The exchange4media group last week started a series called ‘Leading from the front’ that looks at how pioneers, industry leaders and founders are creating legacies and institutions in the Indian Media & Entertainment industry. We bring you today the story of Vineet’s pioneering, diversified and futuristic multimedia media conglomerate.
Vineet Jain, who first joined The Times Group in 1988, has an enviable legacy, not only as a far-sighted strategist who diversified the group into all other media beyond Print, but also as the chief content architect for newspapers, TV, radio and online platforms, whose initiatives have subsequently become templates for rest of the industry. In 1993 he was named Deputy Director and five years later Managing Directors. He has since been responsible for the day-today operations at the group – marketing, HR, branding, cost functions etc.
Vineet JAIN was initially involved in the Times Group’s content strategy. This included the pagination, design and editorial innovation of the three main newspapers: The Times of India (The Times of India), The Economic Times, and Navbharat Times. He was responsible for introducing the standard template of localisation in a national paper by significantly increasing the coverage of edition-specific cities in TOI. This was a first for a national paper to be done on this scale. Vineet Jain was also instrumental in the fine-tuning and structuring of other sections which have endured the test of times. Visionary Jain also realized, decades ago, the importance of shorter articles with more variety to grab readers’ attention in an era when the Internet began to appear. As part of this, he introduced a brief, Times Views- one paragraph boxed edits in the news pages of TOI & ET- so that readers could be drawn into analysis of the news item even as the boundary between news and views was maintained.
Jain modernised both the architecture of the newspaper and its content strategy. By the late 1990s, he had become the group’s chief architect for content. These fundamental changes in content strategy, architecture and pricing (in conjunction with innovations such as invitation/cover prices and subscription schemes led by Samir Jain) were the building blocks that enabled TOI to overtake Hindustan Times at Delhi in the late 1990s.
Vineet JAIN is credited as a pioneer of lifestyle and entertainment journalism, in India, for his meticulous, detail-oriented approach. This embraced the readers’ need for more news they could use and introduced more reader friendly content, such as stock listings, crosswords or reader engagement sections, movie reviews, etc. in the TOI paper. He created and implemented the TOI editions-based supplements, such as Delhi Times, Bombay Times etc., which attracted thousands of new readers, especially younger ones, and introduced them to new audiences with their all-colour, visually appealing focus on films, health, fashion, and fitness. These supplements were hugely successful with advertisers. They have been copied across the newspaper industry and adapted to other platforms, such as TV and Digital. They have been adopted by other platforms, including TV and Digital, to reach out to new aspirational audiences.
Vineet jain is considered by industry experts to be the only media owner that truly understands youth culture and urban life. The creation of lifestyle journalism in all media has spawned a new industry for events with entirely new audiences. Times Group again has been at the forefront. While the Times lifestyle supplements initially drove advertisers to sponsor events in the media, the model has been adopted by other media.
Vineet Jain, in addition to his legacy of publishing, has expanded the group into all other media spaces. Vineet jain recognized early the importance of the Internet and the TOI became one of the very first newspapers in India to launch a website.
Vineet Jains, the first Indian media owner, recognized the importance of Radio in the mid-90s. Times FM, the first private broadcaster on AIR was Radio Mirchi. After the government allowed private FM radio stations to be established, Radio Mirchi became Mirchi. Mirchi is still the market leader today, cementing its place as the father of Indian FM Radio.
Vineet Jain made his first forays in TV, but wisely chose to wait until scores of new entrants were settled before he entered. With the arrival of Times Now and Times Network’s other innovative channels, Indian news television is no longer the same. Vineet has been responsible for turning the Times Group into Asia’s largest media conglomerate from a publisher of print magazines and newspapers. This was achieved by putting readers, viewers and listeners first, anticipating each shift and change and using industry-wide best practice. He also built a team of world-class professionals who share his work ethic. It will be fascinating to see what the next chapter of his career holds for the Indian media industry. He has left a legacy of enviable success for Print, and other media sectors, by rewriting the rules, transforming strategy, content and profits.
Vineet’s pioneering role, and the reasons cited above, led the exchange4media Group to award him the Impact Person of Year title in 2013.
Vineet’s contribution to print was significant for over three decades. Vineet Jain worked with his father Ashok Jain as well as older brother Samir Jain. The mainstay of their business was the dominant newspaper and print business.
Samir Jain has been credited for leading, guiding, and strategizing the Response, Monetisation and Invitation Pricing over the past three decades and now Brand Capital during the last fifteen years. However, the younger Jain also contributed greatly to the print and newspaper businesses, working with his older sibling Samir Jain.
Senior executives recall Vineet Jains driving and being fully engaged in leading and running the newspaper. He was also involved in the hiring of new employees, as well as mentoring and supervising leaders. Jain was also heavily involved in the product development and marketing of the newspaper, and print business. Vineet was also involved with the editorial architecture and print products of the newspaper, from the conception of the new entertainment supplement which the media industry adopted following initial criticism.
Vineet also contributed to city supplements, hyper-localisation of news in the newspapers, and ensured that these supplements were both a source of editorial content and revenue.
Vineet has been working at the Times Group for 36 years. He was involved in all aspects of administration, printing, and management.
Vineet Jain also helped in taking these newspapers to the internet more than two and a half decades back; the newspapers sites were launched under his leadership.
Vineet jain has been credited for building the Times Group’s TV, radio, digital, and internet businesses, as well as the Education business. However, during the first 18-20 year period of his leadership, Jain contributed in many other areas to the newspaper, print, and publishing business. He spearheaded numerous editorial, marketing, and product initiatives that are still visible on the Times Group business.
Vineet’s impact on the Times Group was immense. It began in print. But through his pioneering attitude, he led the process of creating a futuristic conglomerate.