FICCI-KPMG-Report-13-FRAMES

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Hiring and retaining talent
The tough macroeconomic situation has been challenging
publications to find innovative ways to cut costs without
compromising on the quality of content. In the light of
current circumstances, players are investing heavily in
building strong editorial teams while at the same time
reducing overall headcount. A quality talent pool will be a
key asset for the industry and its success would depend
upon the publication’s ability to differentiate its content
from mass market information available for free on digital
platforms.
However, availability of talent remains a challenge for
all media segments, especially so for print. While there
are many journalism schools in India, quality remains a
challenge. Industry discussions indicate that even today
to a great extent, few students choose a career in print as
their first preference. This means the talent pools remain
fragile and the ability to deliver original content low.
The sector is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.7 percent
and touch INR 340 billion by 2017. The opportunity lies in
tapping the growth potential of the Hindi and vernacular
markets while concurrently the challenge will be to build
additional capabilities to explore alternate sources of
revenues. Circulation revenues are expected to grow
at a CAGR of 4.5 percent from 2012 to 2017 on back of
increased penetration in regional markets.
Rising literacy, growth in disposable income, brand
consciousness and strong commercial development in
tier II and tier III cities will together contribute to increased
penetration of regional print media. Recent policy
measures taken by the government can pave the way
of recovery for the Indian economy and restore its fiscal
health. With some improvements also likely in the global
economy in 2013, the prognosis for the Indian economy
looks somewhat better and real GDP growth is expected to
be in the range of 6.1 to 6.7 percent in 2013-14 28 .
Conclusion
Indian print industry is comparatively better off than
its global counterparts, which have been experiencing
declining revenues over the past few years. Although the
overall Indian scenario looks promising, capitalising on
future potential, however, will depend on how the industry
deals with the present challenges.
“
The long term growth story of the Indian
language print industry remains promising,
with government taking steps to improve the
policy environment which in turn has given
a boost to corporate sentiments and we are
very well placed to capitalise on growth
opportunities, as they present themselves.
Clearly the growing importance of regional
markets and the potential of increasing
consumption in Tier II and III cities are the
core growth drivers of the regional print media
segment. We are expending considerable
time to conduct more focused consumer
research, bringing in more innovation in
content and further localising it, to create
differentiated products. Additionally, media
penetration and adaptation of content to
relevant marketing and delivery platforms
to serve different niche audiences, will also
become core to success.
“
- Girish Agarwaal
Promoter Director,
D B Corp Ltd.
The print industry today is faced with a dynamic
environment that is unprecedented – changing business
models, consumer and reader demographics present
opportunities and challenges that will greatly improve
profitability for flexible and aggressive players and erode
the bottom line of static players. The pre-requisite,
therefore, is to plan a strategy that identifies the
boundaries between premium and commodity content
and build up an effective pricing model around it. Going
forward, we may see differentiated models being
developed by industry participants to generate additional
revenue streams.
© 2013 KPMG, an Indian Registered Partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated
with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.
28. Economic Survey 2012-13