DNA DNA pe likha hai padhne wale ka naam

The much ranted media wars in Mumbai have taken up most of the billboards in the city. As you drive to work to the city, there are hoardings

Asking you to see the light when your only focus is the traffic light. (Hindustan Times)

Cut the size,crap,fluff and Page 3. (Mumbai Mirror) Why did the owners of this paper peddle crap in the first place?

What's in your DNA? (the 4th leg of an agonizing never ending campaign)

DNA

The DNA campaign started off well esp. "Sex is overrated", "Bring back Nigar Khan", "When did Page 3 became Page 1". It evoked the response it wanted, although one still did not mind seeing Mallika Sherawat in all her splendour on Page 1. Then it went into really bad slogans like " Women should wear armours" and "who won the British Elections,Bush or Blair", etc. Then it tried to create a target segment of sorts by asking who will book and who wont. The people shown booking were the smart, sophisticated, upwardly mobile crowd and people shown not booking were common stereotypes like the Parsi lady, some lower middle class worker and a doped youth. Now finally they are back to asking whats in your DNA. The questions are " ManU or Arsenal" "Original or Copied". All these questions are neither linked to ones DNA or readership. Thus a campaign that started well has now obfuscated both the positioning and the target segment. Plus DNA it seems has done a survey to know what the reader wants. If the most common pitfall of market research comes true , the respondent would have worn an ideal hat and said " I want to see the plight of destitute children, stray dogs and other such socially great things." Most readers would immediately want the page 3 stuff after a few weeks.

TOI

Times of India has steadily built a war chest over the last year. In fact most readers do not know that the price of TOI is Rs.4 on weekdays. Thats a sinful price for what the owners themselves admit has a lot of crap. And the Mumbai Mirror is supposedly for a younger audience, although most of the stories there are from news agencies. So the positioning seems to be you get the news and info, no analysis. And no bindaas stuff like Mid-day. Why launch such a newspaper, except as a smart move to pre-empt competition.Plus the war-chest built up will be used for aggressive price wars with competition. No crap in this strategy.

HT

A full-fledged newspaper for Rs.1. Good radio ads about the uselessness of reading newspapers.

Does content really matter for all the light the newspaper would provide at a price lower than a cutting chai?

So what does the Mumbai reader want. Inertia (TOI), price(HT) or market researched analysis (DNA). Bolo bolo, tell tell.