Size doesn’t matter for Mail Today

When Mail Today was launched in Delhi in November 2007, the group’s chairperson, Aroon Purie, was certain that the content would find an audience. Eight months down the line, Suresh Balakrishnan, chief operating officer, Mail Today, feels that the ‘compact’ daily has been able to make its mark in the city.

The newspaper has targeted areas such as Gurgaon, Noida, Mayur Vihar and South and Central Delhi in search of potential readers. Its target audience is SEC A, 25-40 years, male and female.

The company, in association with research firm Nielsen, got a research study conducted first. It revealed that readers found the product completely different from other newspapers. “The physicality of the paper has been a complete winner for us,” says Balakrishnan.

In a market where The Times of India (TOI) and Hindustan Times (HT) are the leaders, Mail Today’s only way to fight them was through a well defined strategy and differentiated content. Balakrishnan says, “We call ourselves a compact, not a tabloid. Mid-Day and Metro Now are tabloids. When you say ‘tabloid’, you refer to a style of journalism which is more about gossip.”

The world of newspapers is getting smaller. Compacts not only save on printing costs, but are also easier to handle. In the UK, The Independent and The Guardian have become compacts (Daily Mail, the newspaper India Today has tied up with to produce Mail Today, has always been a compact). The Times, London, too, is a compact. But what made the company think that readers would prefer Mail Today over TOI or HT? Balakrishnan says he feels that “both TOI and HT are clones of each other. They are newspapers on record and are targeted at everyone who can read English. Therefore, there was a tremendous opportunity for us to be a newspaper with a point of view and report news that is not ordinarily reported in TOI or HT.”

The company is clear about its target audience. “Psychographically, we are looking at an audience with a certain kind of mindset. It might sound clichéd, but we are actually talking to the new Indian – well to do, lover of gadgets and gizmos, someone who eats out pretty often, and aspires for good education for his kids. He is a conspicuous consumer and believes in living for today and invests in luxuries for himself and his family. Most of the Mail Today readers are not uni-dimensional. They are multidimensional,” says Balakrishnan. He adds, “This is not to say that other players are not addressing them, but they are also addressing everybody else.”

Mail Today claims a circulation of 1,30,000 copies, of which 90,000 are paid. About 20,000 copies are paid, but discounted (hotels and educational institutions), and the rest are complimentary. Also, being in a market like Delhi, newsstand sales are not the focus.

According to Balakrishnan, Mail Today is a premium newspaper with premium content and audience. It boasts of an advertiser clientele with marquee names like Dell, HSBC, HDFC, Reebok, Philips, Voltas, LG Electronics, Jet Airways and Reliance.