Dainik Bhaskar Group launches Dainik Divya Marathi from Akola

This is the sixth edition of the Marathi daily.

Dainik Bhaskar Group, which publishes the Marathi newspaper Dainik Divya Marathi, has launched the sixth edition of the daily from the state of Maharashtra. The new edition has been launched from Akola.

With this launch, the group now has 65 editions of its various publications across India.

The new daily has been launched with an initial print run of 25,000 copies and will bear a cover price of Rs 3 per copy. There is an annual scheme of Rs 820, wherein the reader will have to pay Rs 99 upfront and Rs 60 per month.

In an official communiqué, Sudhir Agarwal, managing director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, says, "Akola is a developing city and one of the major cities of the Vidarbha region. The city is taking rapid strides in the IT sector and also has a rich cultural heritage. It is also known for good production of cotton, grain market and oil mills. Akola brings with it a new proposition and reach to advertisers and we aim to fortify our presence here to emerge as the most preferred media for corporates, while also strongly connecting with readers in this region."

Lokmat and Sakal are the other two big Marathi dailies in Akola, apart from Divya Marathi.

Before the launch of the new edition, the group conducted a survey to introduce the Divya Marathi brand to the readers and understand their preferences to develop a news daily to address the issues that would contribute to the city's socio-economic development.

The survey was supported by outdoor hoardings conveying the core value of the newspaper. The marketing campaign also used inserts, product hand books and pre-booking and pre-subscription orders, pole kiosks, auto back branding, and road caravans with sample versions of the product. The pre-launch campaign was planned in a phased manner in order to garner maximum eyeballs amongst the prospective readers.

The key theme of the Akola launch campaign is 'Launch of Divya Marathi to break the long drawn silence and be the unbiased, fearless and factual news daily for the people of Akola'.

The brand campaign launched during the survey highlighted two points - "Tumchi Marji Janoon Ghyayla Yetoye" (We are coming to know your opinion/wishes!) and "Na Ravanchi, Na Sahebanchi, Aata Chalel Tumchi Marji" (Neither of influential class, nor of politicians, now only public opinion will make a difference!).

For the record, the Dainik Bhaskar Group publishes eight newspapers with 65 editions, 199 sub-editions in four multiple languages (Hindi, Gujarati, English and Marathi) across 13 states in the country.