Report

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

MARKETING PLAN OF GEO

TELEVISION

Group Member:-
Waseem Sajjad
Syeda Muntaha Naeem Submitted to:-
Mubashir Siddiqui
Hamad Waseem SIR KHALID JAMIL
Muhammad Ibrahim
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: ............................................................................................................................................. 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................... 4
History of Formation of GEO Network....................................................................................................................... 5
GEO TELEVISION NETWORK ....................................................................................................................................... 7
INTRODUCING GEO TV:.............................................................................................................................................. 7
TV channels ................................................................................................................................................................ 7
SITUATION ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................................. 9
MARKET SUMMARY: .................................................................................................................................................. 9
NEW MARKET TRENDS:.............................................................................................................................................. 9
POTENTIAL GROWTH: ................................................................................................................................................ 9
POSITIONING: ............................................................................................................................................................ 9
GEO BRANDING: ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
OBJECTIVES: ............................................................................................................................................................. 11
GEO NEWS: .............................................................................................................................................................. 11
GEO ENTERTAINMENT: ............................................................................................................................................ 11
SWOT ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................................... 12
TARGET MARKET ...................................................................................................................................................... 14
VISION AND MISSION............................................................................................................................................... 15
MARKETING STRATEGY ............................................................................................................................................ 16
MARKETING MIX: ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
DETERMINANTS OF SERVICE QUALITY ..................................................................................................................... 18
................................................................................................................................................................................. 18
MARKETING RESEARCH............................................................................................................................................ 19
CONTROL AND IMPLEMENTATION: ......................................................................................................................... 19
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION: ..................................................................................................................... 20
QUESTIONNARES AND ANSWERS: ........................................................................................................................... 21
Answers: .................................................................................................................................................................. 21
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
In the name of Allah the Benevolent and the Merciful.

We would like to thank our course instructor Mr. Khalid Jamil for his continued guidance
in teaching us the norms of Marketing Management. We are grateful to him for he gave us the
courage to achieve our goal and to accomplish our tasks.

We are also thankful to Mr. Ahmer Ali Manager Marketing of GEO. We are very
appreciative to these people who gave us their precious time and provided us with relevant
information.

We would also like to express our deepest gratitude to all those who have directly and indirectly
guided us in writing this report; I have no valuable words to express my thanks, my heart is still
full of the favors received from every person.
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Geo network is a subsidiary of Jung Media Group whose CEO is Mir IBARAHIM REHMAN. It
comprises of a set of four different channels, namely, Geo News, Geo entertainment, Geo Super,
AAG. The programs are distributed through a cable network. The main product through which
Geo earns it revenue is airtime. The marketing department is divided into two departments i.e.
product marketing which deals with programs and events while the other is trade marketing
which deals with airtime. Therefore, this marketing plan mainly concerns with the marketing
strategies related to airtime. The market of electronic media is expanding with increasing speed,
causing an intense competition among the industry participants. It is a Private limited Company
and has 100% internal shares (family shares only). This is part of the Jang Group of Companies,
the biggest and strongest group in media of the Private Sector. It is basically a family business
they have no external shares. Its revenues are generated only through sale of commercial
airtime. (Advertising on the channel).So far Geo has not reached even its break-even point and
have not earned any profits yet. It is not actually a manufacturing business rather a service
business that generates cable TV channels.
 History of Formation of GEO Network

1966 Letter to the President of Pakistan asking him to permit private sector television to
combat the propaganda war

Sep 1990 First feasibility/research paper on TV potential in Pakistan completed for GEO
followed by national and International study tour

Dec 1991 Made first pilot for first new show for GEO, then named "Newsreel"

Dec 1995 Transponder leased/reserved for GEO on Asia Sat 1

Aug 1996 Due to political confrontation GEO launch postponed

1998 First advertisement in all major newspapers of Pakistan looking for television talent
and announcing GEO for the first time

July 2001 Largest HR recruitment campaign launched

Nov 2001 BBC Technologies hired as technical consultants for GEO

15-Nov 2001 Core team of the channel is established to chalk out policies, strategy and
implementation plan

2-Dec 2001 String of nationwide interviews, consisting 25 cities, begin as recruitment

campaign attracts attention of 40,000 applicants

20-Dec 2001 Contracts with builders, key vendors, technology partners,

transponder and Dubai Media City are finalized

5-Jan 2002 Construction of state-of-the-art HQ studios and offices begins

10-Jan 2002 Construction begins at Dubai Media City for offices and transmission studios

1-Feb 2002 A senior team of int'l consultants lands in Pakistan to complete recce for training

1-Mar 2002 the initial batch of 200 candidates for training are recruited

1-Mar 2002 Television equipment worth millions begin to arrive in Pakistan for the training
process

1-Apr 2002 Training by 16 foreign producers, reporters, writers and camera operators starts!
1-Jun 2002 First batch of trainees graduate are sent to different areas of Pakistan equipped
with necessary recording equipment

14-Jun 2002 Bomb blast at US consulate takes place, about a kilometer from training camp.
The under training news team is put to the test with 4 hours of non-stop test transmission.
Exclusive footage makes headlines across the world. BBC shows GEO footage. BBC producer
visits training camp and commends GEO team for excellent coverage.

Jul 30, 2002 A team of senior journalists takes over Dubai office to prepare for test
transmission

5-Aug 2002 First signals from satellite are tested

14-Aug 2002 Geo's test transmission starts at 12:00 noon PST with 24-hour news content;
frequency kept secret

15-Aug 2002 Cable Operators start tuning into secret frequency and begin airing GEO's test
transmission without channel's consent

5-Sep 2002 Geo team begins nationwide 5-day tour marketing the channel to cable
operators, introducing them to the channel and getting their feedback

5-Sep 2002 Signs of brand power begin to emerge as GEO's logo is copied and imitated by
local brands i.e. GEO Biryani, GEO Water and GEO Washing Powder

11-Sep 2002 First advertisement announcing GEO frequency

30-Sep 2002 Construction of state-of-the-art, HQ and offices completed. Team moves in

from training camp

11-Jan 2003 Launching ceremony of infotainment and entertainment programs, with

duration of 2 hours per day, is held at Mohatta Palace in Karachi

11-Mar 2003 London and New York Bureaus made operational

20-Mar 2003 Geo and CNN sign partnership contract for collaboration

7-Apr 2003 Geo begins transmission in UAE through E-Vision

14-Aug 2003 Geo completes its 12 months of non-stop on air transmission

 GEO TELEVISION NETWORK
GEO started its test transmission on August 14, 2002.

“The National association of Broadcasters (USA). World’s largest association of

broadcasters has honored GEO with the “Award for Quality” declaring it an international
standard television channel.” To build a reputable identity in a cluster of different channels
in just a period of four years was not an easy task. Geo is known for its unique entertainment,
hot talk shows, truth revealing news and informative programs.

INTRODUCING GEO TV:

GEO TV was established in May 2002. Test transmission started on 14th August 2002 on
the PAS 10 digital satellite. Regular transmission started on 1st October 2002. Geo TV is
the first South Asian Urdu language channel to provide content comparable with excellent
television broadcasters. Geo is the fastest growing TV Channel in Pakistan with ratings
exceeding all satellite delivered TV channels in the market. Geo has the widest distribution
on cable systems in Pakistan with 100% carriage within 90 days of launch.

It launched the first interactive infotainment programs in Pakistan, engaging and

empowering the viewer. Consistently scoops all rival broadcasters on major news events.
Besides seven bureaus in Pakistan, a robust international network feeds live content from
New York, Washington and London. Intelligent Media Consultant has given formal multi-
disciplinary training to 500 members of GEO staff including all producers, reporters, writers,
camerapersons and editors.
Its member team comprising of CNN, BBC producers, cinematographers, editors and
presenters were split in Dubai and Karachi for 5 months to complete the training

TV channels
It also runs many TV channels as part of the Geo Television Network starting with its flagship
channel Geo TV in 2002. It has since launched several other channels in which the news, music
and sports sectors are targeted. Their broadcast channel services are provided to the viewers
in the UK, the US, Canada, and the Middle East as well as in Pakistan.

Geo News - a Pakistan based Urdu language news channel

AAG TV - launched in September 2006 by the Geo Network, focusing on programs for the youth
in Pakistan.

GEO Super - (sports channel), launched by Geo Network in September 2006. Programming
content includes variety of sports from around the world, focusing mainly on cricket and field
hockey with a secondary focus on boxing, football (soccer), and tennis.
Geo Entertainment - a Pakistan based entertainment channel showing drama serials, musical
programs, feature movies, primarily in the Urdu language.

Geo Tez - a Pakistan based comedy channel

Geo Kahani - a Pakistan based channel devoted exclusively to drama serials.

 SITUATION ANALYSIS
Geo is entering in its next year of operation it has been well received, and marketing will be key
to the development of the brand and product awareness.

MARKET SUMMARY:

NEW MARKET TRENDS:

Market is heading towards more and more advancements in technology, foreign
collaborations and fierce competition. There are many channels coming up and the good thing
is that, besides News genre, other new genres are also being tapped like fashion, kids, English
entertainment etc.

This will, obviously, help the industry and in return, viewers, who will be provided with
more and better options to watch and this will also help us in eliminating (or decreasing in other
words) viewer's inclination towards Indian channels / Media.

POTENTIAL GROWTH:
There are a lot of factors in determining potential growth, some of them being, future
plans, market trends, competition, overall economic and political conditions of the country etc.

Geo is making lots of future plans to provide more entertainment and to promote culture
and education, as in future we are going to launch new channel for the education of infants, and
some more channels for entertainment, as new technology is being introduced day by day and
it really helps to introduce new trends and needs of the viewers, as competition among all
channels has been increased so much so everyone is looking to get the highest market share
and viewer ship, but geo is moving faster than rest of to keep his position at the top

POSITIONING:
Geo positions itself around its ideology of tolerance “Live and let live” or "Geo aur jeenay
do" which gives us the message of accepting our differences and working together towards
nation's development. Unlike other channels which just focus on bringing news (or
entertainment) to the viewers, Geo's ideology is very vast, very grand and very macro. Not just
committed to provide news, entertainment and information to the viewers, we at Geo are
committed to invoke the thinking of tolerance and progress in the nation. As it gives a message
“loud and clear”
GEO BRANDING:
In a period of a few months Geo became a household name. Credibility attached to his name
has established itself as a strong brand in the minds of people. But more importantly, he was
received as a brand that represents the true voice of a nation. It comes with pride as the
channel of a people without scruples or inhibitions.

It is for this reason that the Geo brand has become so popular with the common people. The
need to associate the brand is so strong that we see the symbol Geo support the local scene.
From the names of stores retail clothing and footwear food to those reliefs on gold coins Geo
brand seems to have taken society by storm.
 OBJECTIVES:

GEO NEWS:
Informing, educating the nation with the ongoing situation in the country and outside the
country

GEO ENTERTAINMENT:
Entertaining the nation with quality entertainment software. Teaching moral values and
other important messages through entertainment

GEO SUPER:
Being the first and only sports channel of Pakistan, Geo Super, besides showing
international sports events to the viewers is seriously committed to the sports development of
the nation

AAG:
Aag is now the channel for youth. Rather than just being a music channel only.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES:

Maintain positive, strong growth rate.

Retain market leader ship.
Penetrate new markets.

FINANCIAL OBJECTIVES:

Increase the profit margin through efficiency

Maintain a significant research and development budget
 SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths:
New ideas and concept with fast execution has become a trademark of GEO -- 'Fastest Firsts'.

First to bring the 'Breaking News' concept in Pakistan.

Unbiased, accurate and timely 24-hour news in ‘Urdu language’.

Most competitive work team.

Goodwill as the largest media group in the country.

For Example:

First to start political satire in Pakistan depicting current and past heads of state
(Hum Sub Umeed Say Hain).

The first to produce joint India-Pak ventures like "Gaye Gi Duniya Geet Meray",
"Faslay" and "Lakhon Mein Teen".

First to have live link-up with USA & UK.

First to introduce bilingual News Tickers.

First channel with international graphics applications.

First to have representatives of two religious sects on one platform openly

presenting opposing viewpoints. (Aalim Online)

Weaknesses:
 It is a newly established company so it is still under the learning process.
 Lack of focus
 Lack of innovation in the entertainment scene.
Opportunities:
 Growing awareness about GEO of the people. They are attracted towards
entertainment.
 Increase in viewer-ship
 Improvement of Pakistan’s terms with India. It increases cultural activities.
 Demand for quality entertainment
 Opportunity for increasing customers

Threats:
Fear of competition:

Especially in entertainment because of new channels.

Employee turnover:

 Geo’s employee turnover is under 5%

 New channels attract GEO qualified and trained employees by offering them 3 times the
salary they earn at GEO. They also offer different fields of jobs. These demands are
difficult to meet for GEO.
 Intense competition.
 TARGET MARKET
Geo plans to target the Masses. Geo is based in Dubai and is broadcasted for South Asian
viewers of M.E, Europe, Canada, North America and UK. Besides, of burros in Pakistan a
robust network feeds regularly live content from New York, Los angles and London.

Competitive Review
The emergence of new media channels has pressured industry participants to continuously cut
price and to keep a close eye on competitor’s position and the marketing strategy.

Ratings keep on changing, but the top 3 position has almost remained same since long which
is: Geo News on the top with huge difference margin (app 4-5 times of number 2), Express News
is next, then ARY Digital, AAJ TV and News One keeps changing positions with each other

Geo News is on top followed by Samaa . Geo News is “The” top rated News of Pakistan having
Leading Journalists like Hamid Mir, Sohail Warraich are affiliated with GEO since the beginning
of their Journey. GEO is largely followed all over the country for breaking news and regarded as
most trust worthy channel. In most of the cases, GEO is synonym to breaking news. Its current
affairs programs such as Capital Talk, Aj Kamran Khan Kay Sath, Aapas ki Baat and Jirga are
widely followed and appreciated in the country.

Khabarnak, Hum Sab Umeed se Hain & BNN are some of the most popular socio-political satire
shows in the country.
 VISION AND MISSION
VISION:
“GEO will be the voice of freedom from the Asian subcontinent. It will highlight the issues of
concern and the cultural richness of its people through information, discussion and
entertainment. GEO will propagate transparency of responsibility that will ensure its position as
the most credible and meaningful source of information, through quality programming based on
issues. GEO will provide entertainment audiences can relate to, thereby creating viewer loyalty
and response. GEO will forge an alliance amongst its three stakeholders - viewers, advertisers
and shareholders to maximize viewer ownership. GEO will invest in HR as it recognizes it to be
the foundation upon which the GEO future will be built. It is this very foundation that will allow
GEO to attain and sustain a leadership position, thus fulfilling the promise associated with its
creation.”

MISSION:
GEO informs and entertains while celebrating cultures and prompting dialogue in the spirit of
"live and let live“. Our services exceeds the expectation of the customers.
 MARKETING STRATEGY
PRODUCT/SERVICES:
Air time

 Day Time
 Prime Time
 Night Time
 Late Night Time

CATAGORIES:
 Loose Spot
 Fixed Spot

PACKAGES:
 Commercial
 Logo
 Scroll
 Announcement
 Branding
 Co- Sponsor ship

PLACEMENT / DISTRIBUTION:
Distribution or Placement is through cable system which is dealt by our distribution dept.
Geo’s transmission is being viewed in Asia, Europe US & Canada with separate beams and
programming

PROMOTION:
Promotion is mainly done through group media vehicles like the channels itself, Jang
group newspapers (Jang, The News etc),and websites. Recently we have also advertised on
some outside media like media magazines, digital screens at Boat Basin & Shahrah-e-Faisal
etc.
 MARKETING MIX:
Geo’s marketing mix is comprised of the following approaches to pricing, distribution and
customer services.

PRICING STRATEGIES:
 Price discount and allowances
 Time pricing
 Bundle pricing
 Cut price

DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS:
Distribution channel partners and intermediaries are very important to geo following are the
two channels of distribution

CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Geo strives to achieve bench marked level of customer satisfaction researchers have identified
the following five determinants of service quality
 DETERMINANTS OF SERVICE QUALITY
RELIABILITY: RESPONSIVENESS:

 Providing service as promised  Willingness to help

 Dependability in handling service  Keeping customers informed
 Providing service at the right time  Responding to requests
 Maintaining error free records

EMPATHY: ASSURANCE:
Giving individual attention
 Instilling confidence
Understanding the needs  Knowledgeable employees

Caring for convenience

TANGIBLES:
 Modern equipment
 Visually appealing facilities
 MARKETING RESEARCH
Marketing research is at the heart of every decision making process in marketing. Third party
independent Marketing research agencies are being hired to carry out surveys and researches
whose results are accepted by all media, they provide research solutions in sync with the Client
requirements. Their research team carefully analyses Client's needs before recommending the
right mix of research solutions.

Following are the main marketing research agencies

• Gallup Pakistan

• Media logic people’s meter

• Oasis international

• Tam Pakistan

CONTROL AND IMPLEMENTATION:

We are planning tight controlling majors to closely monitor customer service satisfaction this will
enable us to react quickly in correcting any problems that may occur during the implementation
of marketing strategies we may also need contingency plans to address issues such as fast
moving technology and more competition.
 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION:

From this research, we conclude that: Geo is the only independent and liberal channel with the
unique honor of consistently breaking news. Geo is one of the leading channels in Pakistan,
which was the first one to introduce the concept of news after every hour. After geo, many
channels have come and are competing in this field but many factors like well-trained employees,
large amount of investments etc. have kept Geo very strong for all. Dunya News and Express
News are the toughest competitors of Geo. Geo has a very wide network which is spread around
numerous countries of the world.

Geo is an innovative concept that targets a new, growing market. “We assume that the market
will respond, and grow quickly in the next 5 years” says, C.E.O Mir Ibrahim Rahman “Our goals
are to create a reputation of quality, consistency and security that will make us the leader of all
new style channels. Geo is a fast growing network of channels that is making rapid awareness
among the people. Geo’s main problem is the growing number of private sector channels
causing more competition. For this reason GEO must improve their strategy and competitive
position.

Recommendation:
 There are some suggestions and recommendations which I refer to GEO for good career
plan
 Consider the latest innovation
 Talents must be selected on the basis of their devotions
 Try to create competitive environment
 QUESTIONNARES AND ANSWERS:
1. What is your major business?
2. What is your ongoing Marketing Strategy?

 7P’s
 Target Market
 Segmentation

3. What are marketing Problem that faced in marketing?

4. What are the objective of your firm? (Quantitative and Qualitative)

5. Who are the main competitor? Primary and secondary and their benefit to your firm

7. Company Resources?

8. Analysis of Demand: market size and trends

9. External Analysis: Economic, Socio-Cultural Trends, Demographics

10. Tell us about Marketing Strategies and it implementation?

11. How you Controls the whole process?

12. Feedback

Answers:
Geo Entertainment, News and sport etc

Geo or gene do

What we actually needed is purely a good content to penetrate into the market and make your
brand different from others.

Drama, Format Shows, Reality Shows, news and sport.

Benefits is very obvious and known to all i.e to provide a platform of pure entertainment and yes
making some social content so that it will help society in understanding the society norms and
cultures.

As a 1st Tier Leading Entertainment, news and sport channel in the industry our competitors are
Hum & ARY.

As far as key resources of a company is concerned, our CONTENT is the most important things
we may rely upon

Being a Leading and well known channel, we are not supposed to follow the Market penetration
strategy despite we are trying to make stunt in a way that people shall remember us. The best
way is to ensure our presence by doing media partnerships.

Being a servicing sector, we may add value to the customers’ life by highlighting and
broadcasting those things which shall be idealize by the end user and ultimately change their
lifestyles.

Objective is to provide the SECOND TO NONE Content to the industry and to manage our
standing in the society.