We are driven by value and not competition

Abhijit Pawar, director on board and joint managing director, Sakal Newspapers, is a man with a mission - to transform the newspaper group into a fully integrated modern business, implementing the best practices of the industry. To this end, Pawar, son of Pratap Govind Pawar, technocrat and managing director/managing editor of Sakal Newspapers, has brought about some key changes in the areas of content, business processes and technology, using his experience gained while working on various turnkey projects in the US and India.

An engineering graduate, Pawar has spearheaded some key initiatives including the group's foray into events as well as the recent acquisition of Maharashtra Herald. He is keen to see the group emerge the frontrunner in a state, where its flagship brand Sakal is in frequent battles with leader Lokmat. It is also in the reckoning for a stake in Mid Day, though Pawar will not be drawn into a conversation about it. "According to media reports, we are one of the forerunners alongwith HT (Hindustan Times) and TOI (The Times of India)," he says. "I guess one would have to wait for the final outcome," is all that one can draw from him. In this freewheeling conversation with Viveat Susan Pinto of agencyfaqs!, Pawar highlights his plans for the group and its performance vis-à-vis competition.

Edited Excerpts

The trends are more than encouraging. More and more brands are looking at Pune and other parts of Maharashtra and we are the obvious choice for a lot of them. The retail revolution has resulted in small advertisers increasing their share of voice. Segments such as housing, telecom, FMCG, education and automobiles have contributed to the growth of the medium in the state. Most brands in Marathi have benefited and I think, it is a very positive sign to see the market expand in this manner.

The drop as reflected in the ABC was due to a delay in submitting the figures for the Kolhapur edition on account of some issues concerning our receivables. The drop is purely with respect to the ABC certification process and not a fall in circulation. Sakal has been consistent in its growth and the focus area for us is all of Maharashtra.

Yes, it is true that we had a strong Pune flavour. However, that was the case till we decided recently that the thrust as far as the other editions go should be on the local accent and flavour. We have been moving steadily in that area and are going edition-wise at this point.

I don't think anybody has outdone us from an appeal point of view. We are very strong across SEC bands. Indeed, the brand attributes and content have attracted large readership in the higher SECs. We do have a responsibility to our advertisers and our strength in the top SECs delivers the response to our premium brand and service advertisers. We are not and do not believe that we are aimed at any particular SEC. Our focus is quality journalism and discerning readers across bands are loyal to us.

On the business side, we try to deliver unparalleled response to our advertisers and the retention and growth in our advertising bears testimony to this. I strongly believe that research must now be focused on which media vehicles deliver response consistently. May be the time has come for clients to impress upon the research bodies that they must know how much their ROI is. Sakal's strength in different SECs can be more than emphasised through the wide spectrum of loyal advertisers. From ballpoint pens to expensive cars …you'll find them all day after day in our editions.

So are we mass or only upper SEC?

We are a cautious company and till we are certain that we can deliver the brand's overall values in a new market we don't get into it. It's not just about launching editions and packaging combined figures to your advertisers. It's all about responses and what matters to us is the quality of response we offer our advertisers. We strongly believe that each new edition must deliver something to both the reader and the advertiser. We are focused on our strategies and do not launch editions merely to better our negotiation prospects with clients. We are driven by value and not competition!

Launching more editions is on the cards. However, at this point, the focus is on consolidating our position.

It's fairly clear that acquiring Herald was part of our consolidation drive in the business. Pune has been our key market with Sakal the clear leader across languages and getting into English serves many purposes. We believe that we can have a balanced brand that embodies quality journalism - uncompromising and yet focused. It will reflect the changing socio-economic needs of the people as well as appeal to the youth, who believe that there is more to life than pub-hopping. We are confident that our readers in Pune are looking for options and Herald will give them what they want. Our core competence in journalism will only pave the way for yet another winner for us. Our advertisers will also benefit since they can now avail of the option of combined packages, making their reach more cost effective .Our plans are to reengineer the brand, infuse it with great editorial talent, strong design and exemplary marketing.

We acquired the Herald on November 20 and in three months the process should be in place.

Indeed, acquisitions and mergers have helped in consolidation in probably every industry. We will see a lot of that happening in the media industry as well. At Sakal, our philosophy has been to infuse the group's principles of quality journalism in every brand we acquire. Each brand has inherent strengths and as long as we are confident of refining them and weeding out the problem areas, I would think M&A (mergers and acquisitions) is a more-than-good option.

According to media reports, we are one of the forerunners with HT (Hindustan Times) and TOI (The Times of India). But, I guess one would have to wait for the final outcome.

It is too early to comment about it, though we are examining various possibilities. We have got some offers from publications in other states, but we will not expand till we are ready and well prepared. Reaching out to the community in other parts of the country and abroad is certainly a long-term possibility.

They have done well in terms of readership and some of them are doing well from an advertising point of view as well. We do plan to invest in niche publications and the recent Family Doctor (it is a weekly Marathi magazine in a unique small size, circulated with the Sakal and Gomantak, every Friday), launched on September 10, 2002, is a good example of how content is the driver for niche brands. We have received tremendous response for the Family Doctor and the print order has increased substantially.

We are open to any media, but at the right time and not unless we are ready for it. We would prefer acquisitions as the first option. If TV is viable from that point of view, we will look at it. At this point though, we are not really considering it. Events are our focus area and we believe that we have delivered results to our advertisers on that front.

I cannot comment generically, but I see no harm in considering any proposal that merits value in terms of being able to deliver better results to advertisers and readers. I don't think closing one's mind is the right thing to do in this case.

Our vision is clear: To evolve into a highly efficient, quality-driven media conglomerate that believes in values and people. Our commitment to society is intact, which is why we view ourselves more as a media institution than a mere business or corporate entity.

We have been investing a lot of time and resources into upgrading technology since it is a significant area as far as bettering customer service is concerned. We will shortly go live with our integrated ERP system, which means that not only are we linked to each other internally, but externally too the system will be accessible to suppliers and agencies.

As far as business plans go, we will be investing in top of the line production infrastructure at most of our units (Sakal has eight printing centres in Maharashtra). We hope to be able to put all of this together within the next 36 months.