Mid-morning I picked up both Mid-day and Mirror. Mid-day enlightened me on the following:
a) Riddhima (Rishi and Neetu Kapoor's daughter) is getting married to a businessman in Delhi
b) Hrithik Roshan's sister is to marry (her seocnd time) and settle in the US
c) Eight similarities between Ramgopal Varma's Deshu and Dawood (even tho he is crying himself hoarse that there is NO similarity)
d) That an outfit very similar to what Rani was seen wearing is available at Big Bazaar for Rs 300.
I also read Mirror, from I which remember the following:
a) Cigarette smoking to be banned in films and serials (also the lead story in the TOI)
b) Something about cheap air tickets to Goa being unavailable (I beg to differ because I have bought SEVERAL cheap tickets.. and in fact am going to Goa by Spicejet later this week!)
c) Something about Manisha Koirala breaking up with her nth boyfriend
d) Something about heroes who look silly after hair straightening. This was good - esp the quip abt Ashmit Patel looking like Posh Spice with a beard.
Net: net Mid-day was more entertaining - and gave some new gossip. As many of us have already read a broadsheet in the morning I think what we want is something 'timepass' at lunchtime. Mirror is what you can call a 'good' paper but I am not sure what need it satisfies.
The Strategy
The need DNA and HT are addressing is readers and advertisers wanting 'an alternative to TOI'. With Mirror, TOI is following the 'cannibalisation' theory ie if we must lose readers let's lose them to a second paper of our own.
But - you tell me - can an 'alternative' from the SAME publishing house ever be perceived as a REAL alternative?
So although Mirror can theoretically be an alternative to a morning broadsheet it is in fact an alternative to Mid-day. And that is fair enough. The 'pick me up paper' market that Mid-day is addressing has no real competitor (Afternoon is the only choice and it's a weak rival)
To combat Mid-day, Mirror had to be the opposite of Mid-day. Like 7 Up was the "uncola", Mirror is the 'untabloid'.
Great. But the problem like I said - do you want great and serious content to read in the train or with ur afternoon cuppa? Maybe during market research people said 'yes' because they feel cheap to admit they actually just like reading Marjorie Orr, Hit-list and a quick flip-thru the rest of their tabloid paper.
Given this, in a short time Mirror may well decide to swing to the OTHER extreme and become more tabloid than Mid day itself. Which looks tough (would they have published those grainy pics of the Shahid-Kareena lip-lock- what if Kareena boycotted the Filmfare awards?)
Aage aage hota hai kya...
Large advertisers, for now, have chosen to wait and watch. Mirror had lots of classifieds and 'best wishes' ads from small agencies on day 1. But the absence of support from large media buying houses like Mindshare etc which release ads for major MNCs is quite evident even into day 3.
Chalo, hum log bhi wait and watch karte hain. Kya keh sakte hain - kuch bhi ho sakta. All's fair in love and newspaper wars!
