“The weak die out and the strong will survive, and will live on forever”
PS – This blog is based on observation and has no commercial value to it. It is an opinion based write-up believing that citizens of India have – The Right To Express!
This line by Anne Frank might be argued by some but in reality that is the truth…
As I walked into a metro station today, I got hold of HT Mini, Hindustan Times newly launched mini newspaper for metro commuters. What struck me instantly on the cover page was – HT MINI – For People On The Move. What is so special about this tagline?
Well, about a year ago, two young entrepreneurs - Virat Mohan and Ankit Dhawan first came up with the idea of launching a newspaper for the metro commuters and they actually did launch one; Delhi On The Go with the tagline- For People On The Go. Find any similarity between two? There sure is.
Remembering the editorial meetings of Delhi On The Go (I helped them with the editorial stuff for some-time) I recall the concern shown by these two young chaps who would inform us that all the leading players (newspapers I mean) are threatening the ad agencies in the market indirectly to not to pass on any ads to us. And we all know how important ads are for survival of any print in this cut throat market.
HT Mini, is a perfect representative to the first line that I punched in this blog, that the weak will die and stronger will live and will live on forever. With similar tagline adopted the product is a direct result of what we call ‘taking inspiration’ in this modern age. However, when I flipped the pages it all seemed like any other newspaper with nothing to offer to the people. Delhi On The Go at least was a product that tried to bring in a change and engage people in its productivity.
Reader of the day (people sending their pictures while reading the newspaper), Pet of the day, dedicated pages for young and upcoming entrepreneurs (not the useless P3 faces), Insight- a page for providing facts for any current and hot topic….these are just few examples.
If you think I am advocating any product here, then let me correct you just a bit. Let me add a fact that these two gentlemen (the founders of Delhi On The Go) were no saint either and practically had no idea as to how to run a company. No knowledge about team building exercises, a ridiculous attempt to run a media firm like a corporate house is only a part of it. For the simple fact that, you cannot come up with some lacs of money and expect things to become all rosy instantly and expecting ads to pour in immediately was an amateurish expectation.
Any new product that you launch takes its own sweet time with sour moments (obviously) to build up a reputation in the market (especially prints) and calling it quits in 3-4 months shows a lack of planning and creativity, which the above stated names surely did.
HT Mini is full of ads but I don’t see any playing around in the designing, the writers are the same (you might end up seeing the same stories in the other supplements) and obviously there is nothing that it is contributing for – People On The Move.
Now that one brand (the new and the weak) has suspended its operation due to lack of fund and other is flourishing in the garden made of green currency (thanks to the stronger arms) I miss Frank Anne and it rings in my head…
“The weak die out and the strong will survive, and will live on forever”
PS – This blog is based on observation and has no commercial value to it. It is an opinion based write-up believing that citizens of India have – The Right To Express!
I also blog on – www.stylerug.net
You can leave me a message on watch4sav@gmail.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment