This could be a blasphemous assertion for some, but I feel that ToI is another iconic Indian brand that does not get celebrated enough. In my opinion it is also an iconic youth brand! One can (perhaps rightly) have a moral/ethical take on some of their practices in blurring the lines between marketing and journalism, but as far as the marketing story goes, it is the stuff legends are made of.
Here is a 160 year old brand, which till about 15 years ago was struggling on all counts- small business, category under threat from 24 hour news channels, management mired in investigations, and perceptions of an outdated brand.
And under those testing circumstances, it demonstrates prescience of a rare kind in betting on the younger, modern India and goes on to reinvent the whole business and takes on the lions share (according to some estimates, ToI's profits are nearly 5 times the next 4 competitors put together!) of that growth.
Not only the growth, but even on parameters like customer service, operational efficiency, and sheer cosmopolitanism of the product, ToI has no alternative as of today. Its content is most usable and visually it is the most appealing. It also doesn't come across has having an agenda of its own and lets you be comfortable in the place you are by putting up most sides of the story. I will be surprised if there is any other newspaper brand in the world that has demonstrated marketing prowess of the kind ToI has. There is a lot of savvy hard work behind the creation of this juggernaught and unfortunately I have seen only ToI bashers but hardly anyone who recognizes the monumental marketing achievement of that brand.
All the criticism about them may be valid. Yep, the journalism is passion-less (even on Cricket ;0)), and occasionally some initiative may violate our puritanical sensibilities, but one needs to give the devil its due on these counts.
And till I see an alternative that is even remotely as successful as ToI, I am hesitant to put the blame of reducing journalistic standards at the doorsteps of ToI alone. I feel somewhere we see our own idealized self in a brand like ToI- refined, modern, youthful, liberal, ambiguous on politics, highly materialistic etc.
As someone sagely put it- a newspaper is the nation having a conversation with itself.
Here is a 160 year old brand, which till about 15 years ago was struggling on all counts- small business, category under threat from 24 hour news channels, management mired in investigations, and perceptions of an outdated brand.
And under those testing circumstances, it demonstrates prescience of a rare kind in betting on the younger, modern India and goes on to reinvent the whole business and takes on the lions share (according to some estimates, ToI's profits are nearly 5 times the next 4 competitors put together!) of that growth.
Not only the growth, but even on parameters like customer service, operational efficiency, and sheer cosmopolitanism of the product, ToI has no alternative as of today. Its content is most usable and visually it is the most appealing. It also doesn't come across has having an agenda of its own and lets you be comfortable in the place you are by putting up most sides of the story. I will be surprised if there is any other newspaper brand in the world that has demonstrated marketing prowess of the kind ToI has. There is a lot of savvy hard work behind the creation of this juggernaught and unfortunately I have seen only ToI bashers but hardly anyone who recognizes the monumental marketing achievement of that brand.
All the criticism about them may be valid. Yep, the journalism is passion-less (even on Cricket ;0)), and occasionally some initiative may violate our puritanical sensibilities, but one needs to give the devil its due on these counts.
And till I see an alternative that is even remotely as successful as ToI, I am hesitant to put the blame of reducing journalistic standards at the doorsteps of ToI alone. I feel somewhere we see our own idealized self in a brand like ToI- refined, modern, youthful, liberal, ambiguous on politics, highly materialistic etc.
As someone sagely put it- a newspaper is the nation having a conversation with itself.
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