outlook magazines

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SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT

UNDER

OUTLOOK PUBLISHING INDIA PVT. LTD.

ON

CONSUMER BASE

AND

FUTURE ASPECT OF MAGAZINES

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF THE REQUIRMENT FOR THEAWARD OF THE DEGREE OF PGDM, INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE,

GHAZIABAD.

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SUBMITTED TO:-

PROF. VIKAS SAXENA

SUBMITTED BY:-

SATISH KUMAR


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deepest sense of gratitude to Mr. Himanshu Pandey, National

Head of Sales and Promotion for giving me this opportunity to undergo Summer Training at

Outlook Publishing India Pvt. Ltd.

I express my sincere gratitude to my industry guide Ms.Anisha Sanghi, Team Leader,

Outlook Publishing India Pvt Ltd, for his able guidance, continuous support and cooperation

throughout my project, without which the present work would not have been possible.

I would also like to thank the entire team of Outlook Group, for the constant support and

help in the successful completion of my project.

Also, I am thankful to my faculty guide Prof. Vikas Saxena of my institute, for his

continued guidance and invaluable encouragement.

Last but not the least I thank my family and friends for their encouragement and support.

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DECLARATION

I Satish kumar student of Institute of Technology & Sciences Batch (2011-2013) declare

that every part of the Project Report Consumer Base and Future Aspect of Magazines that

I have submitted is original.

I was in regular contact with the nominated guide and contacted for discussing the project.

Date of submission:

Satish Kumar

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter No. Subject Page No.

Ch #1. Executive Summary................................................... 6-7

INTERODUCTON 3-31

Ch #2. COMPANY PROFILE ........................................... 8-15

2.1 Rajan Raheja Group 8-9

2.2 Outlook Group 9-10

2.3 Product Description 10-15

Ch #3. INDUSTRY RROFILE ....................................... 16-20

3.1 Print Media 16

3.2 Readership Survey 16-20

Ch #4. LITERATURE REVIEV .......................................... 21-23

Ch #5. JOB ASSIGNMENT.................................................. 24-27

5.1 Objectives 24

5.2 Purpose of the project 24

5.3 Consumer Base 25

5.4 Building the Consumer Base 26

5.5 Market Research 27

5.6 Building Relationship 28

5.7 Future Aspects Of Print Media 29

5.8 STEPS IN GENERATING SALES 30

Ch # 6. SWOT ANALYSIS OF OUTLOOK MAGAZINES.......................... 31

Ch # 7. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................. 34-35

Ch #8. RESEARCH ANALYIS................................................... 36-45

Ch # 9. FINDINGS...................................................... 46

Ch # 10. RECOMMENDATION .............................................. 47-49

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Ch #11. CONCLUSION................................................... 50

Ch #12. BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................... 51

Ch #13. ANNEXURE.............................................. 52-55

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CHAPTER -1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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

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

laterally into manufacturing, financial services and media. The various magazines offered

by Outlook Group consist of Outlook English, Outlook Money, Outlook Traveller, Outlook

Hindi, Outlook Profit & Outlook Business. It has recently taken over the Sales & marketing

of Newsweek, an international newsmagazine and Marie Claire, an international womens

magazine.

The Project Consumer base and Future Aspects Of magazine is an attempt to find out new

areas of development through which business can be generated for the company.

Lets understand the meaning of the project title, consumer base means the group of

customers and/or consumers that a business serves. In the most situations, a large part of this

group is made up of repeat customers with a high ratio of purchase over time. These

customers are the main source of consumer spending.

A future aspect means something that will exist or happen in times to come which will an

appearance to the eye or mind.

Magazines industry is going a long way in developing, formulating and implementing

promotional strategies to cope up with the tough competition. Strategies are formulated not

only keep up with cut throat competition but also to meet the highly volatile consumer

preferences.

The analysis revealed that most of the customers were motivated by the gifts provided by

the subscriptions rather than the price reduction. Thus it brought out that gifts play a key

role in the success of promotional schemes.

The market survey was conducted to confirm the facts revealed by the sales data analysis

vindicated that the speculations were true since most respondents agreed to that they were

motivated by the gifts, especially by the brand value and utility of it.

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It has been found that though Outlook is strong in some of the augmented product attributes

like Promotional Schemes and Overall Presentation; it needs to improve the core product

attributes like Quality of content, Coverage.

Hence from the findings of the market survey and by different analysis performed effective

strategies has been formulated and proposed which might be useful in devising the future

strategies for Outlook.

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CHAPTER-2

INTRODUCTION

2. COMPANY PROFILE

2.1 RAJAN RAHEJA GROUP

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.

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. 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 fulfil

the objective of assuming leadership in core areas.

The list of the Group's successes is long and eclectic.

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.

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Co-promoters ofSupreme Petrochem Ltd. along with Supreme Industries

Ltd, largest processor of plastic materials in India.

The Group also joined hands with Oberoi Hotels as co-promoters ofTrident

Hotels and luxury resort Rajvilas, which Conde Nast Traveller ranked as one

of the 25 best villa hideaways in the world.

Prism Cement Ltd. has a production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes.

The Group is a Co-promoter ofSonata Software Ltd, one of the leading

software companies in India.

As owners and operators of a fibre optic cable network in Kerala through Asia

net Satellite Communications, the group is also a significant stakeholder in

the growing convergence business in India.

Co-promoters ofRMC Ready mix (India) Pvt. Ltd. along with RMC Group

plc, U.K, the worlds largest manufacturer of Ready-mixed concrete.

Hathway Cable & Datacom Pvt. Ltd has extensive cable network in 6 major

cities and 7 large towns across India.

Globus Stores Pvt Ltd. is Indias one of the largest apparel brand chain.

A 50% JV with the ING group of Netherlands in ING Life Insurance. The

venture is already the 5th largest insurer in India.

2.2 OUTLOOK GROUP

Mr. Rajan Raheja is theowner 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

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The Outlook group publishes several magazines like Outlook Business, Outlook Profit,

Outlook Money, GEO, Marie Claire, People, Traveller, Career 360 and News

Week. Outlook has been published in New Delhi continuously since October 1995 by the

Outlook Group, whose founding editor-in-chief is Vinod Mehta.

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

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

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

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

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

establishment on events ranging from Kargil to Kasmir to cricket, sensitised the reading

public to important issues like big dams, education and gender, and provided an unremittingfocus 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.

2.3 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Outlook: In October 1995, Hathway Investments Private Limited Group Company entered

the print media. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine headed by Vinod Mehta,Outlook, Indiasmost exciting weekly newsmagazine covers the entire spectrum of issues from current

affairs, business, sports, lifestyle, technology, international affairs etc. Outlook gives you a

holistic picture, insightful analysis and fresh perspective 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 onevents ranging from Kargil to Kashmir to cricket, sensitized the reading public to important

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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.

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

wildlife, Geography etc. It is also one of the best selling magazines 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.

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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.Marie Clarie, the Indian

edition is about real women and what they want. Gorgeous fashion coverage, beauty tips

and cutting edge feature stories that will make her think, laugh or cry. ''Our edition contains

content that reaches out to the global Indian women who is smart, educated, urban and is

ready to reach out and explore the world.'' Mr Maheswar Peri, President and Publisher of the

Outlook Group said ''Marie Claire will be a magazine for the thinking, evolved and strong-

willed Indian woman.

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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 magazine 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.The Outlook

Profit magazine is an India based business magazine, it is a fortnightly edition that packs

market intelligence & incisive analysis of the stock market, while capturing emerging trends

& tracking market experts & their moves. This online magazine promises a unique data

section that marks the markets packed with credible analysis.

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NEWSWEEK: It offers comprehensive coverage of world events with a global network ofcorrespondents, reporters and editors covering national and international affairs, business,

science, and technology, society and entertainment.Newsweek's Asia edition addresses theneeds of our Asian readers, bringing you deeper understanding of what's happening in Asia

and the world. This edition is circulated throughout Asia, including Australia, Hong Kong,

India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

CAREER 360: It covers information related to numerous career option in

different fields, success mantras, sample questions for exams around the

corner.

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CHAPTER-3

3. INDUSTRIAL PROFILE

3.1 PRINT MEDIA

The structure of the Indian print media industry is highly fragmented with importance to

regional dominance. The Indian print media segment primarily comprises newspaper and

magazine publishing. Book Publishing also forms part of the print media though currently

the share is not substantial. The print media industry has potential to grow still larger as 369

million literate people in India are still not tapped by any publication.

Currents estimates reveal that the reach of print media in India has increased to 222 million

people. Print media is also the favourite segment for global investors with maximum foreign

investment in this segment.

3.2 READERSHIP SURVEYS

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

1. National Readership Survey NRS

2. Indian Readership Survey IRS

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) & IndianNewspapers Society.

It investigates the readership of about 80 major Indian pub, weeklies, biweeklies and

monthlies-in over 475 towns of 57 regions across the length and breadth of the country. The

towns, selected, however are publication centers of dailies. By process of systematic

sampling, over 55,000 households in these towns are surveyed, the number of households

in each town proportionate to it population. All men and womenfolk above the age 15 are

questioned for about half an hour on the basis of a structured questionnaire.

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

data (available to its clients on computer disks) readership, radio listenership 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 Sofres Mode, AC Nielsen

in collaboration with ORG.

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

IRS 2002 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 2001 and November

2002.

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 macro demographic & geographic parameters.

Population coverage: 12 years & above

Sample size: over 200, 000

Geographic coverage: All India (Urban + Rural)

Sample Frame: Electoral rolls based on 2001 Census definition of Urban

Agglomeration

According to NRS 2005,

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Press adds 34 million readers in the last 2 years.

Press continues to grow, adding 21 million readers between 2002 and 2005.

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 mn to 200 mn - 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 upscaleSEC A and B segments.

According to IRS 2006,

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

Survey 2006 Round 1 has pricked the bubble. There are few newspapers or magazines that

have seen any growth; most have seen erosion in readership.

Dainik Jagran retains its No 1 position among newspapers with 19.07 million readers,

Dainik 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.

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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 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 dailyreadership 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 lak 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 Chronicles too has grown 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, Readers 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 in 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 womens magazines , Femina, Womens Era, Cosmopolitan, New Woman, Elle and

Savvy to special interest titles like The Sportstar, Auto India, Overdrive, Outlook Traveller,

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.

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According to the survey, the number of households has grown by 1.4 per cent over 2005 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 2005 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 2005 to 54.4 per cent in 2006.

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 Accountant working in accordance with the rules/procedures set by the

Bureau

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CHAPTER-4

4. LITERATURE REVIEW

Advertising synergy

The concept of synergy is not new for communication researchers and advertising

professionals. It is defined as the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their

combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effect (American Heritage

College Dictionary 1997). As a matter of fact, advertisers frequently use multiple

communication tools (e.g., advertising, public relations, etc.) or channels (e.g., television,

press, the Web, etc.) within a single campaign at the ultimate goal of integrating multiple

communication vehicles to create the optimal persuasive effect (Chang & Thorson, 2004).

Synergy is the fundamental concept of Integrated Marketing Communication. It differs

from simple repetition in that it is believed to bring in integrated increment rather than just

simple addition of different components. As Chang and Thorson (2004) elaborated:

An advertisement is usually viewed more than once. The effect resulting from

repeated exposure to the same advertisement is called the repetition effect and is assumed to

be the incremental effect of each additional advertising exposure. The effect resulting from

exposure to coordinated advertisement is called the synergy effect.

As observed, advertising synergy could be operated into content level and medium

level. The former is usually seen within a single medium, using a series of ads with slight

difference in image, sound or stories, to convey a consistent persuasive message. While the

latter, going one step beyond, employs several media at a time for the same purpose.

TV, Print and Web ads

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Conventional advertising, predominantly TV-commercials and print ads, still dominates

todays advertising market. However, a diversity of new advertising formats emerges. One

major threat comes from the Internet, which advertising investment is constantly seen to

be on the rise (Janoschka, 2004). As Leong and his colleagues (1998) suggested, the

phenomenal growth of consumers and businesses connected to the Internet indicate a viable

audience for advertising and promotional messages for many companies.

The Internet is the latest developed electronic mass medium of the 20 th century. With

its decentralized, internationally operating network and multimedia functions, this new

communication tool has soon captured the attention of provident advertisers and became the

4th largest advertising medium (Janoschka, 2004). Some researchers estimated that online

advertising would begin to get surpluses this year, and the share of advertising expenditure

for webs would increase from 3.5% to 6.5% by the year 2009 (Ads4cn.com, 2005) , U.S.

websites will see a triple in their advertising revenue.

There are various types of online advertising, including emails, newsletters,

screensavers, e-sponsoring, asynchronous and synchronous chat groups, infomercials, online

games, and web sites (Janoschka, 2004: 43). Provided the scope of the current study,

spotlight will be given to web ads, which encompass a variety of hypermedia formats, such

as banners, buttons, and pop-up windows, etc. (Janoschka, 2004: 43).

Similar to other types of advertisements, web ads are paid or unpaid form of

communication aim at informing the existence of a product or service and/or persuading

consumers to take actions. And Janoschka (2004: 49) found one major difference is that web

ads are hyperlinks in nature, which enable activation by their users. They not only contain

promotional messages on themselves which tries to attract consumers attention, but also

embedded with hyperlinks and then point to a much greater information pool, such as the

corporations website.

This inherent difference enables a lot of unique features of web ads. As Leong, Huang

and Stanners (1998) summarized in their study with advertisers, web ads were perceived to

be:

1). Excellent for conveying information and detail.

2). Cost-effective.

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3). Rational and not effective in stimulating emotions.

4). Effective in precipitating action.

5). Effective for both short- and long-term promotional objectives.

6). Less effective for changing and maintaining attitudes.

Two conceptual maps may further contribute to our understanding of the characteristics

among TV, print and web as advertising media.

First is Hoffman and Novaks (1996) conceptual typology based on objective

characteristics (Figure1) of 35 media. The horizontal axis differentiates impersonal from

personal communication media, while the vertical axis differentiates dynamic from staticmedia. Findings showed that traditional mass media, such as TV and print resided in the

upper left and lower left quadrants, whereas interpersonal media mainly take up the upper

and lower right quadrants. New media occupied largely intermediate positions, in

agreement with Reardon and Rogers (1988), who view new interactive media as combining

properties of mass (impersonal) and face-to-face (personal) communication channels.

The three media to be investigated in the current study, namely, TV, print and web

were all found to be mass-targeted (impersonal) media which package their information for

a large group of people. Yet they serve different functions. As Hoffman and Novak (1996)

explained, broadcast media provide relatively short-term exposure with low information

content, print media provide relatively long-term exposure with high information content,

whereas advertising strategy on the web can responsible for both short-term (decision of

which link to select next) and long-term (detail information reading) exposure.

Web incorporates texts, images, audio and sometimes, video contents as well. It stands

in the central part of the media map, corresponding to a very important strategic

interpretation that it should be included into the marketing mix and serve as complementary

ad carriers to the two conventional but predominant media

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The customer base is the group ofcustomers and/orconsumers that abusiness serves. In the

most situations, a large part of this group is made up of repeat customers with a high ratio of

purchase over time. These customers are the main source ofconsumer spending. In many

cases, the customer base is considered the business's target market, where customer

behaviours are well understood through market research or past experience. All actions the

company takes would be through consideration of its customer base.

5.4 BUILDING CONSUMER BASE

All businesses begin with no customers. These start-ups begin with an abstract idea that

slowly evolves into something someone will buy. As these products evolve from abstract

ideas into primitive objects that are then further refined, the business that created the

product begins to gain customers. The satisfied customers become the repeat buyers and

core customer of the company. Most often, successful start-upsbegin with low-end or down

market customers with low income and low costs. As the products or services that are being

bought are polished and remade, a company gains higher-end customers who gain interest in

the product as it reaches higher levels of functionality, use, and/or value of some kind. As

the shift to these higher priority customers continue, they begin to be a larger source of

income for the company, and slowly become the main base whom the business lends the

most importance. This process, of moving from low-end customers to more expensive and

more profitable customers, is known as up streaming.

Businesses work very competitively to keep their core market intact. The sellers will

research their buyers to increase customer awareness. Keeping products customer oriented

has become so huge a priority, in fact, that it has become a large focus of business schools to

teach all types of business administrators, from manager to marketer, to keeping the

customer in mind for the improvement and creation of sellable products. It is very rare for

an established company to lose its core customers to incumbents, and it has been stated that

when an established company loses their consumer base via sudden and straightforward

methods, it was not an ingenious move of the incumbent that allowed this to happen, but

rather a result of the established company dropping the ball.

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5.5 MARKET RESEARCH

Throughout the lifespan of one company, the people that are being sold to are studied so that

they can be provided with more attractive products or services. The main market doing the

buying is, of course, that companys consumer base. Analyzing and understanding such

customers is the main method of keeping them, and is why most assets are poured

into Research and Development(R&D).

R&D is the process by which old products and new ideas become refined into better, more

profitable packages. It consists of a lot of customer data: interviews, observation, product

testing, and plenty of questions. Innumerable details are dug up to gain an insight into who

the core customers are, and what they want or need. This is where brand creation, market

consideration, and market testing comes into play. Anything that the customer base will not

buy will not be made.

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How a company listens to their customers is vital. Listening to what they say they want and

providing that is a sure-fire means to failure. It turns out that its not as simple as just

listening, because customers often do not know what they want or why they want it.

Customers do not really understand the creation process, and should only be asked concise

questions that a company's R&D team can make into something their customers would

value. It is through this careful insight into customer minds that a business improves their

product and gains more buyers and more revenue.

5.6 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Relationship marketing focuses on using customer service and quality of service as

benchmarks in a companys marketing activities. Relationship marketing campaigns are

developed by looking at the lifetime relationship with clients rather than the individual

dealings in order to increase profit. In relationship marketing, the goal is to satisfy and retain

clients in order to create long-term profitable relationships.

Its obvious that there is a lot to be gained by marketing to your existing client base. Here

are some of the positive results:

Happier clients who trust you and your business

Repeat and new business from existing clients means more profitable relationships

Client-provided feedback and quality insight into your business

A boost in word of mouth referrals and recommendations

A willingness to pay more for your services

Brand engagement and loyalty

Plus, studies have shown that it costs less to keep an existing customer than it does to

acquire a new customer, both in terms of marketing and the new-relationship learning curve.

There are also benefits from relationship marketing to the client. Because their needs

become a primary focus in your business, they get better service, quicker responses and

have to do less work to make sure their needs are being met.

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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 send through mail.

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 seek.

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, then all the address details of the clients 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.

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6.SWOT ANALYSIS OF OUTLOOK MAGAZINES

STRENGTHS:

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.

Outlook magazines also cover international financial market.

1.It has been famous for sensational stories like the Kargil Bungle and the match fixing

controversy.

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

held on Friday.

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

4. It has distinguished and specialised magazines like Outlook Traveller, Outlook Money.

5. Outlook traveller has been awarded international awards for best selling magazine.

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

this is its distinguishing characteristic.

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 magazines paper quality, print quality and coverage have not been considered

up to the mark.

5. Its sales are mainly based on advertising.

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6. It basically publish English magazine does not focus on Hindi reader.

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. It 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.

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.

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

Hindi.

3. Outlook does not pay much attention on customer retention.

4. If outlook does not improve its service it will lost customer loyalty.

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CHAPTER-7

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology defines what the activity of research is, how to proceed, how tomeasure progress, and what constitutes success. It provides us an advancement of wealth of

human knowledge, tools of the trade to carry out research, tools to look at things in life

objectively; develops a critical and scientific attitude, disciplined thinking to observe

objectively (scientific deduction and inductive thinking); skills of research particularly in

the age of information.

TYPE OF RESEARCH: The type of research adopted was descriptive in nature . The object

of descriptive research is to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or situations

.This is necessary to have a clear picture of the phenomena to collect data prior to the

collection of data. Description in management and business research has a very clear place.

However, it should be thought of as a means to an end rather an end in itself.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: A simple random sample is a set ofindividuals (a sample)

chosen from a larger set apopulation. Each individual is chosen randomly and entirely by

chance, such that each individual has the sameprobability of being chosen at any stage

during the sampling process,

The sample size that was taken into consideration was 100(approx) .These prospects were

randomly selected from the sample area and were asked to fill questionnaire.

The Sample area that has been selected for conducting the research was Delhi, NCR. The

sample size was taken randomly from all parts of Delhi and NCR region. The questionnaire

are being distributed to the various prospects in the sample area the prospects involved are

doctors, college students ,lawyers, employees ,teachers etc.

TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION:

The report is based on primary as well as secondary data, however primary data collection is

given more importance since it is overhearing factor in attitude studies. Research is being

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done by primary data collection and primary data collection is being done by interacting

with various people. The secondary data has been collected through various journals and

websites.

Primary data :

Primary date were collected though questionnaires .The questionnaire were

accordingly prepared to find out the consumer base and the future aspects of

magazines

Secondary data: Journals ,websites .

TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS:

The tools that were used for analysing the data that have been collected through the

questionnaire and other sources are as follows:

1. Pie chart

2. Bar diagram

3. Column chart

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CHAPTER-8

RESEARCH ANALYSIS

1. No of respondents who read magazines

From the analysis of 100 respondents 65% of people used to read magazine while 35%

does not read.

2. Types of magazines preferred by the reader?

From the above data we can say that from 100 respondents 42% are of India today, 32%

of Outlook, 11% of Frontline, 10% of Saptahik and remaining 5% others.

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3.Gender preferences for English magazines:

63%male

47%female

Preference

Males

Females

From the analysis of 100 respondents it can be determined that out of total readers of

English magazines there are 47% females and 63% males.

4. Respondents having internet connection

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From the analysis of 100 respondents it can be determined that 82% have internet

connection.

5. Internet usage preference

Respondents having internet connection

113

25

82% 18%0

20

40

60

80

100

120

yes no

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internet usage

30

63

45

22% 46% 33%0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Reading Articles Reading new s Reading magazine

From the analysis of 100 respondents it can be determined that 46% read news, 22% read

articles and 33% read magazine on internet.

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6. Type of magazine according to preferences by respondents:

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Average of ranking of respondents according to their preferencefor types of magazines

BusinessPolitical

Fashion

Tech savvy

Movies

Women

Others

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From the survey of 100 respondents 85% preferred to read business

magazines, 46% preferred political magazines, 60% preferred fashion

magazine, 72% tech savvy magazines, 48% preferred movies magazines,

39% preferred womens magazines and 20%preferred other sort of

magazines.

7. Analysis of the reading habit of the respondents:

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8%

45%

12%

30%

5%

Reading Habit

Regularly

Whenever getting bored

While waiting

For information

Others

From the survey, analysis of the reading habit of the respondents showed that 8%

regularly readers, 45% whenever getting bored, 12% while waiting, 30% to get

information, 5% read other magazines.

8.Places from where magazines are purchased:

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9. Motivational factor for magazine subscription:

14%

26%43%

7%

10%

Motivation for magazine subscription

Ease of purchase

Discounted prices

Gifts

Sugested by friend

Others

From the survey of 100 respondents the factors that motivated subscribers to subscribe

for any magazine were that 43% got motivated due to gifts with them, 26% got motivated

due to discounts they were getting, 14% due to ease of purchase, 7% were motivated by

their friends, and 10% due to other factors.

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10. Gift evaluation parameters:

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

Gift Evaluation Parameters

Gift Evaluation Parameters

From the Analysis to evaluate gift parameters, 80% prefer brand value in a gift, 64%

prefer the utility of the product, 55% prefer attractive gifts, 48% go for the price of gift

and 20% went for other parameters.

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From the analysis 75% liked schemes of the Outlook magazine offered, 66% went for the

value of money, 65% for unbiased reporting, 56% for overall presentation, 42% for

coverage, 38% went for paper quality, only 35% liked the quality of content and 33% for

coverage.

12. Perception of customers about Outlook magazine:

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From the survey of 100 respondents 32% agree to buy magazine online, while only

12% strongly disagree

14. Respondents would like to buy magazines online because

preference for buying e magzine

73

39

26

53% 19% 28%0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Timely delivered Easy access No storage issue

From the survey of 100 respondents 53% would like to go for e magazine because of

timely delivery problem of subscriptions. 39% see e magazine as no storage issue.

15.Areas over which Outlook needs improvement:

68%

21%

11%

Areas of Improvement

Quality of content

Print Quality

Coverage

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CHAPTER-11

CONCLUSION

Promotional decisions are crucial decisions as far as marketing of a product or service is

concerned because of tough competition offered by similar kinds of products available in

the market. Magazine industry is also not free from competition and the publishers and

circulation managers need to be very alert since the consumer purchasing patterns has

become more volatile. Consumers are aware of most of the options available for them and it

is the publishers who have to motivate them for the acquisition and conversion of them it in

sales.

From the different analysis performed and market survey conducted, as a part of sincere

effort to formulate an effective strategy for Outlook magazine it has been found out that

promotional schemes are on right track and it is able to increase its subscription sales. At the

same time it was revealed by the market survey that the customers or potential customers

were not satisfied by the Quality of content and coverage of magazine which needs to be

addressed because customer dissatisfaction might cause future loss in sales.

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Srivastava T N, Rego Shailaja (Edition 2011) Business Research Methodology

Websites:

www.outlookindia.com

www.outlookgroup.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/outlook_(magazines)

www.outlookindia.com/archievecontents.asp

CHAPTER-13

ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

PERSONAL DETAILS:

Name............................. Gender: M ( ), F ( )

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Occupation...................... Email address....................

Phone No.........................

1. Do you read magazines?

YES ( ) NO ( )

2. Which magazines do you read?

Outlook ( ) India Today ( ) Frontline ( ) Pratiyogita darpan ( )

3. Do you have internet connection?

YES ( ) NO ( )

4. You spend time on internet for

Reading Articles ( )

Reading news ( )

Reading magazine ( )

5. What type of magazines do you like to read?

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Rank them according to your higher preference to lower between 1 to 7:

Business magazines ( )

Political magazines ( )

Fashion ( )

Technical savvy ( )

Movies ( )

Womens magazines ( )

Others ( )

6. How often you read magazines?

Regularly _____

Whenever getting bored _____

While waiting _____

For information _____

Others _____

7. How you want to purchase or receive your magazines?

News stands ______

Book stalls ______

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Subscriptions ______

Online ______

8. What made you subscribe for the magazine?

Tick the options:

Content ( )

Low Price ( )

Gifts ( )

Suggested by a friend/ relative ( )

Others ( )

9. On what basis you evaluate a gift?

Price ( )

Utility ( )

Durability ( )

Branded ( )

Necessity ( )

Others ( )

10 .From the attributes mentioned, tick those which are best suited

For outlook magazines?

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Quality of content ( )

Coverage ( )

Print quality ( )

Value for money ( )

Promotional schemes ( )

Unbiased reporting ( )

11. What do you feel about the outlook magazine?

Very good ( )

Good ( )

Fair ( )

Not good ( )

12. Are you satisfied with outlook delivery service?

YES ( ) NO ( )

13. You prefer magazines online?

Strongly agree

Agree

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