Summary of Case Study 3

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL The first U.S paper which was published in 1889 was- The Wall Street Journal. It was a national financially oriented newspaper. However it used to publish only business and financial information but in 1980 it also added arts and entertainment coverage, stories and articles. The distributions of newspapers were restricted to New York and other financial centres in the United States till 1970. After that time, the subscriber base grew rapidly and with the introduction of international editions, internationally. In 1983, the journal circulation increased from 1,477,077 at the end of 1976 to 2,108,795 in 1983. Advertising linage rose by 36.8 per cent between 1979 and 1984. There were many competitors faced by journal which were USA Today, New York Times-National Edition, Investors Daily, and Financial Times. Rupert Murdoch also introduced Financial Times newspaper in order to compete with the Journal. A 1986 Simmons Market Research Bureau study of Media and Markets found the readership for the Journal had declined and was less than that of USA Today. To take the advantage on this finding, USA Today ran ads within the paper citing the study and proclaiming that USA Todays readership is the industrys largest. The paper joined with General Mills for promotion and it also encouraged consumers to sign up for a six month subscription. 450, 000 people subscribed to it. USA Today and other national newspapers gained subscribers at the expense of the Journal. Los Angeles Times found the Journal to be Americas most trusted information medium. A 1986 subscribers survey provided a lot of information: Out of ten four subscribers lived in metropolitan areas of U.S, median age of readers were 47. Readers had strong interest in personal financial information, readers had strong interest in mutual fund information, and Eighty per cent were in business profession. Based on market research journal management identified several areas for possible action.

Questions
Question 1: Using the information provided in the case, complete a situation

analysis of the Journal. What constitutes a situation analysis? An astute marketer is always in a situational analysis mode do you agree? Why?
Answer 1: Situational analysis is comprised of 3 cs i.e. customer, companies, and competitors. However these are important as follows:1. Customers: - customers today have become more cautious and always want that thing that satisfies their needs that fulfill their aims. Always they look for an information related to them like career oriented information, availability of finance, business decisions etc. They want daily forecasted information with more coverage, with more graphs, charts and summaries. 2. Companies: - wall street journal is a newspaper so it focuses on newspaper business. In 1986 nationwide poll by the Los Angeles Times found the Journal to be a

Americas most trusted information medium. Another survey by Fortune found the journal at the top of all American corporations to be known for their quality work and services. Since it is started in 1980 and publishes only business and financial information. 3. Competitors: - the major competitors of the wall street journal are USA Today, New York Times- National Edition, Investors Daily, and Financial times etc. A 1986 market survey revealed that the readership of Journal was lesser as compared to USA Today.

Question 2: Describe what you think is the ideal Journal target market. Why? Answer 2: According to us Journals ideal target market is business and technology decisionmakers, small business decision-maker, investors, auditors, person related to finance, general consumer etc. 1. Investors need newspaper to get information related to finance, stock quotes and to check whether they should invest in shares or not. 2. Students need newspapers help to get information about career opportunities, better job opportunities and business ethics. 3. Business decision- makers need newspaper to get information about market strategies of the company, to get information about others company whether to invest in that company or not. Question 3: Identify possible objectives that might be a party of a marketing plan. Answer 3: Some points which might be included in marketing plan: y They should expand their business outside U.S. by researching and knowing the tastes of the people in those countries. y Focus can be on hiring or roping in established editors, eminent personalities in the industry having high writing skills to write for journal. y Also the Journal can try to increase the target base by focusing on the entertainment section more and increase the reader base further, coming out with the a Journal Magazine that exclusively gives entertainment news can further increase the target market for the journal. y They can also provide SMS subscription of important news as today people are very busy. y Journal should focus on increasing women readership which is very low at 13 %. y Should concentrate more upon the semi urban area as most readers are from metro cities.

Question 4: What elements of the marketing mix can you identify in this case? Answer 4: There are various elements of marketing mix, which are present in this case. y y Product: Provide the reader with a timelier and tightly edited newspaper. Group related stories and use more graphics, charts, and statistical summaries to enhance ease of use.

y y y

Increase coverage of daily developments and broad trends affecting readers career goals, business decisions, and personal financial planning. Permit inclusion of more late breaking news by retooling pagination system. A section of the newspaper devoted to general interest stories, arts and entertainment coverage, and articles on personal finance in order to attract more readers other than the regular business executives. a) Place: Journal decided to expand 154-city private delivery network to increase speed and reliability of delivery. They have planned to build more printing plants in overseas locations to speed overseas delivery. b) Price: The annual subscription fee for the Journal is in excess of $100. This signifies that their focus has been on higher end executives who are willing to pay for the newspaper which is perceived to be of high quality. They have also targeted the corporate for bulk orders. c) Promotion: USA Today ran ads within the paper citing the study and proclaiming that USA Todays readership is the industrys largest. USA today tied up with General mills and General Mills offered 6 months subscription of the paper at lower cost with their products. A 1986 nationwide poll by the Los Angeles Times found the Journal to be Americas most trusted information medium. They can try to use the results of these surveys to promote their newspapers.

y y

y y y

Relationship to Concepts
y y y Market Research: The management of Wall Street Journal has conducted market research in order to identify several areas for possible action during the next year. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning: The Journal targeted the business segment of customers with their financially oriented daily newspaper. 4 Ps: The Journal explains the marketing mix and importance of marketing mix in marketing strategy for a successful business.