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| Home >> Interviews >> 'If our reader is a top end reader, we have to give him or her a top-end product' - Sandeep Bhushan, COO Mint |
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'If our reader is a top end reader, we have to give him or her a top-end product' - Sandeep Bhushan, COO Mint
They rode the slowdown in style. While most publishing houses were looking at cutting corners, reducing their editions and their personnel, Mint, the business daily from HT Media not only grew the number of cities it went to, but also consolidated its position as the No. 2 business daily in the market according to the Indian readership survey (IRS). The daily has a 31 per cent market share in Delhi and Mumbai – its key markets and a 30 per cent share in display advertising market. Fortune Magazine has said that Mint is “Raising the journalistic standards in the country.
This kind of growth, says Sandeep Bhushan, COO, Mint has largely been possible due to the editorial content that is of the highest standard, staying true to the brand promise and also due to the innovative marketing strategies of the newspaper that set new standards in the reading business.
As the paper turns three today, Sandeep Bhushan speaks to Audience Matters on what goes behind making a brand successful.
Mint turns three today and is already at No. 2. What factors went into this growth?
For us, the starting point was to go and see what the consumer needs. We also saw that a new, larger, younger segment of consumers that discussed business was coming into the market. Today, business is far more democratic too. We also saw the very interesting trend of India amalgamating into the globe in the last decade.
We put all these factors together and got a very interesting mix that we called refreshing clarity in business and therefore we called it Mint, which means both, refreshing and money. We associated with the Wall Street Journal for global clarity. We then said that everything in the paper should reflect this proposition – the design, the no-jargon way in which it is written, the use of white coloured paper because you read better on white, the use of ad rules, for example, we have very strong rules on which ad should go where so that it doesn’t hinder the reader experience, and at the same time give great value to the advertiser. Most of these things that went in have lived up to their original promise. In a nutshell, we recognised a mix when we started and have stayed honest to the mix. Even last year, with all the talk of the slowdown, we completely kept pace without making compromises. If our reader is a top end reader, we have to give him or her a top-end product.
What role did your partnership with Wall Street Journal play in growing the daily?
We have an exclusive content syndication with the Wall Street Journal. We found that the international pieces we published from there were very relevant to our target audience. Interestingly in the last two years, with Obama and the global meltdown taking centrestage, nobody even thought to ask, why international. With these two factors, people in India wanted to know more about what was happening in America, than what was happening in India. And due to our partnership we were able to give the strongest coverage possible.
Mint is now available across seven locations. Do you plan to begin a full-fledged edition in any more cities?
The way we see it, the revenue and reader pie for business papers is concentrated in 7-8 cities. We have covered virtually everything, we are constantly evaluating where the next city can be added, but there are no immediate plans for expanding to more cities. We are currently present in Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Chandigarh apart from key centres such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
Lounge is one of the most popular features in Mint. What was the rationale behind launching a weekend edition like this one?
Lounge came about after a very interesting consumer understanding that our readers are very strong, contemporary, international in their outlook and for them information presented well is critical. So we thought apart from the business of business that they have to do through the week, they also have a business of life during the weekend, so we thought of offering them a really good business of life product. That’s how Lounge was formed.
In the lifestyle space too, the credibility of what you write and what you critique is a big deal. So if you are reviewing a product or a holiday destination with the most credible filters when you write about it, those pieces stay with the reader after a long time.
We haven’t seen many TV commercials after the initial launch ads of Mint?
For us it is all about deciding, which is the best way to communicate with current and new audiences. When we went to Chennai and Kolkata we did mount a full ETL plan, but obviously you can’t buy TV by the city, especially if you have a top-end audience. In Chennai, you could buy spots on Sun TV, but everybody sees it right? So I would land up wasting it with a lot of spill over. Therefore, television is not really the most appropriate medium. We have done outdoor media, ambient media, advertising at airports and clubs. We figure out where our audience is and do the messaging. For us, events are the big deal. We have the ‘Clarity through Debate’ platform, which is a top quality event.
How did Mint perform in the third quarter of this financial year?
We continue to grow strongly from quarter to quarter and more importantly, for a new brand, sequentially. My Q3 was better than my Q2, which was better than Q1. We have continued to move up. We also started to get results of our new editions which we put into the market in Q2 so I think we are perfectly in line with our plans.
How do you plan to increase your revenue in the coming quarters?
For us, revenue growth will come through two or three broad buckets. One is the fact that today we are the No. 2 paper with a national reach and we work with advertisers to make sure they understand this proposition and our rapport with them builds us in every plan of theirs. That’s a clear revenue opportunity for us.
What is also working for us is our ability to deliver a tight audience to the advertiser. According to Adex figures we have a 30 per cent share in display ads and that’s significant.
From time to time we also do events and editorial products that can be activated. For example, the forthcoming Budget is a big event for us. We are going around the country with a Budget series and a post-event and the editorial, and all of this with a TV partner, so we get the visibility. This not only gets readership merit but also gets revenue merit. Then of course, the new editions we put in are also bringing us the revenue.
Then there’s circulation, even though it forms a very small part in the revenue pie. We currently circulate a little over 1.35 lakh copies, the total readership right now does not cover our new editions, so if I were to add those, then readership would go to roughly around 2 lakh readers.
What investments have gone into these activities?
I can’t give specific numbers but, our strategy is very simple. We have a very tightly defined TG, so the rupees in absolute terms never look large, but with such a focused TG, the rupee per person is significant. For example, if we are doing the Budget activity, then we have to put down those events and calculate what the cost is. However, we will deliver a significantly greater value to the advertiser and to the TV channel partnering with us on the sponsorship. So the cost is not relevant there. It is merely a little play in the larger revenue possibility. Also our partnership with CNBC TV18 gives us better visibility as it does to them. Between them and us, we make sure we have a significant impact.
Speaking of events, are you looking at doing an event on a grand scale?
Our view on events is very simple – we will do an event only if it meets Mint standards of editorial quality. We are constantly on the lookout for how we can build the brand name and the franchise. So, currently we have a couple of formats that are completely run by editorial. Business has little say in them, but we have to watch out for the opportunity, once the event is identified, it is completely editorial driven. That’s something that helps us get quality audiences to an event, which therefore creates value for the sponsor partner.
Do you plan to go regional at a later stage?
Right now, we have absolutely no plans to get into the regional language space. From an HT Media point of view, we have a portfolio of products, where we have a very strong regional language paper (Hindustan), a really good English language paper (Hindustan Times) and a top-end business paper (Mint). Therefore from a group perspective we have percolated to every strata of society. So at Mint we have our target audience cut out.
After a business paper, any plans to get into broadcasting?
We do have broadcasting capabilities, where we put out a lot of content on livemint.com. So what we are doing again is delivering Mint’s editorial quality, onto the video platform.
How is livemint being accepted by netizens?
Livemint again stands for very similar factors that Mint does – strong content, clean design, reader-friendly and a width of sections within the site. The only significant difference is a very strong personal finance space that’s very active on the net. Again there’s top-end audience coming to livemint to understand business. Therefore this format too is delivering our brand positioning.. |
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