INTERNSHIP AT THE OUTLOOK GROUP

TASK- 1: CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

MANAGEMENT
Q1. Analyze Outlook with 2 of its competitors and find out the
strategies it uses to maintain customer life cycle.
Ans: The customer lifecycle is a term the describes the different steps a
customer goes through when they are considering, buying, using and
remaining loyal to a particular product or service. The steps for the same are:
i).Customer Acquisition Strategy- In this, company uses the strategies to get
new customers by targeting them and reaching them through online or offline
mode.
ii).Customer Retention Strategy- In this, strategy is used by company to retain
its customers over a specified period of time.
iii).Customer Development Strategy- In this, strategy is used to convert
potential customers into actual customers.
Explaining these steps in context of The Outlook Group, The Week and
Forbes India magazine.
Strategies used by Outlook Magazine to maintain its customer lifecycle:
i).Customer Acquisition Strategy- To acquire customers, The Outlook had
come up with offers of giving 1 Duffle Strolley by spending Rs. 8549 and above
and 1 travelling bag by spending Rs. 5899 and above on taking subscription of
magazines.
ii).Customer Retention Strategy- To retain customers, Outlook provides
different extended subscription plans for their respective 5 magazines ie
Spend Rs.8549/- & above : Get an extended subscription for 12 MONTHS,
Spend between Rs.5899/- to Rs.8548/- : Get an extended subscription for 6
MONTHS, Spend between Rs.4599/- to Rs. 5898/- : Get an extended
subscription for 6 MONTHS, Spend between Rs.2299/- to Rs.4598/- : Get an
extended subscription for 3 MONTHS. Outlook even provides various
subscription plans to retain its customers for 1, 2, 3, 5 years at a discounted
price which helps the customers to stick to this magazine.

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iii).Customer Development Strategy- For converting potential customers into
actual customers, Outlook sells its magazines at heavily discounted price
which attracts the customers towards buying of Outlook magazine.
DP- Discounted Price
AP- Actual Price
Term Outlook Traveller Money Business Hindi
weekly Monthly Monthl Monthly
Fortnightl y y
1 year-
DP Rs.2499 Rs.1099 Rs.549 Rs.2550 Rs.549
AP Rs.3640 Rs.1800 Rs.600 Rs.3400 Rs.600
2 year-
DP Rs.4799 Rs.2149 Rs.1049 Rs.5100 Rs.1049
AP Rs.7280 Rs.3600 Rs.1200 Rs.6800 Rs.1200
3 year-
DP Rs.6649 Rs.2849 Rs.1449 Rs.7650 Rs.1449
AP Rs.1092 Rs.5400 Rs.1800 Rs.1020 Rs.1800
0 0
5 year-
DP Rs.9549 Rs.4449 Rs.2149 Rs.9999 Rs.2149
AP Rs.1820 Rs.9000 Rs.3000 Rs.1700 Rs.3000
0 0

Outlook even offers various cash discounts for different ranges of subscription
value, which helps it to develop customers.

Strategies used by The Week Magazine to maintain its customer lifecycle:

i).Customer Acquisition Strategy-To acquire customers, The Week had come
up with offers of giving gifts like Amazon E-Gift Card Worth 500, United Colors
Of Benetton Leather Wallet and Card Holder, The Week Travel Bag, Amazon E-

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Gift Card Worth 1000, Wildcraft Bagpack etc for different subscription plans
on yearly basis.
ii). Customer Retention Strategy- To retain customers, The Week provides
different subscription plans for their respective magazines for 1 and 3 years at
discounted prices, and along with it, it gives a lot of gifts. It helps the
customers to stick to the magazine. It even provides renewal plans as well.
iii). Customer Development Strategy- For converting potential customers
into actual customers, The Week sells its magazine at heavily discounted
price which attracts the customers towards buying of The Week magazine.
For different subscription plans ie of 1 and 3 years, The Week provides 58%
off, 56% off on cover price of magazine provided by it.
Strategies used by Forbes India Magazine to maintain its customer lifecycle:
i).Customer Acquisition Strategy- To acquire customers, The Forbes had
come up with giving access to Forbes India Events, exclusive access to Forbes
India Editor's picks. Even, Forbes India is one of the best seller books worth
upto Rs.2000. All this helps Forbes India to acquire customers towards it.
ii).Customer Retention Strategy- To retain customers, Forbes India provides
different subscription plans for their respective magazines for 1,2 and 3 years
at discounted prices. Forbes India provides both digital and print magazine for
3 years subscription at discounted price of Rs.6434, its cover price is Rs.
26,805, providing 76% discount. This helps the customers to stick to the
magazine.
iii). Customer Development Strategy- For converting potential customers into
actual customers, Forbes India sells its magazine at heavily discounted price
which attracts the customers towards buying of Forbes India. Like for giving
print subscription of 1, 2, 3 years, The Forbes India provides heavy discounts
of ranging from 60% to 75% depending on the subscription plan taken and for
giving digital subscription of 1, 2, 3 years, The Forbes India provides heavy
discounts of ranging from 40% to 60% depending on the subscription plan
taken.

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Q2. What are the different loyalty programmes that these
companies has assorted to?
Ans: Loyalty programmes- They are sponsored by retailers, offer rewards,
discounts, and other special incentives as a way to attract and retain
customers. They are designed to encourage repeat business.
Loyalty programmes in Outlook:-
a) The Outlook had come up with offers of giving 1 Duffle Strolley by
spending Rs. 8549 and above on subscription of magazine.
b) 1 travelling bag by spending Rs. 5899 and above on taking subscription
of magazine.
c) Outlook provides different extended subscription plans for their
respective 5 magazines like extended subscription for 3, 6, 12 months.
d) Outlook even provides various subscription plans to retain its
customers for 1, 2, 3, 5 years at a discounted price.
e) Outlook even offers various cash discounts for different ranges of
subscription value, which helps it to develop customers.
Loyalty programmes in The Week:-
a) The Week offers gifts like Amazon E-Gift Card Worth 500, United
Colors Of Benetton Leather Wallet and Card Holder, The Week Travel
Bag, Amazon E-Gift Card Worth 1000, Wildcraft Bagpack etc for
different yearly subscription plans.
b) The Week provides different subscription plans for their respective
magazines for 1 and 3 years at discounted prices.
c) The Week provides heavy discounts i.e. 58% off, 56% off on cover price
of magazine provided by it, for different subscription plans.
Loyalty programmes in Forbes India:-
a) The Forbes had come up with giving access to Forbes India Events,
exclusive access to Forbes India Editor's picks.
b) Forbes India provides different subscription plans for their respective
magazines (digital and print) for 1,2 and 3 years at discounted prices.
c) Forbes India provides both digital and print magazine for 3 years
subscription at discounted price of Rs.6434, its cover price is Rs. 26,805,
i.e. giving 76% discount.

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d) For print subscription of 1, 2, 3 years, The Forbes India provides heavy
discounts of ranging from 60% to 75% depending on the subscription
plan taken.
e) For digital subscription of 1, 2, 3 years, The Forbes India provides heavy
discounts of ranging from 40% to 60% depending on the subscription
plan taken.

Q3. Find the main reason behind each company going with the
strategy and how these strategies have paid dividends?
Ans. The Strategies used by all the three competitors i.e. The Outlook, The
Week and Forbes India for maintaining the customer lifecycle have been
described above.
Reason behind each competitor going with these strategies stated above
and how these strategies have paid dividendsThe Outlook magazine-
The strategies used by this company, generate revenue (sales) as through
giving subscription, Outlook earns money. The strategies used are so
effective that they have made Outlook, one of the known magazines in
India and it stands on Rank 2 which is commendable. Therefore, even the
interns here, work with full vigour and are dedicated towards their work.
Outlook even comes up with bonanza (a sudden opportunity to make
money) offers. Here, every employee and employer works with full
dedication to achieve the forecasted target, and company earns maximum
profit through its strategies and retail division. By earning profits, paying
off dividends becomes very easy and hence, Outlook is able to keep its
shareholders satisfied and happy.
The Week magazine-
The strategies used by this competitor, generate revenue (sales) because
The Week magazine provides subscription on heavy discounted price and a
lot of alluring offers. This helps the magazine to further increase the sales
leading to increase in profit which makes it quite easy for the magazine to
pay off the dividends and keep its shareholders satisfied. These strategies
make the customers to stick to the magazine as they get attracted towards
the magazine and buy it. It even provides customers with renewal plans.
Forbes India-
The strategies used by Forbes India, generate revenue (sales) because it
provides subscription on heavy discounted price. The customers get

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attracted and buy the magazine because of the strategies adopted by
Forbes India. The customers even have trust on this magazine. All this
leads to more and more sales of the magazine, which generated a lot of
profit. This increase in profit, makes it quite easy for the magazine to pay
off the dividends and keep its shareholders satisfied.
So, in a nutshell the strategies of all the three competitors have helped
them to generate revenues and further paying off dividends.

Q4. Compare the NPS for each of the company and find the
reasons behind the score. What do you recommend these
companies and how can they improve their scores?
Ans: A Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a marketing tool used to measure
people’s loyalty towards a company or a brand and their willingness to
recommend the company’s or brand’s products to other people so as to
build and strengthen relationship with customers.
To calculate NPS, I circulated these below stated three questionnaires in
my network and got it filled by 30 respondents so as to conduct NPS
survey.
Questionnaire for NPS survey of Outlook magazine
Q1. Are you familiar with The outlook India magazine?
• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree
Q2. Gender preference for outlook magazine
• Male
• Female
Q3. Do you have internet connection?
• Yes
• No
Q4. If you read the Outlook magazine, in which form do you prefer it?
• Only Print
• Only Digital

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 • Both
Q5. Do you follow Outlook on any one the social media platforms?
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Others
Q6. Your perception about Outlook magazine?
• Very good
• Good
• Fair
• Not good
Q7. Would you like to buy the e-magazine because
• Timely delivered
• Easy access
• No storage issue
Q8. How well does our magazine meet your needs?
• Badly
• Fine
• Well
• Very Well
Q9. How would you rate the value for the money of our magazine?
• Bad
• Average
• Good
Q10. How responsive have we been to your queries or concern about our
magazine?
• Very responsive
• Usually responsive
• Not responsive
Q11. Compare to our competitors, is our magazine quality better, worse or
the same?
• Better

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 • The same
• Worse
Q12. How likely are you to recommend our magazine to your friend or
colleague of yours?
• Strongly recommend
• Not recommend
• Somewhat recommend
Questionnaire for NPS survey of The Week magazine Q1.
Are you familiar with The Week magazine?
• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree
Q2. Gender preference for The Week magazine
• Male
• Female
Q3. Do you have internet connection?
• Yes
• No
Q4. If you read the Week magazine, in which form do you prefer it?
• Only Print
• Only Digital
• Both
Q5. Do you follow The Week on any one the social media platforms?
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Others
Q6. Your perception about The Week magazine?
• Very good
• Good
• Fair

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 • Not good
Q7. Would you like to buy the e-magazine because
• Timely delivered
• Easy access
• No storage issue
Q8. How well does our magazine meet your needs?
• Badly
• Fine
• Well
• Very Well
Q9. How would you rate the value for the money of our magazine?
• Bad
• Average
• Good
Q10. How responsive have we been to your queries or concern about our
magazine?
• Very responsive
• Usually responsive
• Not responsive
Q11. Compare to our competitors, is our magazine quality better, worse or
the same?
• Better
• The same
• Worse
Q12. How likely are you to recommend our magazine to your friend or
colleague of yours?
• Strongly recommend
• Not recommend
• Somewhat recommend
Questionnaire for NPS survey of Forbes India magazine Q1.
Are you familiar with Forbes India magazine?
• Strongly Agree

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 • Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree
Q2. Gender preference for Forbes India magazine
• Male
• Female
Q3. Do you have internet connection?
• Yes
• No
Q4. If you read the Forbes India magazine, in which form do you prefer it?
• Only Print
• Only Digital
• Both
Q5. Do you follow Forbes India on any one the social media platforms?
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Others
Q6. Your perception about Forbes India magazine?
• Very good
• Good
• Fair
• Not good
Q7. Would you like to buy the e-magazine because
• Timely delivered
• Easy access
• No storage issue
Q8. How well does our magazine meet your needs?
• Badly
• Fine
• Well
• Very Well

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 Q9. How would you rate the value for the money of our magazine?
• Bad
• Average
• Good
Q10. How responsive have we been to your queries or concern about our
magazine?
• Very responsive
• Usually responsive
• Not responsive
Q11. Compare to our competitors, is our magazine quality better, worse or
the same?
• Better
• The same
• Worse
Q12. How likely are you to recommend our magazine to your friend or
colleague of yours?
• Strongly recommend
• Not recommend
• Somewhat recommend
Calculation of Net Promoter Score-
To calculate NPS, you need to count the number of Promoters, the number of
Detractors and the amount of customers who participated in your survey. The
customers who turned out to be Passives are not taken into account when
calculating the Net Promoter Score.
The scoring of the NPS scale lays between 0 and 10:: 0 - not likely at all, 10 -
extremely likely, or else it will be a normal rating scale.
GROUP SCORE CHARACTERISTICS
Promoters 9 - 10 These are your most loyal customers, ready to promote your
products and help other customers to implement and use your products more
effectively.

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Passives 7 - 8 These customers are loyal, but not enthusiastic about your
products. Working with this group is especially important when the number
of people in the group is relatively high.
Detractors 0 - 6 These people are unlikely to promote your product and are
very likely to give it a negative review. They are very often unsatisfied
customers and are very sensitive to competitive offers.
The NPS calculation formula is:
Net Promoter Score (NPS) = % of Promoters - % of Detractors
Calculating NPS score for Outlook magazine:Promoters:
21 people gave scores of 9 and 10.
The % of Promoters = 21⁄30*100% = 70%
Passives: 0%
Detractors: 9 people gave a score between 0 and 6.
The % of Detractors = 9⁄30*100% = 30%
Net Promoter Score (NPS) = 70% - 30%= +40 Calculating
NPS score for The Week magazine:Promoters: 15 people
gave scores of 9 and 10.
The % of Promoters = 15⁄30*100% = 50% Passives: 3
people gave scores of 7 and 8.
The % of Passives = 3⁄30*100% = 10%
Detractors: 12 people gave a score between 0 and 6.
The % of Detractors = 12⁄30*100% = 40%
Net Promoter Score (NPS) = 50% - 40%= +10 Calculating
NPS score for Forbes India magazine:Promoters: 18 people
gave scores of 9 and 10.
The % of Promoters = 18⁄30*100% = 60% Passives: 3
people gave scores of 7 and 8.
The % of Passives = 3⁄30*100% = 10%
Detractors: 9 people gave a score between 0 and 6.

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The % of Detractors = 9⁄30*100% = 30%
Net Promoter Score (NPS) = 70% - 40%= +30
NPS global standards treat +50 as ‘excellent’ and +70 as ‘world class.’ Any
NPS that is above 0 is considered to be ‘good,’ as this means that the
number of loyal customers is higher than the number of disloyal customers.
Reasons behind the score:
Outlook magazine-
The NPS score of Outlook magazine is +40 i.e. above 0 which indicates that
the number of loyal customers is higher than the number of disloyal
customers. As +50 is considered excellent, so +40 score clearly states that the
client perception and brand loyalty is good of Outlook. Even, the customers
encourage others in their network to take its subscription leading to increase
in Outlook’s business.
The Week magazine-
The NPS score of The Week magazine is +10 i.e. above 0 which indicates that
the number of loyal customers is higher than the number of disloyal
customers, but still this score needs a lot of improvement because when
compared to its competitors, The Week magazine has the least score. The
reason for this score when surveyed was that sometimes, gifts to be given
with magazine gets out of stock and this leads to dropping of subscription by
the target market. Even, the customers are not satisfied with the service
provided as the magazine doesn’t reach out to them on time.
Forbes India-
The NPS score of Forbes India is +30 i.e. above 0 which indicates that the
number of loyal customers is higher than the number of disloyal customers,
but still this score needs a lot of improvement when compared with its
competitors. The reason for this score when surveyed, was observed that
around 10 customers faced difficulty in renewing the subscription of Forbes
India magazine ie the renewal took lot of time than stated by them. Even
sometimes, the magazine doesn’t reach the customers on time which further
leads to dissatisfaction amongst the customers.

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Recommendations for these companies as to how can they improve the NPS
scoreFor Outlook magazine-
• Once a customer takes a subscription plan of Outlook magazine, it takes
around 6-8 weeks for Outlook for processing the payment made by
customer and then the hard copy starts off to get delivered to them. So,
Outlook should focus on reducing this gap of so many weeks and try to
deliver the magazines as soon as the subscription has been taken by a
customer.
• The Sales executive should call customers in slots on daily basis and
take their feedback and then work on the suggestions or the difficulty
their customers are facing as quickly as possible.
For The Week magazine-
• The company should have marketing department of the Week
magazine in towns for the benefit of the subscribers as well for the
company. This would lead to awareness amongst people.
• The most important suggestion is that company should give priority to
coverage by covering towns, cities, rural areas. It would then create
more magazines readers and this would further lead to increase in the
market share.
• It should focus on keeping the stock of gifts to be given along with
magazine when a customer takes subscription of magazine.
• It should concentrate on building strong relation between customer
and customer relationship manager which would lead to building of
brand loyalty and further increasing customer satisfaction.
• It should deliver the magazines on time to the customers. For Forbes
India-
• It should not delay the process of renewing the subscription of the
magazines when the customers demand for it.
• It should deliver the magazines on time to the customers.
• It should give gift vouchers along with the subscription of magazine so
as to increase brand loyalty.

Q5. What lessons can the Print Media Industry take from the
International Print Media companies so as to improve the NPS?

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Ans. Print Media Industry- The industry associated with the printing and
distribution of news through newspapers and magazines. Print media is
one of the oldest and basic forms of mass communication.
Lessons that Print Media Industry of India can take from International print
media companies so as to improve the NPS-
• India Print media industry is more focused on the entertainment part
rather than the information actually required by the nation because
drug case are given more importance in our country rather than the
GDP or economy of our country unlike in the case of International print
media industry as they focus on printing information required by the
nation.
• English is the language of elites in India and hence, print media is
somewhat elitist in nature. Most of the Indian journalists are educated
in English, are from middle class and hence don’t understand grass
route issues. Farmer’s suicide is always a non-issue when compared to
what Trump said. This problem is not faced by the International Print
media.
• Mostly, International magazines like New York magazine, give one
month free trial of their magazine subscription unlike in the case of
Indian magazines.
• Indian Print Media should be responsible for showing the news and not
passing the judgement. Our media have expertise for passing
judgement and reaching to the conclusion even before a case is filed.
This is not the case with International Print Media industry as it doesn’t
believe and like to limit its boundary only up to reporting the news.
• Indian print media is basically a business and not a profession because
most of the channels are sponsored by political parties, their leaders
and influential business houses. They speak the language of their
bosses although it may be against national interests. They have little
interest in nation or masses. International print media on the other
hand is always pro government and pro national interests.

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