Report of Summer Internship in India with renowned "The Outlook Group". This report talks about use of internet for promotion in print media.

1. CORPORATE PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY AND INTERNET MARKETING
IN PRINT MEDIA
A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SUBMITTED BY
Mohammad Nafees Khan
PRN 15020441147
Marketing and Operation (A56)
Batch 2015-17
Under the Guidance of
Project Guide Project Mentor
Prof. Hirak Dasgupta Mona Chaudhary
Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies Team Leader
hirak.dasgupta@sims.edu Outlook Publishing India Private Limited
mona@outlookindia.com
SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (SIMS)
(CONSTITUENT OF SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY)
July 2016

2. EXCECUTIVE SUMMARY
The history of print media in India is very old, Hickey’s Bengal Gazette was the first English
newspaper in India, which get published from Kolkatta (Calcutta then). As time passed, so have
the print media industry, today there are more than 70,000 Newspapers in India. Today these are
a source of employment for lakhs of Indians and a source of revenue for the corporates who are
making money through advertisement, subscriptions and other mediums.
The Outlook Group is one of the main India’s magazine publishing company which publishes five
types of magazine namely Outlook Weekly, Outlook Hindi, Outlook Traveler, Outlook Business
and Outlook Money. It is owned by Rajan Biharilal Raheja Raheja of Raheja Group which is a 2
Billion Dollar Company.
The First editor in Chief was Mr.Vinod Mehta who passed away last year in 2015. Mr Mehta was
a renowned journalist and was the Editor in Chief for 17 years at Outlook Group. Currently the
Editor in Chief is Krishna Prasad who is also a very famous and is progressive journalist.
The purpose of the projects was to ascertain the strengths and short coming of Outlook Group of
Magazine. How they have stand strong at their place even after facing stiff competition from
technology and easy availability of content for free of cost. Why would anyone buy magazine at
the first place. How Outlook group has dumped, launched and modified the old, new and existing
magazine in order to stay ahead in the market.
This project mainly emphasis on Business to Consumer (B2C), Business to Business (B2B), and
Cover-on-Cover projects which I undertook during my internship. It also explains the various
measures undertaken by outlook group to enhance it customer experience from sending emails to
delivering magazines and an introduction of knowledge jockey, a revolutionary Online Marketing
& Sales initiative by Outlook Group, where students Learn & Earn at the same time

3. CERTIFICATE OF INTERNAL GUIDE
This is to certify that Mohammad Nafees Khan, PRN 15020441147 has completed her project
report on the topic “CORPORATE PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY AND INTERNET
MARKETING IN PRINT MEDIA” under my guidance.
Name of the faculty: Prof. Hirak Dasgupta
Signature:
Place: Pune
Date: July 2016

4. DECLARATION BY THE STUDENT
I hereby declare that the project entitled “CORPORATE PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY AND
INTERNET MARKETING IN PRINT MEDIA” submitted for the MBA Degree is my original
work and the project has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, associateship, fellowship
or any other similar titles.
Name: Mohammad Nafees Khan
Signature of the Student:
Place: Pune
Date: July 2016

5. CERTIFICATE OF COMPANY GUIDE

6. TABLE OF CONTENT
S. No Headings Page No:
1 Acknowledgement 01
2 Introduction About Print Media 02
3 Company Profile 03
4 Discussion on Training 08
5 Objective and Challenges 10
6 Research Methodologies 12
7 Analysis and Interpretation 15
8 Recommendation / Suggestion 18
9 Bibliography/References 19
10 Annexure 20
I. Turnitin Report
II. Weekly Reporting

7. 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Hirak Dasgupta, my CPS mentor, who stood with me
all through CPS and helped me to complete this project.
I would also like to thank Ms. Mona Kamari, (Team Leader), who was my project mentor during
this period, for involving me in this project and for giving me valuable insights on the topic. I
would like to thank Mr. Joshi, (Manager- Subscriptions), Mr. Dhawal Sharma (National Head
Sales), Mr. Indranil Roy - President Outlook Group, for providing me the opportunity and all other
Outlook employees and Interns who were associated with me during this project for their help and
support.
I would also like to remember all the teachers of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies,
whose classes and notes formed the base of my project to work in Outlook Publishing India Private
Limited, specially Ms. Sanchari Dasgupta and Mrs. Asha Nagender.
I would also like to use this opportunity to thank Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies for
providing me an option to do CPS in Outlook Magazine, which helped me earn knowledge and
experience to evolve as a better person.
Thank You
Mohammad Nafees Khan
A-56
15020441147
Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies
Pune

8. 2
INTRODUCTION ABOUT PRINT MEDIA
Print Media as we know is one of the oldest and simplest form of reach your potential audience.
Print Media consist of Newspaper, Magazines, Books, Pamphlets, and Newsletter etc. But before
newspaper came into the world, there were two major kinds of publication which were in
circulation, first the handwritten newsletter and second single item news publications. Print Media
technology came to India in the 15th
Century from the Portuguese land, however it was the British
who initiated the first newspaper, the history of it started in 1780, with the publication of
the Bengal Gazette from Calcutta.
Today India has around 70,000 newspaper in circulation and is the biggest market in the world for
print media, with 100 million copies being sold every day. Print Media as anyone can understand
is one of the most important factors coming through in the way a nation works. Newspapers,
magazines, books etc. are read by a billions of people across the world and is certainly one of the
most preferred and circulated medium.
India has a vast array of Print Media with Thousands of Magazines and Newspapers in
Circulation. Indian print media is one of the largest print media in the world. Today the print media
has saw a growth of 5.8% in the financial year 2014-15. With another 5000 and more publication
being added. Hindi is the most preferred publication with around 30,000 and above followed by
English with around 16,000. Uttar Pradesh as a state has the maximum number of publication
followed by Maharashtra.
As per the report published by Indian Readership Survey in the year 2014, Dainik Jagran in Hindi
is the most circulated newspaper in India with more than 16 million daily readership followed
Hindustaan in Hindi which is 14.746 Million publication and Dainik Bhaskar in Hindi. Times of
India is ranked 8th
with 8 million daily readership.

9. 3
COMPANY PROFILE
HIPL – Hathay Investment Private Limited in the year October 1995 made an announcement to
enter into the print media. Outlook Group is owned by Mr. Rajan Raheja of Raheja Group. Mr.
Vinod Mehta was the Editor in Chief for 17 Years at Outlook India. The Current Editor in Chief
is Mr. Krishna Prasad who is also a journalist. Mr Mehta galvanized a sluggish market reeling
under the impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly carved a significant niche for itself among
discerning readers who value its in-depth, investigative reporting as well as its stylish visual
format. Outlook is known for its boldness in outing across news and article it is consider as a left-
wing.
Known to be fiercely independent, Outlook has shaken the establishment on events ranging from
Kargil to Kashmir to cricket, sensitized the reading public to important issues like big dams,
education and gender, and provided an unremitting focus on South Asian geopolitics. Today,
Outlook is the preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in India, and sells more than 11.2 million
copies over the year.
Areas of business: The outlook group comprises of 4 divisions
Magazine division, Internet division, Events division & Books division
It publishes 5 types of Magazines
1. Outlook Weekly - which is a weekly magazine and is consider as India’s most spirited
and
Outlook English
Outlook Hindi
Outlook Money
Outlook Traveler
Magazine division Internet division Events division Books division
outlookindia.com
outlookmoney.com
outlooktraveller.com
outlookhindi.com
Outlook Money
Personal fin. Show
OLM awards
OLT Getaways
OLM Guides
Outlook Classis

10. 4
OUTLOOK MAGAZINE’S IN BRIEF
Outlook: Outlook is a weekly magazine, started in the year October 1995 by Mr. Vinod Mehta. It
provide the latest news on sports, politics, economics, and cinema both domestic and international.
This magazine took over the industry by storm due to its boldness and the way outlook presented
story, this was appreciated by its reader all over India. Outlook weekly talked about everything
from Kargil War to the corruption today, from free education to children to bringing the rights of
women on its magazine. Outlook is now preferred over by 2 Million readers in India and sell more
than 12 Million Magazines. As of now Outlook is priced at Rs 50 per copy.
Outlook Money: It was launched in the year 1998, and was launched as an Intelligent Investor
Magazine but was renamed in November 2002 as Outlook Money. This is published twice in a
month. It was India’s first magazine which laid the basic and strong details of investing and was a
perfect fir for salaried middles class and people in India. With the growing service sector and the
requirement to save money this was a most sought after magazine for investment purpose. It had
a very simple and meaningful message ‘Invest well, borrow wisely, spend smartly'. Clearly the
message was well delivered and Outlook Money sold 1 Lakh copies in the very first year. However,
the key differentiating factor is that 93% of its reader has renewed their subscription over and over
again.
Outlook Traveller: It’s a monthly magazine prices at Rs. 100 per copy. This is one of the most
selling magazine of Outlook Group probably because it provide, captures and bring the wanderlust
to the table. This magazine provide all kinds of travels details like Domestic and International.
Recently it published world Top 100 Destination to travel this year in its June Edition. This also
bring the low cost trekking and travel destination that can be accessed through this. Hence this
magazine is most preferred by people and is also a great source of advertisement for the Outlook
Group adding revenue to the account.
Outlook Saptahik: It is weekly magazine and was launched in the year October 2002. This
magazine was launches to connect with the Hindu audience and make the presence felt of Outlook
group. To be specific this magazine targets the Hindi readers who have evolved over the period of

11. 5
time keeping in mind their interest, expectation and reality happening around. Outlook Saptahik is
famous among its readers because of its boldness and unique style which represents the style of
publication of Outlook other magazine. This magazine is process at Rs 50 per copy.
Outlook Business: Outlook Business is by monthly magazine. This bring latest news related to
business globally and in India. This is another important magazine for outlook keeping in mind
the investment and financial goals happening in India specially.
Below is Pricing Subscription Model of Outlook Group of Magazine.

12. 6
CLOSED MAGAZINES OF OUTLOOK
As per this article published on July 27, 2013; the three international magazines People, Geo, and
Marie Claire of outlook had been shut down high licensing fees and inappropriate arrangements.

13. 7
OUTLOOK AND ITS COMPETITOR
Outlook group Competitors
Outlook Money Money Today
Outlook Business Business Economy, Business today
Outlook Traveller Travel Today
Outlook Hindi Saptahik
Outlook (English) Weekly India today
Outlook Weekly Outlook Traveller Outlook Business Outlook Hindi
India Today Travel Plus Business Today Sapthahik
Outlook Money Money Today

14. 8
DISCUSSION ON TRAINING
The training provided at the Outlook Group office was very short and crisp. Learning came with
over a period of time. The interns was asked to sell magazine and was given a target which was
required to be achieved monthly basis. The details of the daily discussion has been mentioned in
the weekly report. There were basically 3 projects that I have worked on while my internship
duration in Outlook Publishing India Private Limited being posted in Head Office at Safdarjung,
Delhi
1. B2C Selling
This is the core task being performed by the interns over there. Outlook hires around 2000 Interns
every year which generates a revenue of Rs 3.5 Crores. This job calling old subscribers of Outlook
whose subscription has either over or is about the get over. So that they can renew their services.
2. B2B Selling
This job involved selling magazines to hotels, travel guides and others who run businesses.
3. Cover on Cover
Sample Business proposal explaining Cover on Cover in Detail.
“We are pleased to propose a unique offer that will help in keeping your services top of the mind
among your target audience using Outlook magazine as the carrier of your communication with
the “Cover on Cover” option.
We are confident that Outlook magazine would help you to create instant connect with your target
customers & communicate to them about your various offers, products & services through the
unique ‘Cover on Cover’ branding. We shall distribute your ‘Cover on Cover’ branded copies
among your database & target audience which would include top Doctors, Jewelers, HNI
Professionals working in big corporate houses, Pharmaceutical firms, Club & Car rental companies
etc. The 4 pages (Front cover / Inside Front / Outside Back / Inside Back) that you get are the most
exclusive, unique & indelible branding option.
For this, you need to make an order of minimum 1000 copies (you can buy 100 copies per month
as well). Outlook group can offer 10% discount on the market price with no added cost of cover.
Proposal -
Creative - 4-page creative will be provided by you with release
Delivery - As per your advice
In a nutshell I would like to assert that Outlook – Cover on Cover, is a great tool, which creates
value for your customers while you create an opportunity to communicate with him on a weekly

15. 9
basis. The touch point is engaging & the communication also enjoys multiple exposures with the
peer group. Your message gets communicated to your target audience through an indelible “can’t
be missed” unique branding space on the cover of the magazine, which won’t be disposed, a fate
which most mailers suffer”
By the end of internship, a new standard proposal was introduced, which assured that every
outgoing email for be it like B2C or B2B has same content. This also increased sales because of
the professional touch it had.
Below is the screenshot of the Email being sent?
Dear Subscriber,
We are delighted to invite you to be our Outlook Hidesign Privilege Subscriber. The Offer is available
by invitation only. All you need to subscribe to Outlook Group Magazine(s) and enjoy.
Superb Advantage:
 Flexibility to choose your favorite magazines, singly or combos
 Uninterrupted delivery of your copy to your home or work place, free of charge
 A “Special Subscribers Only Get Additional Privilege Cash Discount” of up to Rs.1000/-
 Premium Assured Free Gift as per eligibility
We look forward to your valued order.
Subscribe now by clicking the below link and lock-in all the special benefits extended to you.
LINK -
http://subscription.outlookindia.com/newoffer/kj.html?display=1&vouchercode=DELH101704
Yours sincerely,

16. 10
OBJECTIVE AND CHALLENGES
Project Title
Generating Sales for Outlook Group's Magazines using Corporate Promotional Activities &
Online Internet Marketing
Objective of the Project:
 Understanding Sales Generating Strategies for Outlook Group's Magazines using
Corporate Promotional Activities & Online Internet Marketing.
 Maintaining CRM by Studying Consumer Buying Behavior of Outlook Magazines.
 To Study the Potential of Social Networking Sites In Order to Increase Circulation of
Outlook Magazines.
 Role of E-commerce and CRM, Survey of Customer Perception and viability of E-
magazine.
 Importance of Customer Relationship Management in Magazine Industry.
 A Study on CRM, Role of E-Commerce and Related Marketing Strategies.
 Solicitation of prospect customers through telemarketing.
Learning Point
 Learn & understand how e-commerce is done & how it can be developed into a killer
strategy.
 Learn & understand how business can be augmented on the web / internet.
 Get to understand consumer behavior.
 Build a network which stays with you always.
 How to develop & maintain positive working relationship.
 How to generate prospects over the phone.
 How to do present the offers to the Clients.
 The Etiquettes of speaking on the phone and in official meeting.
 Advertising, Branding and Market Segmentation
 Team Handling and Management
Challenges:
Internship at outlook was an exciting and challenging Job. Apart from learning the facts of Print
Industry, I also learned the gap or the paint areas faced by the customer. The challenges faced were
both internal and external.

17. 11
The internal challenges included the lack of basis infrastructure like compact sitting place, air
conditioning, lack of chairs, hiring of excessive interns more than the capacity. Access to cold
water, clean washroom. These were the major challenge because these challenge has a direct
impact on the productivity of the employee.
The External Challenge included mostly with the late delivery of magazine and free gifts. Also,
it was noticeable after speaking with the customer that quality of content has gone down and there
is a lot of advertisement being done on the magazine. Hence the reading material is comparatively
less.

18. 12
METHODOLOGIES USED FOR THE STUDY
The Research Methodologies used in the project is mainly through:
1. Primary Research
2. Secondary Research
In research methodology, data collection techniques are mass mailing, documents and records of
those client whose subscription has either been expired or is about to expire. Qualitative and
quantitative analysis of data is used to examine the company's operations and evaluate its potential.
My Job is to get more and more Outlook magazines subscriptions not only from potential
customers but also from existing subscribers through e-mail marketing and telephonic
conversation, personal meeting and other possible ways.
 Preparing Database
Prepared a comprehensive list of prospective clients in each segment. Identify segments and
prepare database of prospect customers. The list consisted of all details of the clients including
name, address, and telephone number etc.
 Information and data collection
This step consisted of gathering information about the clients as to whether they are currently
taking any magazines and at what prices. Check digital reports of customer previous history and
track his record including choice of magazines, frequency of use, address, phone number, last date
of purchase, mode of payment etc.

19. 13
 Approaching the interested prospects
Pitch customers for the best offers and gifts. Get the interest and demand of subscriber, and mail
the link and offers and if possible, get him online immediately or ask the subscriber to share his
preferred online time. Detailed information regarding features of the product and its edge over the
competitors was explained to the client. The various options like Trolley bag or hidesign gift
voucher were offered. Sample copies were shown to display the various options .All the efforts
were made to convince the clients to buy the magazine by offering him various schemes, gifts and
range of subscriptions.
 Proposal
If the client showed interest in proposition offered to him, the next step was to offer a proposal.
The proposal consists of various details like price, option being offered and other details about the
delivery, payment in advance etc.
Dear Subscriber,
We are delighted to invite you to be our Outlook Hidesign Privilege Subscriber. The Offer is available
by invitation only. All you need to subscribe to Outlook Group Magazine(s) and enjoy.
Superb Advantage:
 Flexibility to choose your favorite magazines, singly or combos
 Uninterrupted delivery of your copy to your home or work place, free of charge
 A “Special Subscribers Only Get Additional Privilege Cash Discount” of up to Rs.1000/-
 Premium Assured Free Gift as per eligibility
We look forward to your valued order.
Subscribe now by clicking the below link and lock-in all the special benefits extended to you.
LINK -
http://subscription.outlookindia.com/newoffer/kj.html?display=1&vouchercode=DELH101704
Yours sincerely,

20. 14
 Follow Up
Once the proposal was offered, we would enter the follow up details in CRM software in the below
format shown below as screenshot. Next would be to reach out to the following client as per the
reminder set in the CRM software.

21. 15
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA/INFORMATION
The Result obtained from the interaction with the customer of Outlook has been maintained in the
daily feedback. However the analysis of the problems faced is being done here. The challenges
faced are very critical to the business of Outlook Group.
Analysis of Logistic
In logistic we talk about the delivery of magazine to its customer. So outlook has customer both
in Metro and Non Metro Cities and in remote location of our country. It has both business house
and individual as its customer. The problem area is the late delivery of the courier services, while
many customer in tier 2, tier 3 and smaller town receives late magazine. My analysis show that
this gap could be a big advantage for outlook competitors. This as a matter of facts is one of the
weakest area of outlook group. This could be said so because the magazine content has latest news
and items and these data are also available digitally, if not delivered at the doorstep the very next
day. The customer can easily read online and hence would like to refrain from taking magazine.
In metro cities the problem of late delivery is not
Analysis of the objection/escalation handed
Initially I was nervous on how to handle queries raised by the customer but with time and guidance
provided by my mentor I was able to overcome the hesitant in handling queries. The objection
raised by the customer varies in nature.
It could be one of the listed below.
1. The customer is not satisfied with the content of the magazine, they find it partial and the
news related to in favor of Congress Government or not supporting or having a partial view
on BJP Government.
2. They are not happy with the delivery system of the magazine, perhaps this was one if the
main issue raised by the most of the customer. That the magazines are not received on
time.
3. Other objections included the Outlook Magazines has a lot of advertisement and
commercials.
4. No magazine for children or in science and invention category.
The objection raised was handled in a set order. All queries/objections regarding non-delivery of
magazine was email to yourhelpine@outlookindia.com
Other than that I would personally talk to client, assure them that going forward magazine would
be received on time and would escalate the matter internally.
As per the protocol given to me, I kept my mentor cc in all the emails that I escalated internally
for non-delivery of magazine.

22. 16
Category wise breakup of customer
Magazine Type Number of Customers
Outlook Weekly 1254
Outlook Hindi 75
Outlook Traveler 553
Outlook Money 153
Outlook Business 96
Total 2131
Table 1.0
The above graph shows the Number of Customer spoken as a part of the internship
Job performance report
1254
75
553
153 96
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
OutLook Weekly OutLook Hindi Outlook
Traveller
Outlook Money Outlook Business
Number of Customers

23. 17
Table 2.0
General Report
Online Transactions 14
Offline Subscriptions 6
Sales Converted 20
The above graph displays that 70% of the sales happened online
While rest 30% happened offline via Cheque
Table 3.0
General Report of Sales – Monthly
May 22118
June 38482
Total Amount of Sales 60600
The above graph shows that 36% i.e Rs 22118 was achieved in the month of May
While 64% ( Rs 38482) was achieved in the month of July
Online
Transactions
70%
Offline
Subscriptions
30%
mode of sales
General Report
Online Transactions
Offline Subscriptions
May
36%
June
64%
Monthly Sales Chart
May
June

24. 18
RECOMMENDATION (SUGGESTIONS)
My internship at outlook has given me fresh perspective about the Print Industry, however the
internship has also provided me an opportunity to learn about the different work profile at outlook.
During the course of my learning I have learned about several short coming or weaknesses related
to the work which I would like to give recommendation on:
1. Outlook Group needs to strengthen its logistic services for faster and timely availability.
This would ensure customer satisfaction.
2. Outlook hire around 2000 interns every year. These interns are from MBA School and
students pursuing under graduation as well. As observed, some of the interns does not have
good communication skills and few of them are being rude to customer. This has very high
impact and its lead to debranding of Outlook Group. I would recommend to hire interns
with some professionalism and sincerity, as they are the face of the company in the market.
3. I would also like to recommend to Outlook Group to look into the amount of advertisement
that is being published in the magazine. Though I understand that the advertisement are
one of the main source for generating money. However, too much of advertisement tends
to decrease the value of a magazine.
4. I would recommend better infrastructure and clean working environment, as this would
improve productivity at the office. Since I worked in the Head office at Safdarjung, New
Delhi. The infrastructure of the office was not too impressive, there was a lack space. Not
enough washroom, keeping in mind then the total number of interns working at a time and
not all the washroom was cleaned as-well.
5. Grant of a fixed stipend or more than 10% of existing sales would motivate the interns to
work harder to achieve the sales target being allotted to them.
6. Reimbursement of phone bills and any other personal expenditure incurred for office use.
7. Ream Time SMS system, that as soon a magazine is send to the customer via courier the
SMS of the same is also delivered.
8. Providing customer an interface, a Login ID and password, to track their subscription
details. As of now this is a pain area because every time a customer want to their
subscription details, they call customer care department of outlook group.
9. Strict adherence of the office timings from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on normal office hours.
This are the recommendation, I would like to make and I believe, implementation of these changes
would a have significant impact on the business of Outlook Group. Also, I believe that Outlook is
also working hard on the same line to improve its productivity, quality and business of its people
and its customer. These suggestion are my original view point.

25. 19
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 http://www.outlookindia.com/
 http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/outlook-group-shuts-down-3-
magazines/article4958420.ece
 http://www.w3newspapers.com/india/magazines/
 https://www.britannica.com/topic/publishing/Magazine-publishing
 Also referred books of Outlook Magazine like Traveler, Money, Weekly and Business.