Dainik Bhaskar

Dainik Bhaskar, an Indian newspaper views market research not just as a tool for surveying the market they intend to enter, but also as a brand building exercise. The whole target population, and not just a sample of it, was surveyed. Such dedicated effort helped them to dethrone, almost overnight, the kings of the markets that they entered.

Marketing can bring potential readers to sample what is on offer, but a loyal readership is built only with relevant content. We meet the total needs of our readers and we pay a great deal of attention on localisation of news.

Setting new records is second nature to the Dainik Bhaskar Group, publisher of the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar and Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar. Dainik Bhaskar commands a staggering 1.5crore readership as per the National Readership Survey (NRS) published in December 2003. Divya Bhaskar, launched from Ahmedabad in June 2003, began with 452,000 paid copies. As of February 29, the paper sold 5 lakh plus copies, making it a clear leader in the Gujarati newspaper segment. The editorial teams managing the group’s 21 editions in six different states bring out 1,200 different pages every day because of the intensive localization of news that happens at every publishing centre. The group’s dramatic rise to the top has been captured as case studies at several prestigious centers of learning including IIM Ahmedabad. Moreover, the northbound journey attains an aura given that the group branched out of Bhopal only in 1983 when it launched an edition from Indore. By 1992, Dainik Bhaskar became the largest selling newspaper in Madhya Pradesh. In December 1996, the group launched Dainik Bhaskar from Jaipur. Today, it has seven editions in Rajasthan. Still later, May 2000 saw the launch of the Chandigarh edition; Haryana edition followed a month later. Then came ‘Divya Bhaskar’, leaving a trail of records. Media analysts of various hues have been attributing the group’s success to its strong marketing efforts. But Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director of the group, holds an entirely different view on this. He maintains that content has been the key driver of the group’s business. Agarwal shared the group’s vision and editorial stance in an interview withRajiv Raghunath of exchange4media.com. Excerpts:

Media brands are defined by their content and more often than not Content is becoming the real differentiator. Relevant Content is a necessary condition though not sufficient for a successful media brand. Understanding of Content dynamics and strategies is becoming important for Media planning & buying decisions too.

The caselet focuses on the successful launch of the Gujarati daily newspaper- Divya Bhaskar, by the Dainik Bhaskar (DB) group in Ahmedabad. The caselet illustrates the innovative market research study undertook by DB prior to the launch of the newspaper that involved surveying the potential customers on large scale. It also describes the design of the newspaper which was based on the inputs obtained from the survey and its promotion to the customers. Finally the caselet talks about the success of DB's launch strategy which resulted in Divya Bhaskar becoming the market leader and overtaking the existing market leader Gujarat Samachar.