MxMIndia

Category: PRINT MEDIA

  • The head of marketing for the Delhi edition of Navbharat Times, Sandhya Times and Eco Times (Hindi) is set to turn entrepreneur

    Satyam Joshi has put in his papers as Dy Chief Manager – Brand at BCCL

    By A Correspondent

     

    Satyam Joshi, who has worked with The Times  of India group for nine years, has put in his papers. As Deputy Chief Manager – Brand, he was actively involved in the language business and was heading marketing for the Delhi edition of Navbharat Times, Sandhya Times and Economic Times (Hindi) since the last 6 years. He is set to take the entrepreneurial route.

     

    Prior to joining Navbharat Times, Mr Joshi helped set up the ‘Non – traditional revenue stream’ for Radio Mirchi, popularly known as Mirchi Activation.

     

    In his 13 years in sales and marketing, he has been associated with different industries as well, specifically ICICI Bank and Bombay Dyeing where he was responsible for building the channel and improving the distribution.

     

  • We don't know if Jeff Bezos will be able to achieve it and we are certain that he too doesn't have all the answers. But what we do know is that the man is quite definitely equipped to lead Washington Post to the next level.

    1 Minute View: Yeh toh hona hi tha!

    When the Washington Post company sold Newsweek magazine to electronics magnate Sidney Harman for $1 in 2010, it was evident that the Washington Post wasn’t emotional about its possessions. The bestselling newsmag had been having its share of problems and later Mr Harman teamed with the Daily Beast to revive the magazine. But the project didn’t work, Newsweek print shut down, and last weekend, it was sold to another media company.

     

    So it was clear that if push comes to shove, WaPoCo would sell WaPo.

     

    The question now is will Jeffrey P Bezos be able to reinvent the Washington Post and other print products for the digital age? Mr Bezos is an entrepreneur, but has been hailed as an inventor, a pioneer and a visionary. Quite like how one would refer to a Steve Jobs as.

     

    The challenges are many and Mr Bezos has a huge challenge ahead of him.

     

    We don’t know if he’ll be able to do it, and we are certain that Mr Bezos too doesn’t have all the answers. But what we do know is that the man is quite definitely equipped to lead Washington Post to the next level.

     

    Let’s wish him and the employees all the luck.

     

  • Employees, Outlook group reach an out-of-court settlement as all dues have reportedly been paid to the satisfaction of all concerned

    People India mag closure case settled amicably

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s a case of all’s well that ends well.

     

    The Mumbai Labour Court case where Editor Saira Menezes and 16 other employees of People India magazine petitioned the Court against Outlook Publications President Indranil Roy and Editorial Chairman Vinod Mehta asking for settlement of dues by proper procedure in the event of termination has now been amicably settled out of court. As has been reported by MxMIndia earlier, the Labour Court had stayed the Outlook magazine group’s decision to terminate the employment of People India staffers without proper procedures.

     

    The Case was supposed to have come up for hearing today (Tuesday, August 6). All dues have reportedly been settled to the satisfaction of all concerned.

     

    Late last month, the Outlook group had announced closure of the licensed Indian editions of People, Marie Claire and Geo magazines. The closure was with immediate effect and July 31 was to be the last day of work for the staffers of the three magazines. While the exact number of staffers is not known, it is learnt that some non-editorial department employees too were asked to leave.

     

    Meanwhile, according to posts by Neena Haridas, editor of the now-shut Marie Claire India, efforts are on to revive the Indian edition with another publishing partner or by Marie Claire directly. Time Inc, a division of media conglomerate Time Warner, is also said to be seeking an Indian partner.

     

  • One of the world's most powerful newspapers is sold to the ecom pioneer + 1 Min View:Yeh toh hona hi tha

    It’s true! Jeff ‘Amazon’ Bezos buys Washington Post for $250 million

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s not always that you wake up, look up the news on your mobile device or computer, and wonder whether you are actually awake or dreaming.

     

    The milkman’s on the door, you can hear the school bus at the distance screeching to a halt. Yup, it’s all for real.

     

    1 Minute View: Yeh toh hona hi tha!

    And it isn’t April 1.

    You aren’t reading Onion or our own Faking News.

    It’s the NY Times and the Washington Post. It’s on Poynter, it’s everywhere.

     

    Jeffrey P Bezos, the man who made the world forget that Amazon is also the name of the second-largest river on this planet by creating a powerful, multi-billon dollar e-commerce empire called Amazon.com had bought the Washington Post and a slew of other publications.

     

    Yes, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was the new owner of one of the world’s most powerful newspapers. The acquisition, made at a modest amount of $ 250million, puts an end to some 80 years of ownership by the Graham family.

     

    It’s pointless us writing a long story here.

     

    We’ll bring you the Top 10 links so far:

    1. The Washington Post main story announcing the deal: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/washington-post-to-b e-sold-to-jeff-bezos/2013/08/05/ca537c9e-fe0c-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

    2. Another take, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/business/media/amazoncom-founder-to-buy-the-washington-post.html?hp&_r=0

    3. Yet another take, from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhimler/2013/08/05/why-jeff-bezos-is-buying-the-washington-post/

    4. And one more, from Heidi Moore in The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/05/jeff-bezos-expeditions-amazon-washington-post

    5. The Washington Post Timeline – from 1877 to now: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/washington-post-company-timeline/374/

    6. The much-acclaimed statement from Jeff Bezoz where he talks of business as usual and need to invent in the future, for its future: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/jeff-bezos-on-post-purchase/2013/08/05/e5b293de-fe0d-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

    7. Letter from promoter Donald Graham to employees: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/letter-from-donald-graham-on-sale-of-the-post/2013/08/05/3e6642e0-fe0f-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

    8. Publisher Katharine Weymouth to employees: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/katharine-weymouth-remarks-to-post-employees/2013/08/05/9edcf1d8-fe0e-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

    9. Publisher Katharine Weymouth to readers: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/katharine-weymouth-letter-to-post-readers/2013/08/05/ff6bd6e0-fe0e-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

    10. Some tweets (not comprehensive): https://twitter.com/search?q=bezos%20post&src=typd

     

    Are there lessons for us here in India?

    Surely, there are.

    Remember, we have already an Aditya Birla group investing in the India Today group, and we’ve had other big businesses putting in money into other media entities – directly or via Trust-ed alternatives.

     

    Some years back, Rediff.com expanded in the US by buying India Abroad newsweekly. But can we have Hungama.com’s Neeraj Roy buying a leading film magazine? Or Naukri’s Sanjeev Bikhchandani buying a business daily?

    Nothing’s impossible, we say.

     

  • The Hindu in School was launched by Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan last Thursday

    The Hindu enters Mumbai via student edition

    By A Correspondent

     

    National daily The Hindu does not have an edition from Mumbai, but its student edition made an entry with a launch by the state chief minister Prithviraj Chavan last Thursday (Aug 8).

     

    Speaking at the launch, Mr Chavan expressed pleasure with the entry of The Hindu in Mumbai, “even if in this small way”. “Quality of education is a big challenge that our country and this State is facing. Natural resources will not last long enough to keep us running as a major economic entity. The only way to continue as a rich and powerful country is by developing the knowledge economy and for this, quality of education is very important,” he said.

     

    Siddarth Varadarajan, Editor, The Hindu, said younger readers had different interests. The school edition would remain true to the idea of The Hindu, and would explain things in a language a young audience could understand. He said that the school edition would not talk down to its young audience. It would have all the important news that goes into a regular edition but conveyed in an appropriate manner.

     

    Educationist Nandini Sardesai, J.N. Mishra, Deputy Managing Director of State Bank of India and P.S. Venkatasubramanian, Vice-President, Circulation, The Hindu Group, were also present.

     

    Priced at Rs 3, The Hindu in School is published from Monday to Friday and is designed for students in Classes 8-10. According to a communique, it is distributed to over 2,500 schools across India, with a circulation of around two lakh copies. The edition will also be launched next in Kolkata by August-end. In Mumbai, complimentary copies will be available in schools for the first week. Interested schools may contact vaidyanathan.n@thehindu.co.in.

     

     

  • After Brunch Dialogues in Mumbai, HT Media launched 'The Brunch Night' last week

    HT Media extends ‘Brunch’ equity to ‘Brunch Night’

    By A Correspondent

     

    After the success of Brunch Dialogues 1 & 2 in Mumbai, HT Media launched ‘The Brunch Night’ in New Delhi last week to celebrate the good life.

     

    Held with the stars of Chennai Express – Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and UTV Movies boss Siddharth Roy Kapoor, the invitees included the creme de la creme of the Capital’s glitterati. From the likes of Kalyani Saha, Harmeet Bajaj, Ayaan Ali Khan, Amaan Ali Khan, Rina Dhaka, David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore, Anuja Chauhan, Ira Trivedi, Shivani and Amir Pasrich, Sujata Assomull, among others.

     

    Talking about the reason behind building such a property, Rajan Bhalla, Group Marketing Head, HT Media Ltd. said, “Brunch stands for the “Good Life”, and The Brunch Night is a very exclusive platform for brands to connect with their premium audience with stimulating conversations and entertainment. It’s a platform that will find great connect for our consumers and advertisers with quality content, live experience and a strong proposition to build brands, amplified through our strong media offerings. With the overwhelming response to ‘The Brunch Night’, we will be planning more such events in the coming future, both in Delhi and Mumbai.”

     

    The highlight of the evening was a conversation that Vir Sanghvi had with Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and Siddharth Roy Kapoor. The evening was hosted by Rajiv Makhni.

     

    Said Poonam Saxena, Editor, HT Brunch on the first Brunch Night: “It’s a great new platform for interacting with Bollywood stars in an informal, enjoyable atmosphere.”

     

  • DB Corp expands Maharashtra presence with seventh edition of Dainik Divya Marathi from Amravati

    Divya Marathi launches 7th edition from Amravati

    By A Correspondent

     

    DB Corp Limited announced the launch of the seventh edition of its Dainik Divya Marathi daily from Amravati. This is the company’s 66th newspaper edition. The Marathi daily is also published from Aurangabad, Nashik, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Akola.

     

    Commenting on the Amravati launch, Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp said, “Another milestone has been created as we expand our presence in Maharashtra with our 7th edition of Divya Marathi. In line with our launch strategy which we adapted to the Amravati market, we focussed on expanding the readership base in the region which is significantly under-penetrated.”

     

    The Amravati launch once again saw DB Corp conduct a three-phase process, adds a communique. Beginning with initial introductory branding through seeking views and feedback, crystallization of feedback to develop and design product and finally explore pricing and placing strategies of the product in the market. Corresponding to these phases, respective teams were mobilised to form the survey teams, visibility teams and the final implementation teams that were vigorously trained in communication skills, presentation skills, direct marketing skills, sales techniques and personality grooming.

     

  • Guwahati-based Eclectic Publications has tied up with the India Today group to be the youth partner for its annual youth conference 'India Today Mind Rocks'.

    Eclectic NorthEast ties up with India Today Mind Rocks

    By A Correspondent

     

    Guwahati-based Eclectic Publications has tied up with the India Today group to be the youth partner for its annual youth conference ‘India Today Mind Rocks’. The group’s flagship English magazine Eclectic NorthEast will offer specially discounted passes for the youth from amongst its readers to attend the conference.

     

    The publishers expect this association will go long way and help youth of the region to discover true potential of this land, notes a communiqué.

     

    This year’s edition of ‘India Today Mind Rocks’ will be held in New Delhi on September 21 with keynote speakers such as Farhan Akhtar, Kiran Bedi , Chris Gayle , Ranveer Singh , Hard Kaur , Amish Tripathi and Ajay Bijli.

     

  • The Hindu CEO is clear that the launch of the paper's school edition in Mumbai does not mean that the main daily will make an entry to the business and entertainment capital soon…

    Jaldi 5 with Arun Anant, CEO, Hindu: No plans to launch ‘Hindu’ in Mumbai

    By A Correspondent

     

    So does the entry of Hindu’s schools edition into Mumbai mean that the bigger daily will follow suit soon? MxMIndia asked this and some other questions to Hindu CEO Arun Anant, and got responses which are clear, direct and unambiguous. Excerpts:

     

    01.  While The Hindu is well-known brand, not all schools and school children in Mumbai may be familiar with the brand. Why this decision to launch the Hindu in School in Mumbai?

    We have a  product based on the Hindu editorial values customised for children that we launched last year and has been well-received by the children, teachers and parents. We therefore felt that it would be good to increase the footprint of the school edition to other markets

     

    02.  Any plans for a launch in Mumbai for the main paper? Is this move an effort to catch them young?

    No. We have no plans for a launch in Mumbai.

     

    03.  Other than being a circulation-booster for the parent edition, what kind of revenues does your schools edition generate currently in the rest of the country?

    We expect this initiative to be cost-neutral.

     

    04.  What are your targets for the Mumbai schools edition Will you also extend this to Pune and around Mumbai?

    We would like to extend to Pune. We have no specific targets for Mumbai yet.

     

    05.  Are you looking at marketing promotions and any activity for schools who subscribe in bulk?

    We will do some events and ground level education initiatives for schools across the country

     

  • Infectious-created campaign gets English daily dna to unveil new multiple media brand campaign – 'Good is in our dna'

    dna on do-good mode, launches brand campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    English daily DNA (now written in lower-case – dna) has unveiled a new brand campaign – ‘Good is in our dna’.

     

    The attempt is to offer an all-year programme that will connect with good samaritans and provide citizens with a platform to contribute and spread the ‘good’ cheer. The campaign has been conceptualized and designed by Infectious, the ad agency set up in April this year by former Saatchi & Saatchi honchos Ramanuj Shastry and Nisha Singhania.

     

    Sorbojeet Chatterjee

    Said Sorbojeet Chatterjee, Senior Vice President – Marketing, dna: “This is a start to try and put the good back in the mornings. While, as a responsible newspaper we need to cover everything taking place around us, we plan to focus on the positive stories of human achievement and courage. The campaign has kickstarted with readers being able to sign up as Ambassadors of Good and the response has been overwhelming.”

     

    Ramanuj Shastry, Director – Infectious added: “In a day and age where we are surrounded by negative stories there is a desperate need for some good news. The people of our country need hope and something positive to start their day on. And who better than a media brand like dna who can not only give us the good news but also mobilise the people in our country to do some good.”

     

    The campaign will see an extensive use of print (naturally!), outdoor and radio. “Unlike a typical campaign that just looks at a spike, this is a year-round plan with a lot of editorial integration and reader engagement,” said Mr Chatterjee. And will we see any activations? “There will be one tent-pole activation every month which will see readers participate for a noble cause.”

     

    The first leg of the campaign has invited readers to sign up as “Ambassadors of Good”, and the response has been overwhelming, informed Mr Chatterjee.

     

    dna has been on an aggressive advertising campaign ever since its relaunch in April. The first two brand campaigns were done by the publication’s creative agency Genesis which continues to be the primary creative agency. A recent campaign for the graphic novel series that has been introduced in the paper was executed by an inhouse creative team.

     

  • For its 9th anniversary, the fortnightly, three-city publication Time Out turned into a features-led national monthly’s format

    Time Out turns 9 with national edition

    By A Correspondent

     

    Time Out magazine is celebrating its ninth anniversary in the country with a special edition celebrating 99 people who have changed the way India defines art, culture, culinary traditions, cinema, fashion, entertainment and civic duty.

     

    Said Rajnish Rawat, Publisher & COO, Time Out India: “Anniversary is always special for us and we strive to give something unique to our readers as well as advertisers. For our 9th anniversary, we modified Time Out’s format from a fortnightly three-city publication (Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru) to a features-led, national monthly, with all its listings redirected to its three websites of Time Out cities. Also, in tune with our cover story we are running a contest for our readers on various platforms like social media, cafes, magazine about ‘what changed their life’ and readers get to win some very cool prizes.”

     

    Added Editor-in-Chief Jaideep VG: “Our editors and writers spent over two months compiling a list of talented, inventive men and women who have (in many ways, fundamentally) redefined various aspects of life in urban India.”

     

    The anniversary edition hit the stand last weekend (Aug 30).

     

  • The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, asked its agency Ogilvy & Mather to take the 'Incredible India' brand forward leading to 17 executions of the creative idea – Find what you seek

    ‘Find what you seek’ with Ogilvy’s Incredible India campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ogilvy & Mather has released 17 executions of the creative idea – Find what you seek – for the Incredible India campaign. The Kolkata monsoon poster is part of this effort.

     

    In an attempt to take the ‘Incredible India’ brand forward, the Ministry of Tourism, briefed Ogilvy & Mather to delve a little deeper into what made India truly Incredible for the new campaign.  Discussions between the agency and client led to the articulation of the idea: ‘Find what you seek’, notes a communiqué. It was based on the insight that India can be what any traveller wants it to be. The campaign (a total of nearly thirty pieces includes press and outdoor advertising) covers a range of experiences in India through the eyes of the tourist, the release adds.

     

    CREDITS:

    Executive Creative Director : Ajay Gahlaut

    Creative Director: Jossy Raphael & Gaurav Nautiyal

    Art: Kanika Sethi

    Copy: Ajay Gahlaut, Jossy Raphael, Richa Jain

    Account Management: Pawan Bhatt, Faisal Mahfooz, Rupinder Singh