Collaboration, not competition is the way forward for print media, say experts
By Audience Matters News Desk
Thursday, March 11, 2010
 Newspapers, for many years, enjoyed the undivided attention of media buyers and companies who want to advertise alike. But today, as times change, they are faced with stiff competition from mediums such as television and new media not to forget a new reader dynamic – the youth, also known as the multi-tasking generation, who have shown a strong preference for newer media.
In such a scenario, how can newspapers and publishing keep themselves ahead of competition? It was this question that was pondered upon at the first-ever workshop conducted by INMA in India on unleashing the power of print, kick-starting advertising revenue.
The one-day workshop threw up pertinent questions such as how could one increase readership and what kind of innovation was needed to sustain growth. It also attempted to give answers with media and publishing houses all agreeing that it was necessary to collaborate within the industry to sustain in an increasingly competitive market.
“It is important to not just look at the solutions within, but also see what other categories are doing to get inspiration,” said Ravi Kiran, CEO, South Asia and Emerging Market Leader, Starcom Mediavest Group during the first session of the workshop that addressed new strategies to grow advertising revenue in difficult times. The panel discussion was moderated by Tariq Ansari, INMA South Asia President and Managing Director, Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd.
Speaking during the same session, Andrey Purushottam, CEO, Mumbai Mantra and Chairman Media Research Users Council (MRUC) pointed out that the single most important problem plaguing most publishing brands was about increasing readership.
“The core problem today is that the youth is not reading newspapers, leading to a decline in readership and this issue needs to be addressed by asking how one can make this segment read. After all, it is this segment that will form your core consumer segment tomorrow,” he said.
Giving a case study on the power of print advertising, Kiran said that the way forward for publishing was only if the scale was used well. And this could be achieved only by questioning assumptions and creating value. “Our world is migrating from an exposure based obsession to one that gives experience the first place,” he said, while giving a case study on how Emirates had used the print medium effectively to advertise the superior experience that their customers got by flying with them.
In a world where multimedia planning is the way forward for both clients as well as media buyers, a session moderated by Bharat Kapadia saw panelists Nandini Das, COO Lodestar Media, Vanitha Keswani, COO Madison Media Sigma and Divya Gururaj, MD MediaCom deliberate on the importance of print in a holistic media plan.
The session that discussed, raised and convened on issues aimed at increasing the yield of print advertising, saw publishing stalwarts such as Bhaskar Das, Executive President, The Times of India, KU Rao, CEO DNA, Bharat Kapadia, Board Director Lokmat, Divya Gupta, Business Head, Hindustan Times, Mumbai, I Venkat, Director, Eenadu and Manajit Ghoshal, Managing Director, Mid-Day Infomedia discussing on how collaboration would help the publishing industry benefit as a whole.
“It’s not just television, but there is a threat to advertising in print from a game like cricket too with most advertisers and media buyers preferring to put their money on a month-long tournament that they know will gain maximum eyeballs,” said I Venkat, who was also the moderator for the session during his opening remarks.
“The challenge today, is to create a viable business model where competing publishing houses collaborate in some areas and compete in some,” said Bhaskar Das while giving an example of Times’ collaboration with Hindustan Times had worked in the Delhi market where both brands were thriving.
Agreeing with Das, Gupta said that price wars didn’t benefit anybody. “We need to collaborate rather than compete, exploit what each party gets to the table and go beyond just giving news,” she said.
Giving another point of view, Rao said that print media did not envangelise itself. “It would be a good idea if publishing houses came together to champion the cause of print media,” said Rao.
“It’s not just about collaborating with competitors, but with publishers from other regions too, where you don’t compete and this can help in developing the market,” avered Kapadia.
However, Ghoshal raised the question of how could this collaboration be done in the real world. “The broader perspective is to kick-start revenue and collaborations have to have a long-term agenda. It is not about protectionism but at a macro level it is also about convincing agencies and clients that the collaborators provide value for money,” said Ghoshal.
The workshop ended with Tariq Ansari giving a vote of thanks and touching upon key aspects of the day’s discussions.
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