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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

2. Section- D
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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

3. 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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4. 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.
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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
P
R
O
D
U
C
T
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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L
I
N
E
L
E
N
G
T
H
Mumbai Mirror (English)
iDiva (English) Times Goa Guide
Maharashtra Times (Marathi) T i m e n S tyle (English)
Temples of India
Bangalore Mirror (English) T i m e n S tyle Luxury
(English)
Best of Sacred Space
Pune Mirror (English) A a m a r S omoy (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
Lonely Planet India (English)
weekly)
Sandhya Times (Hindi)
Home Trends (English)
Bodhi Vruksha (Kannada) Ami Udita (Bengali)
Navbharat Times (Hindi) B B C K n o wledge (English)
ZigWheels (English)
PRODUCT LINE DEPTH
English
daily
Finance
daily
Hindi
daily
Marathi
daily
Gujara
-ti
daily
Entertai
nment
industry
magazin
e
Women’s
Magazine
Automo
-bile
Magazin
e
Architectu
re
magazine
Magazine
for
upwardly
mobile
readers
The Times
of India
The
Economic
Times
Navbhar
at Times
Mahara
shtra
Times
The
Econo-mic
Times
Filmfare Femina Top
Gear
Home
Trends
Time n
Style
Bangalore
Mirror
Sandhay
a Times
Zig
Wheels
Good
Homes
Time n
Style
Luxury
Mumbai
Mirror
The
Economi
c Times
Ahmedaba
d 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

7. 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.
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 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

8. 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
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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

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

12. 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.
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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:

15. 1. Confidentiality
2. "Church and State." Our reporting and analysis is entirely independent of our advertising and
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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.

16.  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,
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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:

17. 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.
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 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

18. 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.
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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.

19. 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.
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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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