agencyfaqs!
Media

Gujarati publication ‘Sandesh’ to don a new look

The newspaper will sport innovative advertising placements and 30 new supplements as part of the revamp

Gujarati daily ‘Sandesh’ will don a new look from January 1, 2006. The newspaper will have a new masthead with a new font in black instead of the earlier blue. The tagline, which reads ‘Suprabhat Gujarat’, will be in red.

The inside pages will also have a new layout. The newspaper will continue to have eight columns per page, but the size of the first column has been increased to one and a half of the usual; the rest of the space will be divided into seven columns.

In addition, the newspaper has done away with the ear panels on the front page. It has created a special space for advertisers on the inside pages instead. While the top centre of each page will carry a brand (currently booked by Hutch), the dateline and the newspaper’s brand name will be placed at the corner of each page.

PG Joshi, president, strategic planning, ‘Sandesh’, says, “As we have done away with the ear panels, we needed to create a space for the advertisers.”

In addition, the Gujarati daily will also launch 30 new monthly supplements, featuring different topics such as parents, automobiles, nature, youth, homes, technology, celebrities, college and campus, and careers.

Falgunbhai Patel, editor and CMD, ‘Sandesh’, says, “A newspaper is a product, the content of which has a lot to do with the right mix of information, emotions, social obligations and aspirations of the masses. Therefore, our objective is to maintain certain ethics and not create sensationalism for cheap and temporary gains.”

Explaining the need for re-launching ‘Sandesh’, Patel says, “We needed to move with the times to cater to the needs of the new generation.”

The economic scenario in Gujarat is growing at a very rapid speed. ‘Sandesh’ aims at playing a pivotal role in highlighting the up-market profile of the Gujarati consumer. It also aims at eradicating the misconception of Gujaratis being fonder of English dailies.

‘Sandesh’ has launched a massive outdoor advertising campaign in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. The campaign talks about the relevance of ‘Suprabhat Gujarat’ and the role the newspaper hopes to play in the coming days.

The re-launch has happened after an eventful career graph, spanning more than eight decades in journalism. ‘Sandesh’ is simultaneously published from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot and Bhavnagar, which enables it to cover the entire state of Gujarat.

For the record, the process of expansion and modernisation started in 1982, when ‘Sandesh’ introduced colour printing. In the next eight years, ‘Sandesh’ launched four new editions – in Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot and Bhavanagar. After completing this phase, ‘Sandesh’ went public in 1995.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com