Print investments create successes for Times of India, i, PANPA

Posted by Sara Taylor on December 2, 2009 at 5:37 AM

Creating a good brand is done through leadership, Ravi Dhariwal, CEO of Bennet, Coleman & Co., which publishes The Times of India told this afternoon's session of the World Newspaper Congress in Hyderabad. Speakers discussed how their businesses make money, while remaining credible and effective and still incredibly popular - through print.

Dhariwal and his company have made The Times of India a brand rather than just a newspaper through extensive marketing and interactivity. Establishing The Times as a cheerleader for the country was a key part of this branding strategy, along with keeping it "virtually free" for everyone.

Publisher and Editor in Chief of the newly launched 'i,' a daily newspaper in Portugal, Martim Figueiredo, says the newspaper sees costs of about 8 million euro and 4.5 million euro in profits, and will lose nearly 3.5 million euros in its first year of operation. However, with the advertising and reader response so far and despite heavy challenges, he envisions a break-even in 2014. The newspaper is targeting a high class, sophisticated audience, which also appeals to advertisers.

"We are not so much worrying about our future; we'd like to think we are making our future. I couldn't find one publisher in Australia that would accept that its product is going to die." This was the message from Mark Hollands, CEO of PANPA (Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association) in Australia.

Circulation has not been hit as hard in Australia as it has been in every other country. The average audience reach of the daily newspaper in Sydney is 53 percent, for example, compared to 39 percent in New York City or 34 percent in London, he said.

The last speaker of this session, Peter Kuisle, executive vice president sales, manroland, stressed the power of print.

"I am thrilled to be a part of this session that is talking about innovation in print and not the death of print because I think we as an industry have a way of eating our own skin," he said. There is room for improving and innovating value-added print products: by offering more attractive products, higher quality printing, targeted printing and distribution, add-ons with ads, such as using different inks and paper, and offering different formats of ad sizes. "There are so many great innovations going on in print. We should champion our core product, not destroy it."

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