I-next, a daily from the Jagran Prakashan stable has just launched its sixth edition. The group launched its sixth edition in Allahabad recently. Prior to this the newspaper had its editions in the cities of Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra and Varanasi, all in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The group says that it decided on the Allahabad edition because the group received an encouraging response from its readers in Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra and Varanasi.
I-next will be doing free sampling of the newspaper for first three days in the Allahabad city. The print run for these days will be 80,000 copies per day. After the initial three days, the everyday sales print run for I-next is estimated to be 50,000 copies. The paper, which will have 24 pages on an average, is being offered at an invitation price of Re 1. The content will typically include current trends, city specific news, travel, lifestyle, fashion and food and health.
I-next started its publication in the beginning of the year with their editions in Kanpur and Lucknow and since September 2007, the group has launched around four editions including the editions of Meerut, Agra, Varanasi and Allahabad.
I-next claims its citywise circulation figures are: Kanpur – 75,241; Lucknow – 63,342; Meerut – 36,270; Varanasi – 42,643; and Agra – 26,233.
I-next was promoted in Allahabad through a 360 degree campaign. The campaign was started by a two week teaser campaign before the campaign was launched. The few of the teaser campaigns slogan were ‘Allahabad taiyaar hai ek nayi parampara ke liye’, ‘Allahabad taiyaar hai zindagi main nayi raftaar ke liye’ and ‘Allahabad taiyaar hai saari duniya ko apne main samaane ke liye’. Later, the I-next brand was revealed with its brand positioning. The current position line for the daily is ‘Hum hain naye, andaaz kyon ho purana’. Apart from outdoor advertising, I-next is being advertised through the print medium, road shows and cable scrollers on TV.
I-next is targeted at a people at the age group of 18-40 year old. The group feels that the group is an upwardly mobile segment of readers who are youthful in their approach towards life and ready to experiment with offerings such as news, lifestyle, trends, fashion, housing and food. I-next is also providing an opportunity to marketers who have not been able to tap the audiences in the potential metros of Uttar Pradesh such as Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra and Allahabad.