People who rise from the very grass root levels are the one who have the best values in terms of grounding. Mr. KRP Reddy is amongst one of those who scaled the peaks of success and has avenged his destiny despite not being from an affluent family by birth. From the remote terrains of Andhra Pradesh, today Mr. Reddy sits in the capital of the state, directing operations of the leading Telegu daily news paper – Sakshi and the case studies about Sakshi in various top level management institutes are a testimony to the reach and success it has gained over the years through the astute work of Mr. Reddy. His enthusiasm has never taken a back seat, and Sakshi as a brand in itself has gone from strength to strength since its inception. Hailing from the batch of 1977, Mr. Reddy has certainly gone on to prove that when one has the willingness to do well, there is nothing in the world that can derail that will. Spearheading the marketing and advertising fronts at Sakshi, Mr. Reddy has taken Sakshi to the 8th ranked daily in India. Cult explores this amazing journey of Mr. Reddy in depth where he highlights his life from school to IIPM, and the different aspects of his entreprenuerial peronality that has positioned Sakshi in the most appropriate ways. He has been the enterprising figure that has propelled Sakshi from one level to other. And, all this, with a special element – Humility!
I was born on 12th September, 1956 at Kalva Srirampur – a rural village in Karimnagar District of Andhra Pradesh. As my first name indicates, the village itself took the first name “Kalva” as there were many families of “Kalva” who have ‘roots’ in this village.
I, still remember my childhood very clearly, where my village those days itself had a “Residential School” run privately by a trust of dedicated families. My family happened to be one such family. We also had a Zilla Parishad High School, Veterinary centre, Family Health Centre, a good Library etc., What this village really lacked till 1970 was a proper connecting Road. The nearest Railway Station was about 6 Kms., away, and we used to go to this station by bullock cart and reach Hyderabad by Train.
I also remember all those efforts of my father as a “Sarpanch” of the village, as he had put forth about 25 years to develop this village and neighbouring villages. This village is now a “Mandal Headquarer” (since 1987) and my father became an MLA in the year 1985. He suddenly passed away in 1991. He was well noted for his leadership qualities and dedicated service.
My father was one amongst the many parents in this village who understand the importance of a “Good Education”. He himself had to leave studies in class VIII and take up the responsibility of his large family of a mother, six younger sisters and two younger brothers at a very young age due to the death of his father (my Grandfather).
Today there are more than a dozen people from this village who are working in different professions in USA including both my sons and daughter-in-law.
When I was 8 years old, I along with my younger brother was sent to Hyderabad to be admitted in II class at St. Pauls High School, an English Medium School which was a privilege in those days. Most of the times, my mother used to stay with us, while my father was busy with his business of agriculture.
“i believe that sincerity and dedication to your profession will only make you what you are”
I completed my SSC at St.Pauls High School in 1972 amd I was as an outstanding student in all the classes from V to X.
I then completed Intermediate in 1972-1974 and appeared for Medical Entrance Examination. I unfortunately missed the admission into MBB S by just a whisker. Then, I went on to complete B.Sc. (Graduation) from New Science College in Hyderabad.
After B.Sc., I wanted to join M.Sc., particularly at Kanpur – it was the destination for many Post Graduate aspirants from AP. In the meanwhile I saw the advertisement of IIPM and appeared for the written examination, a group discussion and a personal interview at “Hotel Ashoka” in Bangalore , this was the first time I walked into a Star Hotel . After about 15 days I got an intimation letter that I was selected.
I discussed several times with my parents and other well wishers whether to join IIPM or not and all of them encouraged me to join as they felt it would give a very good exposure. I decided to join.
Afraid of getting “ragged” (common in those days) by senior students, I purposely reached IIPM- Delhi one week later than the specified date of registration , in August 1977, surprisingly I received a wonderful welcome from all fellow students and residents of the Hostel. I had classmates from all across the country from Assam, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Gujarat, Kerala etc.
Then, started the most wonderful phase of my life – learning at IIPM in direct interaction with the most learned and experienced faculty of Dr. N.R. Chatterjee, Prof. Hemu Adhikari, Dr.M.S. Shukla, Dr. B.R. Seth , Prof. Sanyal, Prof. Dhande and particularly the Director Dr. MK Chaudhuri – it was a great enrichment of knowledge and I cherished it. We used to have classes very early in the morning and I enjoyed the chilly winter mornings and “Adrak ki Chai” at the Bengali Market – along with some very serious discussions. There used to be a lot of interaction in the class room between the teachers and students. This method developed my “analytical skills”. I later went on to do a ‘dessertation’ on Marketing of LCD watches with particular reference to the market share of – Onida Brand.
Finally the day came to leave IIPM. We were all with heavy heart as every one of us was going in different directions of the country. On that last day Dr M.K. Chaudhuri announced my name for the Silver Medal for putting in efforts in the placement cell which came as a surprise to me ( I do not know whether it is done these days also). Most of our batch mates received comfortable placements in noted organizations.
The well planned course content and activities within the class room and outside the class room built up a tremendous amount of confidence in me. This helped me to overcome all hurdles and even strengthened my will power and is the main contributor of who I am today.
I sincerely believe that there is no short cut to success. Sincerity & dedication to your profession will only make you what you are.
I joined Monica Electronics in June 1979 as a Marketing Trainee at Hyderabad. It was here that I learnt the art of Marketing . Selling LCD watches was a big challenge. Within six months of joining I could open new outlets – including jewellery show rooms across AP. I was able to increase the market share of my company substantially.
In mid 1981, I was transferred to Chennai as a Regional Manager – South where I worked till October, 1981.
TURNING POINT: November 1981 was a major turning point in my career. I got the opportunity to work as a Team Leader for Retail advertisements in a local language Newspaper – a novel concept launched by the leading Telugu Newspaper – Eenadu.
In this job, I was an instant success and I have completed more than 27 years of service in the Print Media Industry.
This 27 years of experience has been very challenging, inspiring and has given me immense satisfaction and fullfilment.
My career in the Print Industry as the Head of an Advertisement Department in a Newspaper has given me a lot of opportunities to improve my skills and help me create strategies to generate more revenue for the organization. The main source of revenue and establishment for a Newspaper is advertisement revenue.
“print media remains to be credible and reliable, but is facing challenges of marketing”
I had the opportunity to be associated with major players in the Telugu Newspaper industry like Udayam, Vaartha, Andhra Jyothi and presently with “Sakshi” Telugu Daily the country’s 8th Largest circulated Newspaper.
My association with Sakshi Telugu Daily is a very special achievement. I am associated as a Director – Advertising & Marketing. Sakshi as a Media Group was launched in 2008 and it has created a record in the “Limca Book of Record” by launching 23 printing editions simultaneously.
Within four years this publication Sakshi Telugu Daily has achieved a position of eight all India as per AB C with a circulation of 14.53 lakh copies per day. It has built up an AIR (Readership) of 52.19 lakh in a very short time.
I have been associated with this publication from its inception and I am deeply involved in the product planning, marketing strategies and revenue building strategies.
Presently the Sakshi Advertising and Marketing team strength is about 1000 plus spread across 175 regional offices in AP and six Metro Offices across the Country. The team is young and well trained to handle this fast growing brand. We frequently conduct training workshops and skill improvement programmes through experts in the Industry because in a newspaper speed and precision are very important.
The success of Sakshi is presently discussed as a case study in MICA, Ahmedabad and some other premier management Institutes in the Country. The success of Sakshi Telugu Daily has proved that if there is proper planning and implementation, then there is nothing like saturation in the market place.
Till early 70’s print Media i.e. Newspapers, Magazines were the primary dependable source of information. But today we have seen the evolution of electronic media and digital media. Print continues to remain a credible and reliable medium but is now facing challenges of marketing and commerce.
In India, the print media got stagnated for a long time with the issue of cover price, which infact is very low when compared to the neighbouring countries and Europe.
In Sakshi Telugu daily, we have promoted the category of retirement in a very big way and the last day of every month is a big source of revenue from this category of advertisements. These small advertisements in each and every 298 constituencies where Sakshi prints, adds up to substantial revenues for the entire brand. It is with strategies like these that we have established the Sakshi brand in the regional markets and hope to grow further in the years to come.
Today the retail advertisement segment in AP alone has grown to be a more than Rs.250 Crore segment and it is still growing. Sakshi is also actively involved in CSR with initiatives like ‘Akshara’ and ‘Green Haritha’. Music is my major interest while my passion is travel and reading. I also enjoy table tennis.
Cult salutes the phenomenal vigour and zest Mr. Reddy exhibits in this tremendous journey as Sakshi continues to prosper amongst its readers.
