Without peace, progress not possible: Jang group's MD, Shahrukh Hasan

The Jang Group is one of the most distinguished names among the sub-continent's media notables. The group is older than the country it is based in ” Pakistan. That advantage gives it a rare insight into history, and enables it to contextualise its coverage for modern Pakistan. In an exclusive interview with Adgully, the group's MD, Shahrukh Hasan talks about Jang's genesis, the challenges for the media, and geopolitics.

Adgully: Tell me a little bit about yourself, your association with the Group and some of your memorable moments...

Shahrukh Hasan: I am basically a marketing person, I pursued my MBA in marketing and I had no intention of getting into the media space. But in my first interview at Dawn I became very fascinated with the world of media. If you have a crusading spirit, the media is where you should be. So I worked with Dawn for about four years, then I moved to a multi national called Exxon. Then in 1991 the Jang Group was launching the English language newspaper magazine- The News, they got me on board as the Project Director. Later I launched with three or four partners a newspaper called The Financial Post. I became the Group's Managing Editor, in 1998 I was promoted as the Group Managing Director.

Some of the most memorable moments of my association with the Group so far has firstly been the launch of The News, it was simultaneously launched from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, which has never happened before. So many new introductions like desktop publishing, we got in International experts to train our journalist etc. such things were attributed to The News' launch. My next memorable moment has been the "Zaraa Sochiye' campaign, we are all very proud of it. And of course the 1st of January 2010, when we launched "Aman ki Asha', was probably the proudest moment because it was something that I had conceived and something that I was directly involved with. As far as Pakistan is concerned, it is my firm belief that without peace with India we cannot progress the way we should. Besides the Group has done wonderful things, the average circulation of Jang 700,000 copies, the circulation of The News is140,000 copies and is the largest English newspaper. We have the largest Urdu weekly in the world which is Akhbar-e-Jehan, we have the largest English language weekly magazine The Mag, we own the largest English eveninger called The Daily News and we also have an Urdu afternoon newspaper called Awam, to name a few.

Ag: Are toying with the idea of having a financial daily?

SH: We have a four page business section in our newspaper everyday; secondly we have an association with The Economist, and we produce a copy everyear, the first one was produced last year and was called The World in 2010. But as a specific category of daily catering to financial news it is something that is missing from our stable but we are seriously looking into it. We will look at it more around the mid-term later.

Ag: What are the opportunities and challenges for the Group today?

SH: The challenges are that firstly we have an intolerant Government, the Government and the political parties in Pakistan are not displaying the maturity and tolerance that they should to our initiatives. In a democratic set up, where the slain assassinated Chairman of the Party totally stood for the Freedom of the Press, the current representatives of the same party are not very tolerant of media's freedom. The other challenge is that the economy has not recovered and we expect hopefully by Second Quarter or Third Quarter next year the economy should start recovering. So amongst these various challenges to remain competitive and to remain aggressive is also a huge challenge.

There are opportunities of growth in the print media and in the electronic media. Our television channel Geo has grown in leaps and bounds, and just availing the opportunities available in that kind of a growth mode are a huge challenge.

Ag: What have been some of the key learnings?

SH: Integrity is a big issue, hardwork is important; there are no short cuts to success. If we are honest and if we work hard we will get great results. Every person should just concentrate on his/her responsibility. The ability to groom people, mentor people these are the key elements of leadership. I think a good leader is a person who spots talent, grooms it and then delegates it to reap results.

Ag: How are you tackling the challenges posed by new media?

SH: I think there is an inherent opportunity in new media. We have a huge web edition, we are moving into internet. So we are trying to jump in and reap the benefits of the potential of the new media. At the same time newspapers as a medium is very important, they are here to stay. And if we are able to change the way we do our reporting, it is an opportunity. There is a shift in the paradigm, but I don't see a threat to the existing media.

Ag: What are the marketing initiatives that you undertake?

SH: The Jang Group is the most creative marketing media in Pakistan; we have done our share of experimentation. In fact we have led the way of innovations by going ahead with co-sponsorship, joint initiatives, creatively designed and placed ads, branding exercises. We have been proactively going to clients and creating campaigns for them. Many a times we have gone to a client with a tailored creative thought to market their specific brand in the market.

Ag: Can you tell us a bit about the supplements in your publication?

SH: We carry many supplements like general supplements on occasions, supplements related to certain sectors like automobile, women, new media, credit cards etc, we also have supplements that cover country surveys etc. Then there are editorial supplements like reviewing the whole year or the budget etc.

Ag: How difficult has it been to market the Jang UK?

SH: The Jang UK was launched more than 3 decades ago, for thirty years it has been largest circulated ethnic language newspaper in the UK. Its USP was that it addressed the expatriate citizens of Pakistani nationality who had migrated from various parts of Pakistan. The generation then did not speak too much English, they spoke Urdu and they wanted to read something about home. So The Jang UK was relevant to the target group then, but the challenge now is that the new generation that has come up some of them don't even read Urdu and their links with their motherland is not as strong as it is for their parents. Therefore, the circulation has come down, but it retains a great deal of importance because it talks about issues relating to the ethnic community there.

We have added four English pages to the newspaper so that the younger generation should be able to read it in English. We are also changing the content mix to attract more youth, to retain some news from Pakistan and carry a lot of news from UK and Europe and relate it to issues that they face like immigration, laws enacted for the ethnic community etc.

Ag: How have you seen the media industry changing in Pakistan over the years?

SH: Over the last decade the industry has really opened up. About ten year ago it was very difficult to get a declaration for a newspaper, it was practically impossible to establish a television channel. All this has changed now; there have been almost 100 channels that have come up. In fact it has been difficult for the smaller channels to survive because of the high cost of production. In my opinion the big five channels will survive and the provincial channels which are looking at a niche market they will survive.

Recession has hit us quite a lot, advertising decreased, now it is picking up again. Advertising in the electronic media is increasing tremendously. The largest advertising comes from the Telecom industry, followed by FMCG, Construction companies and financial sectors. The advertisers have become far more aware, they are far more data-oriented and result-oriented.

Ag: Any message for the Indian media...

SH: The Indian media is quite harsh as far as Pakistan is concerned. In my opinion the Pakistani media gives far more space to the Indian point of view than the Indian media does to Pakistani voice. I think it is the role of media to make it difficult for the Governments of both the countries to do the kind of subrogating they do; we should encourage them to have a mutual dialogue. The Indian media toes the Government line; we do not toe the Government line, we challenge the Government line. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]