Buy one, get two, junk one

Samrat Sinha
21 August 2003

New Delhi: One of these days, while having your morning cuppa, don't start if your favourite broadsheet daily greets you with her vernacular cousin in tow.

Publication majors, in their search for growth triggers, have hit upon the fast-moving consumer goods-patented formula of 'buy one, get two'. Ever since June this year, many leading lights of the industry have launched combo economy packs in quick succession.

The proposition is to push in the vernacular edition together with the widely read English flagship. So, at a mere Rs 75 a month, one may have The Times of India (TOI) in conjunction with Navbharat Times (NBT) or Hindustan Times (HT) with Hindi Hindustan (HH). This August has seen slight variants being launched too.

For your intellectual palate you may opt for combo in business flavour — like ToI with The Economic Times (ET). All this at the same magic price point of Rs 75 per month. This trend seems to be very hot and happening for the marketing clubs within these publications, as a commoditised viewpoint is currently in circulation. The bundling of the flagship with the economic daily makes sense and packs a punch to some readers but the other one is grossly off mark.

Marketing muzzle
What the editorial and management boards need to ponder is whether such 'package deals' really work for a neural offering like a newspaper. No, is the answer. A study of newspaper reading households in Delhi, conducted by a group of management students way back in 1994, is worth mentioning here. It was a time when the two biggies, ToI and HT, were engaged in a fierce price war called 'the invitation price' battle.

If one sold at Rs 1.25 the other bettered it with a Re 1 offer despite the trade crying murder at the dwindling distribution margins. Many claims and counterclaims were advertised about who the real market leader was and who was the benefactor of the readers and protected the consumer's wallet.