Unlike Other Newspapers, We Give Readers What They Want

 According to you, what has made Dainik Bhaskar the fastest growing media group?

The Dainik Bhaskar is successful because we take care of our readers’ demands and live up to their expectations. Besides, we publish at least 50,000 copies of the newspaper at its launch to target 2.5-3 lakh readers. Also, we always keep in touch with our readers to meet their demands.

What is the secret behind your success?

My uncle Dwarika Prasad, Ramesh’s father, used to say that before going to sleep every night, make it a point to count the number of tasks you are going to do the next morning. This way one will have a clear mind about what tasks are needed to be done and the work will be finished in time. I religiously follow this strategy.

What kind of challenges do you face while achieving your goals?

To stay ahead of our competitors, we have to put in a lot of effort. For instance, the first thing we do is to see whether anyone has covered any news which we didn’t cover, even if that newspaper is not among our competitors. Then we have a meeting with our reporters about the missing reports and then strict instructions are issued so as not to repeat such things in future. We always keep a tab on our competitors in every city and try to implement new things to be ahead of all of them.


What is the editorial policy followed by your newspaper?

We don’t have any political or corporate inclination. Dainik Bhaskar is an independent newspaper.

How has Dainik Bhaskar managed to publish so many editions?

We have unit heads for circulation and advertisements and the content is managed by our editors. And we, the Agarwals, monitor each and every function.

How has Dainik Bhaskar been able to survive in the industry when most of the Hindi newspapers have shut down?

We value our readers a lot. We keep conducting surveys to understand their needs.

Why do you cover more local news? Is it that you believe in localisation?

Almost 50 per cent of the newspaper is dedicated to local news. As most of our readers are based in small towns and rural areas, we have to carry more local news to retain their interest. They love to know what is happening in and around them rather than what is happening in other nations. We also focus on global news as we cannot afford to ignore it in this age of globalisation.

How do you manage to earn revenues with your emphasis on local news?

As I already said, readers love to read news happening around them. So, if readers are buying our newspaper to read local news, then it gives a positive impact on our revenue model.

It is a known fact that Agarwal family looks after their work personally. In this era of managers handling all the work, how do you manage to supervise all the work by yourself?

Talking about managers, we don’t hire a CEO or unit head before the launch of any edition. After a new edition is successfully launched and when it reaches a certain circulation, only then we hire unit heads. We also shuffle our unit heads every 2 to 3 years to avoid monotony of work and invite new ideas.

With the advent of TV news channels, websites and social media, do you feel threatened?

We don’t feel threatened from TV as the importance of newspaper in rural people’s lives cannot be underestimated. They can afford a Rs 2 newspaper but not television to satisfy their appetite of news. In terms of revenue, we are not affected as it is also growing. Also, no one can watch a news channel continuously for an hour but one can read newspapers for hours. The purchasing power of rural people is very low, so for at least 50 years, print media will be very much there. No villager can afford an iPad to read news on the move. But the cost of newspapers will not affect the readership.

Do you think that commercialisation is affecting your newspaper’s coverage?

In this age of commercialisation, our newspaper is not an exception. Of course, we carry a lot of advertisements. But unlike other Hindi newspapers, we have ample number of pages to accommodate news in every section.

What kind of marketing strategies do you follow?

We do rigorous research before launching our new editions. We search for Hindi readers in that place. Then we find out the weaknesses of our competitors so that we don’t repeat the same. After that we target the whole population and start conducting surveys to know their needs. We regularly conduct surveys to satisfy our readers’ news appetite.

Prior to launching a new edition in a city, what kind of surveys do you conduct?

Before launching any new edition, we conduct a door-to-door survey to know the expectations of the readers; and we never stop conducting surveys later as well. Also, the sample size is reduced for the regular survey. We have a common survey strategy for the entire group. We don’t out source our surveys, we hire surveyors on our own. We launch every edition keeping in mind the interest of the people. We first target our readers by offering them discounts on our newspapers subscription. And if they don’t like the content they can stop the subscription and the subscription money would be refunded.

On what basis do you finalise a city where you could launch your new edition?

We always find out the weaknesses of our competitors and convert them into our strengths. For instance, in Nagpur ,we found out that the leading newspaper of the city is doing very well in the state but they didn’t reach out to their customers, they only provided news to them. They didn’t go for any feedback from their readers. So we went to the readers and conducted a door-to-door survey. We asked them what they want from a newspaper and promised them to provide news that they want to know, not what we want them to know. This became our perfect strategy. We respect and take care of readers. This is also our USP.

How do you approach your clients?

We approach our clients even before our clients reach the particular city from where we are operating. We give them offers and innovations and we try to watch our costing with the client's budget.

Are you launching any new edition?

Yes, we are adding three new editions to our group. In MP, it is in Singroli and Shivni and another in Mumbai.

What is your strategy to become undisputed number one newspaper in India?

To be number one, you have to keep implementing innovative ideas.