‘Hindustan Times’ and ‘Outlook’ join forces to capture Mumbai market

The Outlook Group and ‘Hindustan Times’ have come together to enhance reader satisfaction and loyalty. They will develop and provide value to their readers through special subscriber offers and joint promotions.

Speaking to agencyfaqs!, Mahesh Peri, printer and publisher for the Outlook Group, says, “Both of us have similar high-end readers, who prefer English publications. Mumbai is a market where we both want to enlarge our consumer base. Moreover, with the coming together of the two publication houses, the readers will receive the best of news and insightful analyses.”

The combined annual subscription offer of ‘Hindustan Times’ and ‘Outlook’ is slated to begin in Mumbai. However, there are plans to foray into other markets such as Delhi and Kolkata.

Talking about the alliance, Sandip Ghose, vice-president and business head, ‘Hindustan Times’, says, “‘Outlook’ and ‘Hindustan Times’ would like to develop this relationship further to provide reader benefits to other readership segments and markets as well. We have chalked out various kinds of promotional offers, one of which includes a combination pack of the two publications, which the readers can buy at a discount of 60-65 per cent of the actual retail price. The special package is called ‘News at Rs 699’ and it offers an annual subscription for ‘Outlook’ and ‘Hindustan Times’ plus an ‘Outlook’ 2006 diary. The promotional advertisement reads: ‘Ignorance Remains Expensive, but Knowledge Just Got Cheaper’.”

Ghose adds, “Apart from this, we will be sending direct mailers to ‘Outlook’ subscribers and also conduct a direct contact programme to convert them into ‘HT’ subscribers. The promotional offers will include all the brands under the ‘Outlook’ umbrella.”

© 2005 agencyfaqs!