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Growth Expected to Resume in 2012 Counting on Themselves Commercial Printing Industry Activity Rising, But Still Inconsistent Profitability Remains a Challenge for Commercial Printers Printing: A New Industry Commercial Printing Industry Continues to Heal Commercial Printing: Sales Growing But Not Enough to Lift Profits Leaders Beginning to Widen Their Lead Quick and Small Commercial Printers 2011: Optimism and Concern Commercial Printing Industry: Great Lessons from the Great Recession

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Printing Industry
02/22/2012

Growth Expected to Resume in 2012

Our industry is expected to begin growing again this year; the first increase since 2007. But the recovery is expected to remain inconsistent, and it certainly wont guarantee anything to anyone. The new norm: In our increasingly competitive, complex business we either prepare for recovery or get left behind. Regardless of developing circumstances, it is important to keep things in perspective. Recent results for the NAPL Printing Business Panel show how far weve come from the depths of the Great Recession and how far we have to go to match the previous peak. Almost three-fifths (56.0%) of our Panel report sales increased during the second half of 2011. This is up sharply from just 15.8% during the same period two years earlier. But despite the gains, sales are still down at least 10.0% from pre-recession levels for 62.2% of our survey group and at least 20.0% for 41.3%. As the table below shows, we expect our industry sales (from all sources, not just print) to grow 1.0%3.0% in 2012, maybe a little more if prices firm and the economy surprises to the upside. The latest consensus forecast from Blue Chip Economic Indicators has inflation-adjusted GDP rising 2.2% this year, up from 1.7% in 2011. Nonetheless, even if growth in industry sales finishes at the top of the range, sales would still be close to 19.0% below pre-recession levels and almost 21.0% below the all-time high reached in 2000.

Commercial Printing Industry Sales Sales (all sources, not just print) in billions. All figures are NAPL estimates/projections. % Change Since: Volume (billions) 2007 (prerecession) -19.5% 2000 (all-time peak) -21.6%

Period % Change

2012 1.0% 3.0% $78.4$79.9

2011 2010 2009 2008 2007

-0.3% -1.7% -15.0% -5.3% 2.5%

$77.6 $77.8 $79.2 $93.1 $98.3

-21.1% -20.9% -19.5% -5.3% --------

-23.2% -23.0% -21.6% -7.8% -2.6%

As mentioned, the recovery does not come with any guarantees. A good way to begin preparing: Get our key people together and ask, What are we doing to make 2012 better than 2011? For a discussion of the initiatives companies we survey are taking, see the soon to be released NAPL Printing Business Conditions: February 2012.

Posted at 01:13 PM in Economy, Printing Industry, Sales | Permalink | Comments (0) Technorati Tags: Blue Chip Economic Indicators, commercial printing sales, NAPL, National Association for Printing Leadership, print association, print economics, print statistics, print trends, printing blog, Printing Business Panel, printing economics
Reblog (0) 02/10/2012

Counting on Themselves
Participants in the NAPL Quick and Small Commercial Printer Trend Report expect sales growth of 4.7%, on average, in 2012, well above last years 0.3% increase. Nearly 68.0% expect to grow, over half by at least 5.0% and over one-quarter by at least 10.0%. They arent counting on the economytheyre counting on themselves. Among their plans: Focus on the client. Particularly, understand what the client really needs and how those needs are changing. One owner describes his companys most successful initiative as, Our continued focus on responding to what our clients are asking for. Responding rapidly to the marketnot moving into new areas and then selling our clients on the new thing that we offer. Add skills and flexibility. Capitalize on the opportunity high unemployment creates to add talented, skilled personnel who wouldnt be available otherwise, make good replacement hires for not-so-good employees, and increase staff flexibility through cross-training, the use of part-timers, and flexible schedules. Increase company image and visibility. Redesign the company website. Launch a social media campaign. Conduct client events, such as webinars and open houses. Add new services and technologies. Invest in speed, productivity, and management information because no one can afford to fall behind in those areas. Address disappointments. If something isnt working find out why. Dont assume it will self-correct. What will you do to make 2012 better than 2011? Thats not just the question for quick and small commercial printers. Its the question for every company in our industry.

Percent Change in Sales: Expected 2012 and Estimated 2011 Figures are NAPL Quick and Small Commercial Printers Trends Report participants.

2012

2011

Average Increase 5% or more 10% or more No Change Decrease 5% or more 10% or more

4.7% 67.7% 56.9% 27.2% 26.2% 6.2% 6.2% 4.6%

0.3% 43.1% 36.9% 25.4% 20.0% 36.9% 32.3% 21.5%

Posted at 05:56 PM in Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (0) Technorati Tags: 2012 expectations , commercial printing, keys to growth, quick printing, sales growth
Reblog (0) 02/02/2012

Commercial Printing Industry Activity Rising, But Still Inconsistent

Industry developments over the past year, as depicted by the NAPL Printing Business Index, our most comprehensive measure of business activity, have been characterized by slow, inconsistent growth. The PBI has risen sharply from the depths of the steep downturnit bottomed at 21.2 in March 2009and recently has shown six consecutive readings above 50.0a threshold that indicates activity is rising. However, as seen in the chart below, the index has not steadily advanced during this period, ranging from 50.2 (July 2011) to 54.2 (Apr 2011). In January 2012, the latest reading, the PBI stood at 52.2. Note that the index was designed to be a directional gauge and not a measure of magnitude. To that end, readings are most meaningful in the context of their recent trendand that trend remains one of modest, inconsistent growth.

Among the indicators that make up the PBI, confidence is displaying the most strength, with 36.2% of the NAPL Printing Business Panel expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months and just 10.4% expecting conditions to decline. No doubt, confidence levels reflect increased quote activity, as the specter of a double-dip recession continues to fade. Nonetheless, ongoing difficulties are being reflected in the reluctance of our Panel to increase payroll hoursjust 26.3% increased hours in Januaryand continued pressure on profitability despite some improvement on the pricing frontjust 24.1% report profitability rose last month. Another sign of the inconsistency of the recovery: Half of the companies we survey report sales increased in December over year-earlier levels, while the other half report sales decreasednot the pattern one would expect during a solid recovery. Unfortunately, one-month up and one-month down still remains a pattern for many companies. In summary, yes, conditions are slowly mending. But 2012 is not shaping up to be a breakout year. Far from it: To a large extent, success in 2012 is going to depend on individual company initiatives. A key question for everyone in our industry: What will you do to make 2012 better than 2011?

Posted at 12:27 PM in Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (1) Technorati Tags: NAPL, National Association for Printing Leadership, print association, print economics,print statistics, print trends, printing blog, Printing Business Index, printing economics
Reblog (0) 01/23/2012

Profitability Remains a Challenge for Commercial Printers

Data from NAPLs Printing Business Panel suggest that profitability, while improving, remains a challenge for many companies. Specifically, the gap between companies reporting increasing profitability31.0%and those reporting decreasing profitability32.9%narrowed in 2011. The improvement becomes more apparent when data are compared to prior years: In 2010 profitability was up for 29.1% of our Panel and down for 37.9%. In 2009 profitability was up for 11.4% and down for 64.1%. And while the last reading for 2011 showed the profitability gap turning slightly positiveincreasing for 32.3% and decreasing for 31.7% preliminary data for January 2012 suggest it may be backsliding once again, with profitability up for 29.6% and down for 33.3%. Pre-Tax Profitability as a Percent of Sales For NAPL Printing Business Panel during month indicated.

2012 Jan Increasing 29.6% Decreasing 33.3%

2011 Oct Jan

2010 Aug Feb

2009 Oct Mar

32.3% 30.2% 29.4% 21.5% 12.7% 6.9% 31.7% 30.7% 37.6% 48.6% 64.5% 73.7%

These and other data collected by NAPL clearly reflect an inconsistent business climate, as portrayed by Panel members with comments such as: Business is very sporadic. Nothing consistent from month to month. Still very inconsistent - expected a much stronger finish to the year. The market is up and down.

To bolster the bottom line, printers are reducing costs, and many of these efforts have centered on staffing. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that in 2011 employment for printing and related support activities fell 16,200 to 460,000a decline of 3.4%. Moreover, preliminary data for January show that more Printing Business Panel members are still reducing factory payroll hours (32.7%) than are increasing them (26.0%). Apparently, for some companies rising costs and little pricing power are offsetting much, if not all, of their cost-cutting efforts. Representative comments from companies we survey: Price competition is fierce! Still pricing pressure from buyers - competitors are lowering so we are too. Demand is returning - unused industry capacity still keeping prices low.

Although Printing Business Panel members expect pricing pressures to continue this year, they are cautiously optimistic of some easing. Specifically, only 5.7% expect prices to decline in 2012about one-quarter the number who saw prices decline in 2011while over 41.0% expect prices to rise and nearly 53.0% expect prices to remain about the same. But with costs expected to continue to creep up, companies will need more than just modest price increases to maintain and boost profitability.

Posted at 11:39 AM in Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (0) Technorati Tags: commercial printing profitability, NAPL, National Association for Printing Leadership, print association, print economics, print statistics, print trends, printing blog, Printing Business Panel, printing economics
Reblog (0) 11/10/2011

Printing: A New Industry

NAPL estimates that, at 27,285, commercial printing establishments in 2011 will have fallen 11.1% since 2007 and are down 10,388 or 27.6% from 1998. As discussed in the NAPL 2011 Printing Industry Profile: An Industry Being Redefined, the decline has been widespread across all company-size categories and geographic regions. Data in the Profile show that the industry consists largely of small establishments, with more than four-fifths (82.2%) having fewer than 20 employees and almost 70.0% of establishments fewer than 10. At the other end of the spectrum, NAPL estimates that fewer than 4.0% consists of 100 or more employees. In addition to the large share of small establishments, the commercial printing industry is relatively concentrated geographically, with the top 10 states headed by California accounting for more than half (55.4%) of printing establishments and (56.4%) of industry sales. But as the report discusses in length, the commercial printing industry is not simply changing; it is being redefined. Because of structural change, it is becoming something fundamentally different than it was, something more complex and even more competitive than it was, creating historic opportunity for the prepared and profound threats for the unprepared. Fewer printers no longer means less competition. Measures of market size and growth tell us absolutely nothing about how market share is being redistributed. And, with the commercial printing industry not growing fast enough for everyone, getting on the right side of market redistributioni.e., growing at someone elses expenseis becoming increasingly important. How do we get on the right side of market redistribution? Think like a leader, not a fallen leader. Dont ignore the lasting lessons from the Great Recession. Ask the right questions. Pick our value proposition carefully. Develop a new mindset for a new industry. As emphasized: When viewing the direction of the printing industry, concentrating on company counts, sales totals, and traditional definitions amounts to scratching the surface.
Posted at 12:19 PM in Establishments, Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (7) Technorati Tags: market redistribution, NAPL, National Association for Printing Leadership, print association,print economics, print statistics, print trends, printing blog, printing economics, Printing Industry Profile
Reblog (0)

05/16/2011

Commercial Printing Industry Continues to Heal

At the Great Recessions deepest sales were falling for over 89.0% of the NAPL Printing Business Panelby at least 10.0% for 68.8% and by at least 20.0% for 39.9%and only oneof-10 Panel members expected business to improvea confidence reading even lower than immediately after 9/11. In contrast, last quarter sales increased for 53.7% of our Panel, by at least 5.0% for 43.4% and by at least 10% for 30.9%, and 36.0% now expect business to improve during the six months ahead. None of that means alls wellor will be well anytime soon. Our gains are over deeply depressed levels and recoup only a fraction of our losses. But they are a start. And they are a reminder that its time to ask some tough questions: For companies that are growing: Is our growth likely to continue? Or is it due to special circumstances or a temporary boost so common early in recovery? Do we know? If we dont, how do we find outquickly? For companies that are not growing: Why arent we growing? Are we likely to in the next few months? Are we seeing any signs of improvement? Or are we in danger of being left behind by behind by a recovery that, as NAPL has long emphasized, will leave many behind? For everyone in our industry: How we will protect ourselves from a profit squeeze that is already tightening as our cost rise faster than our prices? For more on the commercial printing industrys performance and prospects as well as on strategies for beating a profit squeeze, please see the NAPL State of the Industry: Strategic Perspective 2011 to be published in June.

Posted at 02:17 PM in Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (10) Technorati Tags: printing industry confidence, printing industry key indicators, printing industry outlook,printing industry performance, printing industry sales
Reblog (0) 04/25/2011

Commercial Printing: Sales Growing But Not Enough to Lift Profits

Preliminary first quarter 2011 results show that growth is finally returning to our industry. But growth is nowhere near strong enough to restore profitability, not with costs rising broadly, or pricing power. Among the specifics for the NAPL Printing Business Panel: Sales increased 4.3% from January through March, with 53.3% of the Panel growing and 43.7% growing at least 5.0%. In comparison, the Panel's sales fell 3.9% during for the first quarter of 2010, with just 40.4% growing and just 29.4% growing 5.0% or more.

 Although the top line is now growing for the majority of the companies we survey, the bottom line is growing for just slightly over one third. Their list of obstacles to profitability is headed by rising healthcare costs, the limited ability to raise pricesjust one-quarter report prices are above year-earlier levelsand an improved but still very fragile economy. What about paper prices? Theyre a little further down the list only because our survey group has had more success passing along increases in materials (paper, ink, toner, etc.) than anything else. This is a sign of whats ahead. Our costs are likely to continue rising faster than our prices as recovery progresses, creating a classic profit squeeze. We beat the squeeze by both preparing clients for price increases and by maximizing productivity and minimizing costs as vigilantly during recovery as we did during recession. Well talk about how in theNAPL State of the Industry Strategic Perspective: 2011 to be published in June.

Posted at 11:47 AM in Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (2) Technorati Tags: printing industry key indicators, printing industry performance, printing industry prices,printing industry profitability, printing industry results, printing industry sales
Reblog (0) 04/06/2011

Leaders Beginning to Widen Their Lead

It happened after the 2001-2003 recession. And its happening now, as recovery from the Great Recession of 20082010 begins. NAPL Leaders are widening their lead, growing their sales 7.8% between June 2010 and December 2010. In comparison, industry sales fell 2.5% over the same period. (See the graph below.)

Who are the Leaders? They are not companies of a particular size, equipment configuration, or ownership structure. Rather they are companies that make changeno matter how disruptive an opportunity rather than a threat. They dont do it overnight. And their numbers may not be pretty while theyre doing it. But NAPL Leaders ultimately turn change to their advantage by making the tough decisions that others delay or avoid altogether. What about the widening of their lead as recovery progresses? There are many reasons for that. But no reason is more important than how Leaders prepare for recovery. Even at the recessions deepest, when others are hunkering down, cutting, and freezing, Leaders are focused on getting more productive, more competitive, and more valuable to their clients. And in the earliest stages of recovery, when others are still in a wait-and-see mindset, Leaders are moving aggressively to gain market share. Put another way, Leaders laid the foundation for their outsized gains of 20052007 in late 2003 and early 2004 when our industry was, as it is today, struggling to emerge from deep recessionjust as they are laying the foundation today for the gains theyll be making in 20122015, as recovery takes hold. What else do Leaders do? Well talk about that in the NAPL Growth Leaders Study well be publishing later this year.

Posted at 12:43 PM in Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (0) Technorati Tags: printing industry leaders, printing industry metrics, printing industry performance, printing industry results, printing industry sales, printing industry statistics
Reblog (0) 03/24/2011

Quick and Small Commercial Printers 2011: Optimism and Concern

Next week we will publish the first NAPL Quick and Small Commercial Printers Trends Report. The report will provide a quarterly update on the performance, expectations, and defining issues in that important segment of our industry. (Approximately 85.0% of our nearly 28,000 establishments have annual sales of $3 million or less and approximately 90.0% have annual sales of $5 million or less.) The report opens as follows: On the revenue side there are signs of life. On the cost side, payroll and overhead have been reduced significantly. Theres optimism, with nearly 70.0% of the quick and small commercial printers contributing to this report expecting their sales to grow in 2011. And theres concern, particularly about a shaky economy and rising costs. Among the key results for companies surveyed: Sales were up in 2010 for 55.3%, up at least 5.0% for 42.1% and at least 10.0% for 26.3%. Sharp cuts in payroll and overhead reduced total costs to 90.4% of sales in 2010 from 93.6% of sales in 2009.

 Owners compensation averaged over 9.0% of sales last year for all companies surveyed and over 20.0% of sales for the most profitable 20.0%. Productivity, as measured by sales per employee and sales per payroll hour, was the biggest difference between the top 20.0% and everyone else. Nearly 61.0% expect their sales to increase over the next six months and nearly 46.0% expect to raise prices. Biggest opportunities include digital color, variable data, personalized digital marketing/promotional programs, and online capabilities, such as e-mail marketing, online stores, and web-based solutions. Biggest threats include weak, inconsistent sales due to a weak, local economy and shrinking demand for print, and cost inflationIncreasing supply costs that clients wont absorb due to the fact that another hungry vendor will not pass costs along. The report also covers projected growth by service and how quick and small commercial printers are addressing their biggest concerns.
We'll post a copy of NAPL Quick and Small Commercial Printers Trends Report, Winter 2011 in the complimentary download section of this site shortly. Please let us know what you think by emailing us at apaparozzi@napl.org or jvincenzino@napl.org or by commenting below.
Posted at 12:04 PM in Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (4) Technorati Tags: commercial printing, printing industry key indicators, printing industry outlook 2011, printing industry results, quick printing, quick printing key indicators
Reblog (0) 03/04/2011

Commercial Printing Industry: Great Lessons from the Great Recession

Recovery from our industrys deepest recession on record has finally begun. Once that would have meant good times for allbecause once surviving recession was enough. Now we either prepare for recovery or get left behind. Learning from the Great Recession is an important way to prepare for recovery. Among the lessons NAPL State of the Industry participants have learned:
One second of lax attention and youre gone!! Recovery used to widen our margin for error. Not anymore. One second of complacencyone second of thinking that we have it all figured out and were overtaken by competition that we didnt even see coming.

Without a plan you just float along. Success doesnt happen without knowing what you want to do. When nothing much is changing, finding better ways to do what weve always done is good enough. But our industry isnt simply changingits being redefined, making it essential that we plan effectively based on, as one State of the Industry participant puts it, all favorable business intelligence that can be gained from the marketplace to the shop floor. We can do more with less. Recessions force us to do things we should have done long ago. The key is to keep doing those thingsto not let bad habits creep back inas recovery progresses. Quoting another State of the Industryparticipant: Weve learned that we cant use being busy as an excuse for not getting better.

 Add value or die. There are a lot of ways to add value in our industry, from being the most efficient, lowest cost producer in a commodity market to creating marketing programs that integrate print, variable-content digital, database management, purls, landing pages, etc. Whatever we choose, we have to quantify our contributions to the clients successHow much money have we saved them? How much have we increased ROI to a marketing campaign? How much have we increased traffic to the website?and never assume that they recognize our contributions. If you arent thinking differently, you arent in business. Put another way, theres plenty of opportunity out therejust not in the same old places or by doing the same old things.
For a complete list of lessons learned and a detailed discussion of whats ahead for the commercial printing industry, see the NAPL State of the Industry Report, Ninth Edition, January 2011. What have you learned from the Great Recession? Please let us know by commenting below.
Posted at 11:48 AM in Printing Industry | Permalink | Comments (1) Technorati Tags: printing industry business conditions, printing industry indicators, printing industry outlook,printing industry recession, printing industry recovery, printing industry trends
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NAPL Economists

NAPL's Andrew Paparozzi, Vice President/Chief Economist, and Joseph Vincenzino, Senior Economist, are well-known for their accurate and thoughtful discussions on the economy and US commercial printing industry. A foremost author and speaker on economic business trends in the printing industry, Paparozzi heads NAPL's Printing Economic Research Center. Vincenzino is intimately involved in the production and analysis of NAPL's proprietary research studies including its famed State of the Industry reports.

For more information

Joseph Vincenzino Phone: 1-800-642-6275, ext. 6303 E-mail: jvincenzino@napl.org

Economic Updates

NAPL Biz Trends Timely posts on economic and business trends from NAPL's Printing Economics Research Center.

Metrics That Determine Success

Performance Indicators Learn the 13 metric secrets that leading companies employ to stay ahead of the pack. These powerful tools are what leading companies use to monitor monthly progress and stay on track toward growth goals.

PERC Studies

State of the Industry Report, Ninth Edition The annual report that gauges how the industry is responding to the current economy. Defines why this recession is different from others and how structural change that will change the industry forever. State of the Industry: Strategic Perspective A mid-year update to the annual State of the Industry report including 10 financial steps to take to come out of the slowdown stronger than you went in. Digital Services Study NP391 The first definitive study on how printers are using digital printing and challenges faced in integrating it into their operations.

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ET dominates with 61% share in business newspaper market

ET Bureau Oct 3, 2011, 01.05am IST

Tags: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission| The Economic Times| Internal Revenue Service| ET| business newspaper market| average issue readership| air

The results on Friday of the latest survey on Indian readership confirm yet again that The Economic Times is by far and away the country's largest business daily. With Average Issue Readership ( AIR) a standard yardstick for advertisers and media planners of 785,000, it is 286,000 readers ahead of all other business dailies put together. The combined readership of Mint, Business Standardand Hindu Business Line is 499,000. ET is the seventh-largest English daily in India, rubbing shoulders with the biggest general newspapers in the country, the survey by market research agency Hansa and the Media Research Users Council shows. The council is a not-for-profit grouping of advertisers, advertising agencies and media houses.
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The benchmark of Total Readership, which measures weekly recall of mastheads, shows ET's dominance is even greater. At 18.1 lakh, its total readership is 64% more than the combined readership of all other business dailies.

The IRS survey, which covered the period from April to June 2011, also shows that ET is the choice of the new generation. ET has added 36,000 new readers in the 20-39-year age band, while growing its affluent readership base (SEC A) to 5.6 lakh. The quality of your newspaper's readership is a reflection of our commitment to the highest standards of journalism, to constant improvement and emphasis on quality. Our coverage of news combines information with explanation. Feature articles, which are analytical and insightful, have added a new dimension to our coverage of events and trends. Fairness and accuracy lie at the very heart of what we do to produce a wholesome newspaper. This is not to say that we do not make mistakes. We have stumbled in the past but have learnt from every such experience. We would be delighted if you send us your feedback on how to take ET to its next level of journalistic excellence. Please write to us at etfeedback@timesgroup.com with ideas and suggestions.
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The Business Of Business Dailies: A Marketers Perspective

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Useful?

A business daily has an important role in the life of an MBA graduate. Come placement time and the subscription of these dailies zooms ahead like a Ferrari on the racing track, on other days the poor pink colored paper lies in the corner of some shelf unopened, crisp and covered in dust. At least I can say that is the case with most of us, respect for those who respect the paper. Choosing the business daily is a matter of prestige for some, simplicity and clarity for others and unbiased reporting for many. These swinging trends have been witnessed and tracked by many in the business and after being associated with a media company for the past few months I do understand it a lot better now.

An interesting aspect of this business is that, going alone by the revenues of the sales of the main product, all publishing houses would have sunken within a few years of operation. A business daily (or any other daily for that matter) sells for a lower price than its cost. For every copy of newspaper that is circulated, the company actually makes a loss. With the advent of online mediums and their gaining popularity, the pressure to lower the price is on the rise. So, what is the revenue model of the product? The answer is simple and probably you have guessed it already. With almost 24 full sheets full of content available, which have the power to hold the attention of the premier customer for at least a few minutes, all that is required is placing another product in between the content. Well, is someone losing because of it? I believe, none. As long as the contents quality is uncompromised and the user has the choice to ignore the added advertisement, the game sounds fair. So, advertising is the name of the game for the newspaper industry, more so for the business papers as they have the elite clientage: people in the top bracket, the highest earners and the decision takers. This makes this category both exciting and challenging. Advertisements themselves are of various categories like display ads, tenders, notices, audited/unaudited financial statements (a compliance by SEBI which mandates all listed companies to share their quarterly results with shareholders by publishing results in national daily). But today, with advertisers having multiple mediums (television, print, online, radio, hoardings, events) and thousands of choices (number of channels, slots, types of newspapers), getting a fair share in a market for anyone is tricky. Even though the space is large, yet the competition is very stiff. With growing pressure to reduce product prices and rising inflation, the competition is fierce than ever. The competition has led to reduction in yields (price charged per square centimeter of newspaper space) throughout the newspaper segment. On the brighter side, focus is now to increase the volumes by roping in newer clients and proposing larger advertisement spaces. However, this tradeoff between yield and volume needs to be kept balanced to ensure not to lose readers interest. Thus newer opportunities are being sought by marketers to get in revenue and inflate the top lines. Such searches have lead to various innovative ideas like events, book launches, summits, expos and many such activities. The basic idea behind these activities is to bring in business houses to collaborate with the newspaper for mutual brand building and profits. Media acts as a facilitator to bring like minded people together under one roof to share ideas and discuss issues. Such events have been very popular lately generating huge corporate interest and also proving to be money spinners. Mint luxury summit, Times Property expo, Leadership summits a few such popular examples for the case. Surveys and awards have also been received well as they help in engaging business groups and building relations. But no business comes easy, and credibility and innovation are the pillars for this model. Give one of these key elements a miss and the whole concept would fall apart. Managing a newspaper brand today is like managing an amalgamation of various brands comprising of the main daily, the various supplements and the events. The challenge of the business is come in every day with an empty cart, make blocks out of imagination and build a castle out of nothing.

Figure 1 : The State of Mind of a Business Daily With the increasing penetration of internet in the country, the online medium is also being explored and tried to be monetized. Though these are early days for the internet model in India, it is rampant in the west and has cannibalized the main print brand to a large extent. Know Thy Product: Pick your Business Daily! The business daily segment in the newspaper business is dominated by five major players. These players nearly take up around 100% of the market share across India. The total number of registered newspaper dailies in the country is 82222 which comprises of English, Hindi and vernacular language dailies. Being noticed, read and respected in this segment is a distinction that the following business dailies hold. Here is a synopsis of the premier brands in the Business daily segment.

Business Daily

Basic Positioning

Publication/ Editions

Reader ship (All India)

Supplements and Events

Leading Business daily in Times Group, 790,000 The Economic India. Largely content is news 11 Editions oriented and opinion is Times derived from the masses point of view.

Brand Equity, Corporate Dossier, ET Travel, ZigWheels, ET Realty, ET Wealth, Investor's Guide The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence Indulge, Money Lounge, Mint

Mint

Clarity in Business. Focus on Hindustan 258,000 opinions and not just news. Times Group, Tie up with the Wall Street 9 Editions Journal, New York. Known as the CEOs Business 162,000

Luxury Summit, Clarity for Thought Conclave Investment The Smart

Business

Standard newspaper. Highly valued for Standard its editorial content and strong Limited, reporting ethics. 12 Editions

Investor Management Strategist The

New Economy - Ice World Leisure, lifestyle, Enterprise and Motoring - BS Weekend Financial FE is an expert in international Express business and financial news. Group, Express Oldest financial newspaper in 11 Editions India, has a tie up with economist of London 117,000 Advertising: Brandwagon PSU Power, FE@Campus, eFE, Investor, Commodity Watch Personal Finance and Corporate Review; FE Profile, FE Edge, FE Gadgets Advertising : BrandLine Leisure and Lifestyle : Life Online Medium : eWORLD Investor Guide : Smartbuy

Hindu Business Line

Very popular in South India, it Hindu Group, 32,000 boasts of a staff that consists 14 Editions of reporters and researchers and is the only newspaper having a research bureau.

The Future: Will newspaper Industry survive In India? Print media in the west is declining at a rapid pace owing to the dominance of online medium as a channel. However, unlike the western countries, print media in India saw a growth of about 2%. Though not huge, this growth symbolizes stability in business, which is a good sign for future. This behavior in India can be attributed to the following reasons:

Increasing levels of literacy in India Limited broadband access and lack of infrastructure facility Though there has been a dip in the readers in age group of 25-35, the 40+ age group hold the category In India, traditionally the reuse value of newspapers is high (for packing, serving food, recycling), so the average Indian does not mind paying a few cents for the newspaper

Thus, it looks like, what has been a problem for the print media for a long time in its fight for profitability will help it survive the online media invasion in India. Low price will prove to be the key tool against the internet and should help the survival of the print in the future. However, the marketers hat need to keep spinning out new ideas to keep the category interesting and engaging! This article has been authored by Pragati Sangal from MDI Gurgaon.

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