The Next Cash Cow for The Economic Times - A Pre b-school Coaching Center aka Career Launcher/ IMS

Being in PR, I was thinking about the power of The Economic Times [ET]. People, companies and brands, alike, love to be in ET. Of course there are publications with a greater reach, but to the English speaking Indian audience who’re seriously interested in our economy, technology, banking, finance, commodities and stocks, the power of ET is unquestionable. I’ve been a regular ET reader for 1 and a half years now and the increase in level of information I possess now is phenomenal. This got me thinking.

I believe Bennett & Coleman should start a pre b-school coaching center aka Career Launcher/ IMS/ Time etc. and brand it under the name ‘The Economic Times B-school Coaching Center’. Enclosed below are the reasons I believe this would be a big hit:

1. They have the KNOWLEDGE to impart

Pre b-school coaching institutes sell information/ knowledge; both of which Bennett & Coleman has in bulk. By virtue of having beat specific journalists, their resources would be unmatched. These beat specific journos regularly interact with numerous company senior executives and have a pulse of the trends in the industry.

2. They have the MONEY

I don’t have data for this, but am sure they do.

3. It would be good ROI

The coaching center business in India is on a rise with the mushrooming colleges offering management degrees, rise in number of students who want to become MBA’s and rise in the amount of money pumped into this business. In fact PR pro’s will then pitch to ET to get their clients into those forums of students.

4. ET would have the product DIFFERENTITION as well

IMS, Career Launcher or Time institute, don’t have a differentiator, but if such a school opens up, ET would even have a product differentiation. ET could well say ‘for xyz years we have provided India with news and perspectives on different industries and sectors and we now want to use our experience and expertise to offer the same to the future managers of India…’.

5. Perfect AUDIENCE to tap

The target audience is just perfect for ET marketing division to leverage. There are multiple ways to leverage them, one idea - paid slots for corporates to come in and talk about their company, launch their laptop, leverage for the ET Top B-school survey etc.

6. ET already has a connect with the DECISION MAKERS

While this proposed product would be meant for b-school aspirants, the decision makers in a lot of cases are the parents since they would find this training. Now parents these days don’t know the difference between a Career Launcher or IMS, but if this ET school were to open up – they already know and trust ET!

These are just my initial thoughts and I would love for someone to comment on the feasibility of this proposition.

karanbhujbal

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