How is the marketing of the content of a newspaper different from marketing any other service or, say, an FMCG product?
A. Unlike a lot of FMCG products, which are not as eloquent in terms of packaging, marketing and so on, a newspaper is extremely eloquent. Beyond a point, a shampoo is a shampoo, a cola is a cola. In the case of an FMCG product, the opportunities for genuine product differentiation – that the consumer can feel and see in the absence of any advertising – are limited. Unless the advertising points out aspects such as ‘ZPTO’ or ‘more body to the hair’, it is unlikely that the consumer would be able to make out those product nuances by herself. In the case of a newspaper, the newspaper is its own best advertising – whether it is the design, its font, the product speaks for itself. The content is at the centre of everything you do, much more than it is in the case of an FMCG product.
