Dainik Jagran decided it needed to do something exceptional to stand out in the huge and bustling India newspaper market, according to Basant Rathore, vice president for strategy and business development at publisher Jagran Prakashan Ltd. 

“So we decided to move from being just a presenter of news and opinion to a mobilizer of opinion toward socially desirable goals that really worked with our readers,” he told INMA’s Brainsnack audience Sunday morning.

The newspaper identified seven principles or areas that leadership decided would define “the very soul of our brand” and provide the impetus for ongoing affirmative action. The areas ranged from environment, health and water conservation to eradicating poverty, empowering women and managing population,” Rathore said.

“So therefore, we’re going from talking to people to involving citizens,” he said. “From talking to really building relationships. From just promising things, to really good action on the ground that makes a difference. And going from individuals, to community; so while the world might talk of personalisation, we’re talking of communitisation.” 

Toward that end, Dainik Jagran created what it calls a “perpetual brand experience engine” intended to ensure that these core topics are consistently and regularly reflected within the newspaper’s pages. 

“In the last five years, we’ve conducted over 100 large campaigns … to create positive change,” Rathore said. “And results? It’s paid wonderful dividends for us. Our readership was 56.6 million in 2012. In 2017, we had 70.4 million readership, a growth of almost 14 million new readers in five years time.”

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