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Punascha: marketing strategies of a Bengali publisher

Article · October 2011

DOI: 10.1108/20450621111186174

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Punascha: marketing strategies
of a Bengali publisher
Subhadip Roy and Sunny Bose

Subhadip Roy is an The secret of Punascha’s success lies in the fact that we create books based on the consumers’
Assistant Professor at IBS needs rather than creating the book first and then marketing it to the consumer (Saptarshi Nayak,
Hyderabad, IFHE Manager, Production and Operations, Punascha).
University, Hyderabad,
India. Sunny Bose is a
Research Scholar at ICFAI Introduction
University, Dehradun, India.
It was just another day in the busy work schedule of Mr Saptarshi Nayak (Saptarshi), the
Production Head of Punascha. The December cold was just setting in around Kolkata and
within a month the Kolkata Book Fair was on (refer to Exhibit 1 for a note on the Kolkata Book
Fair). In his office at Beliaghata, activity was at peak as the biggest publication extravaganza
was just round the corner. Punascha is one of the most popular and successful contemporary
Bengali non-textbook publication house in Kolkata and the upcoming book fair was another
opportunity to strengthen its foothold in the Bengali non-textbook market.
Saptarshi was busy with his work when a young sales executive Rajdeep entered his office.
Rajdeep had joined recently and before he ventures out on his own, he would require
guidance. In an informal chitchat, Saptarshi, explained the young executive about Punascha
and its business. While reflecting about the 20 odd years since Punascha’s inception and its
present and prospective future, Saptarshi recollected how the fledging business had
become a success story and in the process multiplied its complexities. Today, the present
looked good, but the future threatened not only Punascha, but the entire Bengali
non-textbook industry. Competition was not the only challenge for Punascha. The major
challenges were coming from the environment itself.
The Bengali community was shifting bases from Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal to
different parts of the country and abroad where they were getting lesser exposure to Bengali
books. The present Bengali kids and teenagers were becoming more west oriented and had
less knowledge of their mother tongue, which though sad, was a fact. Moreover, the
technology revolution had brought the target audience more options of entertainment in the
form of TV and internet which were taking a share of the leisure time of the Bengali readers.
With a sigh, Saptarshi brought his mind back to the discussion with Rajdeep. Punascha had
to move ahead; he and the entire business team had to ensure that.

Background
Disclaimer. This case is written
solely for educational purposes In 1961, Shankari Bhushan Nayak (Shankari Bhushan), founded Grantha Tirtha[1], a
and is not intended to represent publication house for school textbooks in Bengali. However, Shankari Bhushan wanted to
successful or unsuccessful
managerial decision making. diversify from just a school textbook publisher to fiction and other non-text publications in
The author/s may have Bengali. His idea was to establish a publishing business that would cater not only to students,
disguised names; financial and
other recognizable information
but also general book lovers. His son Sandip Nayek (Sandip) joined the proprietary business
to protect confidentiality. and their visions gave birth to Punascha in 1988. The name ‘‘Punascha’’ and the logo were

DOI 10.1108/20450621111186174 VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011, pp. 1-18, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 1
 designed by Purnendu Patri, an eminent writer and scholar in Bengali (refer to Exhibit 2 for the
Logo). The major emphasis of the logo was on the syllable ‘‘Pu’’ (First image in Exhibit 2) and
was crafted in a stylized Bengali font. The word was first popularized by Rabindranath
Tagore[2] (Tagore) and it meant ‘‘Re-beginning’’.
In the early years, Punascha’s focus was on children literature. Its first major success was a
collection of ghost stories titled Ek Baksho Bhoot (A Box Full of Ghosts) released in 1991. The
anthology included around 100 ghost stories from writers before Tagore (Tagore himself
included) to the contemporary Bengali writers. This for some time was immensely popular
among Bengali readers. The other success stories during Punascha’s early years included
different informative storybooks for children. However, this venture could not succeed for long
as the demand for such books in Bengali language was less. Better quality books in English
were available and so the consumers preferred to read them instead of Bengali books when it
came to informative and reference books. Moreover, the Bengali non-textbooks and
publications could not come out of the boundaries of novels and short stories.
However, this did not deter Punascha to try out innovative offerings for its customers. The next
popular book for children was Shatabdir Shera Shishusahityo (Meaning: The Century’s Best
Children Literature) which was again an anthology of literature for kids and came in three
volumes. The first volume had short stories, the second one had novels and the third one had
plays. Even though the books for children were selling, the management of Punascha
realized that concentrating on children’s books would mean letting go of a huge market of the
adult readers. Thus, Punascha started coming up with books for the adult readers. One of the
very popular early bestsellers in that category was ‘‘Nakshal Andolaner Galpo’’ (Meaning:
Stories from the Naxalite Movement), which was an anthology of stories written on the 1970s
Naxalite[3] movement in Bengal (refer to Exhibit 3 for a list of Bestsellers from Punascha).

Punascha makes a difference

Punascha was into publication of work whose copyrights have been lapsed as well as original
work where Punascha held the copyrights. The secret behind the initial success of the
publication lay in the detailed analyses of the types of children’s book requirements
according to the market. The process of deciding on a publication in the business was very
structured. In most other Bengali publications, an author would send his/her manuscript and
the publisher after going through the same would decide whether it could be published.
Contrary to this practice, Punascha had an advisory panel, who suggested what should be
published and the authors who would write. The panel consisted of academicians, people
from the literary community, educationists and readers of Bengali literature. This panel
screened through contemporary authors and their work, and suggested what kind of work or
literature was in demand and who was to write. Based on their suggestions, the publisher
entered into a contract with the author stating what they wanted from the author (based on the
topics suggested by the advisory group). Once an author agreed to write for Punascha, an
agreement was drafted and signed. This agreement generally was in the form of a lump sum
amount at the time of the agreement and the rest in subsequent mutually decided periods. A
general practice in the Bengali book industry was the transfer of copyrights of the author’s
work to the publisher for a lump sum payment instead of royalties on sales. However, the
payment and agreement issues varied on case-to-case basis.
Regarding the publications of work of authors whose copyrights had lapsed, the panel
suggested on the work that could have good market acceptance. In addition, Punascha used
to hold seminars regarding the types of non-textbooks that children needed based on
different age groups. However, as the publication grew, it ventured into books and literatures
for adults as well. In 2010, the seminars held were more generic and children books were a
part of discussions that were more focussed on non-textbooks for adult Bengali readers.
In early 2010, Punascha had about 700 books in its catalogue. Saptarshi informed Rajdeep
that there was no target regarding the number of books to be published annually as that was
entirely quality driven:

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PAGE 2 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011
 The year we get good quality matter, the production is higher and the year we don’t, the production
is obviously lesser. However, unlike other products, ours is not target driven. It is about the quality
of the matter that decides on the number of new books we will publish.

The cost structure for the Bengali publishing business was different from other businesses in
the sense that generally the cost per book was almost the same; the difference being the
number of pages printed and the volume of production made. In Punascha, the structure of
basic production and distribution costs were almost similar for most of the books. To quote
Saptarshi, ‘‘books are unlike dresses or other consumer products’’. Therefore, though costs
and volumes had been influencing factors; the final price had always been heavily dependent
on the subject matter and the number of customers. The pricing of books having a very
specific and limited number of customers were on a higher side as they gave higher margins.
In contrast, general novels or any other book having a mass appeal did generate volumes
and thus, were priced relatively lower for mass consumption. Saptarshi added:
[. . .] the printing and marketing costs are always there. Whether I produce a novel or a special
collector’s item or any other general informative book; the cost of the paper and printing are the
same and I have to account for it. My expenses do not rise in that context. For the same reason,
most of the printing gets outsourced as it is cheaper to get the printing job done outside. Moreover,
the added cost and issues relating to maintenance of the press and other printing issues can be
avoided. However, because of demand I find that I can give a production run of five thousand
books for any general publication which has mass appeal. Whereas, for those special
publications, I can at most give a production run of thousand books. Therefore, automatically,
I have to price the latter ones on the higher sides.

Promoting Punascha
Punascha’s total annual marketing budget was around INR[4] 0.7 to one million and the
promotions have been mainly centred on book fairs and particularly, the Kolkata Book Fair.
Though, occasionally, advertisements on local magazines and newspapers were given by
the publishing house, they were mainly general information about new books that got
published. Punascha felt that print advertisement were not a strong promotional vehicle for
products such as non-textbooks. Saptarshi opined:
[. . .] it is next to impossible that one can inform the prospective customer about the content of a
book and the matter inside in just two lines in the advertisement in a magazine or newspaper.

Therefore, the best promotional tool for publishers was the book fair where customers could
actually scan through a book to see whether it is to his/her liking and, therefore, worth a
purchase or not. This phenomenon generated good results in terms of sales for the
publishers.
In this regard, the Kolkata Book Fair was the best and most important tool for promotion of
books for the Bengali publishing houses. Not only, did it draw great number of visitors and
book lovers from the city, but also people from different parts of West Bengal[5] visit the place.
For a fortnight, the Kolkata Book Fair becomes a mega one-stop shop for book-lovers and
offered books and readable of varied and diverse interests. Moreover, because of the reason
that the book fair brought in thousands of general visitors, casual readers and book lovers in
one place, it was used as the most important promotional tool for all publishers of Bengali
literature, both text and non text. Other than supplying information to the customers about the
books and publications, the Kolkata Book Fair also acted as medium of generating brand
awareness and brand recognition for the publishing houses. People across the state came to
know about Punascha during their visit to these fairs. This has helped Punascha to get a
positive brand image among readers of Bengali non-textbooks. Since, its first participation in
the Kolkata Book Fair, Punascha’s stall has grown in stature and size not only through sheer
space occupancy, but also through customer footfall and repeat purchases (refer to Exhibit 4
for snapshots of the stalls of Punascha at the Kolkata Book Fair).
The inception of the Calcutta Book Fair (Kolkata Book Fair at present) changed the entire
book publishing industry in Kolkata and West Bengal. Prior to the Kolkata Book Fair, the
publication of Bengali books was centred on the Bengali New Year (April 15). However, once

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VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 3
 the book fair started, the entire publishing business got focussed around those 15 days of
January each year. The months of November, December of the previous year and the few
days of January before the fair act as a build up to the Kolkata Book Fair and during these
60-70 days, the promotional activities of every publishing house participating in the fair
reaches zenith. Most of the publications, if not all, take place during the Kolkata Book Fair as it
gives all the Bengali publishers a great opportunity to market their products to a huge existing
and potential customer base. However, according to the opinion of Saptarshi this cannot be a
good marketing practice as the publishers had to work overtime for the few months
preceding the book fair and once it is over, the rest of the year, they had no new offering in the
market. For customers, it was not a very good business practice either, as there was almost no
new offering in the market for almost the entire year. On the other hand, during the fortnight of
the Kolkata Book Fair, there was excess of offerings by the publishers that created problems
for customers with limited resources.
In addition to the Kolkata Book Fair, Punascha had been participating in book fairs that were
held in the suburban districts. The management believed it to be the best promotional tool for
the publishing house. Saptarshi opined that the book fairs including the district book fairs
were the best media for publicity, promotion and information for a publication. Punascha
made sure to participate in every district book fair if possible for the main purpose of
promotion and publicity, notwithstanding the fact that in most cases fairs generated losses for
the publishing house because of transportation costs and damages to the books.
Advertising books and publications through electronic media was not a viable option for
non-text varieties. Though, textbook publishers had found success via this route of promotion,
Saptarshi did not think it to be a good promotional media for Punascha as its products were
totally different from those of textbook publishers:
Text book is a different ball game. When a text book advertisement is broadcasted over the
television, a tutor or a teacher watches the advertisement. Then she/he buys the book and goes
through it. Subsequently, she/he refers to all her/his students to buy the book as it would be
beneficial for them. In this case an advertisement is creating a demand for fifty to hundred books
per teacher for the publisher. Therefore, for text book publishers, the prospective customer(s) are
not the students who are the end-users, but the tutor(s) and teacher(s) who would advise the
students to buy the books. However, for books published by Punascha, it is different. In non text
books, this advice and persuasion is not present as customers’ requirements and likings are
different. Therefore, we have to depend on the book fairs where the customers can personally
browse through the books and buy them there itself or subsequently later on when they have the
capacity and resources.

Brick and mortar to brick and click

Punascha, like most other Bengali publication houses have been using the traditional
distribution channels. It had its own distribution store and retail centre at 9, Nabin Kundu
Lane, Kolkata. The printed materials were received at the main distribution center, where the
post-print production process took place. First, the printed materials were sorted, cut and
folded to give the skeletons to the books. Then the folded pages were bound. Finally, the
covers were pasted and the books were ready to be distributed (Exhibit 5). From the main
distribution store, wholesale and retail sales were made for Punascha and Grantha Tirtha
books. The retailers of Punascha’s books included all the major wholesalers and retailers in
College Street, which was the books and publishing hub of Kolkata and West Bengal.
Punascha also sold their books through their own retail store in Kolkata (Exhibit 6).
However, the most important sales and distribution medium within West Bengal have definitely
been the book fairs and particularly the Kolkata Book Fair which accounted for the maximum
sales for most of the publishers including Punascha. In addition, Punascha used to provide the
option of VP delivery with 50 per cent advance for national as well as international customers.
With the technology revolution, the business had also shifted to brick and click format from
being a brick and mortar entity. The publishing house had started its own web site with the
address www.punascha.com (Exhibit 7). A prospective buyer could check the online

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PAGE 4 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011
catalogue and select the books of his/her choice and then place an order online using the
web site. The payment could be made online to a given bank account and the books would be
delivered to the customer’s doorstep. Moreover, delivery would be free for the international
customers who would pay in USD.

The Bengali book market

The Bengali book market could be broadly categorized into the text and academics books
and the non-textbooks that comprised of anthologies, fiction, biographies, omnibus, novels
and others (Exhibit 8). The latter category could be further classified into literary works whose
copyrights have expired and the second one would be work(s) of author(s) who still held the
copyright. The second type was most prevalent in the work of contemporary authors. The
work whose copyrights had lapsed was profitable to publishers as the royalty payment was
not present. However, such work were generally the most popular books in Bengali non-text
and thus, almost all major Bengali non-text publication houses had their own editions. For
example, ‘‘Sharat Rachanabali’’ which was an anthology of work of Sharat Chandra
Chattopadhyay[6] was one of the highest selling books in Kolkata Book Fair and there were
quite a few publishers who had their own editions of the anthology. Similarly, when the
copyrights of the work of Rabindranath Tagore had lapsed in 2001, there were more than ten
publishers (both small and big) that went on to publish various works of Tagore. For a note: the
series ‘‘Rabindra Rachanabali’’ (collections of work of Rabindranath Tagore) by Visva
Bharati[7] was one of the highest selling non-textbook series in Bengali literature.
Saptarshi valued the Bengali book market to be around INR 200 crores[8] of which
Bangladesh accounted for nearly 50 per cent. The market was divided among publishers that
were totally focussed on textbooks like Chhaya Prakashani and the publishers like Punascha
that were into non-textbook business. Among the non-textbook publishers, Ananda
Publishers, Kolkata held the top slot both in terms of turnover and the number of publications
new and old. Other major publishers in Bengali were also based in Kolkata. Notable among
them were Shishu Sahitya Samsad, Mitra and Ghosh, Dey’s Publishing, Deb Sahitya Kutir and
Punascha itself (refer to Exhibit 9 for a brief about the major Bengali Publishers). Saptarshi
also suggested that in this publishing business the size and strength of the business was not
gauged only by turnover and profitability, but also in terms of the number and quality of new
publications made. In that aspect, few publishing houses were mainly reprinting their old,
popular and best-selling books. For example, Deb Sahitya Kutir’s bestsellers were still their
old popular offerings like the comic strips of ‘‘Bantul the Great’’[9], ‘‘Handa-Bhonda’’[10] and
reprints of their annuals (collection of stories, comic strips, poems, feature articles, etc. in a
single bound volume). For Shishu Sahitya Samsad, one of the most popular and highest
selling product over the years was still ‘‘Amar Shaishab’’ (meaning: my childhood) which
served as a book cum photo album of a child from infancy to the early years.
Other than the major publications, there were also medium and small publishers throughout
West Bengal who were an integral part of this publishing industry. However, it must be noted
that the big houses have had a distinct advantage over these medium and small publishers
not only because of their brands, but also their abilities and capacities to enter into contracts
with the most prominent and contemporary authors, poets and laureates. For example,
Ananda Publishers every year brought out new works of Sunil Ganguly[11], Shirshendu
Mukhopadhyay[12] and other prominent contemporary Bengali authors during the Kolkata
Book Fair.
The competition in non-textbook market could be made on the basis of the authors and their
works that were being published. Saptarshi in a humorous mood suggested that:
[. . .] even today Sharat Rachanabali (Complete works of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay) is still
the highest selling book, it is because of the author. I do not think this book sells because of me or
for that matter any other publisher.

The second basis of competition was the pricing of the book. There were few publications
houses like reflect publishing, which compromised on the quality aspect (smaller font size,
smaller page size, thinner page), but offered the books at very low price. The third basis of
competition had almost become extinct. These were books published specifically for the

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VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 5
 purpose of gifting in marriages. All the major publishers had some specific books in their
catalogues that were only published for the gifting purpose. However, with changing time,
that type of gifting had died down and, therefore; publishers also did not indulge in such kind
of publications.

The marketing challenge

The major challenge faced by the Bengali book industry was the shrinking of the market
owing readers shifting towards English books. The future of the industry was frightening as
per Saptarshi. Bengali was losing its importance among the urbane populous which was
getting more and more English oriented. Bengalis primarily based in the rural and suburban
areas neither had the capacity or resources nor the interest to consider books as form of
entertainment. Worst of all, the present breed of Bengali children in the metro cities,
particularly, in Kolkata did not even know how to read the language properly let alone
appreciate it. Given the scenario, it was obvious that the future of Bengali readership was a
serious concern. Saptarshi was candid in expressing his fears that:
[. . .] today’s children (customers) are our tomorrow’s adult customers. So it is obvious that if our
children do not understand Bengali literature or are not interested in reading Bengali books, ten
years down the line we are looking at a scenario where these children have become adults and are
not readers of Bengali. They cannot absorb or appreciate our books because they do not
understand the essence of Bengali literature.

Thus, not only the Bengali publishing industry was experiencing its present business getting
adversely affected, it was also foreseeing its future business getting destroyed.

The impact of television and internet on readership was also a point of concern. The books
were facing a challenge since people no longer considered reading as a form of
leisure/entertainment and were switching to other forms of entertainment particularly, the
television. This in particular, had impacted the children’s book market the most as it was
noticed that children were shifting from books to cartoons that were broadcasted in various
television channels. As a culmination of the consequences of the young Bengali’s lack of
interest in the language itself, the exposure to television, internet, computers and other forms
of entertainment both regional and foreign; the Bengali publishing industry with serious
concerns was looking at the shrinkage Bengali non-textbook market in the future. This fact
was evident from the unstable sales and profit figures of Punascha (Exhibit 10).

Technology had facilitated the availability of e-books in the market which could have had
serious consequences for the Bengali non-textbook industry. That raised a question to
publishers such as Punascha on whether to venture into the e-book market. On being
inquired by Rajdeep on this issue Saptarshi paused and then replied. He believed that
e-books were not a cause of concern for either Punascha or that matter any of the other
publishers. He elaborated:
I feel e-books can be a good option for technical stuff such as engineering or doctoral level
subjects. However, for literature they are not a very profitable option as a reader browses through
literature for entertainment. Generally she or he would like to read it in her or his own convenience,
while lying down or sitting somewhere. Therefore, sitting in front of the computer screen and
browsing through the book just for relaxation and entertainment is something I do not feel the
reader would be very passionate about.

The Bengali publishing industry was hardbound editions oriented even at the end of the first
decade of the new millennium. Notwithstanding the fact that textbook publishers had started
shifting towards paperback editions for cost and weight reduction, publishers such as
Punascha were still mainly using hardbound versions for their publications. In case of
paperbacks, the cost advantage of the publishers could be passed on to the customers in the
form lower prices. Moreover, as these editions were lighter and less voluminous, they were easy
to carry. Paperbacks had become threats to publishers like Punascha who were still mostly into
hard bound editions.

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PAGE 6 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011
Management and control worries
Punascha’s internal cause of concern was the control of its business. As the business was
growing, there was a severe need of control of the entire business process. As a fledging
proprietary business, it was easy for the Nayeks to oversee each and every matter of the
business. There was always the scope of flexibility, but with the growth of Punascha, it was
being observed that departmentalization, structuring and close process control mechanisms
were needed for further growth (refer to Exhibit 11 for the present organization chart of
Punascha). Explaining the administration issues, Saptarshi commented:
[. . .] initially control was not an issue as me and my brother (Sandip) knew what was going on in
each department. I could keep a mental track of each department’s needs, but as business
volume grew it became difficult to keep a track of all that was going on, so departmental books
were created. However, this was not enough. For example, from three salesmen now we have
twelve, so keeping track of each salesman became an issue. This has called for structuring.
Moreover, the future belongs to the successful marketer. If we do not change now, the entire thing
will fall apart. However, the real challenge is changing Punascha’s existing structure to a more
departmentalized and formalized organizational structure.

The road ahead

Punascha was in the process of planning for the future. On the publication front, they had
decided to restart the publication of informative books for children. It was an offering, they had
withdrawn after their initial years. As a starter, the advisory group was in the process of deciding
the types of informative books that are to be published. Regarding, the entire offering, Punascha
felt that there existed a gap in the non-text market which it planned to fill in. For this purpose, they
were in consultation with the advisory group to find out ways to fill this gap. On the distribution
front, Saptarshi believed that there existed untapped markets that they had not reached and
thus, marketing and distribution had to be keenly focussed on. The Bangladesh market was a
huge opportunity for Bengali publishing houses as the demand for Bengali literature was not
expected to go down owing to the fact that Bengali was the official language in Bangladesh
(refer to Exhibit 12 for a demographic comparison between Bangladesh and India). Presently,
the Bangladesh market was not fully open to Punascha or other publishers from West Bengal,
but was soon to be opened. Once, the market opened up, it presented a huge opportunity for
export of Bengali books from India and Punascha wanted to make best use of it.
Besides, future plans, one of the most important decisions that Punascha had taken was to
shift focus from Kolkata Book Fair. In the words of Saptarshi:
We will not make our publications entirely based on the Kolkata Book Fair. Punascha will make its
publications throughout the year. Maybe out of the twenty new books we publish, five will be at the
time of the Kolkata Book Fair. The publication will now be year round.

Internally, Punascha was striving to get out of its existing organizational structure and to put a
formalized structure in place. The management had understood the need of
departmentalization and a strong focus on marketing activities. Thus, they were slowly
entering into phase of organizational restructuring and formalization of departments and
processes so as to be competitive and be at the forefront of the Bengali non-textbook
publishing industry in the future.
Saptarshi finished his discussion with Rajdeep. There was a meeting with the stall designers
of the book fair in the afternoon. Saptarshi started pondering over the nitty-gritty’s of the stall
requirements of that years Kolkata Book Fair.

Notes
1. Grantha Tirtha (English meaning Grantha: Book; Tirtha: Shrine).
2. Rabindranath Tagore (May 7, 1861-August 7, 1941) was a multi-talented genius who stands out as
one of the greatest Indian minds in the field of literature and art. As a poet, novelist, musician and
playwright, he reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. He was the first non-European to win the Noble prize in literature in 1913 for ‘‘Gitanjali’’
(Song Offerings). Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the

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VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 7
 World) are his best-known works. Tagore is the only litterateur who penned anthems of two nations:
Bangladesh and India.
3. The Naxalite movement in Bengal took place in the early 1970s, where a good amount of students
took up armed movement against the ruling Congress party. The movement died down in the late 70s
because of political and social reasons.

4. As on July 20, 2010, 1 USD ¼ INR 47.0655.

5. Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal which is an Indian state in the eastern part of the country.
6. Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay (September 15, 1876-January 16, 1938) was a prolific writer, who used
his work to depict social turbulence and discord of his time. Sensitive and daring, his novels captivated
the hearts and minds of thousands of readers not only in Bengal but also all over India. His works like
Devdas and Parineeta have been made into movies almost 90 years after their first publication. Some of
his popular works include Devdas (written in 1901 but published in 1917), Parineeta (1914), Palli-Samaj
(1916), Srikanta (in four parts; 1917, 1918, 1927, 1933), Charitraheen (1917), Pather-Dabi (1926).
7. Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan was founded by Rabindranath Tagore as Visva Bharati
meaning communion with the world. Visva Bharati became a registered public body On 23
December 1921. The objective of the institution was to create and impart knowledge in a
non-traditional way and in a natural setting. After independence, Visva Bharati was given the status of
a university in the year 1951.
8. One crore ¼ 10 millions. As on July 20, 2010, 1 USD ¼ INR 47.0655.
9. A Bengali version of a superhero with a humorous touch.
10. Indianized version of two mischievous kids who resembled Laurel and Hardy to some extent.
11. Sunil Ganguly (September 7, 1934-) has authored more than 200 books and is a prolific writer who
has excelled in different genres. Some of his novels such as Pratidwandi (The Adversary), Aranyer
Keywords: Din-Raatri (The Days and Nights of the Forest) have been made into feature films by Satyajit Ray. His
Punascha, historical fiction Sei Somoy (Those Days) received the Indian Sahitya Akademi award in 1985.
Book marketing, 12. Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay (November 2, 1935) is one of the most prolific and popular contemporary
Marketing strategy, Bengali writers. The lion share of his popularity is owed to his stories for children. Many of his works have
4Ps, been adapted into movies such as ‘‘Patalghar’’ (The Underground Chamber) in 2003. In 2010, his adult
Case study, fiction ‘‘Kaagojer Bou’’ (The paper wife) is adapted for a movie of the same title. He is the recipient of
India prestigious awards like Vidyasagar Award, Ananda Puroshkar and Sahitya Akademi Award.

Exhibit 1. A Note on the Kolkata Book Fair

The history of the Kolkata Book Fair (erstwhile Calcutta Book Fair) goes back to the formation
of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild in 1975. Initially, this body had only 14 members
represented who represented individuals from different publishing houses and started
functioning with a President, one Vice President and a Treasurer.
At that time Kolkata had a real scarcity of bookshops that could offer book-lovers the space
and time to browse through a variety of books, notwithstanding the reality that books have
always found a special place in the heart of city dwellers. Thus, understanding this need the
members of the Guild decided to hold a book fair that serve the purpose of exposition and
promotion of various titles to the book-loving people. Thus, on March 9, 1976, the first Calcutta
Book Fair started with a humble beginning of only 54 participants. It was inaugurated by
Mr A.L. Dias, the then Governor of West Bengal.
The same year, the Guild participated in the Frankfurt Book Fair and also the World Book Fair,
New Delhi where it was adjudged the best stall in the medium category and was awarded the
Best Prize. These initial successes motivated the members to organize this annual event in a
larger scale, which in turn called for bigger space to accommodate more participants and
also more crowds, which the first-two years have shown to grow.
In the year 1991, the fair got shifted from the open space in front of Birla Planetarium to
Outram Road (Maidan) in front of Park Street crossings and subsequently, in 2007, the fair
was organized at Salt Lake stadium in outskirts of the city. In 2009, the fair was organized at
Milan Mela near Science City on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.
From a humble beginning in 1976, the Kolkata Book Fair has grown exponentially. In 2007,
more than 2.5 million people visited the fair. Today, it is the largest book fair in Asia, largest

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PAGE 8 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011
non-trade book fair in the world and the largest in the world in terms of visitors. It is also the
largest annual conglomeration of books after the Frankfurt Book Fair and London Book Fair.
The fair has participants from across all parts of India and also international publishers.
Popular book stalls include Ananda Publishers, Dey’s Publishing, Deb Sahitya Kutir and Mitra
Ghosh Publishers, Punashcha, Sishu Sahitya Samsad among Bengali language book shops
and Timely Books, Seagull Books, Rupa and Co, Penguin India, Tata McGraw Hill – among
English language book shops. In addition, international publications also represent through
their franchisees or sales agents like Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press,
Pearson Prentice Hall, McMillan and the like.
Diplomatic mission stalls that typically display and sell books of their respective countries are
also set up. The British Council, US Information Service and Alliance Française typically host
stalls. The European Union, Bangladesh and several Latin American embassies have hosted
stalls in the recent years.
Since 1994 (barring 1995 and 1996), the book fair has been themed annually on a country –
on the lines of the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The theme country embassy is
and its representatives are typically given a stall at the fairground centre, and many
bookstalls theme their collections based on that country. The temporary gates of the fair are
designed according to the designs given by students of Kolkata based on the theme.
Source: Compiled from different sources

Exhibit 2. The logo of Punascha

Figure E1

Source: Punascha Web site, www.punascha.com

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VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 9
j
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Table EI
Name Author/editor English translation Matter Price

PAGE 10 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011

Smritir Chhobi Rabindranath Tagore. Edited by Photographs of memories Pictorial memoir Rs 1,000
Abhik Kr. Dey
Galpa Sankalan Sunil Ganguli Collection of stories Anthology Rs 100
Galpa Sankalan Buddhadeb Guha Collection of stories Anthology Rs 100
Satchollisher Diary Nirmal Kumar Basu. Edited by 47s Diary Diary and biography Rs 800
Abhik Kr. Dey
Nakshal Andoloner Golpo Edited by Bijit Ghosh Stories of the Naxal Revolution Anthology Rs 350
Sera Hasir Haat Sanjib Chatterjee Collection of best humour stories Collection of fun and humour stories Rs 125
Ek Bakso Bhoot Edited by Shirshendu Mukherjee One box full of ghosts Collection of ghosts and other Rs 140
Exhibit 3A. Major bestsellers of Punascha

and Ashok Kr. Chatterjee horror stories

Nirbachito Rachana Tarashankar Bannerjee Selected essays Selected essays Rs 300
Bharat Parikrama Kshiti Mohan Sen Tour of India Essays on experiences and travelogue Rs 250
Chirokaler Galpa-gatha Leela Majumdar All time favourite stories Anthology Rs 150
Banglar Chhoto Galpa Edited by Bijit Ghosh Short stories in Bengali Anthology of 500 selected short stories Rs 100 per volume
(12 Volumes)
Sunirbachito Kishore Upanyas Sunil Ganguli Selected novels for young adults Anthology Rs 75
Kishore Goyenda Omnibus Syed Mustafa Siraj Omnibus of detective stories Anthology Rs 60
Andhakare Raat Birete Syed Mustafa Siraj In dark nights Anthology Rs 80
Sharat Rachanabali Sharat Chandra Chatterjee Works of Sharat Chandra Collection and anthology Rs 375 (complete volume)

Source: Company catalogue

Exhibit 3B. Cover pages of three bestsellers of Punascha

Figure E2

Nakshal Andoloner Golpo

Smritir Chhobi

Sera Hasir Haat

Source: Company Provided

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VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 11
 Exhibit 4. Snapshots of the stalls of Punascha at the book fair (two separate years)

Plate E1

Source: Company Website

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PAGE 12 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011
Exhibit 5. Post print production process

Plate E2

Step 1. Printed material stacks

Step 2. Cutting and folding process

Step 3. Pasting process

Source: Complied by Case Authors

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VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 13
 Exhibit 6. Punascha’s own retail store in Kolkata

Plate E3

Source: Punascha Web site

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Exhibit 7. Snapshots from the company web site

Figure E3

Source: www.punascha.com

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VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 15
 Exhibit 8. Structure of the Bengali book market

Figure E4

Bengali
books

Bengali text Bengali non-

books text books

Children’s
Novel Anthology Fiction Biography Others
books

Copyright Copyright
existing lapsed

Source: Author

Exhibit 9. Competitor profile of Punascha

Ananda Publishers
Ananda Publishers was incorporated in 1957 as Ananda Publishers Pvt Ltd in Kolkata. The
publishing house is the pioneer in publication of Bengali literature as well as translation of
international literary works. It publishes Bengali novels, short-stories, poems, travelogues
and other speciality books relating to cooking, economics, history, religion and
autobiographies. It is the market leader in the Bengali publishing market and is considered
to be the top choice for authors, novelists and poets that include names like Sunil Ganguly,
Buddhadeb Guha, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Satyajit Ray, Mohammed Yunus and others.
Ananda Publishers also gives special emphasis to children fiction and non-fiction books.
They also translate Tintin and Asterix comics in Bengali. The publishing house is closely
associated with the ABP group of Kolkata that engages in print, broadcast and electronic
media business.

Shishu Sahitya Samsad

Shishu Sahitya Samsad is the unit of Samsad that is into publication of children books.
Samsad was started by Mahendranath Dutt in 1951 with a vision of exposing the post colonial
generation of Bengali literature and language emphasizing on their historical bearings to the
readers given the changing contemporary political and cultural scenario. The first
publications included collected works of modern Bengali literature from second half of the
nineteenth century, a series of dictionaries in Bengali and for transactions between Bengali
and English and collections of illustrated nursery rhymes in Bengali. Today Samsad is in
publication of general and specialized theme dictionaries and encyclopaedias, children’s
books and authoritative works of reference on Indian collected works of major writers in
Bengali.

Dey’s Publishing
Dey’s Publishing is based in Kolkata and is considered to be among the top five Bengali
publishing houses in India. The publisher has popular titles from the most popular and

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PAGE 16 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011
revered Bengali authors like Sunil Ganguly, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Prabir Ghosh,
Narayan Sanyal and others. The publishing house has a long history of being the
‘‘launchpad’’ of many established authors of today. The house has a long list of bestseller
titles to its credit and publishes more than one hundred and fifty new titles each year.

Mitra and Ghosh

Mitra and Ghosh Publishing Pvt Ltd was started by two friends Gajendra Kumar Mitra and
Sumath Nath Ghosh who were renowned writers in Bengali themselves. At its initial years, the
establishment was into distribution of books of other publishers. However, in 1934 the
organization entered into publication with the English to Bengali School Pocket Dictionary by
Kalidas Ray. Simultaneously, a collection of international stories by Gajendra Kumar Mitra,
‘‘Rabideepta’’ by Dr Sirendranath Dasgupta, ‘‘Bharat Sanskriti’’ by Suniti Kumar
Chattopadhyay were also published. Having its roots in two renowned writers, the
publishing house became the choice for many renowned authors, academicians and literary
critics. Even today, contemporary intellectuals from theatre, literature and academics come
for such chitchats. This milieu of thought leaders enabled the publishing house to come out
with the only purely literature oriented magazine ‘‘Katha Sahitya’’ in Bengali which is in
circulation more nearly 60 years. The house holds the reputation of publishing works that have
gone on to win various awards and prizes. The company has also contributed greatly to
children literature. Books such as ‘‘Thakurmar Jhuli’’ and ‘‘Thakurdar Jhuli’’ by
Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar is still considered as one of the most sought after books in
Bengali children literature and a must read in an average Bengali home.
Source: Compiled from various web sites.

Exhibit 10. Punascha: sales and profit figures (in INR)

Table EII
Year 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

Sales 3,245,189 4,047,405 4,680,868 3,735,993 4,339,374

Profit 151,290 204,500 200,205 166,871 147,596

Source: Punascha

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VOL. 1 NO. 4 2011 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 17
 Exhibit 11. Punascha: organization chart

Figure E5

Over all
Advisory panel
administration

Pre-production Production Marketing

Advertising
Copy Composing
and
correction and lay out
promotion

Copy Proof Sales and

editing reading distribution

Printing
(outsourced)

Binding

Source: Punascha

Exhibit 12. Bangladesh & India (population data)

Table EIII
Bangladesh India

Population 158,570,535 (July 2011 est.) 1,189,172,906 (July 2011 est.)

Ethnic groups Bengali 98 per cent, other 2 per cent (includes Indo-Aryan 72 per cent, Dravidian 25 per cent, Mongoloid and
tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998) other 3 per cent (2000)
Language Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English Hindi 41 per cent, Bengali 8.1 per cent, Telugu 7.2 per cent,
Marathi 7 per cent, Tamil 5.9 per cent, Urdu 5 per cent, Gujarati
4.5 per cent, Kannada 3.7 per cent, Malayalam 3.2 per cent,
Oriya 3.2 per cent, Punjabi 2.8 per cent, Assamese 1.3 per cent,
Maithili 1.2 per cent, other 5.9 per cent

Source: CIA (2011), The World Factbook, June 30, 2011, available at: www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html
and www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html (accessed September 22, 2010)

Corresponding author
Subhadip Roy can be contacted at: [email protected]

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