Hindustan times

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PREFACE

Theoretical knowledge is not complete in it self unless it is supported by practical experience.

         Always all profession courses aim to groom the student professionally so that he may be exposed to the real working environment of the corporate world, its challenges and its constraints

         So to get acclimatize with the practical world it is necessary to interact with the outside world to give a shape or direction to the theoretical knowledge. So a professional course like PGDBM/MBA has been designed in such a way what student can be utilize during the interaction with the practical world. So the course design include field training as part of the course.

Hence, we had the opportunity to utilize the theoretical knowledge during this project period.

         We had done our summer training in Hindustan times. The company has assigned us a project to "Study the buying behavior of dropout readers of Hindustan times".

    This project includes our sincere efforts, and we affirm that the findings of this report are original to the best of our knowledge and belief. We sincerely hope that this proves to be useful to the company.

Where we tried to find out the effort of Hindustan times to decrease the dropout reader's of Hindustan times as

• Market assessment of Hindustan times
• Hindustan times share for Dropout readers.
• Key area of improvement
• Action plans.
• Key success factors for decrease the market share of dropout readers of Hindustan times.

INTRODUCTION OF THE COMPANY

COMPANY PROFILE

(Hindustan times)

Top of Form

The Hindustan Times Ltd., India's foremost media company with a significant presence in the print medium for more than seven decades now, is home to some leading newspapers in the country - Hindustan Times (the flagship English daily) and Hindustan (Hindi news daily).

From its inception in 1924 Hindustan Times has played an active role in India's freedom struggle and celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1999. Leadership through quality and innovation has always been the hallmark of The Hindustan Times Ltd.

With branch offices in most states of India, the present work force exceeds 3,500 employees.

The Hindustan Times Ltd. plans to consolidate itself as a vibrant and modern media powerhouse through strategic partnerships, ever-increasing scope of operations and a consumer focused approach.

ORGANISATION

Dr. K.K.Birla is the Chairman of HT, and Ms. Shobhana Bhartia is the Vice-Chairperson.

         The company was founded in 1924 and has grown to become one of India's largest Media Companies. The Hindustan Times is the third widely read newspaper in the country. With circulation of over 10 lakhs and is the undisputed leader in Northern India.

Objectives

Hindustan Times believe in continuous improvement and providing greater value to its readers and advertisers. It has set many a standards for its competitors and will continue to do so in the years to come. It is the smart-age newspaper in India to evolve into a new international size, sleeker and smarter, which ensures enhanced ease of reading and convenient handling.

In its endeavor to provide its readers with greater value, it has revamped its existing supplements and added new ones to its portfolio, offering a daily supplement catering to specific target audiences. Supplements like HT Estates (on real estate and interiors) are the first of their kind in their respective categories. The enlarged operations and enhanced look have also paid off with a substantial increase in circulation across the country.

In a major incentive for the advertisers as well as the readers, Hindustan Times has entered into a strategic alliance with The Indian Express, Mid-Day and Deccan Chronicle. These alliances, along with its strong presence in North India make it one of the most formidable media players.

Hindustan Times Group

Leadership through quality and innovation is the hallmark of The Hindustan Times Limited. The organization has been a major force for over seven decades in the print media and comprises of the following brands:

Hindustan Times

The flagship publication of the group; Hindustan Times (Delhi edition) was launched in September 1924. Mahatma Gandhi inaugurated it and Shri K.M. Panikkar took over as the first editor.

Hindustan Times has the unique distinction of having become the highest selling English daily in north India within a month of its launch and has maintained this supremacy to date. The newspaper has a two-third-readership share of all English newspapers published from Delhi.

It has maintained its number one position in northern India primarily because of its tradition of credibility, authenticity, and the depth and width of its coverage. It has one of the biggest networks of correspondents in India and abroad, reporting the latest developments from the spot, round-the-clock. Using state-of-the-art printing technology.

Hindustan times has gone through several changes in the last one year, donning a new look and reaching out to more readers across the country. The publication has completely redesigned its format with an all-new masthead, sporting a contemporary international look.

It brings to its loyal and discerning audience, exclusive, high-caliber content along with in-depth reportage that allows its surfers to follow a story in depth. Its content is enriched by virtue of it being part of the Hindustan Times group.

Hindustan Times is the Number 1 English newspaper selling in India with more than 1.5 million copies countrywide. Niyam regurarly contributes for various columns, sections, and supplements, of the newspaper. The Troubleshooting column publishes in the main newspaper every Monday and is highly popular. It attracts a large base of readers and their questions. Some people are even known to cut and keep the column for their reference.

The Delhi-based English newspaper, Hindustan Times , is part of the KK Birla group and managed by Shobhana Bharatiya, granddaughter of GD Birla. It is owned by HT Media, one of India's top media conglomerates, which other than Hindustan Times is also home to the Hindi daily Hindustan The KK Birla group at present owns 75.36 per cent stake in HT Media, currently valued at Rs 834 crore.

When Shobhana Bhartiya joined Hindustan Times in 1986, she was the first woman chief executive of a national newspaper and probably one of the youngest.

The HT Media Ltd. plans to consolidate itself as a vibrant and modern media powerhouse through strategic partnerships, ever-increasing scope of operations and a consumer focused approach.

New look for Hindustan Times

The Hindustan Times (HT)has a new look since February 1st, 2004. To Shekhar Bhatia, HT editor, "it's younger, more vibrant and more contemporary. HT has always reflected the concerns and interests of its readers. To make the paper even more relevant to their needs, the publisher has revamped the news package."

The Hindustan Times/India February 1, 2004 (extracted article of the editor)

"The business page is now more corporate and more global. The new Weather Report in the city section is as much for the busy executive as for those who are not frequent flyer.

For readers to turn straight to the Sport pages after page one, their favorite section now is an easy-to-access slot in the middle of the paper. For the young sports fans, HT has a new cricket tutorial by the legendary Geoff Boycott. And for the young at heart there's a golf guide.

Some of the changes will particularly please the busy readers who want a quick news capsule over a cup of coffe. Watch out for the 2- Minute HT from Monday to Friday.

Sunday is the day when people want to read something more than just news. So include yourself with Brunch - the new 28-page magazine. Brunch is the guide to the good life, and as a definitive lifestyle magazine it's the only one of its kind in the city.

A new masthead is not the only change in HT city. It now offers more on lifestyle and entertainment with a range of options for the five-to-nine life. And if that's not enough, there is the HT Premiere, the new Thursday pullout on moviesand movie stars.

The publisher has used colour only where it helps to bring alive the mood of the story, whole graphics give the reader the bigger picture."

Leadership through quality and innovation is the hallmark of The Hindustan Times Ltd. The organisation has been a major force over seven decades in the print media. Hindustan Times, the flagship publication of the Group,has editions from Delhi,Lucknow,Patna and Kolkata thus,dominating the Northern, Eastern and Central regions of the country.The newspaper is also printed out of 10 Centres(incl.Bhopal,Chandigarh,Jaipur,Bhagalpur,Ranchi,Raipur...) Hindustan Times is the first smart-age newspaper in India to evolve into a new international size.Sleeker and smarter,it ensures enhanced ease of reading and convenient handling. The publication has completely redesigned its format with an all-new masthead, sporting a contemporary international look.

HINDUSTAN TIMES

• Established in 1924
• Played active role in India's freedom struggle
• Live Editions from Delhi, Lucknow, Patna & Kolkota.
• Brand extensions of Delhi edition in Chandigarh, Ranchi, Bhopal, Raipur & Jaipur.
• Delhi and North India's no-1 English Daily
• A complete bouquet of user-friendly supplements daily catering to varied needs of family members.
• Introduction of community newspapers along with the main brand catering to specific geographical areas.
• Contents reengineered to focus on emerging business, lifestyles etc.

SOME INFLUENTIAL SUPPLEMENTS...

HT CAREER

EVERY THURSDAY

• Positioned on the Career platform
• Targeted at the Working Professional
• Circulation areas - Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, Kolkata, Bhopal, Jaipur and Raipur (including all key cities around each of these print locations).

HT HORIZON

EVERY WEDNESDAY

• Positioned on the Education platform
• Targeted at the Students.
• Circulation areas - Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, Kolkata, Bhopal, Jaipur and Raipur (including all key cities around each of these print locations).

HT ESTATES

EVERY SATURDAY

• India's first Property Product
• Complete guide on Property & Interiors
• Circulation areas - Delhi & NCR

Hindustan

Hindustan ranks among the Top 10 newspapers read by the rural and urban readers (NRS 2001) the publication's readership has grown by an impressive 29.6 per cent to 57.56 lakh (NRS 2001), up from 44.41 lakh (NRS 2000). Hindustan has also emerged as the fourth largest read newspaper among Hindi dailies on an all-India basis. Hindustan is the strongest in Bihar, Western UP and Delhi. It dominates Bihar with a 78 per cent reach in the state, besides having a significant presence in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

SUPPLIMENTS OF HINDU HINDUSTAN

• HINDUSTAN CITY
• NAYI DISHAYEN
• RANGOLI
• RAVI UTSAV
• MAIN NEWS

Www.hindustantimes.com

Hindustantimes.com, the online arm of the newspaper, is a comprehensive resource for news, information and lifestyle content on the Web. Besides carrying stories from the newspaper, the site regularly breaks news and has exclusive coverage by its independent editorial staff. It continues to build on its loyal readership base by adding multimedia content and providing interactivity to its users.

The site provides sections written by popular columnists, along with in-depth web exclusives on entertainment, fashion and lifestyle. It also hosts micro sites of topical interest, which showcases original and premium content and encourages audience participation thus exploiting the possibilities of interactive journalism.

Kadambini

Kadambini, a Hindi language monthly literary magazine was launched in 1960. Today, it is the most prestigious and widely circulated magazine of its genre. The magazine has a vast readership among the intelligentsia - a factor, which guides its editorial policy. Special issues on different subjects are brought out periodically.

Nandan

Nandan - the children's monthly magazine in Hindi was launched in November 1964. It is the highest selling Hindi children's magazine in India. Nandan acquaints and informs the new generation about India's glorious heritage and cultural values. With a blend of Indian folklore, fairytales and abridged versions of great classics from the world of literature, Nandan both educates and entertains its young readers.

OBJECTIVES

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

TO STUDY THE BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CUSTOMER & CAUSES OF SHIFTING FROM ONE NEWSPAPER TO ANOTHER NEWSPAPER.

IS EITHER DUE TO

• PROMOTIONAL SCHEME OF THE NEWSPAPERS.
• OR, DUE TO CONTENT OF THE NEWSPAPERS.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE

• To know the potential of different newspapers.
• To find out the market size.
• To know the taste & preferences of the customer.
• To know the customer's buying behavior.
• To make & develope the strategy for growth.
• To develop the scope of competitive advantage with the competitors.
• To retain old customer & attract new customer.
• To increase the satisfaction level of customers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Basically, it was a dropout consumers survey to find out the buying behavior, attitudes of different customers & causes of shifting one newspaper to another newspaper. It also helps to get actual market share of the company & position of other competitors in market.

Data sources

The data sources are the samples, which are chosen for primary data from various customers. And secondary data which was provided by the organisation.

Sample size

Sample size means the units interacted. For this project purpose the sampling size is 498 consumers.

Survey area

The survey area was Delhi & NCR.

Research Instruments

The research instruments used here are Questionnaire, personal interviews & observation. Questionnaire are both close ended and open ended to keep the variation in responses within the limits of accuracy.

Sampling Techniques

Simple judgmental sampling technique was used for the selection of respondents.

Data Collection

Data was collected through Questionnaire, personal interviews & observation.

SAMPLING PLAN

In sampling plan I considered mainly these things

Sampling unit

Sample size

Sampling unit gives the idea who is to be surveyed. in these my target were all the key customers

In deciding the sample size, We chose all the major location of Delhi & NCR where all the potential customers were available.

Data Analysis

And for analysis part we took the sample of 498 customers who were assumed the representative of Delhi & NCR dropouts' customer.

Collected primary data is analyzed with the help of graphs.

LIMITATIONS

Many problems come as a hurdle the course of data collection from the different sources. These problems not only slowed down the collection process but also create other subsidiary problems. Some of these are:

• The respondents were not so eager to give the information.
• Security guards created problem to inter the apartments.
• Most of the respondents were available in the morning between 7am to 9am.
• The respondent who we were supposed to interview would not give us time as their work was disturbed and we had to approach them more than once which was a time consuming factor.
• The findings of the survey were totally dependent on the response of the respondents that may not be correct in every case.

FINDINGS

We have got the opportunity to do our summer project at Hindustan times. The company had assigned us the project to study the buying behavior of dropout customer & find out the causes of shifting one newspaper to another newspaper.

We have surveyed 498 households and gathered the following findings.

• Times of India have good image rather than Hindustan times among dropout customer.
• Times of India leading the market with 26% of market share & Hindustan times have the second positions with 24% market share.
• Hindustan times have 59% brand loyal customers those will be not influenced by the scheme to change their newspaper.
• There are 41% customer who preferred gift as a scheme, 17% customer preferred additional newspaper, 15% preferred discount & 21% customers are not interested in any kind of scheme.
• There are 44% customers who are enjoying the scheme of Hindustan times & 56% customers who are not enjoying the Hindustan times scheme.
• There are 76% customers who are not shifted from Hindustan times & 24% customers who are shifted from Hindustan times due to various reasons like promotional scheme, content news coverage etc.
• Most of the customer emphasis on content & news coverage then other things like appearance price supplement etc.
• The most favorite section of newspaper is the local news followed by political news then editorial news, sports, supplement, international & entertainment news.
• The average time devoted by readers is 30 minutes to 1 hour.

ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS

Table & Graph

Table

1. Market share of different newspaper.
2. Market share of dual newsreader.

Graph

1. Market share of different newspaper.
2. Market share of dual newsreader.
3. Reasons of favorite.
4. Time devoted to reading newspaper.
5. Choice of different topics of newspaper.
6. Shifted or not shifted customer.
7. Scheme enjoying & not enjoying the customer.
8. Choice of various type of promotional scheme.
9. Readers of HT & TOI.
10. Enjoying HT scheme.
11. Shifted & not shifted customers of HT.
12. Brand loyal & scheme driven customers of HT.
13. Preferences of various types of HT scheme.
14. Enjoying TOI scheme.
15. Sifted & not sifted customers of TOI.
16. Brand loyal & scheme driven customers of TOI.
17. Preferences of various types of TOI scheme.

Total sample size = 498

• The Times of India has the 26% of total market share.
• The Hindustan Times has the 24% of total market share.
• The Navbharat Times and Dainic Jagran have 3% of total market share.
• Hindustan has 2% of total market share.
• The Hindu and Punjab kesari have only 1% of total market share.
• The Rastriya sahara, Amar Ujala and Economics Times have 0.2% share.
• The Indian Express has 0.4% market share.

Market share of dual newsreader

• Most favorite combination of duel readers is TOI and Navbharat Times with 22% share among duel readers.
• The Hindustan Times and Navbharat Times have 16% shares among duel readers.
• Third favorite is TOI and Economics Times with 14% share among duel readers.
• Fourth favorite is The Hindustan Times and Hindustan with 11% share among duel readers.

Reasons of favorite

• There are 24% readers who give importance to the news coverage.
• There are 24% readers who give importance to the content.
• There are 16% readers who give importance to the clarity of presentation
• There are 15% readers who give importance to the appearance.
• There are 7% readers who give importance to the trustworthiness.
• There are 6% readers who give importance to the appearance.
• There are 5% readers who give importance to the price.
• There are 6% readers who give importance to the frequent promotional scheme

Time devoted to reading Newspaper

Total sample size = 485

• 250 readers are those who give in between 30 minutes to 1-hour time to the newspaper.
• 150 readers are those who give in between 15 to 30 minutes time to the newspaper.
• 59 readers are those who give more than 1-hour time to the newspaper.
• 26 readers are those who give less than 15 minutes.

Choice of different topics of newspaper

• 18% people like to read local news.
• 14% people like to read political news.
• 13% people like to read sports news.
• 11% people like to read editorial.
• 10% people like to read international news.
• 10% people like to read supplement.
• 9% people like to read entertainment news.
• 8% people like to read business news.
• 7% people like to read vacancy/appointment news.

Shifted or not shifted customer

Total sample size =498

• 204 customers are shifted one newspaper to another newspaper recently.
• 281 customers are not shifted one newspaper to another newspaper recently.
• 13 customers are dropped the reading newspaper.

Scheme enjoying & not enjoying the customer

Total sample size = 485

• 211 customers are buying newspaper under promotional scheme.
• 274 customers are buying newspaper without promotional scheme.

Choice of various type of promotional scheme

Total sample size = 485

• There are 202 customers who preferred gift in scheme.
• There are 84 customers who preferred additional newspaper in scheme.
• There are 76 customers who preferred discount in scheme.
• There are 20 customers who preferred gift & discount both in scheme.
• There are 1 customer who preferred additional newspaper & discount both in scheme.
• There are 102 customers who are not interested in any kind of scheme.

Readers of HT & TOI

Total sample size = 485

• There are 120 customers who buy Hindustan times out of 498 samples.
• There are 128 customer who buying times of India out of 498 samples.
• Rest are buying other different newspaper.

Enjoying HT scheme

Sample size of TOI = 120

• 61 customers are buying under promotional scheme.
• 59 customers are buying without promotional scheme.

Shifted & not shifted customers of HT

Sample size of HT = 120

• There are 29 customers who early buying times of India but presently buying Hindustan times.
• There are 91 customers who buy Hindustan times from a long time.

Brand loyal & scheme driven customers of HT

Sample size of HT = 120

• There are 59 customers who are brand loyal of Hindustan times. They will never sift their newspaper due to promotional scheme.
• There are 61 customers who are scheme driven customer. They can change their newspaper when any other newspaper offers any scheme.

Preferences of various types of HT scheme

Sample size of HT = 120

• There are 72 customers who preferred gift in scheme.
• There are 8 customers who preferred additional newspaper in scheme.
• There are 17 customers who preferred discount in scheme.
• There are 3 customers who preferred gift & discount both in scheme.
• There are 20 customers who are not interested in any kind of scheme.

Enjoying TOI scheme

Sample size of TOI = 128

• 48 customers are buying under promotional scheme.
• 80 customers are buying without promotional scheme.

Sifted & not sifted customers of TOI

Sample size of TOI = 128

• There are 81 customers who early buying Hindustan times but presently buying times of India.
• There are 47 customers who buy times of India from a long time.

Brand loyal & scheme driven customers of TOI

Sample size of TOI = 128

• There are 67 customers who are brand loyal of times of India. They will never sift their newspaper due to promotional scheme.
• There are 61 customers who are scheme driven customer. They can change their newspaper when any other newspaper offers scheme.

Preferences of various types of TOI scheme

Sample size of TOI = 128

• There are 55 customers who preferred gift in scheme.
• There are 14 customers who preferred additional newspaper in scheme.
• There are 22 customers who preferred discount in scheme.
• There are 6 customers who preferred gift & discount both in scheme.
• There is 1 customer who preferred additional newspaper & discount both in scheme.
• There are 30 customers who are not interested in any kind of scheme.

CONCLUSION

The conclustion from the survey is as follows -

• There are only two companies in english newspaper, which is leading the market. 1) Hindustan times 2) Times of India.
• THE Hindustan times is the only newspaper which is headed in the right direction & healthy mix of glamour & substance.
• We find that many customers who are in dropout list they are still continuing with Hindustan times.
• The reason behind the dropout Hindustan times is the Unfulfillment of promotional scheme.
• Children got Hindustan times next in there school are also a cause of dropout the Hindustan times at home.
• Lots of customers are not aware about various promotional scheme of the newspaper.
• Few customers are registered the scheme of Hindustan times but they are getting Times of India.
• Hindustan times guys had taken 90 rupees from the customer for three month delivery of Hindustan times. But they didn't get a single a day.
• Vendors are also registered there name for promotional scheme but they are not taking newspaper.

SUGGESTIONS

After analyze the findings of the project, we come to following suggestion, which, from my point of view, will be useful for the company.

• There should be advertisements of promotional scheme in the newspaper because lots of customers are unknown about different promotional scheme.
• There should be an index of news on first page. Which will help to customer to select there favorite news to read.
• There should be a summary of all news on one page. Due to less time people are unable to read whole newspaper.
• Distribution process of gift must be easy so every customer can benefited by the schemes.
• There should be a kid's section for children.
• Education & business segment should more emphasis.
• HT City should not have vulgar photographs.
• Need to improve promotional activities for Hindustan times regular customer like.

1. Need to implement some competition like quiz, crossword, story writing, poem writing, name & title, passage writing etc. and some prizes are given to the winners.
2. Need to add some interesting competitions and topics for kids, housewives, and old age people.
3. Should give an additional booklet by the end of the month which will include some general knowledge that has been happened during the two or three months means current G.K. it will include political news, new appointments through out the world, sport events, honors given to different personality either relating to business world/cinema etc.
4. This will give them the advantages like...

• Awareness and attraction of more and more readers.
• Getting some sponsorship from different companies also.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Principles of marketing: Kotler & Armstrong
2. Research methodology: P.P.Arya & Yesh pal
3. Marketing research: Naresh k. Malhotra
4. www.hindustantimes.com
5. www.google.com