New generation of Gujarat will look at ‘DNA’ as a fresh change

The daily, with a parentage of Bhaskar group – a strong contender in the Gujarat newspaper market- can create new space in the singular English daily space of Gujarat

The Bhaskar and Zee group owned English daily –‘DNA’ has been launched in the state of Gujarat. Its two editions in Ahmedabad and Surat were launched at a cover price of Re 1. The other English dailies in the state are ‘The Times of India’ (TOI) and ‘The Indian Express’ (IE).

According to the IRS statistics, ‘TOI’ enjoys a readership of 2.21 lakh as compared to ‘IE’ that enjoys a readership of 28,000. ‘TOI’’s circulations is 1,69,462, according to ABC figures. It is plain to see that ‘TOI’ enjoys a monopoly of sorts, and hence there hasn’t been any market expansion as such in the domain of English dailies.

New generation of Gujarat will look at ‘DNA’ as a fresh change

Anita Nayyar

Nandini Dias

KU Rao

agencyfaqs! spoke to a few eminent media planners about what they thought of DNA’s move into the Gujarati speaking territory. Anita Nayyar, CEO, MPG, shares, “in terms of the time that ‘TOI’ has spent in the cities of Ahmedabad and Surat, it has a concrete English following.” She also points out that while the readership for ‘TOI’ is a loyal lot, there is potential in the market that hasn’t been touched as yet. An interesting thought comes from Nandini Dias, COO, Lodestar Universal, who says, “Ahmedabad is a cosmopolitan city. Large numbers of students are being educated in English medium schools and the literate audience in Gujarat too, has increased drastically.” The newer lot of English speaking individuals will be open to the idea of an alternative to ‘TOI’ is what Dias feels.

Nayyar thinks that ‘DNA’’s readership will totally depend on their strategy. “‘DNA’ can either garner a few readers from ‘TOI’, or they could tap the new generation of readers, who have just come out of colleges, and the young working class, who would be interested in looking at a different point of view.”

“As with Mumbai ‘DNA’ in Gujarat too, aims at targeting the young-at-heart genre of the population,” says KU Rao, CEO, Diligent Media. ‘DNA’ debuted in Ahmedabad and Surat with an initial print run of 1.75 lakh. Divya Bhaskar of the Bhaskar group has a strong hold in the regional daily section of Gujarat. And coming from the same umbrella of the Bhaskar group, DNA too will score with the audience in Gujarat as it will build on the trust created by Divya Bhaskar. All the basic supplements like ‘After Hours’ and ‘DNA Money’ will be part of the daily. Very soon the daily will be launched in Baroda and Rajkot as well.

The price band is also very enticing. ‘TOI’ which sells at Rs 1.50 on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday; Rs. 2.50 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and at Rs 5 on Sunday could lose a few readers to ‘DNA’ as it has been priced at a nominal price of Re 1 on all days.

Both Nayyar and Dias did agree on the fact that, the platform of the Bhaskar group, which ‘DNA’ will receive, will be to its advantage and garner readers. Dias says, “It’s a flanking kind of a strategy. Both language dailies have been covered by the same parent company.”

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