=======================================================Submitted to: Prof. Krupa RaiSubject: Consumer BehaviourTopic: Changing Consumer Perception about the Heritage Brands

Submitted by:Name: Pankaj SharmaRoll no: 36Class: MMM ================================================================

Assignment on the Heritage Brand

Heritage Brand Name: Time Of India

The Times of India(TOI) is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is thelargest newspaper in India by circulationand largest selling English-languagedaily in the world according toAudit Bureau of Circulations (India). According to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2012, theTimes of Indiais the most widely read English newspaper in India with a readership of 7.643million. This ranks theTimes of Indiaas the top English daily in India by readership. TOI group has 45 dailies and periodicals in 3 languages and 108 editions from 9 centers across the country and a combined readership of over 40 millionMission of Times of IndiaCreate & build brands with differentiated content to capture relevant audiences and market the value of these to advertisers to help them sell and strengthen their brands. History (Why TOI is a Heritage brand) Founded on November 3, 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, during the British Raj. The daily - 1850. In 1861, the Bombay Times was renamed The Times of India. It was after India's Independence that the ownership of the paper passed on to the then famous industrial family of Dalmiyas and later it was taken over by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain group from Bijnore, UP.

Launch: The Times of Indiaissued its first edition 3 November 1838 asThe Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.(please refer below picture) The paper published Wednesdays and Saturdays under the direction of Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath Velkar, a Maharashtrian Reformist, and contained news from Britain and the world, as well as theIndian Subcontinent. In 1850, it began to publish daily editions.

The Times of India is synonymous in being the "Masthead of India", an opinion-forming instrument for India and Indians. The Times Of India is not only Indias largest selling English general daily but also the leading English general daily in the world. It attracts a daily circulation level of about 22 lakh copies. It is the largest selling English daily between Tokyo and Paris

Mast Head: TOI have changed its mast head several times over a period of time, this was largely to grow and change with time.

Mast Head change over the Years.

The consumer preference has been ever-changing. Over the year Indian consumers have evolved like anything. Gone are the days when people use to read newspaper and start their day. In the early 80 and 90s we saw editorial playing a major role in the newspaper. It was the quality of the content & Pricing which decided faith of the newspaper. Times group started the first price war in the newspapers history under editor Stanley reed, where they cut the price of the newspaper from 4 annas to 1 anna. This had a repercussion effect on the consumer minds which lead to increase in the circulation of 5 times.

In this ever changing environment Times group has been as the fore front of continuously innovation and development. We saw so many innovation taking place, TOI have also changed the masthead over a period of time, to hook the consumer to their brand.

Even have also seen some innovation in the recent past where in the mast head of the TOI was changed to Republic of India. This spot is also been used by the big advertisers to get the consumers attentions.

TOI was published 3 days in a week, which was later on done on the daily bases. Times group has been at the forefront in innovation and understanding changing consumers requirements. 1959 Times group launched Femina magazine catering to young and aspirant audience. It was for the first time a magazine catering to Bollywood was launched. In 1988 The Times of India celebrated 150 years. Celebration is continued for 2 more years due to its immense success in catalyzing art, music and fashion industries in India. Times of India organised debates rage around the country on role of media, advertising, cinema, journalism, print production and mass communication, and become the precursor of India's economic liberalization.In 19991 BBC featured TOI among the worlds six largest newspaper. It was in the same year when price was dropped to Rs.2/- only. This decision was taken to attract new consumers. This offer was welcomed by the consumers and resulted in Increase in the circulation exponentially under the offer line. The Marketing campaign saidWhy beg or borrow when you can steal? At Rs.2/-

Designing of Product:Editorial ProcessBefore designing of newspaper it require news which is made available by local journalists and reporters. Journalist collects , writes and distributes news and other information regarding happenings. Reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes and report information to present in sources, conduct interviews, engage in research, make reports. Journalists and reporters both are assigned with specific beat and area of coverage.Understanding the above scenario TOI have a strong panel of editorial team. The editorial team have changed the writing style over the years to suite the Consumer.In order to meet the changing requirements of the consumers ,The Times of India came with several city-specific supplements, such as- Delhi Times, Calcutta Times, Bombay Times, Hyderabad Times, Indore Times, Kanpur Times, Luckhnow Times, Nagpur Times, Bangalore Times, Pune Times, Ahmedabad Times and Chennai Times, The Times of South Mumbai, The Times of Doon, Meerut Plus, Haridwar Plus etc.TOI also launched below mention supplements in order to cater to larger audience1. Times Wellness (Saturdays) Times Wellness focuses on solutions to health issues and guidance to better living2. Education Times (Mondays) Education Times caters to the ever-expanding student community and learning experience, as a career guidance, counsellor and adviser.3. Times Ascent (Wednesdays) Editorial of Times Ascent centers on human resource development, and the impact and implications on business and society.4. ZIG WHEELS ZigWheels.com is an automotive website reviewing, discussing, features and interviews on Indian vehicles.5. What's Hot (Fridays) Focus on latest happenings/events. Special pages created for channels and details of programmes. 6. Rouge (Saturdays) Concentrates on women's interest areas.7. Times Drive: Times drive is a supplement related to auto-mobiles and latest development in the industry.8. Times Property: The weekly supplement has property news.9. Times Life: Times life comes once in a week carrying news about life of personalities and famous people.10. Times Classifieds: Carries advertisements regarding jobs, buy and sell of items etc.11. Times Matrimonial: Feature marriage advertisement of boys and girls looking for match.12. Rouge: A weekly supplement13. Times en Vogue: A weekly supplementStrengths: Big Brand, good reputation in the minds of customer. 1st rank in circulation in India & 8th in world. Launches good campaign. Daily English newspaper with rich supplements. Good support from Times group companies. World class printing machine-Geoman, Goss

Pricing : TOI have following models 1. CASH SALES: Take newspaper from pan wala or any shop in cash. 2. SUBSCRIPTION SALES: Pay money in advance and read TOI 3. LINE SALES: Maximum % of sales comes from this method. Money collection works in reverse.

The price of the newspaper was slashed several times over the year. Monday ,Tuesday ,Friday- 2 Rs. Wednesday ,Thursday , Saturday -2.5 Rs. Sunday(Sunday Times)- 5 Rs. Price of newspaper also varies according to life cycle of newspaper like Till 12 pm- 2.5 Rs From 12 pm to 3 pm- 2 Rs From 2 pm to 6 pm- 1.5 Rs

Know your Competition:The main competitors for Times of India in India are : The Hindu- is ranked third among English dailies with a total readership of 5,140,000. Hindustan Times- is the second most read English daily and the 12th among all newspapers with a total readership of 6,254,000.

Circulation: The newspaper has the widest circulation among all English-language with about 2.6 million daily paid copies. In the year 2005, the newspaper reported that it was certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations as the world's largest selling English broadsheet newspaper. TOI group has 45 dailies and periodicals in 3 languages and 108 editions from 9 centres across the country.TOI Editions as on 2-2-15

TOI Celebration campaign for 175 years:

Recommendations: Times of India was ranked 88th among India's most trusted brands and subsequently, according to theBrand Trust Report2013, Times of India was ranked 100th among India's most trusted brands. In 2014 however, Times of India was ranked 174th among India's most trusted brands according to theBrand Trust Report2014, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory. This shows that the brand TOI is moving towards negative zone in the minds of the consumers because to the several issues in the past like paid news. Vulgarity in the advertising printed, Political rivalries etc.It is said that Authentic brands don't emerge from marketing cubicles or advertising agencies. They emanate from everything the company does...

Leverage the brand name The TOI is a generic brand and a synonym used for newspaper. But in the recent years we have seen the various controversies that have deterioted the brand name. Times of India should leverage its brand name and use the expertise and experience of 50+ years that the brand holds.Focus on Relevant content- in the changing era; we have observed that consumers are more exposed to consuming content from various sources. This gives the consumers opportunity to compare and choose from the various platforms. Hence TOI with its strong editorial team should focus on the most important aspect of the publishers which is delivering relevant content.

Maintain Brand Loyalty- as the study shows the TOI ranks has seen a fall in the past, TOI as a brand needs to understand that the consumers today are not only reading content in newspaper but they are also consuming content from the digital platform. Hence by adopting a 360 degree approach and focusing on content across all the platforms should be its prime focus.

Changing consumer perception- The Deepika Padukone controversy has been one of the reasons that have changed the consumer perception towards the brands. TOI should try to change the consumer perception by maintaining the standard and avoiding cheap publicity stunts like mentioned above.

More Diverse News: TOI contains less news on the Stock market, so TOI should come out with a special page covering Stock News and analysis. The analysis should be in lay man language. This will help TOI to attract new readers.

City Specific Supplements: TOI should launch more area wise supplement. As the research have shown that people like to read the news which is close to their heart? People like to read about happenings in an around their area.

Conclusion:In the mid 90 TOI became the name of every house hold. This was mainly due the positive connotation associate with brand. TOI was perceived like a luxury in 90s andt had a huge fan following. TOI became the talk of every city and home over a period of time. TOI have lost is charm over a period of time mainly due to controversies. TOI should maintain the sanity of the news which is carried in the newspaper. Newspaper is a convenience good and should contain genuine & factual news. Currently TOI is ranked 10 in the world. TOI should used its brand a content as a ladder to climb to no 5 and rule the world.

1The New York Times United States

2The GuardianUnited Kingdom

3The Daily MailUnited Kingdom

4The People's DailyChina

5The Washington PostUnited States

6The Daily TelegraphUnited Kingdom

7The Wall Street JournalUnited States

8USA TodayUnited States

9Los Angeles TimesUnited States

10The Times of IndiaIndia

It is said that Mass advertising can help build brands, but authenticity is what makes them last. If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand. TOI should stand true to this say and come out with authentic & fact full news to sustain in the long run.