1. Global Group of Institutions (GGI), Lucknow
A Summer Training Report
On
STUDY techniques OF SALES PROMOTION OF
THE WEEK
Submitted for partial fulfilment for award of
Master of Business Administration
Degree
SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
Mr.HEMENDRA SHARMA ASHWANI KUMAR
DEAN MBA
FACULTY OF Roll NO.1173870007
MANAGEMENT
GAUTAM BUDHH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW,
INDIA
2011-2013
0

2. Acknowledgements
This project is an outcome of the support and encouragement provided by a number of
people at Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. that embodies some of the best aspect of Indian
corporate world .I would like to express my sense of gratitude to the company for giving me this
valuable learning opportunity and for allowing me to conduct this summer project .I sincerely
thanks my project guide Mr. SANJEEV SHARMA, Sales Manager, Malayala Manorama Co.
Ltd. for guiding me through out the project and helpful in furnishing the required information.
I am very grateful to our Mr. Hemendra Sharma (DEAN FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT)
and all faculty members for their excellent guidance in the completion of my project work.
I would also like to thank my colleagues who were working with me during the internship in
Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. for their corporation & support during the entire period.
1

3. Preface
The practical training is a life of a management student. In modern world, the importance of
management is increasing day by day. Industrial training provide a student sufficient knowledge
to develop an education to connect theory and practical.
I am student of M.B.A. being a part of our syllabus. I have taken training from “Malayala
Manorama Co. Ltd.” .I am very glad to represent this project report before you as it involves
my hard work, experience as well as co-ordination of all staff members.
Such type of training is very helpful to management students as it helps in strengthening
confidence and gives experience to check the theoretical knowledge.
Ashwani Kumar
2

4. Declaration
I hereby declare that the project report entitled “Study Techniques Of Sales Promotion Of
“THE WEEK’’ submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of “Master of
Business Administration ” at GLOBAL GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS , LUCKNOW is my
original work and not submitted for the award of any other degree, fellowship or any other
similar title or prizes.
ASHWANI KUMAR
MBA 3rd SEMESTER
3

5. 4

6. 5

7. TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
S. NO. PARTICULARS
NO.
1. Introduction 6-9
2. Company Profile 10 – 15
3. Product Profile 16 - 21
5. Subscription details of the week magazine 22 - 24
6. The Week Magazine 25 - 33
7. SWOT Analysis 34 - 37
8. List of book stalls participating in display scheme 38 - 39
9. Research Methodology 40 - 43
10. Data analysis 44 – 70
11. Conclusion 71 – 72
12. Recommendations 73 – 74
13. Annexure 75 – 77
14. Bibliography 78 - 79
6

8. INTRODUCTION
Brief description about the project
The project has been made by conducting a survey of about 400 people. A questionnaire had
been designed for the purpose and individuals were asked to fill the same. After this each
question has been discussed with its implication or relevance to the topic. The answers to each
question have been analyzed and then the respective findings have been discussed. Thereafter I
have provided my recommendations on the analysis and the findings and have tried to suggest
some of mine viewpoints so as to promote the sales of the magazine and also to expand the
market share.
While working with the project it was found that:
Majority of the people have a know-how of “The Week” magazine but still a large
percentage of the people are still unaware of the existence of this magazine as well as
it‟s belongingness to Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd.
Promotion programs through subscriptions have come out as the best way to expand
the sales of The Week magazine whereas retail sales is also more or less desired the
same way for expansion of the sales whereas institutional sales is not considered as
the best method.
Today is the world of internet and technology, which is renewing itself day by day, hour by hour
and second by second and in such a kind of atmosphere it becomes quite a bit difficult for print
media to establish itself in the market especially when every second adds a news and this news
at the same time appears on the various news channels and the web pages of different sites. Thus,
in such a competitive and modernized world wherein, one side, we have the ages-old print media
7

9. where you have to wait at least for some hours to know the news and, the other side we have the
internet and the various e-sites to enrich every bit of second with an updated news, it is a work of
great reward for Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. to be the No. 1 publication house and that
too, with growing popularity and growing number of readers for it‟s various products, be it
Manorama Yearbook, The Week Magazine , Vanita Magazine, The Man Magazine, various
newspapers or Magic Pot and also for keeping the interest of the people alive in print media still
today.
“The Week” magazine is a weekly product of Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. and it is a
GIEM-
 G- General
 I- Interest
 E- English
 M- Magazine
The Week magazine has strongly rooted itself in the South Indian market but it still has to
strengthen it‟s position in the North India wherein it‟s two strongest competitors „India Today‟
and „Outlook‟ are still dominating. Thus a survey of 400 people has been conducted with an
objective of knowing how this magazine can be promoted and what are the best ways to deliver
it ,so as to maximize the number of readers. The survey was conducted by taking 400 people as
the sample size belonging to different age groups and having different incomes and occupation.
The summary of the study can e described through these points:
 Promotion of the week magazine has been carried out since past so many
times but still a major part of the population is unaware of this magazine and
most the people who are aware of it read other magazines such as India Today
and Outlook.
8

10.  According to the study, the contents of The Week magazine have still to have
their own uniqueness and also has to prove it‟s degree of catering good
information.
VISION
'The most successful and admired magazine company, which means that we are the most
trusted company, the easiest to deal with, offer the best value for money, and set the
standards in the industry'.
9

11. OBJECTIVE
 Determining the factors that allure a reader to subscribes to a business magazine.
 Awareness about The Week among reader in Lucknow.
 Weekly journals having highest and 2nd highest reader ship in Lucknow.
VALUE
Values that we observe while we work:
Integrity Innovation Customer centric People Care One for all and all for ones Teamwork
Joy and Simplicity
The best way for the promotion of the magazine, as it comes out through the study, is through the
subscriptions.
People prefer to have subscriptions for the short term period rather than for long term duration.
10

12. 11

13. Company Overview: Malayala Manorama and Company
Date of Establishment 1888
Revenue Not Available
Market Cap Not Available
Corporate Address K K Road, Kottayam, Kerala - 686001, India
Branches Not Available
Management Team George Jacob – Director
Owner Malayala Manorama Group
Headquarters Kottayam
Website manoramaoline.com
Overview A wholly owned family enterprise, Malayalam
Manorama is an ISO 9001 company. It is India's largest
circulated regional newspaper. It has nine units in Kerala
and three units outside Kerala. It is the first newspaper for
which offices are connected on a high speed Wide Area
Network using the fibre optic cable network of the DOT.
12

14. The product offering of Malayala Manorama &
Company includes The Week, Bashaposhini,
Karshakashree, Manorama Weekly, Manorama Annual,
Vijayaveedhi , Vanitha, Vanitha Hindi, Kalikkudukka,
Magic Pot, Balarama, Balarama Digest, Amar Chitra
Katha, Thozhilveedhi, Knowledge Adventure CDROM,
Hindi Year Book, English Year Book, Tamil Year Book,
Malayalam Year Book, Bengali Year Book and Malayala
Manorama Newspaper. The company
publishes in five different languages.
Malayalam Manorama (Malayalam: ) is a popular Malayalam daily with a
very strong readership in Kerala, India. The Manorama group, which manages the newspaper,
also runs the Manorama Yearbook, largest circulated yearbook in the region. Malayalam
Manorama, which first appeared on 14 March 1890, as a weekly, currently has a readership of
over 16 million, with a circulation base of over 18[lakh]] copies. Malayalam Manorama is very
popular among Christians and the supporters of the Indian National Congress party in Kerala.
Manorama is acclaimed of its highly attractive page layouts. The Malayalam word "manorama"
roughly translates to "entertainer". The Week (India), an Indian weekly is also brought out by the
Manorama Group. Manorama Yearbook is yet another popular yearly publication by the
Kottayam-based Manorama group.
13

15. History Of MALAYALA MANORAMA COMPANY LIMITED
A joint stock publishing company, destined to acquire the status of the first joint stock publishing
company of Republic of India, was incorporated by in 1888 by Kandathil Varghese Mappillai at,
then a small town in the Kingdom of currently, a part of Kerala state, India. The first issue of
Malayalam Manorama was published on 22 March 1890 from the press owned by
Malankara Metropoltan H.G. Joseph Mar Dionysius of the Orthodox Church. The name
Malayalam Manorama was chosen by the poet, Raghavan Nambiar, Villuvarvattathu from
Tiruvalla. Kerala Varma granted the symbol which is a part of the Travancore kingdom symbol.
In a period of two years, from the date of incorporation until the publication commenced, the
company witnessed several challenges. It also publishes an information oriented monthly called
Tell Me Why.
Editions
Kottayam
Thiruvananthapuram
Kozhikode
Kochi
Thrissur
Kannur
Kollam
Palakkad
Malappuram
Pathanamthitta
Bangalore
Mangalore
Chennai
14

16. Mumbai
Delhi
Dubai
Bahrain
The newspaper is criticised for its number of advertisement space. The newspaper is known for
giving more importance to advertisements and less importance to news.The manorama group are
also open promoters of capitalist policies and shows strong opposition to socialism.
Timeline
1888 Malayalam Manorama founded
1890 First issue of Malayalam Manorama was published on 14 March
1892 Publication of Bhashaposhini commenced
1901 Malayalam Manorama becomes bi-weekly
1904 Kandathil Varghese Mappillai, the key figure passes away on 6 July
1915 Malayalam Manorama commences publication of daily World War I supplements
1918 Malayalam Manorama becomes triweekly on 2 July
1928 Malayalam Manorama becomes a daily from 2 July
1929 On 29 May, Akhila Kerala Balajana Sakhyam formed
1930 Malayalam Manorama‟s first Annual Number appears
1937 Commencement of Malayalam Manorama Weekly from 8 August
1938 Travancore state proscribes Malayalam Manorama on 10 September
o An issue appears on 14 September from the state of Cochin- from the
Kunnamkulam press of the Orthodox church.
1939 K. C. Mammen Mappillai was convicted and imprisoned on trumpeted charges of
15

17. corruption and fraud
1941 Mammen Mappilla released after being absolved of all false cases
1947 From 29 November, Malayala Manorama re-commences regular publication
1950 Installation of the first rotary press
2007 Becomes the only regional language daily in India to cross 15 lakh copies.
Journalists
Prominent journalists who have worked with the Manorama daily or other Manorama
publications include Vaikkom Chandrasekharan Nair, E. V. Krishna Pillai, E.V. Sreedharan, T.
V. R. Shenoy, K. Gopalakrishnan, Babu Chengannoor, K. R. Chummar, Moorkoth Kunjappa, K.
M.Tharakan, T. K. G. Nair, K. G Nedungadi, VKB (V. K. Bhargavan Nair) Others include
Thomas Jacob and Joy Sasthampadickal who are currently working.
16

18. PRODUCT PROFILE
The Week is the country's most respected business daily, being the first choice of serious
business readers. The magazine believes in free, fair and independent journalism and strives to
inculcate these values in its editorial staff. The journalism practiced by The Week lays equal
stress on quality, credibility and accuracy.
1. First page consist of the headlines, news of the last day. On the top of the page, there is a
line, which indicates the volume number, publishing centers from where this magazine is
being printed.
2. Below that line there is the header “The Week” in association with Financial Times of
London.
3. On left side of the whole page there are certain columns like In Brief, Market watch and
opinion poll.
4. On the bottom right corner of the page there is a sole add generally.
5. Second and third pages consist of the news related to the Economy.
6. There is a separate page for International news and State news.
7. Tenth and Eleventh page generally consist of Issues & Insights and Opinion respectively.
Next is the back page.
8. After back page, a different section called Money and Markets comes which contains all
the news related to currency, daily stock market fluctuation and also about the
commodity market. This section is completely made for money and markets only, to give
the detailed news of each and every factor.
17

19. MAJOR PRODUCTS OF MALAYALA MANORAMA
MALAYALA MANORAMA DAILY
Largest circulated and read regional language newspaper daily in India.
Circulation: 1.54 million(ABC Jan-Jun 2010)
Readership: 8.837 million (IRS 2010 Round 1)
Cover price: Rs.3.50 (Sunday: Rs 4.00)
Periodicity: daily
Language: Malayalam
MALAYALA MANORAMA WEEKLY
Largest circulated weekly newspaper in India.
Circulation: 6.17 lakhs (ABC Jan-Jun 2010 )
Readership:22.94 lakhs (IRS 2010 Round 1)
Cover price: Rs. 4.00
Periodicity: weekly
Language: Malayalam
18

20. VANITHA : MALAYALAM
Largest read and circulated Women‟s magazine in India.
Circulation: 4.79 lakhs(ABC Jan-Jun 2010)
Readership: 30.67 lakhs(IRS 2010 Round 1)
Cover Price: Rs. 14
Periodicity: fortnightly
Language: Malayalam
BALRAMA:
Largest read and circulated children‟s weekly in India.
Circulation: 2.74 lakhs(ABC Jan-Jun 2010)
Readership: 21.24 lakhs (IRS 2010 Round 1)
Cover price : Rs. 8
Periodicity: weekly
Language: Malayalam
VANITHA – HINDI One of the major women‟s magazine in India.
Circulation:1.74 lakhs(ABC July- Dec 2010)
Readership:7.90 lakhs (IRS 2010 Round 2)
Cover price: Rs. 20
Periodicity: monthly
19

21. Magic Pot
Largest selling magazine for nursery school children in India.
Circulation: Not available(ABC Jan-June 2010)
Readership: 0.92 lakhs (IRS 2010 Round 1)
Cover price: Rs. 12
Periodicity: Fortnightly
Language: English
MANORAMA YEAR BOOK: English
Largest circulated yearbook in India.
Circulation: 2.44 lakhs (ABC Jan- Dec 2009)
Readership: Not available in IRS/NRS
Cover price: Rs. 130/-
Periodicity: annual
Language: English
20

22. AMONGST OTHER PRODUCTS ARE THE
THE WEEK MAGAZINE
THE MAN
21

23. TELL ME WHY
AND MANY MORE
22

24. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS OFTHE WEEK MAGAZINE
Subscriptions for The Week magazine can be:
Short term subscription.
Long term subscriptions.
Short term subscriptions are for a period of 6 months whereas long term subscriptions are for 1
year, 3years or 5years. Attractive gifts are given to the subscribers with these subscriptions.
Subscriptions are the best way for the promotion of The Week magazine and these are helping a
lot to build up the position of the magazine. The summer trainees were to do the promotion
through the 6 monthly subscription plans.
The various subscription plans are describe:
5 YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION
Total issues of The Week magazine offered in 5 years (52*5) : 260
New stand price of 260 issues (260*52) : Rs. 5200
Discount on 5 year subscription (50% of 5200) : Rs. 2600
Thus, subscription cost of 5 year subscriptions (5200-2600 : Rs. 2600
Gift: GE Cordless Phone/leather bag pack, Mrp : Rs. 1395/1595
Balance amount : Rs.1205/1005
Cost per copy (1005/260)
23

25. Copies to be delivered through courier : Rs.3.86
3YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION
Total issues of The Week in 3 years (52*3) : 156
New stand price of 156 issues (156*20) : Rs. 3120
Discount on 3 year subscriptions (45% of 3120) : Rs. 1421
Subscription cost of 3 year subscription : Rs. 1699
Gift: Beetle Caller ID Phone or
3 year subscription TMY/ : Rs.995/720 1year TM
Balance amount : Rs.704
Cost per copy Copies will be sent by courier : Rs.4.51
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION
Total issues of The Week in 1 year : 52
Newstand price of 52 issues : Rs. 1040
Discount on 1 year subscription : Rs. 441
Cost of 1 year subscription : Rs. 599
Gift: TraveBag : Rs. 240
OR 1 year TMW// Leather Wallet : Rs. 240
Balance amount : Rs. 399
Cost per copy
Copies will be sent by courier : Rs. 7.67
24

26. 6 MONTHS SUBSCRIPTION
Total no. of issues in 6 months : 26
Newstand price of 26 subscriptions : Rs.520
Discount on 6 months subscription : Rs. 190
Cost of 6 months subscription : Rs. 330
Gifts: I Manorama Yearbook and 1 Britannica
Encyclopedia CD Cost per copy almost free
Copies will be sent by courier : Rs. 330
25

27. “THE WEEK” MAGAZINE
„The Week‟ is India‟s fastest growing G.I.E.M i.e. General Interest English Magazine. It‟s
periodicity is one week. It has about 3.5 lakh readers and is under continuous growth in the
number of readers. Cover price of this magazine is Rs. 20. The Week is fastest growing news
magazine having a circulation both nationally and internationally. It is written and designed to be
fast, clear and concise and easy to follow magazine for every educated home and concerned
citizens. It is packed with latest news and views from every corner of India plus highlights from
whole world.
THE WEEK CONTENTS
The Week magazine has a wide variety of contents which cover great range of articles from all
the fields may be it is the:
cover story,
aperitif,
letters,
current events,
special reports,
states can,
development ,
society,
26

28. art and style,
cinema,
forecast,
global village, etc
the sexes
time out
biz buzz
last word
COVER STORY
Column of cover story covers the most talked about topic of the week or any such topic which is
very sensitive and needs to be given special attention, maybe it is related to politics, society,
business or art or style. This column covers a long description of the topic chosen and also
interviews regarding the topic from eminent personalities of the concerned fields and also some
other related information.
APERITIF
This is the column where small articles covering news from all over the country and which are
worth mentioning are published. These articles are very small and are of just two or three
sentences long. These articles give a brief idea of the various happenings which went by
throughout the past week. This column also contains a sub-column called Power Point where
Sachidananda Murthi,Resident Editor, Delhi, puts his words into ink on any specific issue. There
is also a column of milestones which covers milestones set by the various personalities in
27

29. different fields. Aperitif also covers one more sub-column point blank which covers the quotes
as said by eminent personalities of the world and which has been found worth mentioning.
LETTERS
Column of „Letters‟ contains letters from the readers of The Week magazine regarding various
queries related to any field.
CURRENT EVENTS
As the name suggests this column gives the information regarding the most recent events that
took place throughout the world. Thus, this magazine acts as a very good informative diary for
all the people who love to be updated with the newest information.
ART AND STYLE
This column is a very beautiful and very colorful column and depicts the imaginative power of
the human kind and shows beautiful works of art and style by various artists, who may be
fashion designers, interior designers, painters, various other technological designers. India is a
place where art is worshipped and columns like this provides the worshippers with a sense of
contentment when they get to see such beautiful imaginations personified on paper. Thus,
overall, this is a very good column to make people be a fan of this magazine.
STATESCAN
28

30. States can contains an article on any specific news of particularly one state from all over India.
The news may be of any kind whether it is political unrest in U.P. or attacks on non-
maharashtrians in Maharashtra.
SPECIAL REPORT
Special report focuses mainly on drawing society‟s , administrators‟, officials‟ and everybody
else‟ attention on a most sensitive issue which has to be taken utmost care of and which needs
immediate actions to be taken to be brought onto the path required.
CINEMA
Cinema is the column which desires to fulfill the wants of Bollywood and Hollywood lovers and
provides them with spicy news from all the corners of the world related to the cinema world.
SOCIETY
This column of The Week magazine brings to the front the various issues related to the society
and thus develops people‟s concern regarding that issue and hence makes the society a bit aware
of any injustice being done to anyone, any environmental damage, any flaw going on in any
system, any wrong being done to society, the various social evils or any other thing.
FORECAST
Forecast as the name suggests gives the horoscope of people belonging to different zodiac signs.
The predictions are made by Mr. K.K. Vamanan Nampoorthiri.
29

31. THE SEXES
It is the column wherein the famous writer, Shobhaa De speaks about any issue putting her own
views and her own thoughts into words.
TIME OUT
This column gives the news about the various events or shows or other things like seasonal wears
etc. which have soon begun or are about to begin and thus forces people to go for these things as
soon as possible and that is how the name goes like.
BIZ BUZZ
The column of Biz Buzz gives the news of the corporate sector and talks about the various
changes going on in the bigger companies throughout the world, their CEOs, their General
Managers and the growing competition and the job opportunities created, if any.
LAST WORD
Last Word is the column wherein people like Amjad Ali Khan, Mahesh Dattani and Jon Stock
put their views regarding some issue, from India and the whole world, at the last page of The
Week magazine. This is the article that ends up the weekly news magazine.
THE WEEK
THE WEEK was launched in 1982. It is one of the products among the 27 products of the
MANORAMA GROUP. It itself is the Brand Extension so has no other Brand Extension.
The sales have now touched the figure of 10.98 lakhs in today‟s date. The sales figures are as
30

32. follows.
YEAR AVERAGE WEEKLY FIGURES (LAKHS)
2010 7.55 Lakhs
2011 8.72 Lakhs
2012 10.92 Lakhs
Current 2012 1.98 Lakhs
Expected at the end of 2012 Above 2
There was a fall in sales in 2012. This fall was due to the iLucknowease in information boom i.e.
there are approximately 25 news channels across the nation, which provide the same news, and
within a few minutes.
For e.g. when there were bomb blasts all the news channels provided the same news with video
clippings in no time. And so there was no point in printing the same report after a week.
People started losing interest in reading, as the same news didn‟t seem interesting to them
afterwards. Even the economy wasn‟t proper and people were busy and tensed with their
tensions and hence the sales started declining. To overcome this loss the prices of the other
magazines were Lucknow eased from rs.30 to rs.35.
The logic behind Lucknowe asing the price even when the sales were declining was that less
copies sold at a higher price helped them to cope up with the losses. But THE WEEK preferred
to stay at same price.
They felt that keeping price low will benefit their magazine and they were right to a certain
extent. And so the scene is changed. Seeing the current situation the sales are expected to rise
above 2 lakhs in the end of this year.
31

33. Distribution: -
THE WEEK has its distributors all over India. According THE WEEK the subscriptions are
more profitable to them as the user is locked for a particular period and is habituated to reading
the magazine and likes to continue it further. Out of every 100,99 people subscribe THE WEEK.
Their assured subscriptions are 80,000. They offer 26% discount to the newsstand sellers and
don‟t give them any return protection whereas they take all the unsold copies. They decide the
number of copies to be published depending on statistics of Audit Bureau Circulation, market
condition, contents of issue, cover page etc. their present figure is 1,80,000.
Advertisements Expenditure:
The profit margin of the company is 15% per year. According to them there should be at least
17-20 pages of advertisements for a magazine to run on no profit no loss basis. The ratio kept by
THE WEEK is 30:70.i.e. 30%advertisements and 70% news.
While taking the advertisements, preference is given to advertisements regarding services like
banks, financial institutions, educational institutions, insurance companies etc.
They do not take liquor and friendship advertisements. They take advertisements of 2
competitive companies e.g. NOKIA & SAMSUNG for the same issue as it doesn‟t matter for
them.
Promotions:
THE WEEK gives advertisements in magazines like Times of India, Hindustan Times. They also
advertise on CNN, CNBC, and NDTV in form of barter. I.e. the channels show their
advertisements and THE WEEK prints their advertisements.
Hoardings, posters and banners of the upcoming issue are always put at various places in the
country. This helps in capturing new readers as the subject covered in the issue is displayed
32

34. beforehand.
They also provide sponsorships fro the college events, as THE WEEK is popular in students
committee. They have sponsored events of IIT Mumbai, NM, Wilson College etc. They do this
in cash or kind or both.
Customer delight services value Propositions)
They provide free gifts with their subscriptions like Leather Wallet with one-year subscription,
Timex Watch with 3 years subscription and digital diary with 5-year subscription.
They also constantly give offers like Scratch and Win, King of Offers, Sporting Offers, Khel Re
and so on
Features
First Punch: - Here political news is conveyed by funny pictures.
Quotable Week: - Statements of some famous personalities are quoted.
Letters: - Letters written by the people regarding the previous issues, their opinions are
expressed
Controversy: - Highlights up the controversy going on
Development: - Development made in some states i.e. taking people out of their problems.
State Scan: - It includes main scan in the state.
Cover Story: - This has the detail story of a current topic or situation.
33

35. Writers world: - Information about new books etc. is given
Global Village: - Global News is published. The news published is very rare.
Forecast: - The forecast is given by a very famous person i.e. K.K.VAMANAN
NAMPOOTHIRI. It is one of the main features, which is provided only by THE WEEK among
the GIEM (General interest English magazines).
The introduction of this had also lead to a tremendous I Lucknow ease in the sales. A person
generally goes straight to this page and then the rest of news.
We were told that Mr. Damodaran of UTI when once met Mr.Pinakki Chattopadhya marketing
manager of THE WEEK told him that he and his wife read first the forecast and they had done a
good job by introducing this feature.
Mr. Pinakki Chattopadhya immediately gave him the offer that „why don‟t you advertise your
UTI on just next page „And the same moment the deal was done.
The page was sold for 40 lakh for a year. So we always see the UTI advertisement just opposite
the forecast page.
Markets
Their main markets include metro politant cities in which first is Delhi then Mumbai, Chennai,
followed by the rest. In other words North then West then South and East in the end. This
magazine is also available all over India.
Cover Page
They keep their cover page same throughout the nation. They had changed it only once in case of
Jay Lalitha as the news was more effective in south and not in rest of India. They had the
Kashmir‟s cover in rest of India
34

36. Selection of News
If there is only one news, which can be printed, and there are two news one political and other
general, then meeting is held as to which is to be selected i.e. which is more effective to the
people. But mostly it is the general news as THE WEEK is a General interest English magazine
35

37. SWOT ANALYSIS
S W
Company Reputation High price
Quality of analysis Less no. of pages
Honest and in-depth reporting Less add on supplements
Distribution effectiveness
36

38. O T
Foreign tie-up with Financial times Market downfall
London Competitors may further lower the price
The overall evaluation of the company’s
S--strength, W-- weaknesses,
O-- Opportunities, and T--threads.
Strength:
The company publishes The Week magazine, which has a daily readership of
approximately 120,000 and daily circulation of 217,764 (IRS 2007).
In its endeavor to provide its readers with greater value, it has revamped its existing
supplements and added new ones to its portfolio, offering a daily supplement catering to
specific target audiences.
The Week is read by the decision & policy makers.
37

39. The Week stands for reporting that stresses accuracy and credibility, comment that is
informed, independent and fair, and journalism that is rooted in ethical conduct and
defined by a sacrosanct bond with the reader.
The Week has a 200-person editorial team that is led by Sanjaya Baru, and includes well-
known journalists like AK Bhattacharya, Sunil Jain and Shyamal Majumdar.
The Week’s stable of specialist contributors includes some of the sharpest minds writing
on economics and business. Among them: Bimal Jalan, former governor of the Reserve
Bank of India; Shankar Acharya, former chief economic advisor, Government of India;
Deepak Lal, professor of economics, UCLA; Suman Bery, director-general, National
Council of Applied Economic Research; Abheek Barua, chief economist of HDFC Bank;
Nitin Desai, former chief economic advisor and former under-secretary general at the
United Nations; Surjit Bhalla, chairman of Oxus; Arvind Subramanian, professor at the
Peterson Institute of International Economics; M. Govinda Rao, director of National
Institute of Public Finance and Policy; AV Rajwade, well-known foreign exchange
consultant; and Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak
It has a market presence for past 35 yrs.
The Week publishes a variety of periodicals in the automotive, lifestyle and business
categories. Titles include Indian and Asian Economy, BS Motoring and Indian
Management. BS Motoring has total circulation of 80,000 copies per month (2007). The
majority of periodicals are published on a monthly basis.
Weakness:
Lack of product awareness and brand equity.
38

40. Single product as a business magazine in magazine section.
Absence of proper advertisement and promotion.
Not proper facility to deliver the newly subscribed copies instantly.
Opportunity:
Magazines only reach 35% of the adult population, of which 65% is literate; there is
significant room for growth.
The sheer number of publications has created fierce competition which has kept prices
low which in turn has caused publishers to depend more on advertising revenues.
Threats:
ET the top most players in Business magazines comes with lower subscription rates and also has
combo offer with TOI.
Other combo offers as Business Line with The Hindu and HT Mint with HT.
LIST OF BOOK STALLS PARTICIPATING IN DISPLAY SCHEME
S.NO. NAME OF BOOK STALL NAME PLACE
1. MORDERN BOOK STALL VINOD ARORA JANPATH
2. VISHAL PATRIKA VISHAL NEAR UMRAO CINEMA
3. SUBHASH PUSTAK BHANDAR SONI OPP. CHARBAGH
4. PANDIT PUSTAK BHANDHAR DIXIT CHOWK
5. S K PUSTAK BHANDHAR VIJAY CHOWK
6. AMIT PUSTAK BHANDAR AMIT DALIGANJ
7. MANNU BOOK STALL MANNU HAZRATGANJ
39

41. 8. TANDON BOOK STALL RAMESH TONDON HAZRATGANJ
9. BHOLA BOOK STALL SRI RAM HAZRATGANJ
10. PARAG BOOK STALL DIGVIJAY HAZRATGANJ
11. KALA KUNJ BOOK STALL ARORA JI HAZRATGANJ
12. MODERN MAGZINE SHOP ADITYA KOTHARI KAPURTHALA
13. VIBHOR & RAINA BOOK STALL KHURRAM NAGAR
14. VIRENDRA VERMA VIRENDRA TEDHI PULIA
15. UMESH BOOK STALL UMESH RAIDAS MANDIR I.T
BRIDGE
16. URMILA BOOK CENTER RAJESH SINGH JANKIPURAM
17. CITY BOOK SHOP MUJAHID HUSAIN SEC-Q ALIGANJ
18. MAMA MAGZINE CENTER MAMA SHRI PLAZA VIKAS NAGAR
19. SAROJ MAGZINE CENTER SAROJ VIKAS NAGAR
20. BHANJA BANDHU BOOK CENTER CHANBHUSAN VIKAS NAGAR
21. RAJU MAGZINE CENTER RAJU KAPURTHALA
22. BANSAL BOOK HOUSE SUNNY BHOOTHNATH MARKET
23. GARIMA BOOK STALL GARIMA BHOOTHNATH MARKET
24. MISHRA BOOK STALL RAJU MISHRA MUNSHIPULIA
25. VIBHOR BOOK DEPO MUNSHIPULIA
26. GOPAL SHARMA BOOK STALL ANUJ SHARMA VIVEK KHAND, GOMTI
NAGAR
27. MODERN MAGZINE POINT RAJ KUMAR VIVEK KAHND, GOMTI
NAGAR
40

42. 28. TIWARI BOOK STALL OM PRAKESH HUSADIYA CHAURAHA,
GOMTI NAGAR
29. YASH COMPETITION CENTER RAJENDRA PATRAKARPURAM, GOMTI
NAGAR
30. MISHRA BOOK CENTER SUDAMA MISHRA PATRAKARPURAM, GOMTI
NAGAR
31. SHYAM MAGZINE CENTER CHANDRESH CHARBAGH
32. VERMA BOOK STALL RAHUL I T CHAURAHA
33. SHYAM MAGZINE CENTER AMIT PURANYA CHAURAHA
34. TIWARI COMPETITION & BOOK ANIL NAHRIA CHAURAHA
CENTER
35. HARI OM STATIONERS & NITIN NAHRIA CHAURAHA
MAGZINE CENTER
36. PREM BOOK STALL VIKAS ALAMBAGH
37. ASHIRWAD BOOK STALL ARUN AMINABAD
41

43. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
TITLE:
To determine customer-buying behavior with a focus on market segmentation for Malayala
Manorama Co. Ltd.
TITLE JUSTIFICATION:
42

44. The above title is self explanatory. The study deals mainly with studying the buying pattern in
the insurance industry with a special focus on THE WEEK MAGAZINE. The various segments
of the markets divided in terms of magazine Needs, Age groups , Satisfaction levels etc will also
studied.
SIGNIFICANCE TO THE INDUSTRY:
This is a limited study which takes into consideration the responses of 100 people. This data can
be explorated to take in the trends across the industry. The significance for the industry lies in
studying these trends that emerge from the study. It is a rapidly changing and evolving sector.
People are only beginning to wake up to its vast possibilities. A study like this can attempt to
guide the future of the industry based on current trends.
SIGNIFICANE FOR THE RESEARCHER :
To facilitate and provide all the useful information of the company, the magazine industry and
also provide marketing ways, methods of THE WEEK MAGAZINE.
SAMPLING METHODOLOGY
SamplingTechnique:
Initially, a rough draft was prepared keeping in mind the objective of the research. A pilot study
was done in order to know the accuracy of the Questionnaire. The final Questionnaire was
arrived only after certain important changes were done. Thus the sampling came out to be
judgemental and convenient.
43

45. Sampling Unit:
The respondants who were asked to fill out questionnaires are the sampling units. These
comprise of employees of MNCs, Govt. Employees, and Self Employed etc.
Sample size:
The sample size was restricted to only 100, which comprised of mainly peoples from different
regions of Lucknow due to time constraints.
Sampling Area :
The area of the research was Lucknow .
LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH
1. The research is confined to a certain parts of LUCKNOW and does not necessarily shows
a pattern applicable to all of Country .A small number of 100 also does not show the pattern
of the whole city.
2. Some respondents were reluctant to divulge personal information which can affect the
validity of all responses.
44

46. 3. In a rapidly changing industry, analysis on one day or in one segment can change very
quickly. The environmental changes are vital to be considered in order to assimilate the
findings.
4. The training period was very less.
1) PRIMARY METHOD:
Survey is done through QUESTIONNAIRE taking 4OO people as a sample size of every age
group with different qualifications and professions and of several salary packages of both „The
Week‟ readers and non-readers of „The Week‟ in mixed form in consideration.
2) SECONDARY METHOD:
Interview method is also adopted. This is done while interviewing various readers of „The Week‟
and other magazines. This stage occurs only after preparing QUESTIONNAIRE, i.e. after
preparing questionnaire I asked, 400 customers of both non- WEEK readers and WEEK readers
about The WEEK magazine, various questions mentioned in the questionnaire in order to
accomplish my survey work.
45

47. Q.1
AGE? QUALIFICATION ? PROFESSION? MONTHLY INCOME?
15-25 UNDER GRADUATE STUDENT <25000
25-40 GRADUATE BUSINESS <50000
40-50 POST GRADUATE SALARIED <75000
50-60 OTHERS OTHERS >75000
46

48. NOTE: The following pie charts show the percentage of people surveyed of different age
group, qualification, profession and income group.
AGE
2%
10%
15-25
30%
58%
25-40
40-50
50-60
QUALIFICATION
0%
16% 14%
Under Graduate
Graduate
Post Graduate
70% Others
47

49. PROFESSION
Student Business Salaried Others
5%
20%
45%
30%
NOTE: In the Chart, Others include Doctors, practicing Chartered Accountants,
and Agents etc.
INCOME GROUP
4% 3%
10%
35%
0
<25000
<50000
<75000
48%
>75000
NOTE: In the chart, 0 income group include the students surveyed who do not earn.
48

50. SAMPLE SIZE: The survey was conducted with the help of questionnaire taking 400 people
as a sample size of every age group with different qualification and profession and of several
salary package like 48% people surveyed are earning less than or equal to Rs.25000, 10% are
earning less than or equal to Rs.50000, 4% of them are earning less than or equal to Rs.75000,
3% of them are earning greater than or equal to Rs.75000 while 35% of them have no earnings as
they are students. The people surveyed are of different qualification like 16% of people surveyed
are post graduate, 70% are simply graduates among whom there are 58% of the people
interviewed aged less than or equal to 25, 30% of the people aged less than or equal to 40, 10%
of them are less than or equal to 50 and 2% of people are up to an age of 60 years. The
survey includes the people of different profession too like 20% of the people
surveyed are salaried people, 30% of them are in business, 45% are students while
5% of them includes Doctors, C.As etc.
Q.2 Do you know about “Weekly News Magazines”?
(i)AWARE (ii) UNAWARE
Implication of the question
The purpose of this question to the people is to know about the awareness of the weekly news
magazines among the public. This question helps to judge as to how many people are still
unaware of the weekly news magazines.
49

51. Awareness of weekly magazines
11%
aware
unaware
89%
SAMPLE SIZE:
According to the survey of “THE WEEK” magazine, which is done with the help of 400 people
as a sample size of every age group with different qualification, profession and of several salary
packages, it is found that-
(i) 89% of people interviewed said that YES they know about the weekly news
magazines.
(ii) 11% of the people interviewed said that NO they don‟t know about weekly
magazines.
50

52. Findings
Thus, as per the survey results we found that majority of the people are having a basic idea of
weekly news magazines. Also through the survey it was found that most of the salaried class
people and students are aware of weekly news magazines either they are published in HINDI
language or in ENGLISH language.
Recommendations
After analyzing the answers of the interviews I would like to recommend “Malayala Manorama
Co. Ltd.” to make the remaining 11% of the population which includes businessmen as well,
aware of the weekly magazines, especially “THE WEEK” magazine and thus to expand its sales.
Q.3 Do you read weekly news magazines?
If YES, then which one of these?
A. THE WEEK
B. INDIA TODAY
C. OUTLOOK
D. OPEN
E. Others
Implication of the question
51

53. The purpose of this question is to know the percentage of the people who read different weekly
news magazines like The Week, India Today, Outlook, Open or others and which magazine is
been read most by the readers.
Reading habits of people surveyed
2%
3%
17% India Today
Outlook
The Week
55% Open
23% Others
SAMPLE SIZE:
Whole surveying on the 400 people of different age groups and qualifications, who have
different professions and income, it was found that
(i) 74% of the people interviewed read weekly news magazines.
(ii) 26% of the people surveyed do not read any weekly news magazine.
The percentage of the people who are customers of the different news magazines is likewise-
i. INDIA TODAY- 55%
ii. OUTLOOK - 23%
iii. THE WEEK - 17%
52

54. iv. OPEN - 3%
v. Others - 2%
Findings
Thus analysis of the answers given by the people surveyed, it was found that majority of the
people are reading weekly news magazines. Also, the second part of the question shows that
majority of the people read India Today; thereafter they read Outlook and then “The Week”
magazine. Thus “The Week” magazine is lagging behind the two magazines and has to compete
with these two major selling magazines.
Recommendations
Thus, through the study it can be recommended that the Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. should
concentrate on expanding its share in the weekly news magazines market and try to give the best
product to the customers through the best features, it should also go for an extensive
promotion program so as to acquire a larger market share.
Q.4 Do you know about “The Week” magazine?
(i)YES (ii) NO
Implication of the question
This question has been included in the questionnaire to know as to how many people i.e. what
percentage of North Indians are aware of the existence of “The Week” magazine, since it is a
major publication in South India and has emerged from the South Indian markets and still a lot of
people find themselves unaware of this magazine.
53

55. Knowledge of the existence of The WEEK
magazine
35%
YES
NO
65%
SAMPLE SIZE:
Through the survey, it was found that-
(i) 65% of the people said Yes, that they know about “The Week” ,magazine.
(ii) 35% of the people show there unawareness about “The Week” magazine.
Findings
Thus as per the results of the survey it is found that majority of the people know about “The
Week” magazine but still many of them do not have any information about this magazine.
Recommendations
54

56. After analysis of the survey it can be recommended that Malayala Manorama Company Limited
should go about with advertisements and promotion programs especially in Northern region
since many people react as if they have heard the name of the company and the magazine for the
first time where as on the other hand India Today and Outlook are quite popular with the people
surveyed.
Q.5 Would you like
(i) to subscribe, or
(ii) buy the magazine from a retail store.
55

57. Implication of the question
Through this question we aim to know the general mode through which the customers buy the
magazine and we can thus know a better way to deliver the magazine.
Having the magazine through retail or
subscriptions?
38%
62% subscriptions retail
SAMPLES
Through this question, it was found that _
(i) 62% percent of the customers have the propensity of buying the books through
subscriptions.
(ii) 38% of the customers like to buy the magazine from a retail store.
56

58. Findings
Thus through this study we can find that majority of the customer find it beneficial to get the
magazine subscribed rather than buying these from the retail stores.
Recommendations
Looking at the above analysis, I would suggest Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. to try to
expand its business more into subscription and make the good promotional schemes so as to
cover majority through the subscription.
Q.6 What other gift / discount will be better other than MANORAMA
YEAR BOOK for 6 months subscription?
(i) SUNGLASSES
(ii) T-SHIRT
57

59. (iii) SET OF PENS
(iv) DISCOUNT OF 20%
(v) MANORAMA YEAR BOOK
Implication of the question
This question implies you that how many % of the people wants these gifts & discount with the
subscription by the company.
5%
15%
20%
Sunglasses
t-shirt
Set of pen
discount of 20%
35% Manorama year book
25%
SAMPLES
Through this question, it was found that _
(i) 15% of peoples want sunglasses.
58

60. (ii) 40% of peoples want t-shirts.
(iii) 25% of peoples want set of pens.
(iv) 20% of peoples want discount.
(v) 5% of peoples want Manorama Year Book
Findings
Thus through this study we find that more % of people want t-shirt more than any other things.
Q.7 “The week” Magazine provide us with information from different fields
may be it is politics, art or science, society or fashion etc. do you find these
contents sufficient enough to provide you with good information?
59

61. (i)YES (ii)NO
Implication of the question
This question implies us to know as to what % of the people who read “The week” magazine are
satisfied with its level of information and the various contents.
Are the contents informative?
33%
Yes No
67%
SAMPLE SIZE:
Through this survey, it was found that:
60

62. (i) 67% of people who read “The Week” magazine was satisfied with its matter content
while,
(ii) 33% of people are not satisfied with the matter content
Findings
Through this question it was analyzed that majority of the readers of “The week” magazine were
satisfied with the contents of information of this magazine and that they found this information
as really useful, investing and sufficient enough to quench their thirst for knowledge while 33%
of people still found the magazine unable to provide them with the required information.
Recommendations
After analyzing this data, I would like to suggest Malayala Manorama Company Limited to get
the surveys and research work done at a large scale so as to find out what are the contents or the
information in which the magazine is lagging behind and find out the ways to improve.
Q.8 Do the contents of “The Week” magazine bear any similarity to the
contents of any other magazine?
61

63. (i)Yes (ii) No
Implication of the question
Through this question, we can deduce as to how much percent of the people find uniqueness in
“The Week” magazine and how much percent of the people find similarity in the contents of
“The Week Magazine”.
Do the contents bear any similarity to other
magazines?
Yes No
46%
54%
SAMPLE SIZE:
Analyzing the answers to the above questions, it was found that-
62

64. (i) 46% of the readers of “the week” magazine found that the contents of magazine were
some or the other way similar to any other weekly magazine, whereas
(ii) 54% of the people found the contents as different from others.
Findings
After analyzing the answers for the above questions it was found that nearly half of the
population still feels that contents of “The Week” magazine have resemblance with any other
weekly magazine and thus has still has space for making its own identity well established. Thus
it has a lot of room to improve and be the best amongst the weekly magazines.
Recommendations
Thus, I would like to suggest Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. that it should go for
innovating some of the contents of the week magazine which become a completely different
and interesting taste for the readers so that they keep their loyalty with the magazine.
Q.9 In your opinion, which feature of “The week” magazine attracts you
most to read this magazine?
(i) Prompt delivery of the news.
63

65. (ii) The column of “COVER STORY” every week.
(iii) Column of cinema.
(iv) Column of business.
Implication
The purpose behind asking this questioning is to know which feature of “the week “ magazine is
the cause of the inclination towards the week magazine and how can the company improve other
features so as to make other features equally good.
Feature of 'The Week' magazine that attracts
the most.
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
prompt delivery column of cover column of cinema column of
of news story every week business
SAMPLE SIZE:
64

66. (i) Analyzing the above question, it was found that,
60% of the readers of the week magazine found prompt delivery of the news as the best
feature which attracts them to read this magazine.
(ii) 20% of the readers found the “COVER STORY” column as the best part.
(iii)15% of the readers found the “Business” column as the best part.
(iv) 5% of the readers found the “cinema” column as the best part.
Findings
Through the above analysis it was found that major feature of attraction for all the readers was
the prompt delivery of actual news and that is a good sign for the future of this magazine.
Recommendations
I would suggest the Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. to keep 100% accuracy in delivering the actual
news as well as to make other columns such as the business column or the cinema column more
attractive & appealing.
Q.10 Which type of subscription of “The Week” magazine would you like to
have-
65

67. 1. Short –term (6 months)
2. Long term (1yr/3yr/5yr)
Implication of the question
The purpose of asking this question is to know of how much percent of the people find short-
term subscriptions as beneficial for them and how much percent find long-term subscriptions as
beneficial.
Type of subscription preffered
short term subscriptions
long term subscriptions
SAMPLE SIZE:
66

68. After going through the answers for the above question it was found that:
(i) 77% of the people wanted to have short-term subscriptions.
(ii) 33% of the people wanted to have long term subscriptions.
Findings
After analyzing the answers for the above question it was found that most of the people wanted
to have weekly magazines through the short term subscription sale while only 33% of the people
wanted to have the magazine through the long term sales. Thus, we can deduce that most of the
people either do not have sufficient funds to go for long term subscriptions or they do not have
enough loyalty towards the magazine.
Recommendations
Thus, I would like to suggest the Malayala Manorama Company Ltd. that it should try to develop
brand loyalty by providing good news as well as proper delivery of the magazine to the
customers and also by catering to the needs of the readers.
Q.11 Do you feel that creating awareness among public about weekly news
magazines through extensive promotion programs would lead to growth in
weekly magazines usage?
67

69. 1) YES 2) NO
Implication of the question
The purpose of asking this question is to know whether the extensive promotion programs are
fruitful or not, and whether the promotion programs lead to an expansion of the business or not.
would promotion programs lead to growth in
weekly magazines usage?
35%
Yes
65% No
SAMPLE SIZE:
On analyzing the above question it was found that:
68

70. (i) 65% of the people surveyed said yes, the promotion programs would lead to a
growth in the usage of weekly news magazines.
(ii) While remaining 35%of the people said that they don’t think that these
promotional programs are of any use for the growth in the number of readers.
Findings of the question
Through the analysis of the above question it was found that majority of the people feel that
extensive promotion programs are really beneficial to expand the market as well as to develop
interest in the people towards weekly news magazines. While some people are still of the view
that such programs are useless as far as the expansion of the market of weekly magazines is
considered.
Recommendations of the question
After going through the analysis and findings of this question I would like to suggest the
Malayala Manorama Company limited that it should keep on coming up with new promotional
programs so as to make the existing readers loyal as well as attract new customers.
69

71. Q.12 Which medium of promotion would you like to suggest to the Malayala
Manorama Company Ltd., whose product is the “the week” magazine, so as to
be successful?
Institutional sales
Retail sale
Subscription sale
Implication of the question
The purpose of asking this question is to know as to which medium of sales is most profit
earning for the organization or which medium is preferred most by the public for getting the
magazine whether it is through subscriptions or through retail or through institutional sales.
Medium of promotion best for ' The Week'
magazine.
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
subscriptions retail instituitional sale
70

72. SAMPLE SIZE:
On analyzing the analysis of the answers for the above question it was found that:
(i) 40% of the people preferred to have the magazines through the
subscriptions
(ii) 38% of the people preferred to have the magazines through the retail sale
(iii) 22% of the people preferred to have the magazine through the institutional
sales.
Findings of the question
After analyzing the answers for the above question it was found that almost similar percent of the
people that is nearly 40% of the people were in favor of promotion programs through the
subscriptions and the same percent in favor of promotion through retail sales while only 20% of
the people favored promotion through institutional sales. Thus, it was found that most of the
people feel that promotional programs are a better way to bring an increment in the sales of the
magazine and thus this method can be considered as most effective way of promoting the sales
further.
Recommendations of the question
After all the analysis I would like to suggest that for the promotion programs the company
should go for promotional programs all throughout India and sub-urban areas where it still has to
establish itself which would surely help it to grow faster.
71

73. Problems regarding sales promotion
The topic i.e. Sales promotion of The Week magazine has been chosen because of two particular
reasons. The very first reason as to why this particular topic has been chosen is that I was given
the task of getting the subscriptions done for The Week magazine during my summer training.
These subscriptions were for a period of 6 months and while undertaking my task I had
developed a keen interest of knowing the popularity of this magazine since I did not get many
people who were aware of this magazine and of those who were aware were not the readers of
this magazine, though Malayala Manorama Company is the largest publication house of India
and this magazine is very popular in South India. So in order to find an answer to these questions
I went with up the topic. Also as I was to approach people regarding the subscriptions, it became
easy for me to move about with the survey.
The second reason as to why I chose this topic was that getting the subscriptions done for any
magazine was a kind of promotional scheme and since I was to get the subscriptions done I was
in a way promoting the sales of this magazine. And so choosing this topic as my summer training
project was not a tough job.
72

74. 73

75. Conclusion
 Through the survey it was deduced that most of the people are aware of the weekly news
magazines, specially the salaried class and the students.
 Majority of the people surveyed are reading weekly news magazines and the most
preferred magazine is India Today, thereafter people prefer reading Outlook and then
comes „The Week‟ magazine, which is at the third position as found through the survey.
 Majority of the people have a know-how of “The Week” magazine but still a large
percentage of the people are still unaware of the existence of this magazine as well as it‟s
belongingness to Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd.
 Some of the people found that the contents of The Week magazine as not so informative
as are the contents of other magazines like Outlook or India Today.
 Majority of the people prefer having a subscription in comparison to retail buying. Also,
the subscription periods favored by them are of the short term rather than of long term.
 People who prefer The Week magazine choose it because of prompt the delivery of this
magazine.
 Promotion programs through subscriptions have come out as the best way to expand the
sales of The Week magazine whereas retail sales is also more or less desired the same
way for expansion of the sales whereas institutional sales is not considered as the best
method.
74

76. 75

77. RECOMMENDATIONS
 According to the analysis of the survey, I would like to recommend to the Malayala
Manorama Co. Ltd. to make people aware of the “The Week” magazine so that at least all
the people have a consideration of this magazine whenever they are to buy or subscribe
the magazine.
 Some of the contents of the week magazine need to be innovated and made more attractive
so as to make it a differentiated product in the weekly magazine market.
 Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. should go extensive promotional programs as well as for
advertisements through various Medias.
 Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. should try to expand its sale through covering the magazine
market through subscriptions especially short term subscriptions.
 I would suggest the Company to deliver actual news with 100% accuracy and to make the
columns of business and cinema more attractive and appealing.
 It should provide good service and properly deliver the copies to the customers and also
cater to the needs of the readers.
 Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd. should come out with new promotional schemes especially
through subscriptions so as to keep existing readers loyal as well as attract new customers
 The company should go for extensive promotion programs especially in sub-urban areas
so as to maximize its sale since sub-urban areas give the space for a new market wherein
most of the competitors are still to find a way.
76

78. 77

79. QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME: ................................................
Q.1)AGE? QUALIFICATION ? PROFESSION? MONTHLY INCOME?
15-25 UNDER GRADUATE STUDENT <25000
25-40 GRADUATE BUSINESS <50000
40-50 POST GRADUATE SALRIED <75000
50-60 OTHERS OTHERS <75000
Q.2) Do you know about “Weekly News Magazines”?
(i)YES (ii) NO
Q.3) Do you read weekly news magazines? If YES, then which one of these?
F. THE WEEK
G. INDIA TODAY
H. OUTLOOK
I. OPEN
J. Others
Q.4) Do you know about “The Week” magazine?
(i)YES (ii) NO
Q.5) “The Week” magazine belong to Malayala Manorama Company limited, the largest
publication house of India. Do you know that?
(i)YES (ii) NO
78

80. Q.6) “The week” Magazine provide us with information from different fields may be it is
politics, art or science, society or fashion etc. do you find these contents sufficient enough to
provide you with good information?
(i)YES (ii) NO
Q 7) Do the contents of “The Week” magazine bear any similarity to the contents of any
other magazine?
(i)Yes (ii) No
Q.8) Would you like
(i) to subscribe, or
(ii) buy the magazine from a retail store.
Q 9) In your opinion, which feature of “The week” magazine attracts you most to read
this magazine?
(i) Prompt delivery of the news.
(ii) The column of “COVER STORY” every week.
(iii) Column of cinema.
(iv) Column of business.
Q 10) Which type of subscription of “The Week” magazine would you like to have-
Short –term (6 months)
Long term (1yr/3yr/5yr)
Q.11) Do you feel that creating awareness among public about weekly news magazines
through extensive promotion programs would lead to growth in weekly magazines usage?
(i)Yes (ii) No
Q.12 Which medium of promotion would you like to suggest to the Malayala Manorama
Company Ltd., whose product is the “the week” magazine, so as to be successful?
Institutional sales
79

81. Retail sale
Subscription sale
80

82. Bibliography
http://weekly.manoramaonline.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayala_Manorama
http://freelance.afaqs.com/perl/news/interviews/index.html?id=275
http://www.emagazinecatalog.com/india-emagazines.php
http://www.linkroll.com/Children-Education-Reference-and-Education--185086-
magazine-listmens-magazinemagazinesubscriptionindian-magazine.html
http://www.the-week.com/
http://digg.com/television/The_Week_magazine_Ad_Malayala_Manorama_group
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayala_Manorama
http://www.aboutus.org/The-Week.com
81

83. 82