Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group
Marketing can bring potential readers to sample what is on offer, but a loyal readership is built only with relevant content. We meet the total needs of our readers and we pay a great deal of attention on localisation of news.
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Published: Mar 22, 2004 12:00 AM | 6 min read
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Marketing can bring potential readers to sample what is on offer, but a loyal readership is built only with relevant content. We meet the total needs of our readers and we pay a great deal of attention on localisation of news.Setting new records is second nature to the Dainik Bhaskar Group, publisher of the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar and Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar. Dainik Bhaskar commands a staggering 1.5-crore readership as per the National Readership Survey (NRS) published in December 2003. Divya Bhaskar, launched from Ahmedabad in June 2003, began with 452,000 paid copies. As of February 29, the paper sold 5 lakh plus copies, making it a clear leader in the Gujarati newspaper segment. The editorial teams managing the group’s 21 editions in six different states bring out 1,200 different pages every day because of the intensive localization of news that happens at every publishing centre.
The group’s dramatic rise to the top has been captured as case studies at several prestigious centers of learning including IIM Ahmedabad. Moreover, the northbound journey attains an aura given that the group branched out of Bhopal only in 1983 when it launched an edition from Indore. By 1992, Dainik Bhaskar became the largest selling newspaper in Madhya Pradesh. In December 1996, the group launched Dainik Bhaskar from Jaipur. Today, it has seven editions in Rajasthan. Still later, May 2000 saw the launch of the Chandigarh edition; Haryana edition followed a month later. Then came ‘Divya Bhaskar’, leaving a trail of records.
Media analysts of various hues have been attributing the group’s success to its strong marketing efforts. But Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director of the group, holds an entirely different view on this. He maintains that content has been the key driver of the group’s business. Agarwal shared the group’s vision and editorial stance in an interview with Rajiv Raghunath of exchange4media.com. Excerpts:
Q. Any threat, nevertheless? None. The vernaculars are rooted in the regions.
Q. Apparently, it is difficult to trace talent in the journalistic sphere. Do you have any specific talent management plan in place? I must say that we have not a great job in this yet. But we plan to develop a course curriculum to train journalists even before an edition is launched. Maybe, we could give 2-5 months training before someone take up a position.
Q. What are you plans for the year? We plans to launch an edition from Surat and one from Rajkot by end of the year.
Q. Any forays into electronic media? Nothing right now. Of course, we control the cable TV network in Bhopal and Jaipur. But no immediate plans to get into electronic media.
Q. Will the opening up of print media to FDI alter your plans? FDI is still far from regional journalism. They will focus more on magazines and metros.
Q. On a different tack, there is a concern in the print media about advertorials increasingly taking editorial space. What is your view on this? Internally, we have kept the Resident Editor and the General Manager of every edition at similar levels and they take decisions purely on merit. So, this is not a concern within our group. Our newspapers are run by professionals. No family member holds any editorial post. And we maintain neutrality in news and are wholly reader-centric. We don’t owe allegiance to any political party. They come and go. Our allegiance is to the household.
Q. But did you oppose the FDI entry? Yes. We opposed it. But we look forward to a rational solution.
Q. What about the churn rate? It’s quite low. We are a people-driven organisation.
Q. Dainik Bhaskar is perceived as a great marketing success. Prestigious centers of learning like IIM Ahmedabad have prepared case studies on the basis of your group’s marketing strategies. Would you say that you are at the helm of a pure marketing-driven organisation? That Dainik Bhaskar is a pure marketing success is a gross misconception. To the contrary, our newspaper has attained the current levels because of the strong focus we maintain on content development. Marketing can bring potential readers to sample what is on offer, but a loyal readership is built only with relevant content. We meet the total needs of our readers and we pay a great deal of attention on localization of news. These efforts sum up the success of the group.
Q. Several newspapers today claim to provide rich local news but you have managed to stay ahead of the pack. How did you achieve this? We pay a lot of attention on the presentation of content. Even as we provide comprehensive information, we take care to present all the minute details in a manner that nobody misses them. This is done with the aid of reader-friendly graphics.
That’s not all. We meet the total information needs of our readers on topics that interest them. For instance, we are sending an editor and two senior reporters to cover the forthcoming India-Pakistan cricket series in Pakistan. The series is one of the most important events in the last 10 years and we want to provide every conceivable information on the series to our readers. In fact, one of the reporters would be visiting the venues two days ahead of the scheduled matches to capture and send interesting stories.
To recall, we were the only regional newspaper to send a reporter to Afghanistan. Our correspondents had reported from Kargil and other places that were in the line of fire.
It’s our constant endeavour to provide comprehensive content in a reader-friendly manner. And we keep the focus continually on local area developments. Overall, Dainik Bhaskar’s success may be attributed to the fact that it is read by everybody in a household sector including the kids.
Q. Editorial planning of newspapers in the country has changed in recent years with areas like business and technology taking greater editorial space. Have you felt the need to re-focus Dainik Bhaskar’s content to keep pace with these changes? Our strength lies in meeting the local news needs. To achieve this we have set up editorial teams wherever our newspaper is printed, with a Resident Editor at every center. At the district levels, there are full-fledged bureaus that provide the local content. We would want to consolidate our core areas.
Q. Have you envisioned a pan-India outlook? A Hindi newspaper group like Rajasthan Patrika has launched editions in Banglore and Chennai. Do you have similar plans? We don’t believe in a number four or five position. We want to be number one wherever we operate and have no intention of merely marking our presence. Right now our focus is on consolidation in Gujarat.
Q. Any special plans for the forthcoming General elections? We have carried out a survey covering 10,000 respondents. The findings will go into the content plan for the elections.
Q. Apparently, it is difficult to trace talent in the journalistic sphere. Do you have any specific talent management plan in place? I must say that we have not a great job in this yet. But we plan to develop a course curriculum to train journalists even before an edition is launched. Maybe, we could give 2-5 months training before someone take up a position.
Q. What are you plans for the year? We plans to launch an edition from Surat and one from Rajkot by end of the year.
Q. Any forays into electronic media? Nothing right now. Of course, we control the cable TV network in Bhopal and Jaipur. But no immediate plans to get into electronic media.
Q. Will the opening up of print media to FDI alter your plans? FDI is still far from regional journalism. They will focus more on magazines and metros.
Q. On a different tack, there is a concern in the print media about advertorials increasingly taking editorial space. What is your view on this? Internally, we have kept the Resident Editor and the General Manager of every edition at similar levels and they take decisions purely on merit. So, this is not a concern within our group. Our newspapers are run by professionals. No family member holds any editorial post. And we maintain neutrality in news and are wholly reader-centric. We don’t owe allegiance to any political party. They come and go. Our allegiance is to the household.
Q. But did you oppose the FDI entry? Yes. We opposed it. But we look forward to a rational solution.
Q. What about the churn rate? It’s quite low. We are a people-driven organisation.
Q. Dainik Bhaskar is perceived as a great marketing success. Prestigious centers of learning like IIM Ahmedabad have prepared case studies on the basis of your group’s marketing strategies. Would you say that you are at the helm of a pure marketing-driven organisation? That Dainik Bhaskar is a pure marketing success is a gross misconception. To the contrary, our newspaper has attained the current levels because of the strong focus we maintain on content development. Marketing can bring potential readers to sample what is on offer, but a loyal readership is built only with relevant content. We meet the total needs of our readers and we pay a great deal of attention on localization of news. These efforts sum up the success of the group.
Q. Several newspapers today claim to provide rich local news but you have managed to stay ahead of the pack. How did you achieve this? We pay a lot of attention on the presentation of content. Even as we provide comprehensive information, we take care to present all the minute details in a manner that nobody misses them. This is done with the aid of reader-friendly graphics.
That’s not all. We meet the total information needs of our readers on topics that interest them. For instance, we are sending an editor and two senior reporters to cover the forthcoming India-Pakistan cricket series in Pakistan. The series is one of the most important events in the last 10 years and we want to provide every conceivable information on the series to our readers. In fact, one of the reporters would be visiting the venues two days ahead of the scheduled matches to capture and send interesting stories.
To recall, we were the only regional newspaper to send a reporter to Afghanistan. Our correspondents had reported from Kargil and other places that were in the line of fire.
It’s our constant endeavour to provide comprehensive content in a reader-friendly manner. And we keep the focus continually on local area developments. Overall, Dainik Bhaskar’s success may be attributed to the fact that it is read by everybody in a household sector including the kids.
Q. Editorial planning of newspapers in the country has changed in recent years with areas like business and technology taking greater editorial space. Have you felt the need to re-focus Dainik Bhaskar’s content to keep pace with these changes? Our strength lies in meeting the local news needs. To achieve this we have set up editorial teams wherever our newspaper is printed, with a Resident Editor at every center. At the district levels, there are full-fledged bureaus that provide the local content. We would want to consolidate our core areas.
Q. Have you envisioned a pan-India outlook? A Hindi newspaper group like Rajasthan Patrika has launched editions in Banglore and Chennai. Do you have similar plans? We don’t believe in a number four or five position. We want to be number one wherever we operate and have no intention of merely marking our presence. Right now our focus is on consolidation in Gujarat.
Q. Any special plans for the forthcoming General elections? We have carried out a survey covering 10,000 respondents. The findings will go into the content plan for the elections.
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