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CASE: National Publishing Company: Marketing oI 'Titli, a Children`s Fortnightly

Magazine:

Summary:
The case deals with the situation where National Publishing Company a leading publishing
company having rich experience in the printing and publishing industry has to choose an
alternative strategy to improve the sales oI one oI its` publications i,e Titli which is a
children`s Iortnightly vernacular magazine. The downward trend in the circulation oI the
magazine is a matter oI concern Ior the company because Iirstly the sales have declined by
about 40 percent as compared to the peak level sales oI 1987, secondly the above situation
exists even aIter an active advertisement campaign by the company timed with the
withdrawal oI another leading children`s magazine 'Children`s Delight and thirdly because
the promotional schemes have Iailed to retain a signiIicant number oI additional buyers. The
company knows that it is a market leader in the children`s publishing segment and thus wants
to retain its number one position. The question that stands beIore the company is to decide
which strategy to adopt to promote 'Titili and that whether it should attempt to reposition
the magazine or not and iI so then what would be the likely consequences oI this decision on
the Iuture prospects oI the company.


OBSERVATIONS:
EVALUATION OF MARKET SEGMENTS:
Age Groups 6-9 & 10-12 Yrs: As per Exhibit 5, 70 oI the readers oI Titli are in the age-
group 6-12 years and Iurther as per Exhibit 7, diIIerent contents (long/short stories etc.) oI the
magazine are equally preIerred by the 6-9 & 10-12 years age groups.
Age Group 13-14 Yrs:
Lesser amount oI leisure time because oI increased study load
PreIerred inspiring and motivational stories
Liking towards Thought provoking articles
Inclination towards Science magazines
Feel embarrassed to be seen reading magazines like Titli as iI doing something
childish
Based on the above it may be inIerred that:
BeneIits sought by 13-14 yr. age group are somewhat diIIerent Irom those sought by
6-12 yr. age group.
Titli in present Iorm does not Iully cater to requirements oI 13-14 yr. age group.


ANALYSIS:
National Publishing Company is a leading company with experience in the printing
and publishing industry. The company has various publications such as a daily
newspaper, weekly, Iortnightly, monthly and yearly journals some being market
leaders in their respective categories.
The company has expertise in this Iield and manages its work through a team oI
competent editors and managers.
The company has a strong distribution network oI more than 3000 agents and sub-
agents located in all the important places in the state. The magazine is targeted at
children in the age group oI 5 to 12 years priced at rupees 2 per copy.
To understand the situation at hand the company has commissioned a study through a
proIessional market research agency so as to obtain the relevant Iacts about the
existing reader market.
The study has provided valuable information. The research approach used is
that of survey in the first phase of the study to understand the profile and the
reading habits of the magazine readers and the focus group discussions in the
second phase to understand the needs, attitudes and expectations of children and
parents.
The survey was targeted at the age group oI 3 to 14 years. The sample size was oI
3500 respondents Irom all over the state and the Iocus group had 16 groups oI
children and 5 groups oI parents.
In 1985 the total number oI periodicals in the market were lakhs out oI which
TITLY had 4.8 lakh periodicals Iloating, this translated into annual revenues oI 9.
lakhs Ior TITLY in the year 1985. Consequently aIter the decline oI number oI
periodical in the market the total number stood at 8.8 lakhs out oI which TITLY
which had 47 market share managed to make 8.28 lakhs oI revenue in the year
1989.
The awareness about the magazine is high among the consumers. Children in the
age group to years constitute 54of the readers and those in the age group
to 4 years constitute 3 of the readers. The average lapse rate for the age
group of 2 to 4 years is 54. Also the lapsed buyers did not shift to another
competitive magazine indicating that they had given up reading such magazines.
This could be happening because of the lack of value addition that these
magazines could provide in terms of knowledge and awareness about general
and social issues or thought provoking articles that children of this age group
were seeking.
The research also shows that Titly is perceived to be a superior magazine but is
more appealing to the age group of 8 to 2 years and to a lesser extent to the age
group of 3 to 4 years. This is because of the diverse content in terms of picture
stories and more colour, thus 8 to 2 year olds were eager to associate with the
magazine but 2 to 4 year olds considered it to be childish.
rom annexure we find that out of the 82 pages of the magazine atleast 47
pages (57.3) were dedicated to cartoon/picture stories, short stories and
beginner level stories. Also out of the 34 features mentioned as content in the
sample issue including the front and the back covers 9 (55.8) were related to
one or the other form of stories as mentioned above. 5 features (4.7) were
advertisements, and only 4 features (.7) were dedicated to
scientific/social/political/general knowledge theme articles and quizzes.


CONCLUSION:
Titly should be repositioned with more focus on the children belonging to the age group
of to 4 years.
To make Titli more attractive to target audience, NPC should re-position in the Iollowing
way: ReIer Exhibit 7
1. Excluding relatively low preIerred content like Read Aloud Stories, Beginner stories,
Boy with Magic Power.
2. Inclusion oI the Iollowing contents based on the likings oI the 10-14 age-group readers:
a. Thought provoking articles and articles dealing with current general knowledge, Iacts
and the latest happenings Irom the Iield oI sports and entertainment.
b. Sports inIormation (cricket, Iootball etc.)
c. Short English story
d. Moral Stories.
e. ScientiIic Articles that keep the children inIormed about the latest technological
developments.
I. Attractive pictures Ior colouring
Also the lapse rate which is high in all the age groups Irom 0-11 could be countered with Iree
promotional accessories on a regular basis. The idea is to inculcate a habit oI general reading.