‘DNA Money’ to be launched as a stand-alone newspaper

The newspaper, which is to be priced at Rs 2, will start with an Indore edition

‘DNA Money’, the business supplement of the Mumbai based English newspaper, ‘DNA’, will now be launched as a stand-alone newspaper. The publication has decided to test the waters with an Indore edition from January 17. However, the plan is to launch the pink daily as a separate newspaper in another 10-12 cities in the next three months.

Following Indore, the next destination for ‘DNA Money’ will most probably be Ahmedabad.

Confirming this development to agencyfaqs!, Suresh Balakrishnan, chief marketing officer, ‘DNA’, says, “In just a few months, ‘DNA Money’ has emerged as a strong brand despite being a supplement with the main newspaper. This made it logical to launch it as an independent newspaper.”

When questioned about the strategy behind starting off with an Indore edition, Balakrishnan says, “We chose Indore for two reasons. Firstly, till date, central India has no independent English business daily. In addition, our partner, the Bhaskar Group, already has a strong hold in Madhya Pradesh, which will help us in distribution.”

The business daily will be priced at Rs 2. However, the current subscribers of ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ will get the newspaper for a discounted rate of Re 1.

‘DNA Money’ will have eight pages in total, out of which one page will be dedicated to local news. For instance, the Indore edition will have a page catering to news from Madhya Pradesh, while the Ahmedabad edition will talk about the business world in Gujarat.

Balakrishnan indicated that ‘DNA Money’ is also ready for a revamp, but he declined to reveal further details. Industry sources indicate that there will probably be a change in the masthead and font. Plus, there will be some additions in the content.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!