IIPM, the advertiser

Even as the Hoot has been trying to document just how beholden the media is to the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) for advertising, there comes the news that this education brand is now getting into media education, with a one year post graduate diploma. The announcement is accompanied by the usual IIPM hype(truly exclusive, personalized attention, training from some of the best journalists in India)   and the institution will be called the Sunday Indian School of Journalism, after the magazine published by IIPM, and modestly billed ‘The Nation’s Greatest News Magazine’ on its masthead.

The announcement says that apart from Kolkata, The Sunday Indian School of Journalism will have campuses in Pune, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Delhi. 

Over the years there have been periodic controversies over the quality of  management education offered by IIPM.  All the negative reports have been on blogs, small websites, and in education or career publications, almost none in the mainstream media. When Vir Sanghvi wrote about IIPM and the travails of careers360.com, he did so on his blog, not in the Hindustan Times.  A recent piece in the New Indian Express has been removed from the website. IIPM on its part has a rumour response page.

 Given the institute’s advertising-related clout with major print media brands, the students who join its media education courses ought to be at least assured  good placements. 

Major advertiser

Just how big an advertiser is IIPM?    From different sources one gets figures for different years. A PTI report in May 2007 quoted a government statement in the Rajya Sabha which said that the institution had spent over Rs 17.28 crore and Rs 31.62 crore on advertisements during 2004-05 and 2005-06 respectively. The statement said IIPM has not paid income tax during the assessment years 2005-06 and 2006-07, claiming exemption under section 10(23C) (vi) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Exchange4media’s list of top 10 brands advertising in the print media in 2008 ranked IIPM no 1, ahead of  three government ministries, the State Bank of India and products from the Reliance, Tata and Maruti stables.

In the second quarter of 2009, education was the biggest sector in print advertising, and IIPM was the top advertiser in the sector. The ‘Educational Institutions’ category contributed the maximum in overall advertising of ‘Education’ sector in Print during Q1 2010. ‘Planman Consultant India P Ltd’ was the top advertiser in the Education sector in Print during Q1 2010.

As an advertiser IIPM is far ahead of other educational institutions, including leading business schools in the country.

Summer is when IIPM advertising is at its peak, given that it is admission time. The Hoot decided  to do  a six week survey of five newspapers and four magazines  to see which ones benefit the most from the advertisements the Institute puts out. For the period April 1^st to May 15, 2010 the picture is as shown below. The three leading English newspapers in terms of circulation were the leading  beneficiaries.

IIPM advertisement in news papers

The lion’s share of IIPM advertisements to newspapers has gone to The Hindu. From the data collected over a period of six weeks it is evident that on an average it got at least three and some times 4 ads per week, for instance through April 5-11 or May 3-8 and May 10-15.During the selected period  it got two full page, 14 slightly less than half page and 6 small IIPM  advertisements. Some times it happens that the Hindu publishes IIPM ads twice in the same issue. For instance on April 12, there is a one complete page ad on page 5 of the main issue, and then there is another advertisement on page 4 of its supplement Metro Plus. Ditto on April 5. The Hindu supplements of Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are   regular places to look for IIPM ads.

The Times of India got on average 2 IIPM ads per week but it has got 5 full page, 4 around half page and three small ads. One full page IIPM advertisement is a regular feature of Education Times, TOI’s education supplementary. The same is true of The Hindustan Times which also got 2 ads per week and HT Horizon, its education supplement which gets one full page IIPM ad regularly.

In the 6 weeks (1st April to 15th May) there are no IIPM advertisements in India Today, Outlook and Week. It is Tehelka which has consistently published one full page ad (26x19 cm) in all of its 7 issues in the period of 1st April-15th May on exactly the same page which is back inside page.

The Hindu  

 1st April, Thursday-Metro Plus, 4th page-31x24 cm

2nd April, Friday- Friday Review, 4th page, 31x24

3rd April, Saturday- Metro Plus Weekend, 8th page, 31x24

5th April, Monday- 18th page, 35x16 cm

5th April, Monday- Metro Plus, 4th page, 31x24 cm

8th April, Thursday- Metro Plus, 4th page, 31x24 cm

9th April, Friday- Friday Review, 4th page, 31x24 cm

12th April, Monday- Complete 5th page,  52x33 cm

12th April, Monday- Metro Plus, 4th page, 31x24 cm

15th April, Thursday- Metro Plus, 4th page, 31x24 cm

19th April, Monday- 20th page, 15x12 cm

26th April, Monday- Complete 18th page, 52x33cm

3rd May, Monday- 8th page, 45x20 cm

6th May, Thursday- Metro Plus, 4th page, 31x24 cm  

7th May, Friday- Friday Review, 4th page, 31x24 cm

8th May, Saturday-Metro Plus, 12th page, 31x24 cm

10th May, Monday- 18th page of The Hindu, 15x12 cm

13th May, Thursday • Metro Plus, 4th page, 31x24 cm

14th May, Friday- Friday Review, 4th page, 31x24 cm

15th May, Saturday-  Metro Plus Weekend, 16th page,  31x24

Times of India 

5th April, Monday- Education Times, 3rd page, 40x20
6th April, Tuesday- 3rd page, 20x12
12th April, Monday- Education Times, 3rd page, 40x 20
13th April, Tuesday- whole 5th page 52x33
19th April, Monday- Education Times, 3rd page, 40x20 cm
20th April, Tuesday- 3rd page, 15x12 cm
26th April, Monday- Education Times, 3rd page, 40x20 cm
27th April, Tuesday- whole 5th page, 52x33 cm
3rd May, Monday- Education Times, whole 2nd page, 52x33 cm
4th May, Tuesday - 5th page, the whole page, 52x33 cm
10th May, Monday- Education Times, complete 2nd page, 52x33 cm
11th May, Tuesday- TOI, 3rd page, 15x12 cm

Hindustan Times

5th April, Monday- 3rd page, 20x12
7th April, Wednesday- HT Horizon, education supplement, 3rd page, 40x20
12th April,  Monday- Complete 19th page, 52x33 cm
14th April, Wednesday- HT  Horizon, 3rd page, 40x20 cm
19th April, Monday- 3rd page, 15x12 cm
21st April,  Wednesday- HT Horizon, 3rd page,  40x20 cm
26th April, Monday- Complete 7th page, 52x33 cm
28th April, Wednesday- 3rd page, 45x20 cm
3rd May, Monday- Complete 7th page, 52x33 cm
5th May, Wednesday- HT Horizon, complete 2nd page, 52x33cm
10th May, Monday- 3rd page, 15x12 cm
12th May, Wednesday- HT Horizon, complete 2nd page, 52x33 cm
 
 
The Indian Express

5th April- 3rd page, 35x16 cm
3rd May- 3rd page, 20x12 cm 

  
  The Pioneer 

5th April- 3rd page, 20x12 cm
7th April- One complete 14th page advertorial, titled ‘IIPM: an intriguing story of growth and envy’. No byline.
12th April- Complete 3rd page, 52x33 cm
3rd May- 3rd page, 20x12 cm