Lokmat to relaunch Kolhapur edition; upgrades technology

Five years after setting foot in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, the Lokmat Group of Newspapers, plans to overhaul the existing edition in keeping with current tastes and trends in the marketplace. The edition will be relaunched by the middle of next month with a renewed focus on quality and content, says Rishi Darda, executive director, Lokmat Group of Newspapers. "We felt that the product was not upto the mark," he says, "which is why the relaunch."

The product rejig coincides with the setting up of a state-of-the-art production unit at Kolhapur, implying that bulk print orders can be taken to meet increased demands from readers in the region. Currently, the Kolhapur edition is printed at the group's production unit located at Sangli with the print order in the region of 82,000 copies. "We are looking at an output in the region of 2.25-2.30 lakh copies," says Darda about the new unit's production capacity.

The processing unit will also be able to handle more number of pages per issue as well as an increase in the number of colour pages. Currently, the Kolhapur edition consists of 20 pages, that is, the main issue plus supplements, which can go up to almost 28 pages with the increase in capacity, points Darda. The group is also looking at an increase in the number of supplements per week, which stands at three at this point in time.

Incidentally, a similar upgradation of production capacity has been undertaken by the group at its printing units located in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, the total investment of which is in the region of Rs 100 crore.

For the Kolhapur edition, an extensive survey of households was carried out in the second half of last year on the back of which the group has initiated the relaunch this year. The edition is of significance considering that it feeds the adjoining districts of Sangli and Satara, and, with the formation of a state-of-the-art unit at Kolhapur, the group is hopeful of extending the edition's reach to neighbouring Goa and Karnataka as well.

Located in the south of Maharashtra, Kolhapur has traditionally been an important area with booming sugar and cooperative (read dairy) industries as well as a thriving political culture. Print advertisers, according to Darda, emanate from the sugar, cooperative and educational sectors with political parties chipping in as well.

Lokmat's rivals in Kolhapur include Pudhari and Sakal, whose circulation, according to the January-June 2003 period of ABC stands at 2.11 lakh copies (figure for Pudhari only; Sakal not certified for this period), while Lokmat clocks around 12,000 copies in Kolhapur, 60,000 copies in Sangli and 10,000 copies in Satara (CA-certified figures).

Alongside, the group plans to look at events in a big way with the formation of Lokmat Community Initiatives some time ago. This division has three units - Bal Vikas Manch, Sakhi Manch and Yuva Manch - with focused events targeted at women, children and the youth. "This obviously helps in targeted marketing, and quite a few advertisers have partnered with us including HLL, Cartoon Network, Navneet Publications and Camlin," he adds. © 2004 agencyfaqs!