Lokmat Samachar to launch Jalgaon edition

The Hindi daily from the stable of Lokmat Media is all set to launch its Jalgaon edition to beef up its presence prior to Divya Marathi's launch in the city.

The Lokmat Media Group is all set to launch its Hindi daily Lokmat Samachar from Jalgaon around May 14. According to sources, the daily will launch with an initial print run of 10,000 copies.

In all likelihood, the daily will bear a cover price of Re 1, of which, the hawker commission will be 60 paise -- a raise of 30 per cent per copy. Usually, the hawker commission for the dailies in that region is around 30 per cent.

Officials at Lokmat Media were not willing to divulge any details about the new edition. But, according to sources, Lokmat Media is taking this step to strengthen its position in the area and brace itself before Divya Marathi, the Marathi daily from Dainik Bhaskar is launched. Divya Marathi is being launched from Jalgaon, following the Aurangabad and Nasik editions.

Lokmat Media group, in all probability, will launch combo offers for both advertisers, as well as the readers.

Lokmat was, until now, catering to the Hindi reading population of the city through its Aurangabad edition. With the launch of its latest edition, Lokmat will become the first Hindi daily to have a Jalgaon edition. The new entrant will face competition from Nava Bharat's Aurangabad edition, available in Jalgaon.

In Aurangabad, the Lokmat Group, in its response to the competition, launched an OOH campaign on similar lines of Divya Marathi, with a similar backdrop. The hoardings displayed across the city by Lokmat has its copy written in Marathi -- 'Now your preferences will be given prime importance', while that by Divya Marathi read 'Coming soon to know your preference', Divya Marathi by Dainik Bhaskar Group.

For the record, Lokmat Samachar was launched in 1989 and is a Hindi language newspaper available in Maharashtra. It is published from Nagpur, Aurangabad, Akola and Kolhapur. It has nine sub editions. Apart from Maharashtra, the daily is available in parts of Madhya Pradesh as well.