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Newspaper Industry- Past, Present and Future
IMT Hyderabad, 25th September 2024: Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Hyderabad had the privilege of welcoming Mr. Sridhar Aranala, Vice President of Sales and Distribution at The Hindu Group, for an educational session on “ Newspaper Industry- Past, Present and Future.” Mr. Aranala holds a degree in Executive General Management Program from Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru, and a Digital Transformation Certificate from Indian School of Business. Mr. Aranala has worked for The Hindu for about 12 years and has extensive experience in the FMCG, Media, and Telecommunications industries.
During the session, Mr. Aranala offered his significant insights on the importance of growth, including his experience with major brands such as Gillette, Hindustan Unilever, Airtel, and Tata Communication in various departments, which helped him gain a deeper understanding of these sectors. Mr. Aranala spoke about the transition between the telecommunications, FMCG, and media sectors and how operationally and commercially different they can be as a result of variables such as the shift from manual to automated operations, the evaluation of FMCG models, and changes in industry trends. He emphasized the need of understanding organizational behaviour and having strong emotional intelligence to achieve optimal growth in the corporate journey.
The speaker also discussed changes in the Sales and Distribution sector, where the process of creating relationships between the brand, retailer, and wholesaler has shifted to being mostly transactional. He emphasized how the S&D department has developed and continues to evolve, with the trinity of visibility, stocking quantity, and product sales influencing how customers perceive the value of the product, and hence the impact on consumer brand loyalty and advocacy.
Mr. Aranala concluded by sharing his perspective on Gen Z as the target group and how information consumption has shifted to short forms, with AI serving as a facilitator while content remains the primary driver of value in the future of information delivery.
The workshop wrapped up with intriguing questions from the attendees, which the speaker answered in the most sophisticated and approachable way possible for future marketeers. Prof. Dhananjay Singh expressed gratitude to the speaker, formally closing the session. This event was part of IMT Hyderabad's ongoing efforts to provide students with meaningful industry exposure from experts and executives.
