Jang Brand Audit

The purpose of this brand audit is to analyze the brand Jang Newspaper and determine the true personality of the newspaper.
The brand audit covers the key attributes that are associated with Jang, the specific needs that the newspaper caters to and which particular the target market that it serves. Finally the audit has CBBE model that identifies the equity of the brand and certain recommendations for the brand. APPROACH The audit is mainly based on Internet research and consumer insights.BRAND JANG NEWSPAPER Jang newspaper is regarded as a premium brand in Pakistan with readership coming from a wide variety of socio-economic and demographic readership. It started as a tabloid newspaper in Dehli in 1939 but since Pakistan’s independence has established itself as the premium Urdu newspaper in the Pakistan. The newspaper has presence in all the major cities of Pakistan including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta and Multan. Besides Jang newspaper has strong readership in UK for over three decades now.
World Press Trends has rated Jang among the top 100 newspapers of the world.INDUSTRY REVIEW It is estimated that 60% of the nation’s urban population are newspaper readers. The circulation of daily newspapers in Pakistan is around 2 million 1 (Figures of 2008). Some of the leading newspapers are: Urdu Newspapers Daily Nawai-e-Waqt Family Magazine The Daily Express Frontier Post Daily Ummat Karachi Urdu Point The Daily Pakistan The Daily Waqt Lahore Daily Khabrain Nidaimillat English Newspapers Dawn (English) The Express Tribune The Nation (English) Pakistan Times The News (English) Daily TimesThe top of line Urdu newspapers from these are The Daily Express and Nawai-e-Waqt based on circulation and quality of reporting. 1 http://www. aftabassociates. com/stories.

html#National%20Readership%20Survey CONSUMER ANALYSIS NEEDS AND WANTS Credible, Authentic, Updated and Timely news in Urdu SEGMENTATION AND TARGETING Segments: Authentic news in Urdu even for a higher price Target Market: The main target market is the readers seeking news is Urdu mainly from SEC A and SEC B. BRAND INVENTORY BRAND ELEMENTS Name: Jang Logo: Characters: Mir Khalil ur Rahman URL: http://www. jang. com. pk/ CORE BRAND VALUESAt the core of Jang’s values are informing and updating its readers through news and in-depth analyses on issues pertaining to politics, government, policies, social issues, sports, entertainment and many more. Being the newspaper for a large segment of the populace, it tries to capture and reflect the emotions and behaviors of the readers. BRAND PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS Wednesday and Sunday Magazines covering host of issues pertaining to arts and culture, women, sports and fashion to name a few.
Friday Islamic publications POP (EXPRESS/NAWAI WAQT) Urdu language Own television channels Own English newspapers Large circulation and reader basePODS (EXPRESS/NAWAI WAQT) History and heritage Acclaimed Internationally Most Credible and Authentic Acclaimed for the most breaking news BRANDING STRATEGIES (EXTENSIONS (LINE EXTENSION, CATEGORY EXTENSION) The Jang Group has extended into various other related and unrelated fields that include: The News: Daily English newspaper that caters to the SEC A/B that are in search of authentic news in English URL: online availability of the news with regular updates GEO TV: extension into the television media which has further enhanced the reputation of Jang newspaper.MKRF: Mir Khalil Ur Rehman foundation is an NGO in the name of the founder of the Jang group Jang newspaper has been actively seeking promotional activities. In 2000, it organized the first IT conference and exhibition. It was involved in co-branding with Citibank in their credit card launch in 2002. Besides Jang’s active engagement with cricket fans with their fantasy cricket world cup and their crosswords in the newspaper have created a strong bond of the readers with this brand. BRAND EXPLORATORY BRAND ASSOCIATIONS *Quality Columns Most read Insightful Advertisements Informative Professional Urdu Current/ Updated Sensationalism (but non-masala) SEC A/B Largest circulation Credible Controversy Unbiased *based on responses from different individuals CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS ANALYSIS The newspaper is not viewed as something entirely for the higher income group. Quality, authentic reporting and unbiased analysis, sensational but not tabloid with vast circulation and readership are some attributes that people associate with Jang.
Hence the perception of people is that Jang newspaper is a premium brand not from the perspective of cost but quality it delivers to its readers. BRAND POSITIONING The brand is positioned as the top Urdu newspaper in Pakistan which delivers the most authentic, credible information timely to its readership. BRAND EQUITY Jang Newspaper has attained the status of a super brand in Pakistan having the highest degree of recall all over Pakistan.The brand extensions from the Newspaper in the form of the online newspaper, GEO television and MKRF have given it immense publicity and are widely acclaimed as the most credible Urdu newspaper in Pakistan. Loyalty Attachment Community Engagement Quality Credibility Consideration Superiority Authentic and timely news in Urdu Very credible news source Warmth Excitement Social approval Self Respect SEC A/B readers Read at home, offices, and traveling. First Urdu newspaper of Pakistan with its roots from prepartition times High degree of brand awareness with almost all newspaper readers aware of the brand.Read mostly by SEC A/B market seeking authentic,updated information RECOMMENDATIONS 1.
Stigma of spreading sensationalism would be harmful and may result in Jang newspaper losing its credibility. This stigma is largely associated with GEO news and as a result has affected Jang as well. To prevent the negative affects on the parent brand the telecast of GEO news must be kept aligned with the values of Jang newspaper. 2. Jang newspaper has very high awareness. It must continuously find ways of engaging readers and build upon its equity.This could be in the form of column and poetry writing competitions or the traditional crossword puzzle competition.
3. The newspaper needs to strengthen its online presence. Its website needs vast improvement with regards to the quality of its design. Also the newspaper’s presence on social networking websites is critical to engage readers online. 4. With newer technologies available in mobile phones and introduction of iPad Jang newspaper needs to make available mobile version of its website/newspaper for easier browsing on these devices.