwa,

Gopal K. Iyer, Indranil Ganguly, Kuldeep Kothari,

Mukesh

Lakhanpal, Ramesh, Sanjay Narang, Shashank Dixit,

Shekhar Pandey, Vinod Joshi

Head OfficeAB-10, S.J. Enclave, New Delhi - 110 029

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Tel: 26191421; Fax: 26191420

E-mail: outlook@outlookindia.com

For editorial queries: edit@outlookindia.comFor subscription helpline: yourhelpline@outlookindia.com

For other queries: queries@outlookindia.com

OTHER OFFICES

Mumbai Tel: 3061 2222

Kolkata Tel: 4008 5012

Chennai Tel: 2858 2250/51; Telefax: 28582250

Bangalore Tel: 2558 2806/07; Fax: 25582810

Hyderabad Tel: 040-23371144 & 040-23375776; Telefax: 040-23375676

Printed and published by Maheshwer Peri on behalf of Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Editor: Vinod Mehta. Printed at IPP Limited, Phase-II, Noida and published from AB-10, S.J.

Enclave, New Delhi-110 029

S.W.O.T ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION

Strengths:

1. Published on Fridays so it covers all special news and events which take place especially

on Friday. News of stock market as it closes on Friday, courts close on Fridays and also new

movies are released on Friday. Hence it is the biggest strength for outlook.

2. Outlook magazines also cover international financial market.

3. It has been famous for sensational stories like the “Kargil Bungle” and the “match fixing

controversy”.

28

4. It also covered and published important meetings held like of Agra summit which was

held on Friday.

5. It offers very good subscription schemes with highly attractive gifts with them.

6. It has distinguished and specialized magazines like Outlook Traveller, Outlook Money.

7. Outlook Traveller has been awarded international awards for best selling magazine.

8. The survey has shown that 93% of readers retain all past issues of Outlook Money and

this is its distinguishing characteristic.

9. A good number of magazines under are kitty, so it is easy to cater to different market segments.

10. Responds very quickly as we have no red tape, no need for higher management approval, etc

11. A very good customer care system is one of its boosting point..

12. Outlook has build a very good name in 15 years of its operation and is amongst he best selling

magazines in India.

13. Can offer good value to customers.

Achievements

The company is a proud recipient of National Tourism Award in 2001-2002, given by the

Department of Tourism, Government of India.

The Government of India has also recognized Outlook Traveler Getaways as the Best Travel

Publication in the year 2002-2003

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Weaknesses:

1. Outlook has just been for thirteen years in publication.

2. It is on a back hand from India today Hindi in Market share of Hindi magazines.

3. From the survey it has come out that the Quality of content is not good.

4. Even magazine’s paper quality, print quality and coverage have not been considered up to

the mark.

5. Its sales are mainly based on advertising.

6. Outlook has got its competitors which are very old in the market and thus has got a better

market coverage.

Opportunities:

1. As Outlook has distinguished products like Outlook Traveller and Outlook Money, so the

company should focus more on it.

2. As its near competitor India today has major market share in Hindi magazine segment so

Outlook should focus on English magazine segment.

3. Should focus on quality of the content and this will eventually turn up the sales and

popularity of the magazine. Keep offering good Promotional schemes to retain their

customers and also to attract new ones.

4. The media sector especially print media has a much brighter scope and thus it can expand itself to

new horizons.

5. It is not necessary that other companies are utilizing the new technologies being introduced.

Picture quality as well as page quality of the magazines is still a prime factor. Getting it done at

the lowest possible cost is the best thing..

Threats:

1. India today is its near competitor which has a well known name and it has been in

this publication business for more than thirty years.

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2. India today Hindi covers major market share leaving little future prospect for

Outlook Hindi.

3. Outlook does not pays much attention on customer retention

4. The adaptability of the new technology is still a prime factor.

5. Any change in focus can make the Outlook group loose its market which is already being

captured..

PROBLEMS OF THE ORGANISATION

Today every organization has got some problems or the other. Outlook group too has got

some problems which are as under:-

As a weekly magazine Outlook has achieved lots of success but other segments with which it

is catering the market has not been properly targeted. Although it’s a big name in the media

industry but still it has to go a long way to achieve good amount of success.

Internationally Outlook group is not a renowned name. Apart from its foreign tie ups with

Marie Claire & Geo, it has not really made an impact overseas.

There is fierce competition for Outlook from its counterpart. For e.g. India Today is the

leading general magazine in India, so in order to sustain itself in the marker Outlook should

now have to come up with some new fundamentals.

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Today Outlook is trying to put some central direction back into its whole country

communication practices, including sales promotion. Management is painfully aware of the

damage "brand management by calculators" and "commodity promotion" can do to its

international brands and their long-term profitability. Laissez-faire in sales promotion is no

longer considered a virtue at Outlook.

For some global brands, the importance of consumer behavior in the marketing mix varies

dramatically from one country to another; illustrates the divergent marketing strategies applied to

one consumer packaged goods brand in five countries during 1987

The Outlook Umbrella

32

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

33

Outlook English

Outlook Hindi

Outlook Money

Outlook Traveler

Outlook Business

Outlook Profit

Career 360

Marie Claire

People

Geo

Newsweek

Outlook English

Outlook Hindi

Outlook Money

Outlook Traveler

Outlook Business

Outlook Profit

Career 360

Marie Claire

People

Geo

Newsweek

Magazine divisionMagazine division Internet divisionInternet division Events divisionEvents division Books divisionBooks divisionoutlookindia.com

outlookmoney.com

outlooktraveller.com

career 360.com

outlookprofit.com

outlookbusiness.com

marieclaire.com

outlookindia.com

outlookmoney.com

outlooktraveller.com

career 360.com

outlookprofit.com

outlookbusiness.com

marieclaire.com

Outlook Money

Personal fin. show

OLM awards

Outlook Money

Personal fin. show

OLM awards

OLT Getaways

OLM Guides

Outlook Classis

OLT Getaways

OLM Guides

Outlook Classis

Outlook (Core Magazine) = Cover Price: Rs25 (51 issues/year)

Outlook Profit       = Cover Price: Rs50 (26 issues/year)

Outlook Money    = Cover Price: Rs30 (26 issues/year)

Outlook Business  = Cover Price: Rs25 (26 issues/year)

Outlook traveler  = Cover Price: Rs575(12 issues/year)

Marie Claire =Cover Price: Rs75 (12 issues/year)

Newsweek =Cover Price: Rs75(51 issues)

PRINT MEDIA

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Outlook: In October 1995, Hathway Investments Private Limited group company entered the

print media. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine headed by Vinod Mehta, galvanized a sluggish

market reeling under the impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly carved a significant niche for

itself among discerning readers who value its in-depth, investigative reporting as well as its

stylish visual format. Known to be fiercely independent, Outlook has shaken the establishment

on events ranging from Kargil to Kashmir to cricket, sensitized the reading public to important

issues like big dams, education and gender, and provided an unremitting focus on South Asian

geopolitics. Today, Outlook is the preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in India, and sells

more than 11.2 million copies over the year.

Outlook Money: In July 1998, the Group launched "Intelligent Investor" re-christened as

"OUTLOOK MONEY" as of 30-Nov-2002, India's first personal finance magazine, which offers

sound strategies for the lay investor, especially the growing segment of salaried middle and

upper middle-class and self-employed professionals. Its message is clear and simple: 'Invest well,

borrow wisely, spend smartly'. Evidently, that message has gone down well: the magazine sold

upwards of 1,00,000 copies a fortnight within a year. One of its distinguishing characteristics is

that about 93 per cent of readers retain all past issues of Outlook Money. 

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Outlook Traveller: Outlook Traveller is a monthly magazine from the stable of Outlook

Publishing India Pvt. Limited and the only significant magazine aimed at the travel reader. Every

month since June 2001 OT has introduced readers to the wonders of unknown destinations while

also encouraging travellers to take a fresh look at familiar places. Whether people are planning a

holiday, or simply dreaming of one, Outlook Traveller continues to take them closer.

Outlook Saptahik: Outlook Saptahik, a weekly newsmagazine, was launched in October

2002 to establish significant presence amongst the vast Hindi reading audience. The product

targets the evolved Hindi reader keeping their interests, realities & aspirations in mind. Outlook

Saptahik retains the core strengths of Outlook with objective, fiercely impartial and bold

journalism, while brandishing its own identity through a strong parallel editorial. The magazine

is empathetic to its target audience & is not a translation of its English counterpart.

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OUTLOOK GEO: This international magazine by Outlook group covers all the news about

wildlife, Geography etc. It is also one of the best selling magazine in this segment. Outlook has

priced this magazine at seventy five rupees and it comes on a monthly basis.This is a German

based magazine. GEO is a family of educational monthly magazines similar to the National

Geographic magazine. It is known for its profound reports, which are accompanied by opulent

pictures.

OUTLOOK PEOPLE: The celebrity based magazine of Outlook group. This is a fortnightly

magazine by Outlook and is most preferred by the fashion oriented people like youth, beauty

saloons etc. This and Marie Claire of Outlook are one of the best magazines in the entertainment

segment as it also covers the fashion statements, interviews of celebrities, Bollywood etc.

MARIE CLAIRE: International fashion magazine of OUTLOOK. Most preferred by youth and

other style oriented people.This is a monthly magazine.

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OUTLOOK BUSINESS: Another magazine by Outlook which covers the business news,

interviews of business tycoons, the new jobs in offerings. This magazines is most preferred by

Business Schools, business professionals, businessman etc. This is fortnightly magazine by

Outlook.

OUTLOOK PROFIT: This magazine gives you the insight of the share market and is most

preferred by Chartered Accountants and others in the same business

WEB MEDIA

outlookindia.com: In 1998, Outlook went online as outlookindia.com, drawing into its fold

the vast, nascent readership of expatriate Indians. outlookindia.com is both Outlook magazine's

home on the Internet and an online publication. Apart from Outlook's print edition in its entirety

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- supplemented with links to related articles on its own site and elsewhere on the Web -

outlookindia.com also offers an array of original Web-only columns and and news updates every

day with a very lively interactive section.

outlooktraveller.com: Inaugurated as a web resource in 2000, this travel Website has since

come a long way. Outlooktraveller began by opening up new vistas in web-driven vacation

planning, with its highly focused editorial features on an array of destinations. Still a highlight of

the website, these are supported by tools and resources that make putting together your holiday a

breeze ? from selecting your destination, to choosing your mode of transport, finding your way

around the map, selecting a place to stay to catching the local festivities, plus ferreting out the

nearest ATM, fuel stop or cybercafe. Here there is something for everyone; themed vacation

ideas from 'A for adventure' to 'W for wildlife', honeymooners dream destinations, foodies

delights, first-person travelogues, a message room where you can exchange notes or ask us for

more info that you want? And don't forget to book your copies of our international award-

winning bestsellers from Outlook Traveller Getaways, available at a special price when you

order on the website. If you want a sneak preview, there're excerpts from the guide books by

renowned authors, including the likes of Prabhu Ghate, Ruskin Bond and Jug Suraiya.

outlookmoney.com: outlookmoney.com takes forward the philosophy and beliefs ushered in

by Intelligent Investor (the personal finance magazine that was launched in mid-1998, now

known as Outlook Money). The site has six channels -- Stocks, Mutual Funds, Loans, Retirement

Planning, Taxation and Insurance -- that address broad areas of the personal finance spectrum.

Outlookmoney.com comes with many interactive tools. The Loans channel alone sports

calculators that do all the number crunching a visitor may want on home, car, personal or equity

loans. outlookmoney.com seeks to provide total solutions to personal finance issues -- from

disseminating information to providing avenues for e-commerce transactions.

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BOOKS DIVISION

Outlook Traveller Getaway Series

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OUTLOOK Traveller Getaways (travel guides) published from OUTLOOK Group is today a

recognized, established and acknowledged premier travel reference guide book in India. In a

span of 5 years, 14 successful titles have been published -

(covering different travel theme destinations, state travel guides, weekend getaways guides)

- Weekend Breaks (from Delhi / Mumbai / Bangalore / Chennai)

- State Travel Guides (Rajasthan, Goa , Kerala, Uttarakhand, Himachal)

- Trekking Holidays

- Wildlife Holidays

- 101 Pilgrimage Destinations

- Heritage Holidays

OUTLOOK traveller getaway is not only for reliable information about the chosen destination

but also for a real understanding of the culture and workings of that destination. The guide

marries text and pictures to provide the much more elusive qualities: knowledge and

discernment.

OUTLOOK traveller getaways is a visual treat, reaches to the aspirational, hi-income and

exploratory readers (travellers)

After successful detour into travel with our travel monthly magazine "OUTLOOK Traveller", the

concept of a series "OUTLOOK traveller Getaways" was conceived to provide authentic, well

researched information compiled into "topical" reference books.

Getaways has produced a range of travel guides for the Indian traveller, beginning with the prize-

winning best-seller Weekend Breaks from Delhi.

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52 Weekend breaks from Delhi : June 2002 the first title proved to be a landmark in travel

books publishing. It was the first travel guide in India that highlighted the concept of a weekend

break, addressing the significant changes in urban work styles and in the tourism industry over

the 15 years. By encouraging a new concept in travel - that of a weekend holiday - this book has

made a path-breaking contribution to the growth and expansion of the Indian tourism industry in

general. Weekend Breaks from Delhi went through four additional reprints before its second

edition was launched early in 2004.

Weekend breaks from Delhi 2nd edition: January 2004

Weekend breaks from Mumbai: April 2003

Weekend breaks from Bangalore: September 2003

Holidays in the Hills: June 2003

Heritage Holidays in North & Central India: February 2004

The Layman's Guide to Insurance The Layman's Guide to Insurance lets you in on facts most

insurers and agents shy away from. A handy book to have by your side while buying all kinds of

life and non-life insurance, it explains the covers relevant to you, tells you how much to buy,

points out the fine print and gives useful tips so that you get your money's worth of insurance.

The Layman's Guide to Mutual Funds

The Layman's Guide to Mutual Funds tells you everything you need to know to hitch a profitable

ride on these low-maintenance investment vehicles: the expansive bouquet of products on offer,

the important investment decisions you need to make, the strategies to adopt to squeeze out extra

returns, the players in the market, and much more.

EVENTS DIVISION

Department of Tourism, Government of India Award, National Tourism Award 2001-

2002 awarded to OUTLOOK Traveller for Excellence in Publication.

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OUTLOOK Traveller " 75 Holidays in the Hills" won the 2004, PATA Gold Award

In 2002-2003 the Government of India recognized "Outlook Traveller Getaways" as the "

Best Travel Publication".

Weekend breaks from Delhi was in the BESTSELLERS top three, non fiction category

for 14 consecutive weeks in North India

Weekend breaks from Mumbai was in the BESTSELLERS list top three for 8

consecutive weeks in West India

Outlook Money Awards:

The awards started in 2002, and are presented to the best in the following key personal areas:

Value-Creating Companies

Wealth Creators(Mutual Funds)

Banks

Online Brokers

Home Financiers

Hall of Fame

The ceremony for 2003 was held in Mumbai and was presided over by The Hon'ble Finance

Minister; Mr Jaswant Singh.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTS

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Newsweek, the international newsmagazine has partnered with The Outlook Group for

marketing & sales in India. Newsweek offers comprehensive coverage of world events with a

global network of correspondents, reporters and editors covering national and international

affairs, business, science and technology, society and arts and entertainment.  It is truly a

magazine, which fuels the global perspective. It has won several awards & accolades, which

makes it the best newsmagazine worldwide. Newsweek has won the 2005 SOPA award for

editorial excellence in magazine design & is also the proud winner of Excellence in magazines in

2003 & 2004. Newsweek has won more National Magazine Awards than all other newsweeklies

combined. We are also the most honored publication of the Gerald R Loeb foundation, which

awards business journalism’s highest honors.

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Outlook Business, the new fortnightly business magazine that packs in credible, detailed

information and analysis for decision makers to enable them take profitable business decisions.

A composite package covering all factors that influence business movements with an Indian and

a global perspective. With expert views which not only gives you an insight of the current

business dynamics but also analyzes the impact & implications that it would have on your

business.

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PROMOTIONAL OPTIONS OFFERED

Cover on Cover

The Cover-On-Cover option includes a cover page to be added on the top and the back of the

magazine and the any information or advertisement that the client wants is printed on this

cover. This information or advertisement can be changed by the client with every issue. This

option is mostly used by Hotels.

Strip

A Strip consists of a small strip being printed on the cover of the magazine on the bottom

which would contain the advertisement of the client. The strip option is mostly used by

restaurants etc. A strip option can only be used by a client if the number of copies ordered by

them is more than 1000.

Flap

A flap, like the strip, is on the cover of the magazine, but unlike a strip, it is not printed on

the magazine but is affixed at the bottom. So, unlike a strip, both the sides, back and front of

a flap can be used by the client for advertisement. For Example, a client can advertise on the

front side of a flap and give a discount coupon on the back side

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COMPETITION

For Newsweek

TIME

Time is the world’s leading international newsmagazine published by media conglomerate AOL-

TIME-Warner is exclusively marketed and distributed in India by the India Today Group. TIME

demands the best, and we are able to provide the best through an unmatched marketing and

distribution network that seamlessly operates in line with international best practices, which

includes comprehensive handling of advertising sales, subscription activities and customer

fulfillment.

For Outlook Business

BUSINESS TODAY

Business Today is the largest-circulated business fortnightly in India. It’s the best report of the

business topography of the newly liberalized India. As the wave of change sweeps business,

economy and society like never before, BUSINESS TODAY has ensured that its readers have all

the necessary upgrades to challenge tomorrow. It takes its readers deeper to give a complete

understanding of the world of business.

Ever since its inception in 1992, it has set one benchmark after another in business reporting. It

was the first to do serious reporting on management theories. And then again, it’s the first to

bring a whole new genre of business journalism—more up-close and more incisive. Today,

BUSINESS TODAY commands the Bus.

BUSINESSWORLD

Businessworld is part of the ABP Group, one of India's largest media groups and the brand

leader in eastern India. ABP also publishes Ananda Bazar Patrika , a widely popular Bengali

daily, and The Telegraph, the largest read English daily in the eastern region. It also co-owns

Star News television channel along with Rupert Murdoch's Star Group. Businessworld is the

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largest selling Indian business magazine, and the only business weekly in the country. Over a

period of two decades, Businessworld has established itself as a magazine that offers incisive and

high-quality reportage on economic and business affairs. In the past few years, it has focused

strongly on understanding the meaning of Global India -- its emerging sectors, emerging leaders

and emerging concerns. Its team of journalists and domain experts cover extensively trends and

movements in markets such as telecom, IT, biotech, media and pharma and provide exclusive

analysis on infrastructure, economy and the stock markets. Leveraging on its brand leadership,

Businessworld has now moved into other media platforms like publishing and events. Its recent

publications include Doing Business in Asia , The Marketing Whitebook , Understanding

Behaviour , and Businessworld Mega B-School Guide . The Businessworld Roundtables and

Great Place to Work seminars, which attract the best minds from the corporate and economic

world, have become important forums to set agendas and address crucial issues. The magazine's

Most Respected Companies Awards and the BW-NID Design Award are considered as

benchmarks of corporate excellence by Indian corporates

BUSINESS WEEK INDIA

Business Week is the largest business magazine published in the world and has licensed Cyber

Media for publishing Business Week India (permission from Ministry of I&B awaited). The

content of this magazine will be focused on money, technology and people, and will provide

relevant blend of global and Indian content. It will be the only international business magazine to

give readers a global perspective for India.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

“Consumer behavior is the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behavior and

environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives.”

Companies are interested in consumer behavior because they can develop marketing strategies

to influence consumers to purchase their products based on consumer analysis”.

The two main objectives of any publishing group are:

To increase Geographic Dispersion / Circulation

To Improve Readership profile

This is because the main source of revenue for any publishing group is advertising and an

advertiser would like to know the facts and figures before investing his money in advertising.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

“To divide a market by a strategy directed at gaining a major portion of sales to a subgroup in a

category, rather than a more limited share of purchases by all category users.”

Market segmentation is concerned with individual or group differences in response to specific

market variables (e.g. preferences, lifestyles, media habits, etc.). The strategic presumption is

that if these response differences exist, can be identified, and are reasonably stable over time, and

if the segments can be efficiently reached, the company may increase its market share beyond

that obtained by assuming market homogeneity.

Bases for Segmentation in Consumer Markets

Consumer markets can be segmented on the following customer characteristics.

Geographic

Demographic

Psychographic

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Behavioralistic

Geographic Segmentation

The following are some examples of geographic variables often used in segmentation.

Region: by continent, country, state, or even neighborhood

Size of metropolitan area: segmented according to size of population

Population density: often classified as urban, suburban, or rural

Climate: according to weather patterns common to certain geographic regions

Demographic Segmentation

Some demographic segmentation variables include:

Age

Gender

Family size

Family lifecycle

Generation: baby-boomers, Generation X, etc.

Income

Occupation

Education

Ethnicity

Nationality

Religion

Social class

Many of these variables have standard categories for their values. For example, family lifecycle

often is expressed as bachelor, married with no children (DINKS: Double Income, No Kids),

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full-nest, empty-nest, or solitary survivor. Some of these categories have several stages, for

example, full-nest I, II, or III depending on the age of the children.

Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographics segmentation groups customers according to their lifestyle. Activities, interests,

and opinions (AIO) surveys are one tool for measuring lifestyle.

Some psychographic variables include:

Lifestyle

Activities

Interests

Opinions

Attitudes

Values

Behavioralistic Segmentation

Behavioral segmentation is based on actual customer behavior toward products. Some

behavioralistic variables include:

Benefits sought

Usage rate

Brand loyalty

User status: potential, first-time, regular, etc.

Readiness to buy

Occasions: holidays and events that stimulate purchases

Behavioral segmentation has the advantage of using variables that are closely related to

the product itself. It is a fairly direct starting point for market segmentation.

OUTLOOK Group has got different magazines which cater to different wants of different

people. The main magazines which the customer tends to prefer depends totally upon what the

consumer is seeking for. For eg.-a person who is habitual of reading books on a daily basis will

find Outlook English as one of the prime choice. The reason for this preference is that the person

is getting this magazine on a weekly basis. This tells about the segmentation of its magazines.

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For a person who is a travel freak will go for Outlook Traveler although it is a monthly magazine

as it is fulfilling his requirement. The reader who likes reading business news will go for Outlook

business although it is a fortnightly magazine.

The region being surveyed by me was Delhi and a few areas of my native place along with

selling subscription of magazines.

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OBJECTIVES

To find out the sale of Newsweek and by Outlook at various Magazine shops

Identification of new segments and list out potential clients in each segment

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

To determine reasons behind opting for Outlook magazine and to know the most preferred

magazine.

To determine customer’s perception towards magazine companies and their expectation form

them.

To study the types of benefits provided by Outlook magazine.

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SCOPE OF THE STUDY

A large number of new players have entered the market and are trying to gain market share in

this rapidly improving market.

The study deals with Outlook in focus and the various segments that it caters to.

The study then goes on to evaluate and analyze the findings so as to present a clear picture of

trends in the magazine sector.

-This project will help the company to know its market reputation and know about their

different buyer in the market.

By using this project the company may find some remedy in its marketing research and can

also find the behaviors of customers on their different types of magazines.

As the project mainly deals with the reader’s psychographic profile about Outlook magazines

and its competitors, the organization may utilizes this work to focus its readers with greater

perfection.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Segmentation: Markets consist of buyers, and it is common sense that those buyers differ in

one or more respects. They may differ in how they want a product delivered, where they want to

buy it, their available resources, their buying needs, or their location. Any of these variables can

be used to segment a market.

Psychographic variables have been a popular segmentation variable, particularly in consumer

marketing of fast moving goods. In psychographic segmentation, buyers are grouped according

to variables such as Social Class, Lifestyle, or Personality.

Targeting: It is selection of one or more segments identified by the company to pursue. Thus

for knowing the buying behavior of the group of individuals, the effective mass should have to

be aptly targeted.

Positioning: Development of distinct image for the product or service in the mind of the

consumer, an image that will differentiate the offering from competing ones and squarely

communicate to the target audience that the particular product or service will fulfill their needs

better than competing brands. Successful positioning centers around two key principles:

communicating the benefits the product will provide rather than the products features. And the

second being Unique Selling Proposition should be focused on.

To achieve the objectives of the project following methodology will be used.

Sources of Data:

The research work was being conducted through field work with the help of questionnaire.

The research is based on the use of the following:-

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Primary data

o For collecting the primary data a survey was done through questionnaire , which was

personally given to customers and was filled through interacting with different people.

o Studying the different types of products being offered.

o Finally analyzing the responses of various the respondents.

Secondary data

For theoretical overview, secondary data was collected from magazines, newspaper and different

website.

Sampling Methodology:

o Sampling Technique :

Initially, a rough draft was prepared keeping in mind the objective of the research. A pilot study

was done in order to know the accuracy of the Questionnaire. The final Questionnaire was

arrived only after certain important changes were done. Thus my sampling came out to be

judgmental and convenient.

o Sampling Unit:

The respondents who were asked to fill out questionnaires are the sampling units. These

comprise of employees of MNCs, Govt. Employees, Self Employed, PG students etc

o Sample size:

The sample size was restricted to only 100, which comprised mainly of people from different

regions of Delhi. Time constraint forced me to take a small set of sample size.

o Sampling Area :

56

The area of the research was DELHI, GHAZIABAD and few respondents were taken from my

native place Green Park, Basant Lok Complex, Vasant Vihar C Block, Hauz Khas, IIT. The

reason for choosing the specified was that the maximum readership of magazine was found here

and as far as our training work was concerned it was is the same area, so Delhi proved to be the

beneficial place to conduct the research work.

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PARAMETERS FOR SEGMENTS IDENTIFICATION

Various parameters were studied before identifying the segments where the two new products of

Outlook namely, Newsweek and Outlook Business would be sold.

The parameters for identifying these segments were as follows:

Price of the Product

This is the most important parameter as the price of the product determines in which segment

that product will be sold successfully. Newsweek being priced at Rs 50/- is a premium product

and therefore the segments for selling Newsweek would be premium segments like hotels, credit

card companies for their Gold or Platinum customers. However, Outlook Business is priced at Rs

15/- like most of its competitors and so the segments identified would be different from

Newsweek.

Product Profile

The product profile determines the profile of its readers. Therefore for every magazine, segments

are identified based on its contents as to whether the readers will be businessmen, corporate

people, students or housewives. Newsweek being an international newsmagazine and Outlook

Business being a business magazine, both of them are targeted towards businessmen and people

working in the corporate world.

Benefit to the client

The segments should also be identified based on the benefit that they will bring to the client. The

clients here are not individuals but organizations. Hence, the organizations will only buy the

magazines if they see some benefit in incurring an extra cost for buying the magazines.

Magazines help a client to strengthen their relationship with their customers. Hence, the

segments that should be targeted should be those organizations that are in a competitive field and

look forward for new and unique ways in which to communicate with their customers.

Requirements of the Client

Outlook has certain company policies and the requirements of the client should be in sync with

those company policies. For example, Outlook does not take a bulk order for the number of

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copies less than 50. Another is that the strip option is not offered if the number of copies is less

than 1000. Also, the minimum number of issues per year should not be less than 12.

SEGMENTS IDENTIFIED

Golf Courses

Premium Clubs

Coaching Institutions

Hotels

- Rooms

- Public Areas

- Business Lounges

- Fleet of Cars

Car Rentals

PVR Cinemas

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PROCEDURE ADOPTED

Prepare a comprehensive list of prospective clients in each segment

After the segments have been identified, a list of prospective clients is made in each segment

with the help of Internet and Telephone Directory services. The list would consist of all

details of the clients including Name, Address, and Telephone Number etc.

Gather information about a client and the key decision maker

This step consists of gathering information about the client as to whether it s currently taking

any magazines and at what prices. Also the key decision maker in the company is determined

and his/her details are found out.

Take appointment

The next step involves calling up the decision maker in the client organization and making

him interested in the product and taking an appointment with him/her.

Meet the client

Once an appointment has been taken, the next step is to meet the client on the appointed

time. The appointment should begin with asking the client to explain their business in detail.

The Client should be asked if he is buying any other magazines and if yes, at what price. The

client should also be asked if magazines are already a part of his business. Then the client

should be explained in detail the various features of the product and in what ways it is better

than the competitors. The various options like cover-on-cover, strip and flap are offered to

him. Sample copies are shown to display the various options.

Send Proposal

If the client shows interest in the proposition offered to him, the next step is to send a

proposal. The proposal consists of various details like price, option being offered and other

details about the delivery, payment in advance etc. The proposal is either send through mail

or courier.

60

Follow Up

Once the proposal is sent, follow up is required until the decision maker in the organization

takes a decision regarding ordering and the number of copies to be ordered.

Settle Terms and Conditions

Once the client shows his readiness to order, the terms and conditions are settled with him

with regard to number of copies, delivery – whether it is single point or multipoint, payment

in advance, time period of subscription. Also, price, if negotiated by the client, is settled. A

customized sample copy is also shown to the client and his approval is seeked.

Contract

Once all the terms and conditions are settled, the agreement is made. The agreement consists

of all the terms and conditions agreeable to both the parties and is duly signed by both the

parties i.e. the client and Outlook.

Delivery and POD

The client gives all the details of delivery to Outlook as to whether the magazines are to be

delivered to the client itself or directly to the customers. If the magazines are to be delivered

directly to the customers, the all the address details of the client’s customers are taken. After

the magazines are delivered, the Proof of Delivery (POD) is shown to the client for

verification. If any copies are undelivered due to any reason, the client is informed about it .

61

IMPLEMENTATION

GOLF COURSES

Non Profit making Golf Courses

The product for which Non Profit making Golf Courses are targeted is Outlook Business.

Outlook proposed to use a value package from the Outlook Group as the carrier of their monthly

bills ensuring that the Golf Course saves the money that it was spending in dispatching these

bills. Also a value is added to the service being provided in the form of a magazine which the

members get free of cost along with the bill. Also, this additional value is being provided at no

extra cost since the golf course was earlier spending the same amount of money in dispatching

the monthly bills which is now being done by Outlook along with the magazine.

1. Noida Golf Course is a non-profit making organization which does not advertise or promote

itself. The decision is taken by a Board which consists of 5-10 members.

Key Person : Col. S.K. Sharma

Designation : Secretary

No of Members : 4000

Product : Outlook Business

Price : Rs. 10/-

Option Offered : Strip. The strip would contain the message “This magazine is

complimentary to you from Noida Golf Course. Please find your monthly bill enclosed

with the magazine.”

The value package offered to Noida Golf Course will contain a magazine of Outlook

Business with the unique cover flap branding of Noida Golf Course & the monthly bill.

This value package would be sent to each member of the Noida Golf Course in Delhi and

NCR’s

62

2. Army Golf Course is a non-profit making organization which does not advertise or promote

itself. The decision is taken by a Board which consists of 5-10 members.

Key Person : Col. Narendra Singh

Designation : Secretary

No of Members : 3000

Product : Outlook Business

Price : Rs. 10/-

Option Offered : Strip. The strip would contain the message “This magazine is

complimentary to you from Army Golf Course. Please find your monthly bill enclosed

with the magazine.”

The value package offered to Army Golf Course will contain a magazine of Outlook

Business with the unique cover flap branding of Army Golf Course & the monthly bill.

This value package would be sent to each member of the Army Golf Course in Delhi and

NCR’s

3. Air Force Golf Course is a non-profit making organization which does not advertise or

promote itself. The decision is taken by a Board which consists of 5-10 members.

Key Person : Air Cdr. Raksha

Designation : Secretary

No of Members : 2500

Product : Outlook Business

Price : Rs. 12/-

Option Offered : Strip. The strip would contain the message “This magazine is

complimentary to you from Air Force Golf Course. Please find your monthly bill

enclosed with the magazine.”

The value package offered to Air Force Golf Course will contain a magazine of Outlook

Business with the unique cover flap branding of Air Force Golf Course & the monthly

63

bill. This value package would be sent to each member of the Air Force Golf Course in

Delhi and NCR’s

4. Aravalli Golf Course is a non-profit making organization which does not advertise or

promote itself.

Key Person : Mr. Rajeev Sabharwal

Designation : Officer Incharge

No of Members : 400

Product : Outlook Business

Option Offered : Flap. The flap would contain the message “This magazine is

complimentary to you from Aravalli Golf Course. Please find a circular enclosed with the

magazine.”

However, Aravalli Golf Course does not send out monthly bills to its members. However,

it does send out circulars to all its members around 5 times a year and it was ready to use

the Outlook value package for sending out these circulars. But, as a company policy,

Outlook does not take an order for less than 12 issues a year. Hence, this order was not

acceptable.

5. Delhi Golf Club is a non-profit making organization which does not advertise or promote

itself.

Key Person : Mr. S.S. Sabharwal

Designation : Officer Incharge

However, Delhi Golf Club does not send out monthly bills. It does send out circulars to its

members but the frequency for sending them is not fixed. Hence, the proposition offered by

Outlook was not suitable for them.

Private Golf Courses

Private Golf Courses have a budget for advertising and promotion which they do to strengthen

their relationship with their existing members and to communicate about themselves to potential

prospective members. Hence, the product offered to the Private Golf Courses was Newsweek

64

with the cover-on-cover option. The magazine would be send to the database of the members

which would be provided by the club.

1. Golden Greens

Key Person : Mrs. Nisha Nayyar

Designation : General Manager (Sales & Marketing)

Although Golden Greens was ready to order Newsweek but they had a company policy of barter.

They were not ready to pay in cash but instead they offered their golf course for any tournaments

being organized by Outlook or advertising space in the Golf Course. However, outlook does not

deal in anything else except money.

1. DLF Golf And Country Club

Key Person : Mrs. Rama Chawla

Designation : General Manager (Sales & Marketing)

DLF Golf and Country Club was not ready to divulge the details of their members as their

database is very confidential as most of their members belong to the elite class and usually are

the director or CEO of some company. Also, they have an in-house magazine which they send

out to their members every month.

65

3

4

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

CONVERTED NOT CONVERTED

GOLF COURSES CONVERTED

COACHING INSTITUTIONS

Coaching Institutions like IMS, Career Launcher etc. which prepare students for MBA entrance

exams like CAT, MAT etc. were identified as the next segment. The initial idea proposed to

these coaching institutions was that since the first thing that a coaching institution tells its

students to do read business magazines and newspapers. So, it was proposed by Outlook that the

institutions provide the Outlook Business magazine to each of its students along with the study

material provided to them. However, the institutions rejected the idea with the argument that this

would only lead to an extra cost and would not help them increase their business as these

students would have already joined the institution. So, another idea proposed by Outlook was

that the copies of Outlook Business with the advertisement of the institution with the cover-on-

cover option would be distributed to prospective students who are aspiring to clear CAT and

other MBA entrances in various DU and Engineering colleges in Delhi and NCR’s. This idea

appealed as in this way the institution would be able to communicate with its prospective

students.

1. Time Coaching Institution

Key Person : Mr. Arvind Passey

Designation : Head – Marketing

Time Institute wanted a half a page write-up in the magazine for their institute in the

magazine in every issue.

2. IMS

Key Person : Mr Amit

Designation : Marketing Head

IMS was already getting Businessworld at Re 1/- for their students. However, they do send

out mailers to their students and they were ready to do a pilot issue with Outlook.

3. Career Launcher

66

Key Person : Mr. Venkatraman

Designation : Head : Delhi

No. of copies : 1000

Price : Rs. 10

Product: Outlook Business

Option Offered : Strip

Career Launcher decided to take the magazine for a period of one year with the option of the

magazine with the advertisement being distributed to students by Outlook at various DU and

engineering colleges. Also, since this is a very competitive field. Hence, Outlook had to sign

a contract of exclusiveness with Career Launcher

67

1

3

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

CONVERTED NOT CONVERTED

COACHING INSTITUTES CONVERTED

PREMIUM CLUBS

1. The Resort Country Club

Key Person : Mr. Rajesh Ghansiyal

Designation : General Manager (Sales & Marketing)

Product : Newsweek

The club had taken Outlook earlier to send to its institutional members but was not very happy

with the responses as they had hardly got any acknowledgement for this gesture.

However, they thought that the product profile of Newsweek was appropriate for their members

profile and hence were interested in ordering

2. Delhi Flying Club

Key Person: Air Cdr. A.K.Gupta

Designation : Secretary

Product : Outlook Business

Price: Rs. 10/-

No. Of copies : 500

The Delhi Flying Club is a non- profit making organization and it send out monthly bills to its

members. The Club was interested in the value package offered by Outlook in which the monthly

bill will be sent along the branded copy as it was not adding to the cost but was adding value to

the service being provided by the club.

3. National Sports Complex of India

Key Person : Brig. A.K. Arora

Designation : Secretary

The National Sport Complex Of India was a non profit making club and hence was not interested

in advertising or promoting its club by sending out branded copies of the magazine to its

members. Also it did not send out monthly bills.

4. Aero Club Of India

Key Person : Wing Cdr. Kharbanda

Designation: Secretary

68

The Delhi Aero Club is a club which has various flying and other Aero clubs as its members.

However, the reference for Delhi Flying Club was given by the Aero Club Of India

5. Delhi Race Club

Key Person: Mr. R.B. Chauhan

Designation: Secretary

The Delhi Race Club has 100 members out of which only 7-8 members actually come to the race

grounds every day. Rest are members only on paper and are inactive members. There is no

system of sending monthly bills also

69

1

4

0

1

2

3

4

5

CONVERTED NOT CONVERTED

PREMIUM CLUBS CONVERTED

HOTELS

Hotels that were targeted are 5-star hotels of Delhi and NCR. The Hotels are interested in

Newsweek because of the fact that Newsweek is an international newsmagazine and is

recognized and read by people all over the world. The guests that stay at these hotels are mostly

foreigners and hence the hotels take the magazine for keeping at the following places:

-Rooms

- Business Centers/ Lounges

- Public Places

- Cars

The option offered to the hotels was cover-on-cover wherein they could advertise about the hotel

on the cover at the bck and front of the magazine

1. The Claridges

Key Person : Mr. Sai Shankar

Designation : Head –Materials

No of copies : 100

Product : Newsweek

Price : Rs. 35/-

2. Shangri-La

Key Person : Mr. Akshay Mittal

Designation : Conceirge Manager

However, Shangri-La was already buying Time and had entered into a contract with them in Feb,

2006. They did not have the budget to go in for two premium magazines.

3. Le-Meridien

Key Person : Mr. Sanjay

Designation : Head- Purchase

70

Le-Meridien was already into a contract with Indian Book Depot which was marketing

Newsweek in India before Outlook till June, 2006. They would be approached again for renewal

of the contract with Newsweek now being marketed by Outlook

4. Intercontinental Grand

Key Person : Mrs. Anjali Chatterjee

Designation : PR Manager

No of copies : 100

Product : Newsweek

Price : Rs. 35/-

Intercontinental Grand had a contract with IBD earlier which is being renewed with Outlook.

5. The Park

Key Person : Ms. Ayesha Ghutghutia

Designation : PR Executive

Already purchasing Newsweek

6. Hyaat

Key Person : Ms. Silky Sehgal

Designation : PR Manager

Hyatt was in the process of appointing an agency for managing the advertising and promotion

work for Hyatt. They committed that once the agency is finalized, they would be interested in

buying the product

7. The Oberoi

Key Person : Mr. Neeraj Goel

Designation : Head- Accounts

The Oberoi did not have an efficient magazine system and were not taking any magazines.

However, they were planning to improve the magazine and newspaper system very soon

71

8. Oberoi Maidens

Key Person : Mr. Pawan

Designation : Head- Accounts

Oberoi Maidens was already into a contract with Time till October 2006 and did not have the

budget for another magazine. However, they said they would be interested in taking Newsweek

once the contract with Time expires.

72

2

6

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

CONVERTED NOT CONVERTED

HOTELS CONVERTED

CAR RENTALS

The idea proposed to car rental companies was that they can increase their business if their

customers are satisfied by their services and would come back to them again. Newsweek being

an International Newsmagazine, if kept in the cars that they rent out would be highly appreciated

by their customers as during the journey they would be able to read the magazine that they

associate with.

1. Hertz

Key Person: Mr. Raman Mohan

Designation : Vice president (Sales & Marketing)

Product : Newsweek

Hertz is an international car rental company already keeping Time in their cars. Yet they were

interested in Newsweek and the order is in the pipeline

2. Sixth

Key Person : Mr. Sunjay Kapur

Designation : Managing Director

Product : Newsweek

Price: Rs 32/-

No. Of copies : 100

Sixth is a new car rental company operating on an international basis .They have started with an

order of 100 but they plan to increase their cars as well as their order to 5000 by year end,

3. Karachi tourist Service

Key Person : Mr Virendra Singh

Designation : Director

4. Avis

73

Key Person : Mr. Prahlad

Designation : Head- Admin

Avis is also an international car rental company. However, it was not interested in keeping

magazines in its cars as their budget did not allow them

74

1

3

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

CONVERTED NOT CONVERTED

CAR RENTALS CONVERTED

PVR CINEMAS – THE CONCEPT

As part of LAM

PVR Cinemas get very less revenue from the sale of tickets because around 35-40% from

the sale of the ticket goes to taxes and another 35-40% goes to the distributors. Hence,

their main source of revenue is the Snack Bar. PVR Cinemas have the concept of Local

Area Marketing (LAM) under which they spend from about Rs 25000 – Rs 1,00,000 on

adopting different promotional schemes like giving free merchandise, discounts on pepsi-

popcorn combo , discounts on tickets bought before 1 pm and on weekdays.

To improve their business during weekdays/lean periods

The PVR Cinemas usually adopt different promotional mechanisms during weekdays

when the sale of ticket is low or during lean periods like exam time i.e. November

onwards or when the movies playing are not big banner movies and are not expected to

do very well. Hence, the concept proposed by us was to help PVR Cinemas improve their

business during weekdays/lean periods.

Would involve a tie-up between PVR Cinemas and The Outlook Group

The concept given was that initially Outlook was as follows:

Step 1: Distribute free copies of the magazine on a weekend when the business is high.

The details of the people would be taken such as name, address, telephone number etc. in

return for a free magazine

Step 2: The magazine with a flap containing the discount coupon for a weekday would be

sent by the PVR Cinemas to these cinema-goers who had come to watch a movie on

weekend. Hence, on receiving a discount coupon, there is a high probability that the

cinema-goer will come to watch the movie.

FINDINGS OF THE MARKET SURVEY

Markets Studied are:

Green Park Market

Basant Lok Market

75

C Block, Vasant Vihar Market

Ber Sarai

IIT Market

Area : Green Park Market

No. of Retailers : 4

1. Durga News Agency

Owner : Dharmendar Singh

Time

No. of copies received weekly: 15

No. of copies sold weekly: 13-15

Newsweek

The retailer had not received any copies since last three weeks. He presently had only one

copy. Normally,

No. of copies received weekly : 5

No. of copies sold weekly : 1-2

POP Display

Newsweek Danglers

Newsweek Triangular banners

Outlook

Delhi City Limits

2. Neha News Stand

Owner - Amit

Time

No. of copies received weekly : 5

76

No. of copies sold weekly : 2-3

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 2-3

No. of copies sold weekly: 1-2

POP Display

8-10 Newsweek Danglers

Outlook Danglers

Maxim

Week

3. SP News Centre

Time

No. of copies received weekly : 3-5

No. of copies sold weekly : 2-3

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 2

No. of copies sold weekly: 1-2

POP Display

Delhi City Limits

Maxim

India Today

4. Sharma Book Stall

Owner : Mr. Sharma

Time

No. of copies received weekly : 10

No. of copies sold weekly : 5-6

77

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 10

No. of copies sold weekly: 5-6

POP Display

Newsweek danglers

Newsweek Triangular Banners

Delhi City Limits

Outlook Danglers

Area : Basant lok market ( Priya’s Market)

No. Of Retailers: 2

1. Star Book Shop

Time

No. of copies received weekly : 15

No. of copies sold weekly : 10

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 10

No. of copies sold weekly: 5

POP Display

Displayed in front of another stall, on the other side of Star Book Shop. This stall also

belongs to Star Book Shop and sells only novels and books but has POP display for

magazines

12 Newsweek danglers

Newsweek Triangular Banners

Delhi City Limits

Outlook Danglers

78

2. Om Book Shop

Time

No. of copies received weekly : 3-4

No. of copies sold weekly : All

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 3-4

No. of copies sold weekly: All

POP Display

Magazines displayed in a rack placed next to the staircase coming from the entrance. No

POP Display in the shop.

Area : C Block, Vasant Vihar Market

No. Of Retailers : 3

1. The Book Centre

Time

No. of copies received weekly : 10

No. of copies sold weekly : 9-10

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 5

No. of copies sold weekly: All

POP Display

4 Newsweek Danglers

Newsweek triangular banners

Outlook Danglers

Delhi City Limits

79

2. Book Palace

Time

No. of copies received weekly : 5

No. of copies sold weekly : 4-5

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 5

No. of copies sold weekly: 4-5

POP Display

Outlook Main Board

The owner observed that the sale for Newsweek had considerably increased when the price

had been reduced to Rs. 30/-

3. Book Boutique – The Magazine House

Time

No. of copies received weekly : 5

No. of copies sold weekly : 4-5

Newsweek not sold here.

No POP Display

Area : Hauz Khas Market

No. Of Retailers: 3

1. BR News Agency

Time

No. of copies received weekly: 5

No. of copies sold weekly: 4-5

Newsweek

80

No. of copies received weekly: 5

No. of copies sold weekly: 4-5

No POP Display

2. Arora magazine Centre

Time

No. of copies received weekly: 2

No. of copies sold weekly: All

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 2

No. of copies sold weekly: All

POP Display

An old three wheeler was being used for displays

Newsweek danglers

Outlook

Outlook Money

Outlook Saptahik

Delhi City Limits

3. Raju Magazine Centre

Time

No. of copies received weekly: 3-4

No. of copies sold weekly: 2-3

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 3-4

No. of copies sold weekly: 2-3

81

POP Display

Newsweek danglers

Outlook plastic banners

Delhi City Limits

Area : SGA Market

No. Of Retailers: 1

1. Rachna Book Shop

Time

No. of copies received weekly: 5

No. of copies sold weekly: 4-5

Newsweek

No. of copies received weekly: 15

No. of copies sold weekly: 10-15

POP Display

Newsweek danglers

Newsweek Triangular Banners

Outlook

Delhi City Limits

Area : Ber Sarai Market

No. Of Retailers: 2

1. Jagdish Book Depot

Time

No. of copies received weekly: 2

No. of copies sold weekly: All

Newsweek

82

Not Sold Here

POP Display

Outlook

Outlook Money

2. Bharat Book Centre

Time

No. of copies received weekly: 2

No. of copies sold weekly: All

Newsweek

Not sold here.

DATA INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS

83

Data Interpretation Technique

The data analysis technique was purely Quantitative in nature, taking the held or various kinds of

diagrammatic presentations, which were: -

PIE – CHARTS

COLOUMN CHARTS

BAR GRAPHS

a) Sampling Technique:

The Technique of sampling adopted was Area Sampling in which we first divide the total area

into a numbers of smaller geographical clusters then a number of these smaller areas were

randomly selected and all units in these smaller areas were randomly selected and all units in

these small areas were included in the samples.

b) Sampling size

Sample size was 100 customers in consideration.

Analysis & Interpretation

84

Q 1: DO YOU HAVE ANY OUTLOOK SUBSCRIPTION?

Q 2: WHICH MAGAZINE DOES YOU READ?

Interpretation:- The responses of the sample size shows that the maximum number

of people are in a habit of reading general magazine and amongst those sports,

fashion magazine also constitutes a good portion. Business magazines are also

preferred by the respondents.

Q3: HOW DID YOU COME TO KNOW ABOUT OUTLOOK?

85

Interpretation:- The most common source from which the respondents get to know

about Outlook are Newspaper stalls & friends. This constitutes about 80% of the

respondents. This shows that Outlook is lacking behind somewhere in

advertisements.

Q 4: DO YOU THINK OUTLOOK NEWSWEEK COVERS ALL THE CURRENT AFFAIRS

AS A WEEKLY MAGAZINE?

Interpretation:-A good number of respondents agrees with the fact that OUTLOOK

English i.e. the general magazine of Outlook Group is a good magazine and covers all

the essential part which a general magazine should process.

86

Q 7: AS AN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE, DO YOU THINK THAT OUTLOOK

BUSINESS COVERS GOOD AMOUNT OF INFORMATION?

Interpretation:-Outlook Traveler has been awarded with the best travel guide in

2002-03 by the central government. And the responses of the respondents clearly

shows the fact that TRAVELER is one of the best magazines from OUTLOOK’s

kitty.

Q 8: DO YOU THINK THAT OUTLOOK BUSINESS IS A BETTER BUSINESS MAGAZINE

THAN OTHER IN THE SAME BUSINESS?

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Agree StronglyAgree

Disagree StronglyDisagree

Can't Say

Interpretation:-This shows that people is getting good amount of competition from its

counterpart.

87

Q 9: DO YOU THINK THAT OUTLOOK IS A GOOD MAGAZINE?

Interpretation:- More than majority of the sample size thinks that Outlook is a

good magazine. This shows the favorability of Outlook in the eyes of the samples

being taken.

Q 10: IF YOU DECIDE TO SUBSCRIBE AN OUTLOOK MAGAZINE THAN WHICH

MAGAZINE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO FOR?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Outloo

k Eng

lish

Trave

lerGeo

Mar

ie C

laire

Busin

ess

Profit

Mon

ey

People

Newswee

k

Interpretation:-This division shows that Outlook English is the best selling

magazine from the group and is highly preferred by most of the respondents. The

demand for Business & Traveler is also very commanding.

Although magazines like Marie Claire & people is the first choice of ladies.

88

Newsweek being the lowest rated magazine from the respondents.

Q11: FOR HOW MANY YEARS YOU HAVE SUBSCRIBED FOR?

(Please Tick)

Interpretation:-From the total of 100 respondents,52 has subscribed for Outlook’s one

magazine or the other. Out of the 52 subscribed ones,36 subscribers have subscribed for 1

year which covers more than 70% of the total subscribers. This shows that the customers

usually go for 1 year subscription and then they proceed to larger ones.

Q12: PLEASE TICK MARK THE PREFERENCE WHICH PERSUADED YOU TO

SUBSCRIBE FOR THE MAGAZINE.

Interpretation:-This response from the respondents shows that the content & articles of

the magazine has got the priority for them. Although,the consumers are also getting

89

influenced by the good amount of return they are getting in the form of gifts. Price being on

the lower side shows that the consumers are not getting effected from the price.

Q13. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE DELIVERY OF THE MAGAZINES?

Interpretation:-It is often seen that the worst thing from which a magazine company is

getting effected is poor delivery of its magazines. But it does not seem very much a

problem in this aspect for Outlook. For respondents it is a good experience as far as

delivery of magazines in concerned.

Q14: WHAT ABOUT YOU’RE EXPERIENCE WITH THE CUSTOMER CARE SERVICE?

90

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Satisfied Not satisfied Haven't called

Interpretation:- The customer care service of the Outlook magazine seems to be a good

experience for the subscribed respondents. A good number of respondents are satisfied

with the service.

* NOTE:-Haven’t called here means that the subscribers are highly satisfied with the customer care

service.

Q 15: PLEASE RATE THE FOLLOWING ATTRIBUTE OF OUTLOOK ON A SCALE OF FIVE.

5 – Excellent, 4 – Very good, 3 – Good, 2 - Fair 1 - Worst (Please tick)

S. No. Attributes 5 4 3 2 1

1. Articles & contents 47 27 14 8 1

2. Price 25 46 25 3

3. Advertisements 28 36 32 2

4. Free Gifts 45 28 17 5

5. Page quality 42 32 16 2

6. Design 20 25 20 7

7. Availability 22 36 15 3 2

8. Retailers recommendation 26 31 14 8 6

9. Image 22 26 18 9

10. Resale value 24 17 29 16 4

91

Q 16.WOULD YOU RECOMMEND OTHERS FOR OUTLOOK MSGAZINES?

Q 17. YOUR OCCUPATION

1) Business2) Service3) Student4) Any other

Q18. YOUR AGE GROUP

1) 20-302) 30-353) 35-454) Above 45

92

Q19. YOUR GEOGRAPHIC REGION

1) Urban2) Rural3) Semi urban

93

FINDINGS

The USP of Outlook Business is its price and USP of Newsweek is that it’s an

international newsmagazine. This is so because all sales of Outlook Business were on the

basis of its price and that of Newsweek was on the basis of its International reputation.

Magazines are not a critical product for any organization. Hence, magazines have to be

pushed for sales. This is because a client will usually use a magazine for communicating

with its client and advertising. However, there are numerous other channels available for

this purpose. Therefore, a salesman selling magazines can only be successful only if he is

proactive.

The client will only be interested in placing an order for the magazine if it adds value to

the service being provided by it to its customers without adding to its cost. The options

offered by Outlook i.e. Cover-on-Cover, Flap and Strip were very useful as they

enhanced the service being provided by the clients to its customers.

Mostly customers having business background are interested in outlook business.

People dealing in stock market gave good response.

The delivery is not up to mark.

Newsweek is preferred in good amount.

Common people especially employees prefer Newsweek.

Outlook banners/posters were not displayed at any of the shops. One of the retailers said

that outlook has never sent any promotional material to them.

Newsweek circulation was not found to be satisfactory by few of the retailers

94

SUGGESTIONS

Company should be emphasis on more effective advertisement.

The most important task is that company should give its priority to coverage. If the

company could cover home towns, cities and villages then it will create their more

magazines readers.

The company should enhance its awareness among many people by mobile road shows:

outdoor advertising in local and national newspapers as well as more type of ads on

prime time on television channels for different uses segments. So that many people may

come to know about the services of the magazines and can become a subscriber of the

company.

The policy or company should be simple. And bring more transparency.

The company should up date marketing department in town offices for the benefit of the

subscribers as well for the company.

Company should appoint some executives to make strong relationships with customer.

Follow Up is very crucial for any call and hence should be done very thoroughly by the

sales executive. As magazines is not a critical product for any organization and have to be

pushed for sales, hence if regular and thorough follow-up is not done, the client may soon

loose interest in the product and forget it. Hence, the sales executive should try and

maintain a relationship with the client and pursue him with great interest.

A personalized sample copy taken on the first appointment would appeal more to the

client and also save time. If a sales executive takes a customized sample copy on the first

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appointment, it would definitely create a greater impact on the client as he would be able

to visualize better the effect that the product is going to have on its customers.

There should be a system of Daily Sales Report (DSR) to improve efficiency of the sales

executive. Since a sales executive goes on an average on 4-5 calls, there should be a

system wherein he is supposed to come back and record each and every detail related to

the call in a DSR

Customer retentionIt is a normal saying that customer acquisition is good, retention is better. This is because a customer retained is equal to five new customers as the money spent for acquiring a customer is calculated to be five times the money spent to retain a customer. From the information obtained from Outlook, if was identified that Outlook does nothing for customer retention. Outlook needs to formulate and implement customer retention and loyalty programs to retain the customers.

Greet the customers with exciting gifts during special occasions.

Sell the subscription renewal at discount.

Auto renewal of subscription.

Allow grace period for subscription expiry.

Send loyalty gifts.

Organize entertainment events for subscribers.

Organize get – together.

Offer free Medical claim/Insurance Policy.

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LIMITATIONS

More than one decision makers

Since there were more than one decision makers in some client organizations, the

decision making process was very long n sometimes stretched to as long as 15-20 days

because approval had to be taken from all the decision makers. For example, clubs have

board and any such decision has to be first approved by each and every member of the

board.

Clients were very apprehensive since one of the magazine was new

As Outlook Business is a new magazine, clients were apprehensive as to whether its

customers would like the magazines as far as content is concerned.

Off season for some of the clients, some clients like hotels have off-season where they do

not have much guest. Hence, they do not want to incur this extra cost during the off-

season

Clients perception about Outlook magazine and brand loyalty

Some clients do not have a good perception about Outlook and hence they think that the

new magazine from the Outlook Group would also be not good.

Clients bound by budget or contract with some other magazine

A client is already having a contract with some other magazine and its budget does not

permit to take an additional magazine

Some of the persons were not so responsive.

Possibility of error in data collection because many of customers may have not given actual

answers of my questionnaire.

Sample size is limited to customers of Outlook publishing India Pvt. ltd.

The sample size may not adequately represent the whole market.

Some respondents were reluctant to divulge personal information which can affect the validity of

all responses

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CONCLUSION

At the end, one thing is quite clear that everybody has their different opinion, tastes in reading

different magazines of OUTLOOK in Delhi NCR .After surveyed in this region conclusion is

based on different psychographic variables of different customers of outlook magazines, some

are of different age customers, some are of different activities after this all have different reading

style and purpose. After analysis the condition we can determine and find their ratings and

ranking on the scale

The Segments covered in the project are Golf Courses, Premium Clubs, Coaching

Institutions, Hotels and Car Rentals

Other Segments that could be opened are :

- Investment Firms

- Pharmacy Companies

- Builders

- Credit Card Companies

- Hospitals / Nursing Homes

- MBA Institutes

- Builders

There are good chances, the outlook have if it consider the suggested suggestion

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REFERENCES

Outlookindia.com

National Readership Survey

Indian Readership Survey

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books referred:

Marketing Management by Philip Kotler.

AMA Handbook for satisfaction by Alan Dutka.

Consumer behavior by Leon G.Schiffman & Leslie Lazar Kanuk

Website visited:

www.ouitlookindia.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/outlook_(magazines)

www.outlookindia.com/archievecontents.asp

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ANNEXTURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME:

SEX: Male ( )

Female ( )

Q 1: DO YOU HAVE ANY OUTLOOK SUBSCRIPTION?

Yes

No

Q 2: DO YOU THINK THAT OUTLOOK IS A GOOD MAGAZINE?

Yes

No

Q 3: WHICH TYPE OF MAGAZINE YOU READ?

News magazines

Fashion magazines

Business magazines

Sports magazines

Traveling magazines

ANY OTHER________(Specify)

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Q4: HOW DID YOU COME TO KNOW ABOUT OUTLOOK?

Newspapers/Stalls

Friends/Relatives

Advertisements/Promotions

Internet

Hoardings

Q 5: DO YOU THINK OUTLOOK NEWSWEEK COVERS ALL THE CURRENT AFFAIRS

AS A WEEKLY MAGAZINE?

Agree

Strongly Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Can’t say

Q 6: DO YOU THINK THAT OUTLOOK NEWSWEEK COVERS GOOD AMOUNT OF

INFORMATION?

Agree

Strongly Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Can’t say

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Q 7: DO YOU THINK THAT OUTLOOK BUSINESS IS A BETTER CELEBRITY

MAGAZINE THAN OTHER IN THE SAME BUSINESS?

Agree

Strongly Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Can’t say

Q 8: IF YOU DECIDE TO SUBSCRIBE AN OUTLOOK MAGAZINE THAN WHICH

MAGAZINE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO FOR?

Outlook English ( General weekly magazine)

Outlook Traveller (Travel guide)

Geo (Wildlife)

Marie Claire (Intl. fashion magazine)

Outlook Business

Profit (Stock Exchange)

Money (Finance magazine)

People (Celebrity magazine)

Newsweek (Intl. News magazine)

Q9: FOR HOW MANY YEARS YOU HAVE SUBSCRIBED FOR?

(Please Tick)

5Yrs

3 Yrs

1 Yr

Any Other______ (Specify)

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Q10: PLEASE TICK MARK THE PREFERENCE WHICH PERSUADED YOU TO SUBSCRIBE FOR THE MAGAZINE.

Price

Gifts

Popularity

Content & articles

Other offers

Q11. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE DELIVERY OF THE MAGAZINES?

Satisfied

Not satisfied

Sometimes on time & sometimes not

Q12: WHAT ABOUT YOU’RE EXPERIENCE WITH THE CUSTOMER CARE SERVICE?

Satisfied

Not satisfied

Haven’t called

Q 13: PLEASE RATE THE FOLLOWING ATTRIBUTE OF OUTLOOK ON A SCALE OF

FIVE.

5 – Excellent, 4 – Very good, 3 – Good, 2 - Fair 1 - Worst (Please tick)

S. No. Attributes 5 4 3 2 1

1. Articles & contents

2. Price

3. Advertisements

4. Free Gifts

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5. Page quality

6. Design

7. Availability

8. Retailers recommendation

9. Image

10. Resale value

Q14.WOULD YOU RECOMMEND OTHERS FOR OUTLOOK MAGAZINES?

1) Yes

2) No

Q15. YOUR OCCUPATION

5) Business6) Service7) Student8) Any other

Q16. YOUR AGE GROUP

5) 20-306) 30-357) 35-458) Above 45

Q17. YOUR GEOGRAPHIC REGION

4) Urban5) Rural6) Semi urban

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