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MARKETING MIX ASSIGNMENT

ON

BENNETT, COLEMAN AND COMPANY LIMITED

Submitted to:

Prof. M M Fandavais

Submitted by:

Nimisha Agarwal Roll no. : 2013173

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Section- D

TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. no. Particulars Page no.

1. Introduction 3

2. Components of Marketing Mix

a. Product 4-7

b. Price 7-9

c. Place 9-11

d. Promotion 11-13

e. People 13-15

f. Process 15-16

g. Physical Evidence 16-17

3. Conclusion 18

4. Biblography 19

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INTRODUCTION: BENNETT COLEMAN AND COMPANY LIMITED

BCCL is India's most diversified media company with power brands across publishing, television, internet, radio and outdoor domains which provide media publishing services. The story of BCCL goes back to November 3, 1838, when the flagship publication – The Times of India – was published as a bi-weekly going by the name, The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce. Since then, it has consistently moved up the growth curve by successfully entering new markets and launching new titles. The success of the organization has been guided by a simple thought – treating the newspaper not as a commodity or product but as a Brand, whose prime objective is to serve its readers and advertisers. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., better known as the publisher of English daily The Times of India, is india's largest media conglomerate. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. is the flagship company of The Times Group. The Times Group is the largest media conglomerate in India. The company has eleven publishing centers, fifteen printing centers, fifty-five sales offices, Over 7000 employees, five dailies, including two of the largest in the country with approx 4.3 million, copies circulated daily, two lead magazines, twenty-nine niche magazines reaching 2468 cities and towns, thirty-two Radio Stations, two Television News Channels, one Television Life Style Channel. The Times of India, or TOI, as it is universally referred to, is among Asia’s oldest English newspapers. It began life as the bi-weekly Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce in 1838, founded by a British Indian syndicate of eleven firms, two barristers and a doctor. Its stated aim for its colonial readership was ‘securing the earliest possible intelligence upon all subjects of politics, science and literature’. It became a daily in 1850. Absorbing the Bombay Standard in 1859, and another local paper, The Telegraph and Courier in 1861, it finally became The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited, the paper’s holding company, acquired this name, and its first professional editor, with the arrival of Thomas Bennett in 1892. Bennett also became the proprietor, later offering a partnership to F M Coleman, an accomplished hand at newspaper production, whom he invited from England. The Old Lady of Boribunder – as it was christened by fiercer nineteenth century rivals – remained a stately, if somewhat critical, paper of the Raj right till it passed into Indian hands in 1946. A Delhi edition was launched in 1947, and the paper began to vigorously re-invent itself to better reflect the new aspirations of a nascent nation. In 1988, as the paper celebrated a lavish sesquicentennial, the BBC named it one of the six best newspapers in the world. In a series of launches, Bennett, Coleman launched Navbharat Times in 1947, Filmfare in 1952, Femina in 1959,The Economic Times (ET) in 1961 and Maharashtra Times in 1962. The group also brought out several highly regarded Hindi magazines. Bennett, Coleman & Co offers its audiences a wide buffet of options that are both informative and entertaining. Over the years, it has demonstrated its understanding of the evolving and growing aspirations of the consumer by diversifying from The Times of India to The Economic Times (Business and Economy news), Navbharat Times (Hindi news), Maharashtra Times (Marathi daily) and now Mumbai Mirror (India’s first true quality morning compact launched in Mumbai). Taking note of changing trends in the consumer’s media habits, it has also launched Femina, Filmfare, Indiatimes.com, Radio Mirchi and Zoom TV and a host of other products – each of which seeks to make the consumer feel empowered. Bennett is over a century old, but the brand remains fresh, vibrant and speaks to today's consumers in their language and idiom. The secret of its success is simply the brand's willingness to continuously innovate and constantly re-invent itself. While retaining its core values of fairness and objectivity, it has developed several new products to cater to the varying interests of its burgeoning base of consumers. With the authority of twelve editions impacting a phenomenal 8.1 million plus readers,The Times of India could have easily taken to grandstanding. Instead it dismantled the podium, and got down to a new primer of 3Rs – a paper that was relevant, refreshing and, above all, real. Media has conventionally portrayed itself as the pompous font of power.

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The Times dared to transfer this right to its constituency. It has chosen to empower its readers and, by extension, its advertisers. Instead of the traditional role of moulding public opinion, it provides the choices that enable readers to arrive at their own conclusions. If Bennett, Coleman is number one today, it is because that is how it treats its readers: first among all, above all else.

COMPONENTS OF MARKETING MIX

PRODUCT

A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including physical goods,

services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas. Every

product is subject to a life-cycle including a growth phase followed by a maturity phase and finally an

eventual period of decline as sales falls. The marketer must also consider the product mix. Marketers can

expand the current product mix by increasing a certain product line’s depth or by increasing the number of

product lines. The marketer must also consider product development strategies.

The vast Bennett product’s portfolio comprises of various categories 1. Publishing: The Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times,

Sandhya Times, Mumbai Mirror, Filmfare, Femina a. Largest publishing co in India: 13 newspapers, 18 magazines, 11 publishing centers, 26 printing centers b. Largest English newspaper in India by circulation (and the world) c. Largest Business newspaper in India by circulation (2nd largest English Business daily in the world, behind WSJ) d. Largest Non‐English newspapers in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore by circulation (India’s three largest cities)

2. Entertainment and retail: Times Retail, Times Music and Times Multimedia

3. Digital: Timesjobs.com and Simplymarry.com, MagicBricks,Ads2Book, Radio Mirchi, 360

Degrees, Indiatimes, timesofmoney, gaana.com, techgig.com and 58888 a. Largest Indian network based on traffic and revenue (behind Google, Facebook, Yahoo) b. Operates 30+ digital businesses, most of which are Top 3 in their competitive segment c. Most popular B2C mobile shortcode in India, across SMS, voice, WAP, and USSD Radio

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d. Largest radio network in India by revenue and listenership, with 32 stations e. Operates the largest rock radio station in the UK

4. Television: Zoom, Movies Now, Times Now a. Largest English News TV Channel, No. 2 English Business News TV Channel b. Largest Bollywood News and Lifestyle TV Channel, No. 2 English Movies TV Channel

5. Marketing Solutions & Strategic Businesses: Times response, Brand Capital, Times Grey Cell,

Times Red Cell, Times OOH Media, 360 Degree Events.

Brief Description about its product:

The Times of India, with its rich and varied content, caters to a rather diverse audience. It also carries daily city-specific and subject-based supplements such as Delhi Times, Education Times (education), Ascent (careers) and Times Property (real estate). With twelve editions, it has achieved a truly national presence.

The Economic Times is acknowledged to be the business barometer of India. Its supplements – Corporate Dossier and Brand Equity – and sections such as Big Bucks and Rural Mural ensure high reader interest. ET prides itself on providing readers the power of knowledge. Its large array of dedicated addicts – who range from stock-brokers to IT professionals, corporate heads to management students – would wholeheartedly endorse this claim.

Navbharat Times (NBT) caters to the ever growing number of Hindi readers, many of whom are entering metros from other parts of India. Its role has been to guide the reader to a better life in a fast-changing metropolis. With interesting supplements like Hello Delhi, NBT brings to the reader all that is most refreshing about the cities

Maharashtra Times (MT) has been the Bennett response to the needs of the Maharashtrian migrating to Mumbai from the interiors of the state. Using simple language to focus on a reader who is high in ambition but low in resources, MT empowers him with information and knowledge.

Bennett’s foray into the world of magazines with Femina and Filmfare has also been rewarding. While both magazines are leaders in their respective categories, the annual Filmfare Awards for excellence in the world of cinema has become an institution in itself.

In keeping with its policy of evolving with the times, Bennett launched Indiatimes.com during the IT boom of the 1990s.

Bennett has launched Radio Mirchi, India’s leading private radio network; Zoom TV, the fashion and lifestyle channel and most recently, Mumbai Mirror, a compact reflecting the spirit of the always-on the- move Mumbai.

Besides these products, Bennett also runs Times Retail – which operates the music retail chain Planet M, now present in more than ten cities.

Times Multimedia – this is fast carving out a niche for itself in the world of digitised entertainment with tie-ups with Walt Disney, IBM and the like.

Times Card – an entertainment-focused and internationally usable credit card that is co branded with Citibank and Mastercard.

News channel Times Now – 24-hour English news channel by Times Global Broadcasting Co. Limited, in alliance with Reuters.

PRODUCT MIX

PRODUCT

PRODUCT LINE WIDTH

Newspaper Magazines Books

The Times of India (English)

Femina (English) Times Food Guide

The Economic Times (English, Hindi, Gujarati)

Filmfare (English) Times Nightlife Guide

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LINE LENGTH

Mumbai Mirror (English)

iDiva (English) Times Goa Guide

Maharashtra Times (Marathi) Time n Style (English)

Temples of India

Bangalore Mirror (English) Time n Style Luxury (English)

Best of Sacred Space

Pune Mirror (English) Aamar Somoy (Bengali) Best of Speaking Tree

Vijay Karnataka (Kannada) Top Gear (English) ET in the classroom

Ahmedabad Mirror (English) Hello (English)

Crest Edition (English weekly) Good Homes (English)

Speaking Tree (English) Grazia (English)

ET Wealth (English business weekly)

Lonely Planet India (English)

Sandhya Times (Hindi)

Home Trends (English)

Bodhi Vruksha (Kannada) Ami Udita (Bengali)

Navbharat Times (Hindi) BBC Knowledge (English)

ZigWheels (English)

PRODUCT LINE DEPTH English daily

Finance daily

Hindi daily

Marathi daily

Gujara-ti daily

Entertainment industry magazine

Women’s Magazine

Automo-bile Magazine

Architecture magazine

Magazine for upwardly mobile readers

The Times of India

The Economic Times

Navbharat Times

Maharashtra Times

The Econo-mic Times

Filmfare Femina Top Gear

Home Trends

Time n Style

Bangalore Mirror

Sandhaya Times

Zig Wheels

Good Homes

Time n Style Luxury

Mumbai Mirror

The Economic Times

Ahmedabad Mirror

Competitor’s Product Mix (The Hindu)

Product Line Length

Product Line Width

Newspaper Magazine Books

The Hindu Sportstar The Hindu speaks on Music

Business Line Sachin: Tribute to Legend

Forever Young

Scientific Facts

Product line depth

English Daily Finance Daily Sports Features Magazine

The Hindu Business line Sportstar Frontline

The newspaper division provides various supplements with the main paper like The Times of India has

following supplements:

Times of India Metro Supplements (TIMS) In 1994 The Times of India took a bold step at experimenting with not just news, but something which was more. The resultant was a supplement –Bombay Times – which broke the mould when

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it came to capturing the latest about what’s happening in and around the city in a package captured the essence of the city – its people, culture, fashion, art, theatre, sports, films and private and public social gatherings.

Times Pluses Times Pluses are supplements with local news and advertising which is customized for various readers through geographic zones within a particular market. The Pluses are a tool for readers to address their civic and other local and topical issues which are specific to their location. The immense success of Pluses has sparked of various Pluses across the length and breadth of India. Needless to say, they have also bred me-too clones published by our competitors – but not with that great degree of success as ours.

Times Ascent A weekly supplement that has the best job postings and career related news and views from doyens of corporate world and academicians.

Education Times The weekly supplement that has the best of content related to education and career options – right from primary level to doctorate.

What’s Hot A weekly tabloid on entertainment and lifestyle published ahead of each weekend with the specific focus on informing readers about the events and activities that one can participate over the weekend like movies, TV shows, theatre, eating out, shopping etc.

Life Aimed at initiating a dialogue and provoking thought and debate among its readers, Life is the glossy lifestyle supplement published every Sunday with The Sunday Times of India. Often the topics touched upon are the ones which normal run-of-the mill newspapers would like to avoid in fear of generating extreme opinions. Life lays every aspect of life bare for the reader to think and decide.

Times Property This is a weekly supplement that contains the best of news, analysis and announcements on real estate that is read by investors and buyers/sellers of real estate.

While the competitor “The Hindu” provides following few supplements with more emphasis on knowledge:

o Metro Plus It throws the spotlight on what happening in the city. It captures the pulse of the city and its changing lifestyle, it’s later for the information and entertainment needs of cross sections of consumers.

o Education Plus It will present and analyses trends in education, provide pointers and above all inform. It will report on all that is current and important in the formal and the non- formal streams as well as in the emerging areas. It will look closely at the local opportunities and international avenues.

o Property Plus It features each week articles, reviews and special columns on the facts about the changes in the property sector.

Price

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Pricing is a key strategic tool in the battle for any goods and services offered in the market. It generates

two items: revenue for the company and other is the cost. Different pricing strategies are adopted around

the world for different consumer goods and services to increase customer loyalty and profitability.

Cost of manufacturing a single newspaper depends on the cost of buying rolls of paper sheets,

transportation cost, electricity used, administrative cost, cost of collecting of daily news and photographs

by the press, machinery usage, labour usage and various other indirect cost factors. The total cost of

producing/ publishing of newspaper on a given month divided by the total products manufactured on that

particular month gives the per unit cost of the newspaper. Hence, the output of these factors results into

a price which can’t be acceptable by daily consumers of newspaper. To reduce the price, space selling for

advertisements is required as it acts as revenue for the newspaper business. This effort makes the daily

newspaper affordable for daily consumption by the consumers.

The pricing model used is dynamic pricing strategy i.e. a flexible pricing mechanism made possible by

advances in information technology as different kind of pricing is followed in accordance to the day. The

newspaper cost Rs. 2 on weekdays whereas Rs. 5 on weekend.

Price paid by the readers of newspaper was considered insignificant in Indian conditions until Times of

India group brought down the prices. This opened a new era in the marketing strategies of newspapers in

India. Times of India resorted to an invitation price of Rs 1.50 and Rs 1 in important locations of India like

New Delhi and Bangalore. This strategy took the rivals by surprise and compelled them to follow the suit.

The circulation of Times of India not only increased but also surpassed that of the main rivals like

Hindustan Times in New Delhi and Deccan Herald in Bangalore. The Economic Times also followed a

similar strategy. Few years back, it substantially increased the size of the market category through its

promotion price of one-rupee-per -copy edition in Mumbai. This made a large number of readers ordering

their own copies. An invitation price of two rupees on weekdays was also introduced in many cities. The

price of the paper during weekends like Saturday and Sunday has been increased to seven rupees. This

prompted many readers to buy the newspapers only for five days in a week. This strategy also brought

into its fold many readers who would not have purchased the paper in the normal course.

The Times of India was considered to be the market leader in English newspaper segment till 2005.

However, lately during this year two new newspaper Hindustan Times and DNA planned to enter

Mumbai’s market.TOI before competition by these two newspapers was enjoying a premium price of Rs. 4

on weekdays and Rs. 6 on weekends. However after competition, they adopted many marketing and

pricing strategies which are discussed below:

TOI pre competition had a strict policy of not taking any unsold newspaper from the market

however post competition they have deleted this rule completely so that they can retain their

market share.

TOI launched Mumbai Mirror against Mid Day to target the potential customers of Mid Day. But

to fight against DNA and HT, they started distributing it completely free of cost to all TOI readers.

So all TOI readers now started getting two newspaper instead of one for the same amount.

Post competition advertisement rate in TOI was much higher as compared to the current rate in

order to attract more advertisers.

Both TOI and HT slashed their prices to Rs. 1.50 on weekdays between Monday to Saturday and the price

reduction was also extended to the Sunday edition. HT brought down the cover price of its Sunday edition to

Rs. 2.75 from Rs. 3.50 while TOI cut the price from Rs. 2.90 to Rs.2.

It is interesting to note that the cheapest newspaper comes for Rs 2 which is a regional language

newspaper while price of business newspapers goes high to Rs 10 such as The Economic Times being sold

at Rs 10, Business Standard at Rs 7 and Financial Express Rs 8. The Economic Times comes as a tabloid on

Sundays with altogether newer/different content which one can probably spend half a day to read and

enjoy. The price tag goes Rs 5 for some regional or national newspapers such as Hindustan Times, The

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Hindu, etc.

It was also observed that English dailies are produced in all-colour-page model while regional newspapers

mostly have 4-8 pages in colour and rest in B/W, though supplements in most of the newspapers are

produced in colour. The reason behind is obvious, as the ‘ad-support’ from advertisers come in plenty to

all colour pages more than the B/W. The average number of pages being 16-24 for the main newspaper

with supplements going to as high as 76. Like Hindustan Times and The Times of India on Sundays offer a

bunch of pages to read, ranging from 64 to 100 including supplements.

1. Publication: Hindustan Times

Cover price: Rs 5

Editions: 7

Language: English

Pages: (Colour + B/W) 24 + 0

Supplement on Sundays: (Colour + B/W) 16 + 0 and classified

(6 + 0) + matrimonial (12 + 0) + booklet (24 +0)

2. Publication: The Economic Times

Cover price: Rs 10

Language: English

Pages: (Colour + B/W) 32 + 0

3. Publication: Financial Express

Cover price: Rs 8

Editions: 11 (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Lucknow, Kochi, Kolkata,

Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune)

Language: English

Pages: (Colour + B/W) 10 + 2

4. Publication: The Hindu

Cover price: Rs 5

Editions: 14 (Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Delhi, Visakhapatnam,

Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijaywada, Mangalore, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata and Hubli)

Language: English

Pages: (Colour + B/W) 8 + 10

Supplement on Sundays:

(Colour + B/W) 8 + 4

PLACE

Place refers to providing the product at a place which is convenient for consumers to access. Place is

synonymous with distribution. Various strategies such as intensive distribution, selective distribution,

exclusive distribution and franchising can be used by the marketer to complement the other aspects

of the marketing mix.

Distribution Strategy

Sales involve distributing highly perishable products under severe time constraints

It has to be dispatched to various distributors across regions

The revenue of distributor is based on a commission on the every sale

Circulation is normally through salesman appointed and salaried by the distributors, who in

turn pass it on the hawkers

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Hawkers, vendors and book stall owners are the last link of the supply chain before it reaches

the readers

Responsiveness and efficiency is an important in distribution channel

Distribution System of The Times of India

Channel Members:

A. Printing Press: It takes the content from the editorial team and prints using high capacity

advanced press machines that deliver the product in packaged condition

B. Depots: The distribution centre receives the copies from the transporter and stocks it for a short

duration serviced by salesperson who are company employees

C. Agents: Employed where distribution is not organised and they work on commission basis

D. Vendors: Link between depots and end consumers. They sell via door to door beat boys or single

point newspaper stands

E. Beat Boys: The delivery boys or individual hawkers who deliver required publications to proper

destinations

The information about the changes in the environment of the organisation flows through

following channel:

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The Times of India has a pan-India presence in 41 centres with 15 main editions, namely:

Ahmedabad Bangalore Chennai Goa Hyderabad Jaipur Kanpur Kolkata

Lucknow Mangalore

Mumbai Mysore Nagpur New Delhi Pune

While, The Hindu has a pan-India presence in 14 centres, namely:

Cheenai

Coimbatore

Bangalore

Hyderabad

Madurai

New Delhi

Vizag

Thiruvanathapuram

Kochi

Vijayawada

Mangalore

Tiruchirapali

Kolkata

Hubli

Promotion represents all of the methods of communication that a marketer may use to provide information to different parties about the product. Promotion comprises elements such as: advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet advertisements through print media and billboards. Public relations is where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word-of-mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and public relations.

TOI’s brand advertising has achieved cult status by now. The simple, yet extremely effective formula used is to highlight the idiosyncrasies of Indians, while humouring the audience. Under the broad umbrella of ‘A day in the life of India’ the advertising tickles the audience while capturing the multi-faceted but essentially same Indian-ness on issues as diverse as a cricket match and elections.

One of TOI's innovative steps in promotion, which virtually rewrote the rules of the media game, was the

PROMOTION

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invitation price initiative. Kicked off in 1992, it led to the cover price of the newspaper being almost halved as the result of a conscious decision to pursue revenue from advertising rather than circulation. A spectacular surge in circulation ensued, leaving competitors no option but to follow suit, and justified Bennett's contention that it is a market-driving, not a market-driven organisation. Another major initiative came in the form of 'combo' offers on newspapers. The first step was taken in June 2003 when The Times of India and the Navbharat Times were made available together to consumers at a special price. A similar offer was introduced for a TOI-ET combo as well. Once again, the result was a massive leap in circulation of all the brands involved in the exercise.

Promotion strategies were eye openers to many as people thought that newspapers are to promote others products but not their own. Times of India group distributed free samples in select areas, offered special discounts for the tickets of select programmes, organized various contests and events like public speaking etc.,and started ‘Newspaper in Education’ programme in various schools. Regular advertisements are given on hoardings. It launched a massive campaign to build its brand image which they want to be synonymous with the term ‘India’. As far as Economic Times is concerned, some innovative strategies introduced include ET Club, ET awards for corporate excellence and special pull outs on various occasions. ET Club is mainly meant for students who will get the paper in bulk at their institutions. Panel discussions, workshops and seminars are organized for members at frequent intervals. As part of ET Club activities, the senior executives of the paper visit the institutions and deliver lectures on corporate matters and also conduct ET awareness tests. This strategy introduces the Economic Times to the students who would make it a habit as and when they grow up in the corporate ladder.

PROMOTIONAL MIX OF THE TIMES OF INDIA

Advertisements : a. Emphasises on functionality of newspaper

b. Now it emphasises on emotional platform where the newspaper is being

projected as something that of chronicle aspirations of Indians. Ex. Go India ad,

hockey advertisement, etc.

Internet marketing: Own their own web portals to advertise their products through banner ads. The Times of India Online is India’s most popular news site. With 13 million unique visitors and more than 300 million page views per month, it consistently ranks among the world’s Top 10 English-language newspaper sites. It offers complete, in-depth and up-to-date coverage — in text and video formats — of national, international, city, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, business, health, science and technology topics.

Sales promotion: TOI has come up at present with a subscription rate of Rs.250 per year after price

cut.

Personal Selling: Door to door marketing helps in joining people as founder members of the Chennai

edition at subscription rates lower than Re.1 so that they can target household subscribers who read

The Hindu.

Sponsorship: TOI and The Economic Times presents Mega Trade fair on Corporate gifts, Stationary

and writing instruments and sponsors various social initiative programmes like education, poverty

eradication etc.

Public Relation: They have their own website and videos featured in television medias through which

image in marketing is maintained. It monitors the attitudes of the organisation’s public and

distributes information and communications to build goodwill.

Viral marketing: Through word of mouth the information about the price cut for 1 year subscription

has spread out well

Out of home promotion: They have covered most of consumer touch points in the city starting from

convenience shops, tea stalls, cycle spare repairing shops and billboards in buses and road dividers.

Promotion Schemes

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1. Trade Schemes

Offered to channel members

Incentive to increase sales

Challenge for challenge member: Balance reader interest while trying to increase sales to

avail benefits of the scheme

Discounts for purchase of larger volumes by vendor

Bonus of 50 paise for each new account generation by vendor

2. Discounts

Mainly for institutional sales ex. Bulk sale at schools at discount rates

3. Reader Schemes

Directed at final customer/reader. Mainly to draw in new customers

Varies depending on location and demography

Could include trials, discounts, freebies, combo offers etc.

4. Subscription Sales

Offer choice of publication for a certain amount of time at a lump sum discount price

Purpose- gaining new customers and making customer switch

Competitive Patterns- The brand wars of the Times of India and The Hindu

The Times of India:

Popularly known as “The old lady of Boribunder”

Dominates the northern and southern regions of India

Famous for its “Page 3” culture

Attacked The Hindu by its “Wake up Chennai” TVCs.

The Hindu:

Popularly known as “The Mahavishnu of Mount Road”

Stronghold- The southern region of India

Leftist views

Archaic usage of English

Lashed back at The Times of India with ads in print media and bill boards.

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PEOPLE

An essential ingredient to any service provision is the use of appropriate staff and people. Recruiting the right

staff and training them appropriately in the delivery of their service is essential if the organisation wants to

obtain a form of competitive advantage. Consumers make judgments and deliver perceptions of the service

based on the employees they interact with. Staff should have the appropriate interpersonal skills, aptitude,

and service knowledge to provide the service that consumers are paying for.

BCCL promotes a culture of constant learning, innovation and fun at work. Our Employee Value Proposition

boasts of abundant career development opportunities; benefits like life, medical, accident insurance,

scholarships for employees' children, education assistance for employees; monetary as well as non-monetary

reward and recognition; and employee engagement initiatives like Corporate Holiday Packages, Employee

Clubs etc.

Code of Conduct for Employees

1. You shall not borrow or lend money within the Company.

2. You shall disclose all your interests including investments in other companies and your relatives in politics to ensure that you are unbiased in your work.

3. You or your immediate relative(s) shall refuse any gift offered by any person(s) who has or may seek to have dealings with the Company.

4. Any Hospitality/ Entertainment which is of substantial monetary value should be refused.

5. The Company shows more appreciation for those who keep away from smoking and drinking and discourages all forms of substance abuse.

6. The protocols and culture of the Company should be respected as being different from those in other Institutions or Organizations.

7. In the course of training and development as well as your engagement with the Company you will be privy to or possess proprietary and confidential information/ knowledge including trade secrets and the Company‘s confidential business, marketing and publishing strategies.

8. In the event of any emergency where intellectual property created, written, given or made by you is sought by the Government, then the same will be delivered with due written permission of the Company.

9. In the event you resign/ separate from the Company, you will not recruit, select or influence in any way, any employee of our Company or anyone working with us on contract, to join your future employment, as an employee or partner or any other form of work association, after the separation of your services with us.

10. Oral Promises/ Commitments: Oral promises do not constitute a contract between the individual and the Company and are by no way binding on the Company. A written contract therefore states in black and white the obligations followed by the reward and is therefore acknowledged and enforced by the Company as opposed to unfounded promises.

Code of Conduct for Journalists (applicable for all Times Group brands)

As a brand, all Times Group Brands (hereinafter referred to as Times) draws its power and influence from two things:

1. Our ability to deliver the complete story: making sure our facts are correct, citing our sources, and providing analysis and context

2. The confidence of our readers that we are unbiased in our reporting and have no agenda to further save that of accurate reporting.

All Times staffers must conduct themselves by the following rules:

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1. Confidentiality

2. "Church and State." Our reporting and analysis is entirely independent of our advertising and investment departments

3. Quality journalism a) To provide the best reportage and analysis to our readers and viewers, we must ensure we are:

o Accurate

o Unbiased

o Attributed

o Verified

o Honest

Economic Times and ET Now Code of Financial Conduct

ET/ET Now are India's most respected financial-news brand because it stands squarely for certain values: accuracy, reliability, fairness and integrity. Our journalism, across media platforms, is committed to these values.

No employee will take advantage of information that is not in public domain but to which he/she has gained access by virtue of his/her association with ET/ET Now or its affiliates.

No employee will communicate such privileged information to another person, either within or outside the organization, who may be in a position to take advantage of it.

To ensure that our integrity is not compromised, especially in our coverage of markets, companies and policy, all employees are required to adhere to certain rules about financial investments made by them or their close relations, including spouse/companion.

1. You are required to make a disclosure of your securities holdings as per the format prescribed by the Company, at the end of every quarter. The company undertakes to keep your declarations confidential

2. In addition, designated managers and journalists are required to disclose their current portfolio and declare their specific investment transactions during the reporting period in a format prescribed by the company. The management is committed to keeping this information confidential, but reserves the right to share the records with a regulatory / inquiry agency investigating securities fraud or insider trading.

PROCESS

Process is concerned with the planning, development, implementation, documentation and review of systems and procedures to ensure that the central marketing objective of getting the right product, in the right quantity, to the right place at the right time in a profitable manner actually occurs. It reflects all the creativity, discipline and structure brought to marketing management. Marketers must ensure state of the art marketing ideas and engage in right set of processes to guide activities and programs for mutually beneficial long term relationships. Refers to the systems used to assist the organization in delivering the service. The more ‘high contact’ your product, and the more intangible, the more important it is to get your processes right. Remember to look at this from your customers’ point of view. The process problems that are most annoying to a customer are those that are designed for the provider’s convenience, not the customer.

Key elements of process Planning Successful outcomes don’t happen by accident - it’s all about making sure you know what is required and then putting a plan in place to ensure you can deliver what’s needed. Achieving a successful marketing result requires an effective marketing plan that contains strategies, tactics and activities that will satisfy the needs and wants of the marketplace.

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Systems and procedures Well developed systems and procedures will provide a framework upon which positive customer experiences can be built and delivered. Systems and procedures will contribute to the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, consistency, risk minimisation and ultimately, profitability of your business.

Documentation Accurate, accessible and accountable documentation is at the core of any successful business. Documentation delivers information and information is the fuel that powers your business. Effective management comes from having the right information at your disposal to make the right decisions and documenting information ensures that it is available when required to the right people in order to ensure that all facets of your business are focused on profitable customer satisfaction.

Quality control It’s critical that you ensure the quality of processes within your business is high and consistent. Good quality control comes from good systems and procedures, effective documentation and a commitment to continuous improvement by all sections of your business.

Feedback and Review The organisation should continually seek honest, objective feedback from customers, suppliers, staff and other stakeholders and where appropriate make the necessary changes to process to put your business back on track in the long term.

The timely delivery of the service is very important aspect of the process management. Thus, BCCL takes care

that the right information in adequate amount is provided to its target customers at right time in order to

satisfy their needs and wants. This is done by timely delivery of newspaper and magazine to the customers in

early morning as people prefer reading the latest news in the morning and stay updated which gives a fresh

start to their day. It tries to provide authentic information from real sources as its staff is committed towards

its duty and ensures that there are no faults and inadequacy in the information. This is ensured by employing a

dedicated workforce across the nation so that they can provide timely information and satisfy the expectations

of its customers.

PHYSICAL Evidence

Physical Evidence is the element of the service mix which allows the consumer again to make judgments on

the organization. Physical evidence is an essential ingredient of the service mix; consumers will make

perceptions based on their sight of the service provision which will have an impact on the organizations

perceptual plan of the service.

A strong focus on Corporate Social Responsibility, led to setting up of the Times Foundation, which has single-

mindedly worked towards adding value to the society through its services. It acts as a catalyst by leveraging its

core competence as a part of an apex media organization to bring social change in sectors like education,

health, poverty alleviation, public-private partnership, etc.

The various activities undertaken by Times Foundation are:

Teach India:

Times Foundation (TF) has been a strategic partner in the Times Group Teach India initiative. It is an

effort to bring the educated middle class closer to millions of underprivileged children, who are

deprived of formal education. It formed a bridge between the educated readers, who are willing to

make a contribution to the society and the NGOs, schools and other social organizations and trained

more than 50,000 volunteers for teaching assignments.

Lead India:

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Lead India was a nation-wide talent hunt for the next generation of political leaders for India. The main objective of this programme was to enable short-circuiting the otherwise convoluted path up the political ladder, to catapult a chosen few straight into the public limelight. The Lead India program was rolled out in eight cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Pune and Hyderabad.

Aman ki Asha: Aman Ki Asha (A Hope for Peace) is a unique people-to-people movement that dared to look beyond the violent history shared by India and Pakistan and focus on the ancient bonds that tie together the peoples of these two great nations.Launched jointly by the Times of India and the Jung Group of Pakistan, Aman Ki Asha recognized that people of these two countries should seek to take the relationship beyond the dead-end it found itself in.The initiative has three main planks: Cultural Exchange, Conflict Resolution and Commerce.

Power of Ideas ET launched The Power of Ideas in January 2009 with the objective of creating a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in the country. With the economy at a low ebb and faith in the aspect of ‘job security’ having dropped, people were more inclined than earlier to start up. The programme thus struck a chord with readers.

It has undertaken various activities in order to protect environment and help in improving the conditions like

On World Environment Day, 5th June, 2010 – TF initiates Cycle to Work in partnership with multiple stakeholders

TF celebrates with school children the RECYCLE WEEK between 21ST -24TH JUNE 2010

TF & WWF partner in ‘Save the Tiger’ Initiative

TF’s Whitefield Tree Plantation Drive - in association with ‘ Tree for Free’

It has also undertaken various projects related to health issues like Project Sahayog, Times wellness workshops, Project Swasathya, etc.

It has also undertaken activities to solve local issues like river Yamuna cleaning drive in Delhi, Mission Admission during college admissions.

Initiatives

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Competitor HT Media also has an initiative ‘You Read, They Learn’ wherein every day readers in Delhi- NCR

region contribute a part of the cover price to help educate underprivileged children. Abhishek Bachchan and

Gautam Gambhir are the brand ambassadors of the initiative.

CONCLUSION

From print to the internet, Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (BCCL) spans multiple mediums and

technologies. But a common thread runs through these disparate businesses: high quality of content. In

conjunction with the group's relentless pursuit of innovation, this has catapulted it to the position of India’s

largest media conglomerate.

Building on its traditional strength in print media, namely newspapers and magazines, BCCL has diversified into

new, emerging areas and rapidly emerged as a market leader in each case. The vast Bennett portfolio today

comprises The Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times, Sandhya Times and

Mumbai Mirror (newspapers); Times Retail, Times Music and Times Multimedia (entertainment and retail);

Timesjobs.com and Timesmatri.com (online ventures); Radio Mirchi (radio entertainment); 360 Degrees

(infotainment media); Indiatimes, Timesofmoney and 8888 (internet and mobile media); Zoom (television

channel);Times Now (news channel); and Femina and Filmfare (magazines published by World Wide Media).

Bennett measures its achievements in terms of whether its brands have helped their respective audiences

succeed in life, while enriching the business of relevant advertisers. That's a stringent benchmark, but

Bennett's brands are renowned for their success in measuring up to the challenge.

Apart from commercial success, they've also been rewarded with accolades globally. For instance,The Times of

India has been ranked among the world’s six best newspapers by BBC. Perhaps the most visible sign of

Bennett’s success at the international level is the string of triumphs notched up in recent years by Femina Miss

India winners at beauty pageants such as Miss Universe and Miss World. Its film magazine, Filmfare, has

become a blockbuster in itself, with the Filmfare Awards being regarded as the Indian version of the Oscars.

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The BCCL group has tried and succeed in taking first mover advantage of every technological upgradation by

launching new products to keep pace with the developments in the field of technology and they have been

appropriately priced and promoted in the target market. Despite being adopted the upgraded marketing mix

for its media services in comparison to its competitor in each field, the BCCL group faces the negative trends of

media industry due to its dynamic nature. The negative trends faced are corporatisation of media, monopoly

trends, malpractices and corruption, paid news syndrome, trial by media and incorrect reporting of court

cases, devaluation of the office of editor, etc.

Thus, the media should be the torch that shows the way and not the fire that destroys, although both give

light.

BIBLOGRAPHY

Marketing Management (Edition- 14e) by Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller, Abraham Koshy and

Mithileshwar Jha published by Pearson Education.

www.timesgroup.com

www.hindugrouponnet.com

Wikipedia.org

E-Resource: EBSCO

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