MxMIndia

Tag: Jagran Prakashan

  • Starting a new 'quick interview' series; this one is with Shailesh Gupta, Director (Marketing), Jagran Prakashan, who was elected Chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) last Friday

    Jaldi 5 with Shailesh Gupta: Both readership & circulation will co-exist & complement each other

    On Friday, Shailesh Gupta, Director-Marketing, Jagran Prakashan was unanimously elected Chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for the year 2012-2013. S M Ahmad, Executive Vice President – Marketing of ITC was also unanimously elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Bureau for the year 2012-2013. Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World was the outgoing Chairman of the ABC.

     

    MxMIndia caught up with Mr Gupta on the sidelines of a dinner hosted by Mr Balsara on the occasion and sought his answers in the first edition of a new ‘quick interview’ series.

     

    01.   What will be your priorities as Chairman of the ABC?

    The priority is to bring about a more transparent system, evolve the ABC as a currency and make it a powerful decision-making tool for the industry.

     

    02.  Over the last few years, the ABC’s role has diminished given the growth of readership as a currency… what will be your attempt to reverse it?

    The idea is not to reverse it. Both Readership and Circulation as currencies will co-exist and complement each other. However, in order to make it more relevant to decision making, the currency needs to evolve with the changing times. The attempt will be to ensure that circulation as a currency regains the confidence of the industry and is of genuine use for decision making by both planners and media owners.

     

    03.  With the merger of the NRS with the IRS, the readership currency will only get stronger with newspaper marketers. Do you see a further diminishing of the role of the ABC and the currency of ‘net paid sales’?

    The core issue I think is that while the Readership currency has evolved on the one hand, the circulation as a currency has lived in status quo. Also while Readership as a currency will always be a sample-based study, Circulation is the census – therefore, the importance of the NPS is very clear. Rather than the role being diminished, I look at a scenario where we see these studies complementing each other and eventually benefiting the print industry at large.

     

    04.   One of the charges that many publishers have had is that the ABC – over the last 15-20 years – has failed to take into account present-day practices of invitation pricing and low cover prices of publications. As publisher of India’s largest daily, do you see that rule being amended in the near future?

    It’s too early to talk of the possible amendments. But clearly we will need to march ahead, look at the changes in the environment, and be able to evolve the currency to reflect the changes. For this, we will need to have all publishers on the same page. It will be important to consider suggestions and opinions of all stakeholders to create a robust and transparent currency – one that truly reflects what’s happening in the marketplace.

     

    05.   In the United States, there’s an ABCi for measurement of traffic on websites. Do you see the ABC in India doing that in the future?

    Too early to comment on that at the moment, but as of now we have a clear priority ahead in terms of restoring the sanctity of ABC as a currency and making it more relevant for the entire industry eco system.

     

     

  • The idea behind Ward Watch is to sensitize people about their rights and to apprise the civic bodies about people’s expectations

    Inext’s Ward Watch for civic issues

    By A Correspondent

     

    In an attempt to bring order to the ever chaotic city wards, Inext, from Jagran Prakashan, has launched a Ward Watch campaign, a three month long campaign which will focus on the civic infrastructure issues that plague the cities. It will highlight core areas which warrant serious attention like roads, sewage, power supply, water connections, garbage collection, which pose a big challenge for people to lead a healthy and risk free life.

     

    This drive covers over 500 wards across 10 cities includingKanpur,Allahabad,Ranchi,Gorakhpur,Agra,Varanasi,Meerut,Lucknow,PatnaandBareilly. Inext team will go from one ward to another, digging out problems that the residents face in their daily life due to lackadaisical attitude of authorities and the office bearers towards local area development. Inext, through this civic focused initiative, will pose direct questions to the policy makers by bringing the plight of the wards on a public forum. The corporators, councillors /parishads of the locality will be confronted and responses will be sought for the sorry state of affairs.

     

    Similarly, the residents are also invited to present their perspective on the health of their respective wards. Therefore, this not only provides masses a platform to voice their concerns through Inext, but also it will also open up a debate on the role of each of the stakeholders including the government, civic authorities and the people.

     

    Alok Sanwal, Editor, Inext explained the rationale behind this initiative: “Mini metros inIndiasuffer from a peculiar and perennial state of negligence as far as civic affairs are concerned. There are many pockets, where even very basic facilities like proper sanitation, power supply and garbage management are absent. Ward Watch will highlight the local problems by taking them up ward wise, for a deeper penetration. And Inext, being a youthful newspaper, through this initiative resonates with the realization of the need to change, a change that solves problems!”

     

    The idea behind Ward Watch is to sensitize people about their rights and to apprise the civic bodies about people’s expectations. In Inext’s efforts to reach out to the people, youth have shown tremendous enthusiasm and support to the cause.

  • According to sources the deal may be announced formally before the fiscal year-end

    Nai Dunia acquisition set to be announced

    By A Correspondent

     

    The much-awaited Nai Dunia acquisition by Jagran Prakashan, which is reported to have been inked a while back, is set to be announced. Nai Dunia insiders tell MxMIndia that discussions with Jagran insiders on sales planning and execution has been happening for around a quarter.

     

    The Indore-based group has also suspended its Delhi NCR-Ghaziabad edition which, according to reports, the Jagran group wasn’t keen on acquiring since it is still in investment mode. “The objective is to dominate the regional space and not the high cost Delhi market,” said a source close to the development. “That Nai Dunia was making losses in Delhi NCR is not a negative against the group… even today some high profile publications are in losses, but the promoters continue to invest in them given brighter future prospects.”

     

    The deal may be announced formally before the fiscal year-end, the source said. The Delhi NCR-Ghaziabad edition suspension is effective today. The March 29 edition carried a short announcement.

     

  • Inext had an expansive campaign, with radio, digital and print initiatives, to promote their newly launched site

    Inext, the youth-centric newspaper launches its website

    By Akash Raha

     

    Inext, the youth-centric newspaper launched its website on January 3, and is currently running the campaign ‘Iktara’. MxM got in touch with Alok Sanwal, COO and Project Head, Inext to know more.

     

    Speaking about the response of the advertisers towards the newly launched site, Mr Sanwal said: “In less than seven days of the launch of inextlive.com, we have received tremendous response from the business fraternity. We are receiving a lot of offers for grabbing a space on this youth hangout portal. We are, however, looking for advertisers that espouse youth-centric sentiments and resonate with Inext’s business philosophy.”

     

    To complement the launch of the online campaign, ‘Iktara’, which gives a platform to local folk singers to perform and make it big, was launched recently. According to Inext, the campaign has done very well in the first week. The audience has responded positively and the site has received many recorded CDs and DVDs, the best of which will be showcased on the site.

     

    Inext is now trying to focus on the resurgence of folk tradition inIndiaand capitalize on it in order to build a successful consumer connect in the four states it is present in - Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal,Biharand Jharkhand.

     

    Inext had an expansive campaign, with radio, digital and print initiatives, to promote their newly launched site. While Radio Mantra has been giving them radio coverage, Mudra Max and Vermillion have handled their digital and print initiatives respectively.

     

    Inext, the compact daily, primarily focuses on youth and is published by Jagaran Prakashan Ltd. Currently, it is available in 12 cities across four states. The paper and its newly launched website targets youths in mini metros in the age group of 13-25.