“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
This evocative beginning of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens seems quite prophetic, now. Living through a pandemic has exposed once again the vulnerability of the human condition. Despite this, life continues to thrive as it must, and as hope springs eternal in the human breast the coming year should usher in gladder tidings. Commerce and trade seem to be back on track with the bellwether industries of aviation and tourism showing an upswing. This portends well for performance in all other sectors also.
The performance of the media and entertainment industry too points to this trend, with the value of the print industry across India crossing Rs.22,500 crore in 2021. This is further expected to exceed 25,000 cr. by 2024, indicating a compound annual growth of around 3pc.
In the light of this broader context, in my opinion, unlike English dailies, circulation of the regional language newspapers was not affected by Covid19. In fact, language dailies bounced back once the markets opened and stabilised to a certain extent. Talking for ourselves, categories like retail, education, banking & finance and jewellery were the major contributors to our revenue during 2022. A word of appreciation for the unstinting efforts of our response team is in order here, since they overcame the challenges posed by tough market conditions.
My experience of this season of contagion tells me that the reason for our collective success is due to us having embraced the operative mantra of our age, which will determine the corporate life or death of brands. For ours is the age of speed, more speed, and even more speed. And instead of the Darwinian motto of the survival of the fittest, it’s the survival of the fastest. In other words, not the big eating the small, but the fast eating the slow. Nimbleness and adaptability are the keys to survival. And in the future this speed-of-response quotient will only grow exponentially.
Another learning during this time of the pandemic was the urgent need to do more with less, cutting down on waste. The economic environment called for leaner, meaner, and better executing teams. Operating thus with increased intensity has enabled us to strive towards our cherished goals.
Finally, we at Mathrubhumi expect that the Indian market and especially that in Kerala will further grow in 2023. To us, it is an epochal year, for on 18th March we complete a century of delivering authentic, credible, and curated content to our discerning constituents. We also believe that categories like auto, real estate, textile, FMCG, and government, which were dormant post-pandemic, will be the main revenue drivers in the coming year. Hope in both the consumers and markets is what propels us.
(The author is Director, Mathrubhumi Group.)
