Strength in print and digital powers Kolkata conference
Indian newspaper publishing returned to its roots in Kolkata this week, but to a very different scene to that experienced by the 1780 founder of the country's first newspaper.
But while the Irish entrepreneur - who, WAN-Ifra South Asia chairman D.D. Purkayastha says, ended up in jail - had the future of newspaper printing ahead of him, delegates at the group's 24th annual India conference confronted a different reality.
A faster than expected take-up of mobile internet has seen print's share of the advertising reduced and growth "flat" in many regions. With the spend on digital increased to ten per cent, "we're hoping the trend to pay for online content will also reach India," says Purkayastha. "The money to be invested in digital has to come from our core print."
But for the almost 400 delegates from 20 countries who were in Kolkata for the conference, there was no shortage of ideas and inspiration. Whether it was the keynote address of Bandhan Bank founder Chandra Sekhar Ghosh - who set out create a unique experience for customers through a focus on social responsibilities - or the publishers who provided case histories of their own print initiatives and digital transformation.
Some of the statistics of the giant Indian newspaper market - the world's sixth largest, with some of its biggest individual circulations - came from WAN-Ifra deputy chief executive Manfred Werfel, presenting an update on the annual World Press Trends report. Asia's eight per cent growth last year was the major driver behind a positive global five per cent, offsetting diminishing markets in some other regions, while audiences have become publishers' largest source of revenue. Werfel suggested that publishers should focus less on product and more on experience, using big data and insights to find the right business models.
The conference presented up to three simultaneous streams, tackling newsroom, crossmedia advertising and printing, the latter as a meeting of the World Printers Forum. And therein lies the rub... the challenge of being in as many as three places at the same time.
I moved across to the crossmedia sessions to hear Ulbe Jelluma talk about Europe's cross-industry Print Power group, and its promotion of the power of print. Again the statistics are worth remembering, including the research that showed adding print to a campaign based on any other platform increased its effectiveness by up to 53 per cent and delivered superior ROI.
Crossmedia delegates joined editors to hear the success stories of two recently-launched Indian newspapers, Times of India publisher Bennett, Coleman & Co's Ei Samay and ABP's Ebela, fighting it out for the young Bengali-language market.
Kaustuv Chatterjee told how Bennett, Coleman & Co had identified a market opportunity in the west Bengal (Kolkata) heartland of ABP, publisher of Anandabazar Patrika and English-language Telegraph.
While 35 per cent of locals read a daily newspaper, there was a big gap in size between the dominant player and others in the top four, and "a big opportunity" in the under-30 years - and even under-20 - age demographic. "We saw weaknesses in existing papers, especially in the way they catered for young readers looking for a 'bridge to a better world'," he says. Launched in September 2012 in response to ABP's new Ebela tabloid, Ei Samay "partnered readers" to take up issues such as gender equality, education and ecology, in a chattier, short-form and more visual news style. It was extended to South Bengal this April.
The story of Ebela has already been told in GXpress (see Capturing the spirit, November 2013). At the conference, ABP vice president Supriyo Sinha reported back on its progress, the launch of a school edition, and the changing mobile-orientated market. "Is there a risk that print - especially vernacular editions - might become irrelevant as readers move to (an English-dominated) mobile/digital environment," he asked.
In the same way that empty cricket stadiums didn't mean no-one liked cricket, falling print circulations didn't necessarily mean people had gone off newspapers: "They want it done differently," he says. Ebela had responded with a more convenient, compact format, less politics and a better balance between text and visual content, produced by an editorial team mostly in their early-30s (rather than the typical 40-50 age group).
A focus on "making a difference to young lives", Ebela had been recognized with a Pitch 'best youth media brand' award, behind only MTV and Comedy Channel. A new digital channel launched five months ago has seen "explosive growth" with 3.2 million monthly uniques and 15 million page views.
Encouraging too, was the print experience of Dainik Bhaskar, which banished negativity from its Monday editions and created a national sensation. "Negativity may sell, but positivity instills hope," DB Corp's brand marketing vice president Vinay Maheshwari says.
India's largest-circulation national daily - and the world's fourth-largest - Dainik Bhaskar was looking for a way to differentiate itself in a country of 13,000 registered newspapers. Launching 'No-negative Monday' in January last year banished Monday blues and got hundreds of thousands of readers off to a positive start to the week by publishing "stories of hope" and finding positive angles even to disaster coverage.
Some 3.9 million readers responded to a #livenonegative social media campaign, and IPSOS research showed that 81 per cent of readers were still happy and motivated, eight hours after reading the paper. Of the challenges of reporting major events such as disasters and terrorist attacks - which they do with an apology - Maheshwari says, "newspapers aren't there to print breaking news; they print the broken news".
Like the edition of Germany's popular Bild with no images, it emphasized the impact of printed newspapers. However, Anshul Tewari, founder of the Youth Ki Awaaz 'media platform' had little time for print. Moving from a blog to a website, it had "gone viral" with a story about an Indian trapped in Libya, and hasn't looked back. "It shows young people are interested in serious issues," he says.
Further growth is planned following an INR4 crore ($5.9 million) investment by Raghav Bahl's Quintillion Media (publisher of TheQuint.com).
Frédérique Lancien's 'Nine secret ways to a social media strategy' address sounded like click-bait, but came with a stack of advice about mobile publishing, with tips for Instagram - "most important in terms of growth" - on words and colours and yes, "be negative," she says. Telling stories - a key way in which publishers can differentiate themselves - is the best way to "merge meaning and emotions".
Digital inspiration was plentiful, with Ritu Kapur's background to the South Asia Digital Media Awards success with TheQuint.com (see 'Unlearning' experience a winner for TheQuint) during the awards presentations, and Bhausaheb Patil of Sakal Media Group putting its digital publishing systems initiatives into the context of its "social uplift" objectives. "The digital journey is a totally different journey to print," he says.
Pune-based Sakal is working with Persistent Systems to develop a system which includes an enterprise app store, ads and gamification engines - the latter to drive reader loyalty and engagement - as well as dynamic ratecards and insights. A new service line will enable customers to create their own surveys and support events.
There was also an update from The Hindu's RP Laksmivenkatraman on an upgrade of its CCI system to deliver regional language support and increase automation.
From Austria, Russmedia's Cornelius Sohm also talked multiple languages, and the Vorarlberger Nachrichten publisher's use of a sleek ppi/Digital Collections system to smooth print production and create a digital-first e-paper and a new digital-only evening edition with a print-like feel to them. New editorial recruits learn the system in a couple of hours, he says.
Across in the print sessions, there was also plenty of technical detail in presentations including Malayala Manorama's experiences with inserting (from works vice president PK Philip) and Süddeutscher Verlag Zeitungsdruck's detailed energy savings in areas from compressed air to the fridges in the staff canteen (Josef Schiesll).
Bennett, Coleman & Co, Sri Lanka's Wijeya Newspapers and ABP were also among those contributing to sessions on engineering excellence and proactive maintenance, while InferStrat's Goutam Ghosh and Ecograf consultant Benoit Moreau talked data analytics and benchmarking.
And of course, much more: Notable was the interest in digital practice and technology now being taken by delegates whose careers had been focused on managing print.
The parting words came from Kasturi & Sons' recently-appointed chief executive Rajiv Lochan, a Chinese perspective from Guangzhou Daily's David Lü, and a panel discussion involving Lochan, ABP digital president DN Mukerjea, Hindustan Times editor-in-chief Bobby Ghosh, and Eastern Media joint managing director Monica Nayyar Patnaik... and from D.D. Purkayastha, stimulating discussion with, "before anyone deserts our business, we should desert our own".
No chance of that in a country of strong brands and vibrant management; be sure to return next year.
Peter Coleman
Three award-winning groups were recognized during the conference: winners of the Asian 'best in print' competition and the 30 Indian print sites which have joined the 2016-2018 International Colour Quality Club, and the first South Asian Digital Media Awards - with a background of TheQuint.com.
Pictured: Russmedia's Cornelius Sohm