Back home in the United States, I would go to the internet or television network to advertise a new product that I planned on releasing to the public in the upcoming weeks. However, across the world in India, this is not the case. It is not a well-kept secret that India is an arguably the second largest emerging economy behind China, and one of the repercussions of this is a larger middle class. A formally mid-sized newspaper called the Hindi-Daily has recently installed additional printing presses to increase its production by one third. Since 2011, the paper’s circulation has risen 64%, to around 2.3 million. One of the more critical talking points, ad sales are up 61%. Now in most developed nations, the newspaper industries are tanking as the younger generations turn to the internet to find their information on both domestic and world news. Why buy a paper do get the sports section when you can look it up on your mobile device or your laptop in seconds?
However in India, most consumers are buying physical copies of newspaper due to the inaccessibility of smart phones, computers, and consistent internet access. Since the middle class has grown, many of these consumers want to be updated the world around them and seeking newspapers first hand for that. Of course companies looking for the most efficient way to target people in the second most populous country in the world will use the media outlet in which most consumers are diving into. Newspapers received 43% of the market share in advertising in 2014, compared to television at 38%. Even Amazon and Apple have begun to advertise in the Indian newspaper market because of its attraction to the general populous of the country.
Now, why has the newspaper industry seen such a growth in such a sudden capacity? Much of it has to do with the literacy rate in India. In 1951, less than 10% of females in India could read. That figure has jumped to 65% in 2011. In 1981, approximately 55% of males in India can read. The figure has increased to over 80% in just the last thirty years. This recent bump in literacy has resulted in a thirst for knowledge, which makes consumers more accessible to advertisers using newspapers as their faculty.
India’s newspaper industry is one of the fastest growing in the world, and marketers need to be aware of this to reach the largest market that they can with the least amount of expense possible. Of course, as more companies try to place advertisements in these papers, the outlets gain value and thus can raise their prices accordingly. I think it is a very positive sign for newspaper companies everywhere that there still is a market for it in some places. The industry has just been displaced by the internet in many of backyards. Companies need to know how large the reach is, and where to put there advertisements where their desired target market will see it. Jumping on the right media outlet gives companies the competitive edge, but also creates brand recall and thus makes their competition forgettable. This is the goal we need to have as marketers and salesmen alike.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/india-ink-newspapers-boom-where-the-internet-doesnt-reach-1441740780?tesla=y
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