ROLE OF RESEARCH IN GROWTH OF NEWSPAPERS
Research is an important & necessary process done before launching of any big project. Research is done in order to understand the current market status of a particular product & the future aspects of it. A newspaper is a daily commodity which is launched in the market. It has daily buyers, monthly or yearly subscriptions, etc. which heavily depends on the kind of research done by that particular newspaper department.
The research in a newspaper includes what the people/readers prefer; the language, the price, the quality of paper & very importantly the kind of news covered by the newspaper. The research team dwells on these topics & hence does their research accordingly.
The research has a very significant growth effect on a newspaper. For ex, launch of Hindustan Times in Mumbai. They researched in Mumbai about the kind of news people follow & the strength of the living youth. HT launched in Mumbai on the 14th July 2005. HT launched HT café first in a tabloid format but later changed to broadsheet format as its biggest competitor TOI also has Bombay Times which runs in broadsheet format.
Longer the research is, the better is the result. Another example is the launch of DNA for Mumbaikars. It was launched on 21st July 2005. DNA adopted a smart and inquisitive marketing strategy where the advertisements were done through hoardings. These hoardings were non-verbal in nature i.e. there was no text on them. This raised the curiosity of people till there were hoardings that said ‘Speak-Up. It is in your DNA’, which was interpreted by most as some medical product. Their next move was to send their representatives to people and ask them for their views on what would they want from the media and not just the newspaper. A lot of social causes were brought under the light by common people as well as celebrities who also campaigned for DNA. One thing that was common in all the hoardings was the humorous and thought-provoking comments by ordinary people. Their success lied with the fact that they kept it comfortably simple.
Many times a newspaper gets into a lot of loss; hence a research is done to revive the paper. The research done is very important as it helps the newspaper let them know what the flaws it has are. A lot of mathematical calculation that goes into the launch of a newspaper involves three basic steps: To estimate the population of the city, to analyze the English-speaking population, to know the potential of the market i.e. the number of English-speaking people reading English newspaper.
A research requires in depth study of the local people, where it is going to be launched, their understanding of news & their interests. A good research leads in a profitable growth of a newspaper. For ex, TOI in Mumbai. It always gives sufficient food for thought for the Mumbaikars. It covers in detail the city news which comes out in the sister edition of TOI, Mumbai Mirror. Also it takes care of the youth’s interest by bringing out Bombay Times & Times Accent. Hence TOI has a good reach to the Mumbaikars, making it the no.1 paper in Mumbai. A good research leads a paper in good profits by attracting useful & sufficient advertising.
Hence the role of research is very important in the growth of a newspaper.
