Marathi daily Pudhari, which already has ten editions, is all set to bring out two more editions in Mumbai and Aurangabad.
The Mumbai edition will be launched in mid-February and the Aurangabad edition will follow in mid-March 2009. Next on the list for further expansion are Nasik and Nagpur.
Naval Toshniwal, Group Marketing Head, Pudhari, explained the marketing strategy, “The launch will be heavily publicised on ground through outdoor branding and aggressive door-to-door campaigning. We will also use radio and TV to communicate the launch to the target audience.”
On the content, Toshniwal said, “We restrict the ad-edit ratio to 40:60. Initially, we will be liberal and offer more space for strong editorial content, which is the strength of Pudhari.”
On the initial print run, he said, “We are expecting more than two lakh copies in Mumbai and another 1.5 lakh copies in Aurangabad district.”
Toshniwal, said that the editions would have 16 pages targeting the Marathi speaking population from the middle and higher income classes. However, he refused to comment on the cover prices of the two editions. He was confident that Pudhari would soon achieve the No. 2 slot in Maharashtra.
Pudhari was launched in 1937. It now has a combined total circulation of over 483,262 (ABC certified) copies of ten different editions and is a leader not only in Western and Southern Maharashtra, but in Northern Karnataka and Goa as well. Toshniwal claims that the significant achievement of this media group was that it had achieved the No. 1 position in terms of circulation in Nagar, Sangli, Satara, as well as in Kolhapur. He cited the reasons for the paper’s popularity in Maharashtra as being its independent editorial stand and ‘fearless, unbiased approach over the years’.