Summer Training

Report
A STUDY
Summer Training
Report
I take great pleasure to thank and acknowledgement the permission and allowance by
Mr. AnujChabbra, Team Leader, Outlook Group Magazines, Safdarjung Enclave, New
Delhi and his help and inspiration provided. Their guidance at every stage of the Project
enabled me to successfully complete this project which otherwise would not have been
possible without their constant encouragement and motivation, without the support it
was not possible for me to complete the report with fullest endeavor. I would also like
to
extend my thanks to my College Faculty Member Dr. VANI and all my colleagues in
the
Company who supported me in carry out my operation successfully and generously and
provided me vital information/ training regarding my project obje
PROJECT REPORT ON

“A Study on Business Strategy and Operating Strategy”

IN
1
 Outlook Publishing India Pvt. Ltd.

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF

MASTER OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

BY

NIKHIL PRAKASH MAHAJAN

ROLL NO 2020212

MMS-II (SEM III)

YEAR 2020- 2022

LALA LAJPATRAI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

MAHALAXMI, MUMBAI - 400034

SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT

2
 SUBMITTED BY

NIKHIL PRAKASH MAHAJAN

ROLL NO – 2020212

MMS – II (SEM III)

YEAR 2020- 2022

3
4
 Certificate

This is to certify that the project work titled “A Study on Business Strategy and
Operating Strategy” is a summer internship work carried out by Mr. Nikhil Prakash
Mahajan.

The project was completed for Outlook Publishing India Pvt. Ltd., under the guidance
of Ms. Sadhana Tiwari.

I further certify that the said work has not been submitted in the part or in full, to any
other University.

Date: 5th January, 2022

_____________________ __________________________

Dr. Priyadarshini Nidhan Dr. V.B. Angadi

Project Mentor Director

DECLARATION
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I, Mr. NIKHIL PRAKASH MAHAJN, student of Lala Lajpatrai Institute of Management of
MMS II (Semester III) hereby declare that I have completed the summer internship
project on “A Study on Business Strategy and Operating Strategy” with Outlook
Publishing India Pvt. Ltd. in the Academic year 2020 - 2022. The information
submitted is true & original to the best of my knowledge.

Name of the student

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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At the outset of this project, I would like to express my profound thanks to a few
people without whose help, completion of this project would not have been possible.

First and foremost, I would like to express sincere thanks to Outlook Publishing India
Pvt. Ltd. for giving me this opportunity to work with them.

The list is endless but to name a few special people, I would like to thank Sadhana
Tiwari from marketing department (Outlook) for being extremely supportive and
guiding me throughout my internship and giving me constant motivation and expert
advice.

I would also like to thank the entire Mentor team of Outlook for providing me their
precious time and making this internship a successful learning experience.

I am very grateful to Dr. Angadi, Director of Lala Lajpat Rai Institute of Management,
for giving me the opportunity to do this project in Outlook Publishing India Pvt. Ltd.

I would also like to thank Dr. Priyadarshani Nidan for being an excellent mentor and
helping me whenever I approached her.

Last but not the least; I take pride in thanking my parents Mr. Prakash Mahajan and
Mrs. Ujwala Mahajan, siblings and friends for their much-valued support.

7
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Print Media, as anyone can understand is one of the most important factors coming through in
the way a nation works. Newspapers, magazines, books etc. are ready by a lot of people and
are certainly one of the most trusted mediums of National and International News.

Outlook is part of the RAJAN RAHEJA GROUP which made its beginning in the
construction business and after building a huge presence in the realty market, the group
diversified laterally into manufacturing, financial services and media.

This study helps us to identify the potential buyers for digital magazine, to know advantages
of E-magazine and also helps to identify how pandemic has influenced buying behaviour of
customers. Magazines are rich sources of knowledge, news related to politics, sports,
literature, health, market, business, etc. These magazines are read by a lot of people and are
one of the most trusted mediums of National and international News.

The magazine division of Outlook consists of OUTLOOK ENGLISH, OUTLOOK MONEY,

OUTLOOK TRAVELLER, OUTLOOK HINDI, OUTLOOK BUSINESS and OUTLOOK
LUXURY TRAVELLER. Object of project includes:

Primary:

 Generation of sales for outlook’s magazines subscription.

 Analyze the client’s response affecting the level of sales and list out potential clients
in each segment.
 Operation Strategy
 To implement effective aggregate planning using chase strategy
 Logistics and supply chain strategy

Secondary:

 To extract my potential to the fullest and use it for the benefit of the company and
my own self by achieving a remarkable sales target.

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 To work on improving convincing skills.

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Target given to us was RS.20000 subscription for a period of 30 days and the process used for
selling subscription includes targeting customer, gathering information of clients.

Giving the consumer what they want (and the research has the wish list of things that the
consumer would like to see in a magazine subscription) may not always be practical or
economically viable for publishers. Yet to ignore completely what they want, which same
publishers seen inclined to do, is commercial suicide.

So there is an opportunity to turn subscription from a cold, business transaction into a real
relationship from a “contract” into a “services”. When that happens, then loyalty flows
automatically. That is the real subscription challenges for the industry.

The majority of non-subscriber has not actively rejected subscribing, but simply need more
convincing.

This study helps us to identify the potential buyers for digital magazine, to know advantages
of E-magazine and also helps to identify how pandemic has influenced buying behavior of
customers. Magazines are rich sources of knowledge, news related to politics, sports,
literature, health, market, business, etc. These magazines are read by a lot of people and are
one of the most trusted mediums of National and international News.

In addition, gift subscription offers significant growth opportunities, but consumer awareness
of them appears to be relatively low and gifting process could be made to be more of an
“event” and to give the recipient more choice and freedom in their little selection. Moreover,
it was concluded that there are a lot of potential subscribers who need just a little extra
something to make them subscribe.

Core competency of outlook is highly responsive supply chain. It consists of various network.
The product and process matrix is implemented by giving an example of dyadic and triadic
relationship in outlook’s supply chain.

Aggregate planning process will be implemented by using chase strategy.

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INDEX

Sr. No Topic Page No

1 Title 1
2 Acknowledgement 2
3 Certificate 3
4 Executive Summary 5
5 Introduction of the company 6
6 Company Background of Outlook India 7
7 SWOT Analysis of the company 15
8 Functional Analysis of the company 19
9 Data Analysis 21
10 Lessons learnt 28
11 Recommendations 29
12 Conclusion 32
13 Annexure Questionnaire of outlook magzines 33
14 Bibliography 40

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In today’s competitive world Management Interns have to put rigorous hard work to survive
in the business world. They should be well groomed and well acquainted with functioning of
the corporate world.

The two months Industrial Training is an integral part of business Program, aims to provide
the business students with an adequate exposure of the various operation that are taking
place in an Industry.

I, as a management intern was engaged with OUTLOOK Group, Mumbai. I worked in a

Subscription Division for two months. It was a very educative and professional
experience and thereby gaining a practical overview of the corporate work culture.

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Introduction: -

A Ranjan Raheja Group

Mr. Rajan Raheja is the owner of OUTLOOK group

Date of Establishment: October 1995

Headquarter Address: AB-10, S.J. Enclave,

New Delhi - 110029, India

Ph no:-011-26191421

E-Mail Address: [email protected]

Website Name: -www.outlookindia.com

Branches: Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad

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Registered Offices Of The Company:-

o New Delhi AB-10 Safdarjung Enclave, Tel: 011-33505536 / 33505537 / 33505562

/33505653 / 33505667, Fax: 011-26177416;

o Mumbai: Windsor, 7th Floor, CST Road, Kalina, Santacruz East, Mumbai-400098, Tel:
022-67382222, Fax: 022-67382233;

o Kolkata:67/B, Ballygunge Circular Road, Block-B, Flat-5B, 2nd Floor, Kolkata-

700019, Tel: 033-33545400/5401, Fax: 033-22823593

o Chennai: New# 28/1, Monteith Road, Egmore, Chennai- 600008, Tel: 044-33506300,
Fax: 044-33506327;

o Bangalore:308, Regency Enclave, 4, Magarath Road, Bangalore- 560025, Tel: 080-

33236118/03/12, Fax: 080-2558281

o Hyderabad: 3rd Floor, Mahaveer Road, AC Guards Masab Tank Hyderabad-500

o 004, Tel: 040-23371144 23375776, Fax: 040-23375676
o Hyderabad: 3rd Floor, Mahaveer Road, AC Guards Masab Tank Hyderabad-500004,
Tel: 040-23371144 23375776, Fax: 040-2337567

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Nature of the company

Outlook is an Indian weekly and monthly newsmagazine in publication since October

1995. Mr Vinod Mehta has been the founding editor-in-chief. Since its inception,
investigative reporting has been the forte of the magazine. Outlook has also spawned the
specialized magazines Outlook Traveller, Outlook Money, Mand the Hindi Outlook.
Outlook has been famous for many of its sensational stories like the "Kargil Bungle “and the
"Match Fixing controversy" but many view its editorial tilt as being against the right like the
RSS , often highlighting opposing sections in negative light. Outlook is part of the Rajan
Raheja Group which made its beginning in the construction business and after building a
huge presence in the realty market, the Group diversified laterally into manufacturing,
financial services and media.

Outlook consists of Outlook, Outlook Money, Outlook Traveller, Outlook Sapthahik,

Outlook Business and Delhi City Limits. It has recently taken over the Sales
&marketing of Newsweek, an international newsmagazine and Marie Claire, an
international women’s magazine. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine has been instrumental in
providing wide range ofnews and information. It also has magazines including
Outlook Money, OutlookTraveller and Outlook Saptahik under its umbrella. As a part
of web media, it haslaunched websites like outlookindia.com, outlooktraveller.com and
outlookmoney.com. It caters to a base of 1.5 million readers in India and sells more than
11.2 million copies annually.

The observations of the Markets studied for the sale of Newsweek was that Time and
Newsweek have a similar sales pattern and the POP display was maximum from the Outlook
Group.

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Vision and Mission :

 To leverage our unique combination of packaging capabilities to reduce complexity

for brand owners.

 Toidentify new
segments and listing out
potential customers.
 Make strategy to
approach them and
create awareness.
 Generate sales for
outlook group
magazines by
increasing
 To identify new segments and listing out potential customers.
 Make strategy to approach them and create awareness.

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  Generate sales for outlook group magazines by increasing circulation in these
segments.
 To check the process of delivering the magazine to the subscriberwithin 25 days of
subscription.
 To improve readership profile

Core Values :-

 WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE

 WE INVEST IN RELATIONSHIPS
.
 WE DEMONSTRATE EXCELLENCE

 WE VALUE INTEGRITY

 WE LEVERAGE TEAMWORK

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PRODUCT RANGE OF THE COMPANY:-

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19
OUTLOOK: In October 1995, group company hath way investment private limited
entered in the print media. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine headed by Vinod Mehta,
galvanised a sluggish market reeling under the impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly carved
a significant niche for itself among discerning readers who value its in-depth, investigative
reporting as well as its stylish visual format. Known to be fiercely independent,
Outlook has shaken the establishment on events ranging from Kargil to Kashmir to cricket,
sensitised the reading public to important issues like big dams, education and
gender, and provided an unremitting focus on South Asian geopolitics. Today, Outlook is the
preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in India, and sells more than 11.2 million copies
over the year.

OUTLOOK MONEY: In July 1998, the Group launched "Intelligent Investor" re-
christened as "OUTLOOK MONEY" as of 30-Nov-2002, India's first personal finance
magazine, which offers sound strategies for the lay investor, especially the growing
segment of salaried middle and upper middle-class and self-employed professionals. Its
message is clear and simple: 'Invest well, borrow wisely, spend smartly'. Evidently, that
message has gone down well: the magazine sold upwards of 1,00,000 copies a
fortnight within a year. One of its distinguishing characteristics is that about 93 per cent of
readers retain all past issues of Outlook Money.

OUTLOOK TRAVELER: Outlook Traveller is a monthly magazine from the stable of Outlook
Publishing India Pvt. Limited and the only significant magazine aimed at the Travel reader.
Every month since June 2001 OT has introduced readers to the wonders of unknown
destinations while also encouraging travellers to take a fresh look at familiar places.
Whether people are planning a holiday, or simply dreaming of one, OutlookTraveler
continues to take them closer

OUTLOOK BUSINESS:-, in the true tradition of the OUTLOOK group, has as its aim noless an
objective than the complete rewrite of what has been tried by the way of
business journalism in the magazine space. Targeted at decision makers, the product
focuses on important business issues and developments with a view to providing clear
takeaways – impact and implications for decision-making. A holistic approach ensuresall
influences on business: economic, political, and markets driven are examined.

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OUTLOOK GEO: - Its India debut with GEO, its premium science and geography magazine.
The magazine was launched under a licensing arrangement with the OUTLOOK Group in
India and positioned as family magazine. The OUTLOOK Group says that there is a big
market for knowledge magazines in India and GEO will help the Group in increasing its
market share.

OUTLOOK CARRIER: - It gives you an all around perspective on the latest career
trends, fresh avenues, admission alerts, careers, courses and updates your general
knowledge with the literacy rate of different states and courses offered by colleges in
these states. This magazine contains well researched information for the youth and young
professionals, which may help them in taking decisions related to their careers.

OUTLOOK PEOPLE:-The OUTLOOK Group has reached an agreement with U.S. based
publishing company Time Inc. to bring ‘People’, one of its most successful and popular
editorial products to India in 2008. Time Inc. which is the largest publisher in the U.S. and
U.K, redefined personality journalism in 1974 with ‘People’ magazine and its unique mix of
news and lifestyle features. Every week the ‘People’ brand reaches 43 million readers with
latest news, exclusive interviews and in-depth reporting on the most compelling people of
our time..

MARIE CLAIRE:-MC is French magazine and being promoted by different group in different
countries and in India it is being promoted by OUTLOOK Group with Indian
edition, best magazine for those who want to update themselves with latest fashion &
trends. Mostly women and girls, who are linked with fashion, subscribe this
magazine. MC is considered as women brand with a punch line, ‘let me be me’.

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 Size of Organization Turnover of the company:-

 Over Rs. 86 billion ($ 2.1 billion)

 Total capital employed:-Over Rs. 57 billion ($ 1.4 billion)

 Total Employees:-19,00020

 Market Share of the Magazine:-

 India Today – 15 %

 Outlook English – 4%

 Fortune – 1.40%T

 he Week – 2.48 %

 People with whom we interacted during the summer training:-

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 To improve readership
profile
 Sadhana Tiwari - Assistant Manager

 Pritam - Guider

 Sources of Data Collection:-

There are 2 sources of data collection,

i.e. Primary Source and Secondary Source of data.

1. Primary source: Data was collected through questionnaire; The questionnaires were

carefully designed by taking into account the parameters of the study.

2. Secondary source: Secondary data source used for data collection were media. It is the

data which has been collected by individual or someone else for the purpose of other than

those of particular research study. or in other words we can say that secondary data is the

data used previously for the analysis and the resultsare undertaken for the next process.

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S.W.O.T Analysis of Outlook India:-

Outlook India Strengths :

 It is one of the largest selling magazines in India with a circulation of more than 1.5
million copies.

 The parent company operates several other successful magazines such as Outlook
Business, People, Outlook Traveller, Career 360, News Weekly etc.

 The parent company has a good brand presence in the Indian media industry.

 Outlook has its own strong distribution channel

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Outlook India Weaknesses:-

Here are the weaknesses in the Outlook India SWOT Analysis:

 1.Inspite of being one of the leading magazines in India, it is not very popular
internationally.

 2.Competition from other free internet media has decreased its brand loyalty.

Outlook India Opportunities:-

Following are the Opportunities in Outlook India SWOT Analysis:

 The magazine can increase its circulation by offering special subscription

offers to colleges and offices.

 By making good use of the virtual and social media space, the magazine can
increase its popularity.

 It can leverage upon the vast media experience of its parent company.

Outlook India Threats:-

The threats in the SWOT Analysis of Outlook India are as mentioned:

 A number of international brands are coming to India which will pose stiff
competition.

 With the advent of the internet the scope of print media is declining.

 Many publishing houses in India are coming up with weekly magazines that
have the potential to steal readership.

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  Outlook India Competition:-

Competitors:-

 Home magazine competitors :-

 Outlook Money- Money Today

 Outlook Business - Business Economy,Business Today

 Outlook traveller- Travel Today

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 Outlook Hindi - Saptahik

 Outlook profit - No competitors

 Outlook (English) -India Today

 Marie claire cosmo -femina,new woman,vogue

 News week times (WORLD‘S LEADING INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE)

 Outlook (english) india today

WORK PROFILE:-

As a management trainee I joined “OUTLOOK MAGZINES“Mumbai ,Maharashtra and I

was given the profile of a ”Sales and Marketing Intern”

I worked as marketing in sales intern where I had to perform various tasks assigned
to me. My first task was to do sales of work Rs.20000 by selling subscriptions of
magazines and I achieved the goal of doing the task by Rs.21787. Then I then had
to do presentations learn about brand management and product management as

27
well I learn more things about sales management tricks and tacks. Learnt about how
to face people in order to to sell your product and so on. And I was rewarded by
Certificate of Excellence by the company. My profile was to do cold calling and to
promote the magazine's so that the number of leadership will increase.

Functional Analysis of the Company :

 OBJECTIVES:-

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  To study customer satisfaction level of outlook magazines.

  To understand the concept of customer satisfaction.

  To identify new segments and listing out potential customers.

  To check the process of delivering the magazine to the subscriber within 25 days of
subscription.

  To analyze & interpret the deal on bond

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FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENTS OF THE COMPANY:-

Marketing is very necessary for every organization. It helps organizations in determining

what product and services may interest customers and also strategies for use in product
development, sales and promotions.

The Project “STUDY OF OUTLOOK SUBSCRIBERS’ SATISFACTION” is an attempt to

find out the factors and causes which affect the degree of satisfaction among the
customers of Outlook Magazines. In this tough time of competition magazines industry
is going a long way in developing, formulating and implementing promotional strategies
to cope up with this tough competition. Though there are many aspects which can be
improvised in the services of Outlook magazine. Strategies are formulated not only keep
up with cut throat competition but also to meet the highly volatile consumer preferences.

There are several factors which influences the purchase. These factors may be internal
and external as well. Internal factors include perception towards the thing, knowledge
about product, purchaser’s attitude, lifestyle, motivational status etc. Motivation is the
driving force which comes into play when customer has better experience with theproduct.
This leads to the repurchase decision of the customer. Whereas external
factors include culture, group or peer influence, the situation in which purchase is made
etc.Questionnaires were prepared and market survey was conducted and then evaluation of
primary data is done.

The analysis revealed that there are some factors e.g. the customer perceived value
and value preposition when meets leads to customer satisfaction .If that is consistent
then leads to customer loyalty .That is the key factor of customer retention etc. which
affect the purchase of magazines of Outlook group.

It also revealed the fact that there is a small opportunity of improvement in the area of
quality of content and promotional schemes. The customers agreed upon the fact that
gifts are good in quality but they added that these promotional schemes can be more
attractive

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DATA ANALYSIS

Question 1# Have you ever renewed the subscription of Outlook magazine?

Ans.

Subscription
27%

Yes
No-

73%

SUBSCRIPTION

RESPONSE PERCENTAGE

YES 27%

NO 73%

TOTAL 100

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INTERPRTATION; Only 27% subscribers renewed their subscription, rest 73% has never renewed

their subscription. Which means that somewhere there is less motivation for the rebuying behavior.

Question 2# Have you ever used the customer care service of Outlook ?

Ans.

Service
19%

yes
No

81%

SERVICE

RESPONSE PERCENTAGE

YES 81 %

NO 19%

TOTAL 100
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 INTERPRTATION:-

81 % Consumers or subscribers have used the customer care service. It means that huge number

of customers have some or the other Query. That gives an insight that the service delivery is at

question and certainly needs some improvement.

Question 3# How would you rate the experience of Query solution of customer care service of

Outlook?

Ans.

customer care service

10% 5%
Excellent
43% Good
21% Satisfactory
Poor
Very poor
21%

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 RESPONSE PERCENTAGE
Excellent 43%

Good 21%
Satisfactory 21%

Poor 10%
Very poor 5%

TOTAL 100%
CUSTOMER CARE SERVICE

INTERPTATION:-

The customer care service is excellent for only 43% subscribers. Almost 20 % said good and

satisfactory. This gives an insight that up to some extent services are good, but when carefully

observed it came out that few queries solution needs some time to get solved which also become a

reason for dissatisfaction among the customers who find this service poor or very poor

Question 4# How would you rate the delivery service of Outlook magazines at your place?

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Ans.

Delivery Service
16% 20%
Excellent
19% Good
Satisfactory
25% Poor
20% Very poor

DELIVERY SERVICE

REPONCES PERCENTAGE

Excellent 20%
Good 25%
INTERPTATI
Satisfactory 20%
ON:-
Poor 19%
Very poor 16%
Product delivery
TOTAL 100%
service has got

mixed response.

Those customers who got their magazines and gifts items at time are satisfied or given the rating

good or excellent. But the customers who got the magazines or gift item one day late also has

given the rating as Poor and very poor for those who didn’t get any magazine or sometimes

encountered no gifts. .

Question 5# How would you rate the Quality content of the Outlook magazine?

Ans.

35
 Quality content
22% 2%
Excellent
41%
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Very poor

35%

QUALITY CONTENT

RESPONSE PERCENTAGE

Excellent 41%
Good 35%

Satisfactory 22%
Poor 2%

Very poor Nil

TOTAL 100%

INTERPTATION:-

Outlook is a very big brand in itself. Any brand becomes popular for its Quality and fulfillment of the

perceived value of the brand. As there are so many competitors in the media sector, this response

for Outlook is really appreciative. 41% of respondents responded as the Quality of Outlook is

excellent. It means still Outlook is giving great competition to its competitors.

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 RESPONSE PERCENTAGE

Excellent 35%
Good 39%

Satisfactory 15%
Poor 10%

Very poor 1%
Question 6# How TOTAL 100% would you rate the

competitiveness of our Outlook magazines with other magazines, in the sense do they represent

the best value for the total cost of your subscription ownership?

ANS.

Competitiveness
10% 1% Excellent
15% 35%
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Very poor
39%

COMPETITIVENES

INTERPTATION:-

37
When surveyed most of the magazine readers suggested that the Performance of Outlook is

excellent or good or satisfactory because the problems like Query Solution or delayed product

delivery is the issue with all the known and renowned magazines or newspapers. It means with all

the above covered issues, Outlook has maintained its position because it give and satisfies the

content need of the readers

Q7. How would you rate Outlook’s total Quality and service management to ensure complete

customer satisfaction?

ANS.

RESPONSE PERCENTAGE
Excellent 16%

Good 39% QUALITY &

Satisfactory 31%
SERVICE
Poor 10%
Very poor 4%

TOTAL 100%

38
INTERPTATION:-

This data provides the conclusion that still there is a lot of scope to improvise for Outlook though it is

performing well in the market and penetrating very rapidly. It could be a market leader concentrates

few aspects of customer satisfaction .Still 39% of respondents responding it as good is not bad at all.

 LESSON LEARNT FROM OUTLOOK :-

 SUMMARY OF LEARNING EXPERIENCE:-

1. I got to know about the atmosphere of the organization.

2. The working condition of the company.

3. Code of conduct in a company and its rules and regulations.

4. Process and procedure of working.

5. Learned to take orders by superiors.

6. Way of communicating right thing at right time to subordinates and to superiors.

7. Coordination at work.

8. Creating strategy on daily basis to achieve my daily target and make the job

easier

9. Coordinate with everyone to achieve the target.

10. Creating hygienic atmosphere to work.

11. Learned how to work in stress.

12. Flexible towards changing working environment.

12. Ability to keep time/cost factor under control

13. It helped me in improving my communication skills

14. I learned how to present in front of the customers

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Effective promotional scheme – a strategy for consumer motivation

It is important to motivate the consumer to subscribe for the magazine for boosting

the sales and its obvious that most of the consumers will not get motivated unless

and until they get what they want. From the market survey it was able to identify that

the motivating factors are the gifts provided along with the subscriptions and

according to most of the consumers a good gifts are one which have good brand

value associated with it and those which offer better utility.

2. Offline referral marketing – a strategy for customer or subscriber motivation

Referral marketing can be effectively used to improve the subscription sales. The

existing customer can be motivated to refer to their friends, relatives etc. to subscribe

for the magazine by means of exciting and attractive gifts as incentives. The

magazine should provide Business reply cards exclusive for existing subscriber

along with subscriber’s copies during the magazine delivery so that they can refer

their friends and relatives for magazine subscription. The business reply card should

offer the facility to be filled with at least ten references. Subscribers should be able to

send them free of cost. Now these subscribers can be provided with attractive gifts.

40
3. Customer retention

It is a normal saying that customer acquisition is good, retention is better. This is

because a customer retained is equal to five new customers as the money spent for

acquiring a customer is calculated to be five times the money spent to retain a

customer. From the information obtained from Outlook, if was identified that Outlook

does nothing for customer retention. Outlook needs to formulate and implement

customer retention and loyalty programs to retain the customers.

 Greet the customers with exciting gifts during special occasions

 Sell the subscription renewal at discount

 Auto renewal of subscription

 Allow grace period for subscription expiry

 Send loyalty gifts

 Organize entertainment events for subscribers

 Organize get – together

 Offer free Medical claim/Insurance Policy

4. Improvement in magazines – As per customer satisfaction

From the market survey it was revealed that the strengths of Outlook Magazine are

Promotional Schemes and unbiased reporting. Its weaknesses are its Content

quality, Paper quality and Print quality so it should work on it to increase the

customer’s satisfaction. If the product is able to satisfy customers in its core product

41
attributes, then the customer will be tend to be loyal as their expectations are

fulfilled.

So to improve customer loyalty and thereby increase voluntary sales outlook

magazine has to work on its weaknesses as expected by the customers of the

magazine Since the quality of content and coverage are subjective in nature, Outlook

needs to identify what are weaknesses of the current contents and coverage of the

magazine as well as the customers’ expectations about them. For this Outlook

should go for detailed survey and customers feedback so that it can understand the

customers’ expectations as far as content and coverage of the magazine are

concerned. Once the customer expectation is identified Outlook need to restructure

the magazine by implementing the customer requirements and demands in order to

improve their satisfaction level which will in turn boost the magazine as well as

subscription sales..

42
CONCLUSION

1. Encourage Face-to-Face Dealings

2. Respond to Messages Promptly & Keep Your Clients Informed

3. Be Friendly and Approachable

4. Have a Clearly-Defined Customer Service Policy

5. Attention to Detail

6. Anticipate Your Client's Needs & Go Out Of Your Way to Help Them Out

7. Honor Your Promises

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 ANNEXURE QUESTIONNAIRE

OF

OUTLOOK MAGAZINES

Customer Name: ………………………………………….. Date:…………………………..

Sex: ………………………………………. Customer contact:

Age: ……………………………………….. …………………………………

Profession: ………………………………. …………………………………

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Qualification:…………………………….. …………………………………

We would be grateful if you could spare a few minutes to complete this

Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire to help us ensure that our standard of

customer care exceeds expectations wherever possible.

NOTE: This test is taken for the purpose of research and the information given

by you will be kept confidential. Hence give your answer without hesitation

Questionnaire :

1. Which of the following magazines have you read?

ANS. .......... Outlook ………… Money ……………. Profit

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……... Business ……….... Out look Hindi ……………. People

……... Traveller …………. Career 360 …………… Lounge

……... Geo …………. Marie Claire …………... News Week

……... Business Week

2. . Which magazine are you currently reading of Outlook?

ANS. . .......... Outlook ………… Money ……………. Profit

……... Business ……….... Out look Hindi ……………. People

……... Traveller …………. Career 360 …………… Lounge

……... Geo …………. Marie Claire

3. Which other magazine do you read?

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ANS. ……………………………… ……………………………..

……………………………… ……………………………….

………………………………. ………………………………

4. Which is your most favorite magazine of Outlook?

ANS. …………………………………

5.Which is your most favorite magazine of all the magazines you know or you

have read yet? Why?(Describe briefly)

ANS. ………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………

6. What is the means of purchase for the magazine of your interest?

ANS.…….. News paper vendor ………… Book shop …………….

Subscription

7.Does News paper vendor give you any consession on buying magazines

from him?

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ANS. ………Yes ……..No

8.If your answer of Question No.7 is Yes , then is that consession is more than

or equal to or less than the subscription charges of the magazines?

ANS ………..More ……………..Equal …………………….Less

9.Have you ever subscribed any of the Outlook Magazine?

ANS. ……………….yes ……………………no

10. If your answer of Question No.9 is Yes , then how many times you have

renewed the subscription?

ANS. …………..Never

…………..Specify the counts of renewal

Please tick the appropriate box to indicate your degree of satisfaction.

Where

1.Excellent…………

2.Good……………..

3.Satisfactory……..

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4.Poor……………….

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50
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Referred Books:

1. Solomon, Michael R., “Consumer Behavior-Buying 11 th edition, Having and Being 4 th edition”, 2009

Pearson Education Inc.,

2. Malhotra, Naresh K., Dash, Satyabhusan. 6 thedition , “Marketing Reseach,An applied

orientation”,2010,Pearson Education Inc.,

3.Cooper & Schindler 8th edition, “Business Research”

4.Belch George 5th edition, Belch Michael 7th edition, “Advertising and promotion”

5. Kotler Phillip 3rd edition, “Marketing Management”

Web Site:

www.outlookgroup.com

www.outlookindia.com

www.outlook magazines.com

www.Delhioutlook magazines.com

www.outlooktraveler.com

www.outlookbussiness.com

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www.outlookmoney.com

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