TROME

NA0052
Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid

Guillermo D’Andrea, IAE Business School, Austral University
Javier J. O. Silva, IAE Business School, Austral University
Maricruz Prado, IAE Business School, Austral University
On a hot morning in late
December 2001, the El
Comercio Publishing
Company’s Management
Committee held a meeting
in Lima, Peru. The atmos-
phere at the meeting was
quite different than it had
been six months before,
when El Comercio had
launched Trome, a newspa-
per for low-income fami-
lies. See Exhibit 1 for El
Comercio’s organization
chart.
General Manager César Pardo Figueroa Turner opened Bernardo Roca Rey Miró Quesada, Raúl Hernández, Trome’s Director,
the meeting with an announcement, “Despite our exten- Publications and Multimedia demanded, “Why don’t we stick to a
sive research on readers’ behavior and our marketing Director, ventured, “We should refor- style that we know works? I’ m sure
plan, sales over the past six months have increasingly mulate our content style, because I our readers want content that is simi-
failed to meet our expectations. I don’t know what we are believe we’re not reaching readers as lar to those offered by our competi-
going to do. We just can’t let our readers, advertisers and we hoped we would. Perhaps our tors, with a focus on sex and violence.”
shareholders down. We must remember our actions can vocabulary and design are not the
jeopardize El Comercio’s reputation and leadership.” right ones.”
Copyright © 2009 by the Case Research Journal, Guillermo D´Andrea, Javier Silva, and Maricruz Prado.
The authors wish to thank Pedro José de Zavala, El Comercio’s senior marketing manager, for his cooper-
ation and consideration in preparing this case. The authors also wish to thank the anonymous reviewers
who provided very useful comments and suggestions, and Lew Brown for his insightful comments and rec-
ommendations that strengthened the case. An earlier version of this case was presented at the North
American Case Research Association annual meeting, October 30–November 1, 2008, Durham, New
Hampshire. This case was prepared by the authors for the sole purpose of providing material for classroom
discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation.
Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 1
This document is authorized for use only in Pedro Jos? De Zavala's Marketing Estrategico MDMGC16 at Universidad Del Pacifico from Oct 2018 to Apr 2019.
However, Alberto Cendra Astiz, New Business Senior Pedro José de Zavala, El Comercio’s “Clearly, we need to take steps to reme-
Manager, disagreed, “I think we can’t change our con- Marketing Senior Manager warned dy sales drops. I’m sure we’ll figure it out
tent. Anyway, I feel our cutlery promotion is not catch- the other members of the committee, and make it work,” asserted César Pardo
ing readers’ attention as expected. Besides, street sales- “Look, with no circulation, I can’t sell Figueroa.
men’s initial refusal to sell our paper hampered our any advertising! We have to consider
launching. While most of our ads were on the air, the whether this paper is really viable. As
newspaper was not available on the streets! We should sales drop, so does our appeal for
relaunch our paper with more advertising and new pro- advertisers. What if we misunder-
motions.” stood our reader segments and ended
up launching the wrong paper?”
EMPRESA EDITORA EL COMERCIO (EEEC)

Founded in May 1839, El Comercio, the oldest newspaper in Latin America, served as
the backbone for Empresa Editora El Comercio (EEEC). For most of its life, the news-
paper had belonged to the Miró Quesada family. Since inception, it was committed to
independent journalism, with no political affiliation—a rather uncommon trait in Latin
America, where most newspapers usually conveyed their political preferences. El
Comercio’s history merged with that of the owners’ family, who were always involved in
the newspaper’s management, ensuring that its track record and rigorous style turned it
into Peru’s most reliable newspaper and one of its most influential media.
EEEC’s scope focused on El Comercio’s printing, publication and distribution. The
newspaper was an undisputed leader among top (A and B) socio-economic strata
(SES),1 as measured by unaided recall and most frequently read newspapers. Exhibit 2
shows Peru’s demographic data and describes its capital city’s socio-economic composi-
tion.
Since 1999, the company had invested in several media—press, cable TV, Internet
and radio—businesses, becoming the nation’s largest multimedia corporation and offer-
ing advertisers multimedia contracts to exploit its synergies. In 2001, the company had
introduced a new newspaper, Trome, for lower (C, D and E) SES. Company revenues
came from three major sources: newspaper sales, advertising and optional products.
In late 2001, El Comercio and Trome copy sales accounted for 23.6 percent of the
company’s revenues. Both newspapers were distributed indirectly—by 1,200 canillas2 in
Lima, the nation’s capital—and directly. The indirect channel sold 86.8 percent of the
newspaper’s circulation, while direct sales to stores like supermarkets, gas stations, con-
venience stores and subscriptions accounted for the rest. El Comercio, with its unique
format—it was the only standard-sized, broadsheet (600mm by 380mm or 23.2" by
2 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008
15") newspaper—and its S/2.00 price (S/0.50–S/1.50 above all other newspapers in
Lima), largely attracted upscale readers.3 However, on Sundays, its circulation and read-
ership doubled as lower socio-economic segments (C, D and even E) scouted its pages
looking for job and business opportunities listed in its classified ad section. Trome was
a popular newspaper, designed to reach lower-income level households, printed in
tabloid format,4 and selling for S/0.50 from Mondays through Saturdays.
Advertising sales accounted for 57.5 percent of El Comercio’s revenues, but the coun-
try’s overall advertising market that neared US$189 million in 2001 had fallen by 6.4
percent as compared to the year before. More notably, 2001 advertising investments
were 44.6 percent below their 1997 total, US$341 million, as a result of a severe eco-
nomic downturn.5 In an attempt to maintain its market share, most media had lowered
their rates, cutting down on their revenues. Peru’s major advertising media included
national television (capturing 43 percent of overall domestic advertising spending),
newspapers (33 percent), magazines (2 percent), radio (12 percent), and others, such as
street ads (10 percent).
EEEC offered several additional cultural and entertainment content products,
including books, magazines, brochures, CDs, printed materials, multimedia and video
products, which accounted for 19 percent of its sales in December 2001, up from their
5.1 percent share in December 1999. These additional products added value to its core
products and contributed to boost the company’s revenues.
LIMA’S NEWSPAPER MARKET

Peru’s capital city, Lima, accounted for 68 percent of the domestic newspaper copy mar-
ket. Less than 41 percent of Lima’s population read at least one paper every day,
although the nation’s capital boasted nearly 22 different newspapers. While there were
no official data on printed media copies, advertisers and advertising agencies relied on
the information collected by newspaper and magazine readership studies conducted by
market research firms like CPI—Compañía Peruana de Investigación—for their print
advertising decisions.
Lima’s market featured three prominent press groups: Empresa Periodística Nacional
(EPENSA), which published the Ojo, Ajá, Correo, and El Bocón newspapers and boast-
ed a 41 percent share of overall copies; EEEC, owner of El Comercio and Trome news-
papers and holding a 24 percent share of market copies; and, finally, Impresora Peruana,
owner of La República, El Popular, and Líbero, with a 15 percent copy share.
Among its Lima-based competitors, El Comercio’s leading rival was EPENSA. Active
in journalism for over four decades, this company’s strategy zeroed in on B, C, D and
E strata. Unlike EEEC, it boasted a large readership in other provinces outside Lima. Its
first paper was Correo, initially published in Tacna and later expanded to Peru’s major
cities, including Lima, where it was launched in 2000. As noted by Pedro José de Zavala,
“When EPENSA found out that we were about to launch a popular paper, it decided
to introduce this newspaper in order to compete with El Comercio in Lima.”
In the 1990s, EPENSA embarked on an intensely dynamic phase. It launched Ajá,
which soon became the most successful newspaper on show business, and El Bocón,
which quickly turned into the best-selling sports newspaper. EPENSA also launched
Ojo, soon to become its flagship publication. Ojo was an easy-to-read tabloid that relied
on simple language and an emphasis on images, although it lacked the extreme sensa-
tionalism of popular newspapers and its price—S/1.50—exceeded regular tabloid
prices.
In order to boost Ojo sales, the company started to give away collectible booklets as
part of its promotion efforts. However, this strategy later backfired, as, from then on,
the company had to support sales with promotional activities requiring significant
investments that undermined product profitability.
While both companies competed for copy sales, EPENSA barely held a 10 percent
share of the newspaper advertising market, as large advertisers used newspapers to reach
higher-income readers in the A and B segments, who preferred El Comercio. Thus, 60
percent of EPENSA’s revenues came from Correo, Ojo, Ajá, and El Bocón copy sales,
while advertising sales accounted for 26 percent of its revenues and optional products
(books, magazines and CDs), for 14 percent.
In turn, newspaper segmentation hinged on content, pricing, and target audience.
Exhibit 3 shows category and brand shares of overall readership, as well as prices, while
Exhibit 4 presents a categorization of readers based on expected benefits.
“Serious, traditional” newspapers included El Comercio, La República, and Ojo. El
Comercio led this group, capturing 19 percent of overall newspaper readership in 2001.
These newspapers covered several issues—current events, politics, sports, entertain-
ment—with an objective, rigorous approach. Their readers largely belonged to high-
and middle-income segments, with an intermediate or higher education. Most were
businessmen, executives or employees. Within this segment, El Comercio stood in a cat-
egory of its own, as it featured all the information on current events, politics, sports and
entertainment, coupled with an outstanding classified ad section.
In a lower price range, a large group of newspapers, including inexpensive serious
newspapers, sports newspapers as well as entertainment papers and tabloids—both col-
lectively referred to as “popular”—were sold at around S/0.50 a copy for easy access by
all socio-economic strata (SES).
The “inexpensive, serious” newspaper segment emerged in 2000, when Lima wit-
nessed the launch of Correo. This newspaper had a significant circulation in other
Peruvian cities. At that time, the market was teeming with sensationalistic tabloids like
Tío, Men, El Chino, and others, locally known as chicha6 newspapers. They focused on
show-business and police news, and their widespread publication had been partly fund-
ed by Alberto Fujimori’s government from 1990 through 2000. Selling at S/0.50 and
printing mostly political contents in a tabloid format, Correo grew rapidly, introducing
a new segment in Lima. During its first year, it managed to secure a 4 percent share,
increasing it to 9 percent over its second year. Its readers belonged to B and C popula-
tion segments and were characterized as progressive, concerned about their environment
and keen on enhancing their families’ living conditions.
Another group that commanded 10 percent of the market included sports newspa-
pers, a segment that had shown no variations in 1998–2001. EPENSA’s El Bocón and
Impresora Peruana’s Líbero were the leading players in this segment, where EEEC was
not involved.
A category of newspapers within the popular segment focused on “entertainment”
news and had experienced fast growth in recent years. While they targeted C, D, and E
segments, they appealed mostly to youngsters and women with their common-language
coverage of show business, entertainment and police news. Competing newspapers in
this segment included El Popular, Ajá, and Trome, launched in 1984, 1994, and 2001,
respectively.
Newspapers were primarily sold by 3,700 existing canillas (95 percent of copies)
and, to a lesser extent, in supermarkets, grocery, and convenience stores (4 percent) or
through subscriptions (1 percent). Every day, canillas (street salesmen) would pick up
newspaper copies from EEEC’s 24 distribution centers around Lima. A log recorded
copy deliveries, including the number of copies handed out to and sold by each sales-
man on a daily basis. Competitors would park their trucks near EEEC’s distribution
centers to deliver their papers to the very same salesmen.
TROME’S LAUNCH
The crisis that swept across Peru in 1997, eroding the population’s purchasing power
and driving overall sales down, eventually hit El Comercio, causing, for instance, its share
in Lima to drop from 25 percent to 19 percent. It was precisely then that EPENSA
launched its Correo in the capital city, where it quickly grew after its launching. See
Exhibit 5 for macroeconomic indicators.
Pedro José de Zavala recalled
Back then, we knew there were two distinctive business models—products that priori-
tized advertising revenues designed for higher-income sectors, and low-priced products
for lower-income segments, whose business primarily hinged on circulation. El Comercio
belonged to the first group, and, therefore, the only way to expand coverage was to
develop a product that enabled us to reach new population segments and to avoid the
risk of focusing on a single product.
To assess the opportunity to offer a product for segments C and D and to identify
readers’ needs unsatisfied by other newspapers, a research study was commissioned to
Apoyo Opinión y Mercado.7 The purpose of this study was to determine the major ben-
efits expected from 50-cent newspapers, as well as to outline leading popular newspa-
pers’ image and positioning. In November 2000, several focus group studies included
25- to 55-year-old men and women from Lima’s C and D socio-economic strata, who
read and/or bought Ajá, El Chino, El Tío, or El Popular newspapers, to unearth their pur-
chasing and reading habits, their behavior in newsstands as well as readers’ met and
unmet needs.
Study findings revealed that:
• Popular newspapers’ readers sought media that offered entertaining information in
an assorted, ingenious, non-vulgar fashion to read in their free time. For these pop-
ulation segments, a newspaper’s entertainment quality was crucial, especially for
leisure reading.
• Readers in low-income segments also expected newspapers to support practical
improvements for their families’ living conditions. They valued an adequate cover-
age of health, food, education, and work-related news. Their customary saving of
articles and engagement in promotions proved this disposition.
• Among current newspapers, Ajá ranked at the top, while El Chino garnered critiques
for its crime-related articles. Both matched readers’ expectations with their light,
simple, concise and slightly roguish style. However, these media did not satisfy a
growing demand for a newspaper with a closer connection to families and living
conditions. El Tío tried to meet that demand with its sexual education brochures but
failed to get rid of its lurid tabloid reputation, with explicit contents that made it
“difficult to take home,” as one reader put it. Instead, these segments primarily
bought Ojo for its collectibles, although they viewed it as too long, too serious and
too expensive (S/1 above the others). El Popular, in turn, enjoyed strong appeal on
account of its colorful and contrasting presentation, but it had only managed to pen-
etrate older segments that agreed with its open opposition to the former govern-
ment.
• A significant fact was that a large share of low-income segments decided what news-
paper to buy at the point-of-sale. As revealed by focus groups, people seemed to have
two or three options in mind and finally preferred one over the others as a result of
issue specifics, such as a headline, the picture of the day, promotions or collectibles.
“We choose among the papers we can buy with 50 cents,” explained a reader.
• Promotions seemed instrumental to boosting newspaper sales and to their position-
ing as sensitive to their readers’ needs. Yet, the most popular newspapers in this seg-
ment, Ajá and El Chino, offered fewer promotions than other papers, like El Tío,
with fewer readers. A sound promotion had to amount to an excellent investment,
an opportunity to acquire essential household, children or school-related goods.
• Nonetheless, the most distinctive finding revealed that all focus groups—regardless
of their gender, age, or SES—agreed that 50-cent newspapers were unsuitable for
home reading. Among other reasons, their explicit pictures of semi-naked women in
sensual poses threatened children’s morality and offended mothers’ and wives’ sensi-
tivity. Despite this fact, some male focus groups claimed to read the paper at home,
after cautiously removing any pornographic sections.
• In turn, male interviewees of all ages and income segments revealed that they read
S/0.50 newspapers at newsstands and places allowing for a quick browse of head-
lines, such as workplaces—especially, at lunch break—or on public transportation
to and from work. For most male interviewees, reading the newspaper at work pro-
vided a little distraction before returning to their jobs; it also afforded them the quiet
required to focus on the news—something they felt they could not do at home, with
their children around, particularly when the paper included pictures of nearly naked
women.
• Some female interviewees claimed that they often read two and even three newspa-
pers a day, as several family members purchased different newspapers in their house-
holds. One noted, “My husband is a driver, and he buys Ajá and brings it home. My
fifteen-year-old son brings home El Chino or whatever paper featuring Azucena, his
favorite model. So, I get to read two newspapers at home almost every day.”
Exhibit 6 presents other conclusions drawn from this market research study. Based
on these conclusions and considering its own experience and track record, the compa-
ny designed a new popular newspaper with superior contents and appealing promotions
to reach low-income households. It would focus on these segments’ interests—enter-
tainment as well as quick and concise information. Exhibit 7 shows several pictures that
illustrate these segments’ life and customs.
Once it had designed the new paper, the company retained Apoyo, Opinión y
Mercado’s services for two additional studies. Intended to test the paper’s design, the
first study consisted of eight focus groups with 25- to 50-year-old men and women
from Lima’s C and D socio-economic segments, who bought Ajá, El Chino, El Tío, or
El Popular newspapers. These groups met during the last week in November and the
first week of December. Most interviewees liked the new newspaper, but some adjust-
ments were necessary as it had met more enthusiastic approval from older respondents,
while younger focus group participants argued that it seemed a bit dull, lacking a little
“spark” and color. This perception grew stronger as the new paper was compared to
more serious popular newspapers, like Correo, and led to a new positioning—midway
between serious papers and tabloids, trying to avoid a more vulgar style, but closing in
on the most entertaining newspapers.
After adjusting the new design, a second study in May 2001 tested newspaper accept-
ance, launch campaign impact and the promotion planned for frequent readers. This
study encompassed nine focus groups, made up of 25- to 50-year-old men and women
from metropolitan Lima’s C and D SES, who bought Ajá, El Chino, El Tío, or El Popular
newspapers. A participant stated, “It is a good paper; it doesn’t have too much slang or
dirty language. For me, it is unusual to find so many different topics on one page. Articles
are straight to the point. This paper is going to succeed. It is just as cheap as a tabloid,
but it gives you more value. People have already grown tired of lying, pornographic news-
papers.”
In June 2001, the company launched Trome to cater to C and D SES, in an effort
to expand media coverage to reach new population sectors. One of its new readers
pointed out, “I think its name is very suitable for this newspaper. Trome means ace,
champion, someone who’s the best at what he does. Telling someone that he is a trome
is a compliment; it is like saying he’s the coolest. And the same goes for this paper—it
is the best paper among the 50-cent newspapers.”
To serve this new audience, the company built a new editorial infrastructure with its
own writing team. This editorial structure was very small, with little impact on compa-
ny overhead. As a result, this new product had a positive issue contribution margin. El
Comercio streamlined the new paper’s printing, distribution and marketing processes.
Figure 2 shows the resulting scheme. A former Ojo newspaper editor, Raúl Hernández,
was hired to manage Trome. A middle-aged, middle-class, well-educated man with vast
experience in popular tabloids, Hernández seemed to fully support Trome’s goal to
become an entertaining, popular newspaper that kept
the population informed. He was to focus on newspa- Figure 2 Organizational Structure
per contents, seeking to use a clear, straightforward style
based on everyday language—informal, yet not vul-
gar—and reader-friendly writing. Hernández actually
matched the readership profile associated with Ojo, a EDITORIAL EDITORIAL
newspaper widely patronized by middle and low-
income segments that struck a balance between serious
PRINTING
journalism and popular appeal. Still, he was a formal
man, but he often used an old-fashioned jargon—typi-
cal of Lima’s middle-class neighborhoods in the past— DISTRIBUTION
that did not match Trome’s intended readership. For
instance, he referred to house maids as Natachas, a term MARKETING
that was drawn from a very popular soap opera in the
1970s.
In addition to newspaper content and layout, front-page design was extremely
important, as many paper purchases derived from its impact. For illustrative purposes,
see a sample of an Ajá newspaper issue in Exhibit 8 and a Trome issue in Exhibit 9. An
editorial followed the front page, and, next, came the articles on current events, politics
and police-related news. A sports section, followed by information for homemakers,
completed a typical Trome issue.
The front page always featured a promotion—initially involving a cutlery set—in
addition to headlines on outstanding sports, police, politics and entertainment news
written in colloquial language. The newspaper’s second page included editorials and
useful information. The following sections focused on current political and police news
—highly valued sections for targeted readers. Colorful pictures coupled with entertain-
ing, imaginative articles reported news truthfully, avoiding lurid and ghoulish elabora-
tions. This approach served as a means to both educate as well as preserve readers and
their families. While front-page headlines used colloquial language to lure readers, news
contents featured a more formal, objective style. The sports section included articles on
Peruvian athletes succeeding abroad and international soccer stars. Finally, the paper’s
last pages focused on show business news, cooking tips and recipes, health-related arti-
cles, entertainment, and useful information for homemakers in general.
Trome’s back page included a section called las malcriadas (“spoiled girls”), with pic-
tures of women taken from magazines published by other companies. This section was
the object of extensive debate before the newspaper’s launch, as Trome was to be, first
and foremost, a family paper. These pictures of models actually responded to focus
group findings, and chosen photographs held an aesthetic appeal without bordering on
pornography. The idea was to please some men, avoiding any offense to women and
children.
The company planned a special promotion to support Trome’s launch, in an effort
to retain readers and, at the same time, to gain access to households. Every day, the
newspaper’s front-page contained a numbered coupon. Buyers could trade in five
coupons and pay S/2 to get top-quality cutlery sets at 15 points of sale scattered across
Lima. The complete silverware set included soup and teaspoons, dinner and dessert
forks, as well as dinner and butter knives. Out of the 1.92 million utensils purchased,
Trome still had 660,000 left. Management needed to determine whether the remaining
silverware was to be used to extend this promotion, which had cost S/904,000. See
Exhibit 10 for a summary of promotion results.
Trome’s first-year editorial overhead amounted to S/1.13 million, while its market-
ing (excluding promotion costs) and administrative expenses stood at an estimated
S/565,000 and S/678,000, respectively. The company expected physical distribution to
be 3 percent of sales, while calculations pegged variable manufacturing costs (paper and
ink) at S/ 0.164 per copy. Peru’s overall sales tax accounted for 19 percent of retail prices.
While advertising sales had been expected to total S/1.5 million, their current estimates
did not exceed S/916,000.
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
The choice of a distribution strategy caused some debate. Alberto Cendra Astiz, new
business manager, argued for the creation of a new channel, featuring a specialized sales
force for lower socio-economic segments, while Antonio Cabrera, Circulation Manager,
believed Trome should be sold by the same salesmen who sold all other papers, ranging
from El Comercio, with its higher-income target, to Men, intended for lower population
segments. Indeed, newspaper salesmen naturally segmented their offerings based on
location rather than demographics. Thus, salesmen servicing areas predominantly pop-
ulated by top A and B socio-economic segments mostly carried high-end newspapers,
including some papers for low-income sectors, and vice versa. Cabrera argued that using
a new channel or some selected salesmen could cause rifts with the street salesmen
union. As a result, management decided to use the same channel that distributed El
Comercio.
Print media companies had an arrangement with the local Newspaper Salesmen
Federation for fee payments: 25 percent on Mondays through Saturdays, and 30 percent
on Sundays. However, a few years back, an agreement had been forged to have new news-
papers pay 30 percent and 35 percent, respectively. Accordingly, the Federation expected
EEEC to pay a 30 percent and 35 percent fee for Trome distribution and demanded a
written agreement to that effect. In April–May, the company rejected both demands and
offered to pay the standard fee applied to El Comercio and Correo distribution—that is,
25 percent and 30 percent. It also refused to sign an agreement on the grounds that
Federation leaders used those agreements to obtain other benefits and as the basis for
future claims.
Antonio Cabrera, the forty-year-old Circulation Manager, who had vast experience
in consumer distribution but had been in the company for a short time, could not per-
suade either EEEC’s General Manager or its New Business Manager to agree to
Federation demands. The latter stated that the Board was already aware of this decision,
which made it unchangeable. Federation leaders were clearly unhappy with this turn of
events, and it became clear that retaliatory measures could hamper Trome’s launch on
Tuesday, June 20, 2001. The newspaper’s Circulation Department formulated a contin-
gency plan with free-lance salesmen hired to sell Trome.
On its launch date, only 50 percent of Trome’s circulation was distributed among
regular and free-lance salesmen. As days went by, regular newspaper salesmen increas-
ingly wanted to sell Trome because they “were losing fees.” They knew the new paper
featured a widespread advertising campaign and a silverware promotion that had awak-
ened people’s interest. However, Impresora Peruana and EPENSA threatened to cancel
their 30 percent and 35 percent fee agreement for new newspapers if the Federation
gave in to EEEC, further strengthening the union’s position. This latest development
held great significance for Trome’s success, as its launch advertising campaign continued
and potential readers could not find the new newspaper at points of sale.
DECISION-MAKING TIME
At a meeting held at company headquarters, EEEC’s Board discussed several options to
salvage Trome. Sales were clearly showing that something was amiss: of the 60,000
papers printed every day, only 36,000 were sold.
César Pardo, analytic and cost conscious and a fan of chess and historic fiction, won-
dered out loud, “Perhaps we made a mistake when we set our goals, and we need to
revise them. The question is, which ones?”
For Bernardo Roca, a possible solution lay in reformulating the paper’s content style
based on readers’ preferences. He made his point, “In my opinion, the paper we have
printed so far is too stuffy for this segment. It doesn’t have nearly enough content on
entertainment and local news to appeal to these readers.”
Raúl Hernández argued, “If we look at our competition and what readers are actu-
ally reading, it’s quite clear that we need to focus more on sex and violence, as they do,
because that is what our readers want.”
In turn, Pedro Jose de Zavala wondered if it was really possible to maintain the
paper’s originally intended positioning, or whether it was time to give up on this idea
and withdraw the paper from the market. “But, if we pursue that approach, we are
going to lose our advertisers, because they will never advertise in a paper that is all about
sex and violence! It is true, though, that this idea doesn’t exactly thrill El Comercio’s
advertisers. Perhaps we should look for a different type of advertiser—smaller compa-
nies that relate more to this market. Yet, how do we sell that kind of advertisement?”
Nonetheless, Alberto Cendra believed the paper should be re-launched, entering
into an agreement with the Newspaper Sales Force Federation and changing promo-
tions. “Our cutlery promotion is not turning out as expected. Instead of building read-
ers’ loyalty, we are stocking cutlery in our warehouse. We need to find something that
our readers appreciate—an opportunity to meet their needs. We have to reformulate
this strategy to reach out to our readers.”
Bernardo Roca was getting upset: “We can’t go on thinking about promotions! We
have no money for them, and they will not provide a long-term solution if we don’t
adjust Trome’s contents.”
The meeting seemed headed for a dead end. César Pardo motioned to put an end
to it.
Gentlemen, I know we are worried about this issue; we need to take steps immediately.
I suggest we take the rest of the day to think about our next moves, bearing in mind your
individual input and the conclusions drawn from the studies conducted one and a half
months after launching. We’ll meet again tomorrow morning, right here, to make our
decisions and plan our next steps.
See Exhibit 11 for the most salient findings of the Market Research Unit’s quantitative
study and Exhibit 12 for the insights revealed by a qualitative study commissioned to
IMASEN.
Exhibit 1 EEEC Organization Chart

Board
Auditing
General Manager Publishing Director

El Comercio Director ElComercioPeru.com N TV Channel
César Pardoo Figueroa Turner Bernardo Roca Rey Miró Quesada
New Businesses Trome Director

El Comercio Editor
Alberto Cendra Astiz Raul Hernández
Marketing
Trome Editor
Pedro Jose de Zavaia
Distribution
Antonio Cabrera
Adm. & Finance
Operations
Systems
Human Resources
Source: Company documents
Exhibit 2 Demographic Data on Peru and Lima’s Socio-Economic Composition
1. MAP OF PERU
General Information
Total area: 1,285,216 km2 (496,225 sq. miles)
Lima’s area: 35,892 km (13,858 sq. miles)—i.e., 3 per-
cent of Peru’s overall area.
Total population: 26.1 million
Lima’s population: 7.2 million
Per-capita weighted average income: US$305.45
Urban population accounted for 72.3 percent, and rural
population accounted for 27.7 percent of the total national
population.
LIMA
TACNA
Source: www.peru.info.com
2. LIMA’S POPULATION SOCIO-ECONOMIC COMPOSITION
Estimated Size
SES Description Households People
In ’000s % In ’000s %
A 64.4 4.1 250.5 3.5
A1 High 15.7 1.0 68.0 0.9
A2 Middle-High 48.7 3.1 182.1 2.6
B 260.7 16.6 1,118.1 15.6
B1 Typical Middle 100.5 6.4 445.3 6.2
B2 Lower-Middle 160.2 10.2 674.5 9.4
C 502.6 32.0 2,312.1 32.3
C1 Rising Low 207.3 13.2 914.3 12.8
C2 Typical Low 295.3 18.8 1,399.7 19.5
D Very low 551.3 35.1 2,596.7 36.3
E Extreme Poverty 191.6 12.2 879.6 12.3
Total 1,570.7 100.0 7,162.3 100.0
Source: Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado, July 2001.
Exhibit 2 (cont’d)
3. TRANSPORTATION MEANS IN EACH SES IN LIMA*
Total Total SES

Responses 2000 % 2001 % A% B% C% D% E%
FOR PERSONAL/FAMILY USE
Bicycle for sports/leisure 25 19 55 28 22 12 8

Car 13 16 96 47 11 2 0
Truck 3 3 29 3 2 1 0
Motorcycle 2 2 6 2 2 1 2
FOR WORK
Car 4 3 14 2 4 2 0
Tricycle 2 2 0 1 2 2 4
Bicycle 3 2 0 1 2 2 0
Light truck 2 2 5 2 3 0 0
Heavy truck 1 0 2 1 0 0 0
NONE 58 62 2 34 58 77 87
Sample size 880 833 48 143 259 284 99
Weighted distribution 100% 100% 4.1% 16.6% 32% 35.1% 12.2%
4. APPLIANCE OWNERSHIP IN EACH SES IN LIMA*
Total Total SES

Responses 2000 % 2001 % A% B% C% D% E%
Stove 99 99 100 99 99 99 97
Gas stove 77 77 71 90 92 67 47
Kerosene stove 41 41 3 10 34 58 64
Electric stove 8 8 56 17 7 1 1
Television 96 95 100 100 98 94 83
Cable TV with remote control 55 59 100 94 73 40 18
Black & white TV 48 43 21 27 31 56 67
Color TV withotu remote control 24 21 25 31 25 17 3
Cable TV 23 23 96 59 22 5 1
Radio 90 89 98 92 92 85 81
Radio with cassette player 63 53 77 60 52 51 43
Stereo system with CD player 27 31 98 71 31 15 2
Radio without cassette player 26 27 51 36 22 22 32
Stereo system without CD player 24 19 52 25 24 13 5
Walkman 19 14 67 32 14 4 2
Electric iron 84 81 98 97 90 76 46
Blender 70 70 100 97 83 55 32
Refrigerator 60 61 10 95 82 40 8
Land line telephone 46 44 98 85 50 24 3
Calculator 46 40 90 66 47 26 12
Camera 38 35 90 69 45 14 4
Fan 35 33 74 62 42 16 9
Sewing Machine 31 29 45 53 34 19 4
VHS recorder 28 28 91 64 31 10 1
Electric mixer 22 24 93 63 24 5 1
Typewriter 30 23 44 42 31 9 6
Mobile telephone 22 22 88 45 23 6 2
Prepaid (card-operated) mobile phone 16 16 51 33 17 6 2
4. APPLIANCE OWNERSHIP IN EACH SES IN LIMA* (CONT’D)
Total Total SES

Responses 2000 % 2001 % A% B% C% D% E%
Subscription-based mobile telephone 8 8 60 16 5 0 0
Washing machine 20 20 98 64 15 1 0
Electrical floor cleaner 20 19 92 61 13 1 0
Electric rice pot 20 18 84 47 17 4 0
Hot water boiler 15 17 100 51 13 0 0
Electrical hot water boiler 14 15 87 47 11 0 0
Gas hot water boiler 2 2 20 4 2 0 0
Vacuum cleaner 16 17 100 58 8 0 0
Musical instrument 17 15 50 34 13 9 5
Microwave oven 15 15 93 47 8 2 1
Computer (PC) 13 14 88 44 8 1 0
Toaster 12 12 81 39 7 1 0
Food processor 10 10 43 25 7 5 4
Electric shower 9 9 17 36 7 1 0
Video games/Nintendo/Play Station 11 8 49 15 10 2 0
Dryer 7 8 69 25 3 1 0
Heater 4 7 52 20 4 1 1
Electric heater 4 5 47 16 2 0 1
Gas or kerosene heater 4 2 11 6 2 1 0
Internet connection 5 7 71 19 1 0 0
Video camera 4 4 46 8 2 1 0
Discman 3 4 32 10 2 0 0
Cassette player without radio 4 3 8 9 2 1 1
Knitting machine 1 2 4 3 2 1 0
Sample size 880 833 48 143 259 284 99
Weighted distribution 100 100 4.1 16.6 32 35.1 12.2
Source: Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado.
Method: Quantitative.
Technique: Personal door-to-door and telephone interviews.
Sample: 804 cases and 29 additional interviews to confirm sample validity.
Date: June 22–July 13, 2001.
Exhibit 3 Brand Shares of Overall Readership, Copy Sales and Advertising
Investments
1. CATEGORY AND BRAND SHARES OF OVERALL READERSHIP AND PRICES
1998 1999 2000 2001 Prices

Mondays– Sundays
Traitional Serious Newspapers 44% 46% 42% 33% Saturdays
El Comercio 28% 28% 25% 19% 2 3.5
OJO 9% 11% 9% 8% 1.5 2
La Republica 7% 7% 8% 6% 1.5 2
Inexpensive, Serious Newspapers 4% 9%
Correo N/A N/A 4% 9% 0.5 0.5
Popular Newspapers
ENTERTAINMENT 19% 17% 19% 22%
AJA 16% 13% 14% 12% 0.5 0.5
Trome N/A N/A N/A 5%
El Popular 3% 4% 5% 5% 0.5 0.5
TABLOIDS 15% 15% 14% 11%
El Chino 7% 7% 6% 5% 0.5 0.5
El Tio 4% 4% 4% 4% 0.5 0.5
Extra 4% 3% 3% 2% 0.5 0.5
El Men 1% 1% 2% 0.5 0.5
Sports Newspapers 9% 10% 10% 10%
El Bocon 5% 5% 5% 5% 0.5 0.5
Libero 4% 5% 5% 5% 0.5 0.5
Averaged Annual Readership 1,877.7 1,853.6 1,732.3 1,951.9
(in millions of people)
Source: CPI, Newspaper Readership Study, Lima 1998–2001

EEEC’s circulation area
2. BRAND SHARES OF OVERALL COPY SALES

1999 2000 2001
Traitional, Serious Newspapers
El Comercio 13.31% 12.96% 11.30%
OJO 8.87% 8.38% 5.90%
La Republica 3.89% 4.66% 3.40%
Serious, Inexpensive Newspapers
Correo N/A N/A 14.40%
Popular Newspapers
ENTERTAINMENT
AJA 14.60% 12.63% 14.10%
Trome N/A N/A 5.80%
El Popular 6.08% 8.80% 5.70%
TABLOIDS
El Chino 9.35% 7.31% 4.70%
El Tio 4.80% 7.43%
Extra 4.91% 4.70% 2.00%
El Men N/A 3.06% 4.20%
Sports Newspapers
El Bocon 5.84% 5.49% 5.20%
Libero 7.20% 5.45% 5.70%
Source: CCR, Auditing Study of Newspaper Sales at Points of Sale, Lima 1999–2000
Apoyo, Opinion & Mercado, “Estudio de Auditoria de Venta de Diarios en Puntos de Venta, Lima 2001.”
Note: In 2001, an average of 4,590,432 copies were sold every week.
3. BRAND SHARE OF ADVERTISING INVESTMENT IN NEWSPAPERS
1999 2000 2001
Traitional, Serious Newspapers 70.6% 71.1% 73.7%
El Comercio 59.2% 58.9% 61.7%
OJO 4.8% 5.2% 4.5%
La Republica 6.6% 7.1% 7.5%
Serious, Inexpensive Newspapers 0% 0% 1.0%
Correo N/A N/A 1.0%
Popular Newspapers
ENTERTAINMENT 4.6% 4.7% 3.4%
AJA 3.3% 3.6% 2.6%
Trome N/A N/A 1.7%
El Popular 1.3% 1.1% 0.8%
TABLOIDS 1.8% 2.5% 1.9%
El Chino 0.6% 0.7% 0.5%
El Tio 0.0% 0.2% 0.1%
Extra 1.2% 1.6% 1.3%
El Men N/A 0.0% 0.0%
Sports Newspapers 3.1% 4.2% 3.4%
El Bocon 2.7% 3.5% 1.9%
Libero 0.4% 0.7% 1.5%
Source: Media Check, Lima
Note: In 2001, overall media investments totaled US$192 million, with 32 percent devoted to newspapers.
Exhibit 4 Reader Segmentation by Expected Benefits Preferences
Informed Cosmopolitan Traditional, Accountable Aspirational Utilitarian Indifferent Entertained
67% of these readers belong to A and B Nearly half belong to the B SES (47%) 53% belong to the C SES; 62% belong to the C SES; this group 56% belong to the C SES;
this group includes the largest share while 42% belong to the C SES; Equal shares of men and women; holds the largest share of low-income significant shares of women and
SOCIAL AND of A-SES people (27%); 65% are 57% are women; 68% have a They reside in the suburbs, people; equal shares of men and young people; poor education
DEMOGRAPHIC men; 66% goes to or went to higher education degree; 60% do not especially north of Lima women; significant share of young
FEATURES college; 56% work; Large share work—they are housewives or people (31%); 82% have no higher
business executives and owners— students; 33% are middle education
more than in other segments; 40% management employees
live in residential areas in Lima
Demanding; friendly and self- Conservative and male chauvinist, They are insecure and prefer to Lacking in character and self- Insecure but demanding; loyal to brands;
confident; they like to make but reasonable; self-confident and follow others; rather unfriendly, loners; confidence; they like to conform to interested in fashion; frequent fast-food
decisions; they want to be informed; demanding with their purchases; they prefer to stay at home; impulsive and follow others; very sensitive to restaurant patrons; not interested in
PSYCHOGRAPHIC innovating in their product choices; they are not impulsive buyers; not buyers, but price-sensitive; interested price; not interested in fashion and culture and current affairs
PEOPLE low price sensitivity; this is the interested in fashion; they like in fashion; they like to be distinctive brands; they practice sports—soccer;
segment that spends the most on outings and cultural events; they indifferent to current affairs
entertainment away from home; are concerned about their
they enjoy the theater, books, as community
well as classical music and rock
16% of overall newspaper readership; 14% of overall newspaper readership; 21% of overall readership; they read A third (33%) of overall newspaper 16% of overall newspaper readership;
they read the paper five times a week; they read the paper four times a week; the paper five times a week; readership; they read the paper they read papers four times a week;
NEWSPAPER a large share of readers have their interested in culture, educational and interested in business information, four times a week; interested in interested in entertainment, amenities,
READING paper delivered at home by canillas; tourism news, as well as information economic and business news, sports, job and economic ads; and female topics; the ideal newspaper
HABITS greater subscription penetration; on other provinces; they value serious, economic and job ads; the ideal they value amenities, colors and should be entertaining, dynamic, hip and
interested in economic and business reliable information newspaper should be entertaining, raffles easy to read
news; they value unbiased reporting, dynamic, hip, and easy to read
variety, and entertainment
NEWSPAPER Frequent readers of El Comercio; El Comercio, though not as El Comercio, followed by Ojo They prefer popular newspapers like They prefer popular newspapers like
PREFERENCES they also read Gestión frequently as Informed Cosmopolitans Aja, El Chino, or El Popular, as well as Aja, El Chino, or El Popular, as well as
Ojo and sports papers like El Bocon Ojo
Sample: Men and women, aged 18 or more, in socio-economic strata A, B and C, who read a newspaper at least once a week.
Sample size: 1,100 interviews.
Source: Apoyo, Opinion & Mercado1998.
Exhibit 5 Macro-Economic Indicators
1. OVERALL AND SES MONTHLY INCOME (IN US$)* 2. HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN METROPOLITAN LIMA AREA
3. LITERACY AND READERSHIP RATES IN METROPOLITAN LIMA (IN MILLIONS OF PEOPLE)*
4. HOUSEHOLD MONTHLY EXPENSES*
5. AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES (IN US$, EXCHANGE RATE: US$ 1 = S/3.50)
Total Total Socio-Economic Segment

Responses 2000 2001 A B C D E
US$ US$ US$ US$ US$ US$ US$
Food 167 155 603 223 138 108 68
Education 43 73 522 193 67 23 14
Transportation 40 46 172 75 41 28 23
Telephone 19 38 120 43 25 21 15
Electricity 18 20 83 32 19 11 9
Water 9 10 44 16 9 6 6
Sample Size 880 833 48 143 259 284 99
Weighted distribution 100% 100% 4.1% 15.5% 32% 35% 12.3%
Source: Apoyo, Opinión & Mercado, Socio-Economic Segmentation Study, July 2001.
Exhibit 6 Major Conclusions Drawn from Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado’s Market
Research
SUGGESTIONS
Number of pages • 24 pages accepted.
• For some, additional pages should be separated from the newspaper’s
main body and should feature useful home or education information.
Front page • Direct, easy-to-understand language, no vulgar slang used.
• Lively colors.
• Adequate layout (no clutter).
• Headlines on current issues driving purchase decisions at POS.
Pictures of girls • Latin models in bikinis, thongs or veils—more sophisticated than current
offerings.
Sports information • Soccer primarily—only older individuals mentioned horseracing as more
interesting.
• Interest in learning about Peruvian soccer stars playing abroad.
Police news • Sample individuals liked this topic, with color photographs—avoiding gory
information images.
• Credible, objective news reported in an entertaining fashion.
Useful services • Food prices;
• Utility service interruption announcements;
• Courses at universities or institutes;
• Missing persons.
Amenities • Highly appreciated.
• Crossword puzzle.
• Other games.
Sunday attractions • Employment classified ads, cooking recipes, school news, traditional medi-
cine articles.
Promotions • Credibility risk, raffles viewed as unreliable.
• Coupons, vouchers to exchange for something practical viewed as most
appealing.
Method: Qualitative.
Technique: Focus Groups.
Sample: Men and women, aged 25 through 55 years, in socio-economic segments C and D, who
read and buy Ajá, El Popular, El Chino, and El Tío.
Focus Group Dates: Second and third week in November, 2000
Source: Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado, Lima, November 2000.
Exhibit 7 Lima’s Life and Customs
Outside wall of Lima’s Engineering School—
Displays of this kind are very common on Lima’s
walls. Many social and cultural events—primarily
concerts and popular festivals—are informally
advertised in chaotic displays with bright colors—
typical in Pre-Columbian art—to catch the eye of
passersby. This has become the standard aesthetics
for lower-income segment communications, differing
radically from the style appealing to higher SES.
Mercado Ceres—A typical scene in Lima: lots of

people, lots of colors, and a kind of fear of void that
characterizes most popular settings. This picture
provides another example of communications
addressing lower income segments, while it also
shows Peruvians’ ethnic characteristics.
Source: Lima Capital, Estilos de la Gran Urbe, EEEC, 2007.

Note: To view these photographs in their original colors and to gain a better understanding of Peru’s culture and typi-
cal colors, log into http://www.iae.edu.ar/SiteCollectionDocuments/Investigacion/Trome-AnexosFotos-Eng.pdf
Slums and squatters—Peru’s extreme poverty
reflects on its capital city, where a large share
of the population lives in alarmingly precarious
conditions. Their lives are plagued by poverty,
no utilities, no sanitation. The color contrast
between houses in these slums and the signs
shown in the pictures above is very eloquent.
Canilla—Newspaper street salesmen work non-

stop from five in the morning through six in the
afternoon, when they have completed their
collections. In this case, El Correo holds a pre-
eminent position in this canilla’s display.
Source: Lima Capital, Estilos de la Gran Urbe, EEEC, 2007.
Exhibit 8 Ajá Issue Layout and Contents (June 28, 2001)
1. FRONT- PAGE 2. SHOW BUSINESS
“He spent 700k bucks a month!” “Lusty tabloids gave Damushka a boage”
3. CURRENT EVENTS 4. PROMOTION
“Japan won’t let go of Fuji that easy” “Ajá gives 2,500 dollars to deadbeaat fan”
Source: Company documents.
Exhibit 9 Trome Issue Layout and Contents (June 28, 2001—Launch Date)
1. FRONT PAGE 2. SHOW BUSINESS
“Today, A Free Spoon!!” “Ciggie burns matress, and smoke cools chink” “Magaly sticks up for Missy Gisela”
3. CURRENT EVENTS 4. MALCRIADA
“Construction Materials’ Bank traps thousands in humongous debts” “Emsout to get their spoons”
Source: Company documents.
Exhibit 10 Trome Evolution
1. CUTLERY PROMOTION IN JUNE 20, 2001 ISSUE
“Dig in and get a 24-piece silverware set for free” “Straight from Europe to your table—for free, no raffles”
2. PROMOTION RESULTS
Silverware Purchased Traded in Balance

Spoon 274,286 271,246 3,040
Butter knife 274,286 200,742 73,544
Knife 274,286 201,246 73,040
Fork 274,286 104,262 170,024
Tea spoon 274,286 104,061 170,225
Dessert fork 274,286 104,365 169,921
Total 1,920,002 1,260,208 659,792
Source: Company documents
Exhibit 11 Quantitative Study Findings
1. TROME BUYER PROFILE*
Gender SES Age

TOTAL
Male Female C D/E 15–25 26–37 38–50 51+
Buys Trome at home 33% 52% 48% 45% 55% 30% 26% 27% 17%
Sample: All 1788 interviewees.
2. PURCHASE FREQUENCY*
Gender SES Age

Segment Frequency % Male Female C D/E 15–25 26–37 38–50 51+
% % % % % % % %
Low Once 10.00
57 43 43 57 28 29 27 16
2–6 times 40.40
Moderate 7–20 times 27.00
50 50 47 53 36 25 23 16
20–30 times 9.10
High more than
31 times 13.50 44 56 45 55 21 20 32 27
Total 100.00 52 48 45 55 30 26 27 17
Sample: All 582 interviewees who bought Trome.
3. REASONS TO BUY TROME FOR EACH BUYER SEGMENT*
Cutlery/Coupons Curiosity/Novelty/ Information

News/Contents Low Price
New Paper Quality
Low 34% 22% 31% 11% 9%
Moderate 34% 32% 13% 20% 12%
High 17% 62% 6% 21% 7%
Total 32% 30% 21% 16% 10%
4. TROME PURCHASES VS. OTHER NEWSPAPERS*
TOTAL Newspaper he/she stopped buying

Ajá El Chino Ojo Correo El Popular El Tío El Comercio
He/she stopped buying
49% 29% 15% 15% 11% 7% 7% 6%
another newspaper
Methodology: Telephone interviews with structured questionnaire.

Sample: Men and women, aged 15 or more, in Lima’s socio-economic segments C and D/E.
Date: First fortnight in August 2001
*Source: Market Research Unit.
5. REASONS TO BUY TROME FOR EACH SEGMENT*
Gender SES Age

TOTAL
Male Female C D/E 15–25 26–37 38–50 51+
Cutlery/coupons 30% 23% 38% 27% 33% 30% 32% 28% 31%
Curiosity/novelty/new paper 21% 25% 16% 28% 15% 21% 21% 23% 18%
Low price 10% 8% 12% 10% 10% 11% 9% 12% 8%
To check out its contents 10% 12% 8% 8% 11% 7% 14% 8% 11%
News 9% 8% 10% 7% 11% 7% 7% 9% 14%
Front-page headline 5% 7% 3% 5% 5% 2% 2% 8% 10%
Superior information/sound reporting 5% 5% 5% 4% 6% 6% 3% 5% 6%
Advertising 4% 6% 3% 5% 4% 5% 6% 5% 2%
Variety 4% 4% 4% 6% 2% 4% 4% 5% 4%
For information 4% 2% 6% 3% 5% 5% 5% 3% 3%
For sports news 3% 6% 1% 3% 3% 6% 5% 1% 1%
For a relative 3% 3% 4% 3% 4% 5% 5% 2% 2%
Serious news reporting 3% 2% 3% 3% 2% 2% 1% 5% 3%
More information than other papers 2% 3% 2% 3% 2% 2% 1% 5% 2%
News on politics 2% 4% 0% 3% 1% 2% 2% 1% 4%
Short articles 2% 3% 0% 3% 1% 1% 2% 2% 4%
Tips 1% 1% 1% 2% 1% 2% 1% 1% 2%
To look for a job 1% 0% 3% 1% 1% 2% 1% 1% 0%
Entertainment 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 2% 1% 1% 0%
6. REPEATED PURCHASE INTENTION AMONG TROME BUYERS*
SES
Do you plan to continue buying Trome? Total
C D/E
Yes 85% 83% 87%
No 8% 11% 6%
Unknown 7% 6% 7%
7. PURCHASE INTENTION AMONG NON-TROME BUYERS*
SES
Do you plan to buy Trome? Total
C D/E
Yes 50% 46% 54%
No 38% 42% 35%
Unknown 12% 13% 11%
Sample: All 1,206 interviewees who did not buy Trome.
Methodology: Telephone interviews with structured questionnaire.

Sample: Men and women, aged 15 or more, in Lima’s socio-economic segments C and D/E.
Date: First fortnight in August 2001.
*Source: Market Research Unit.
Exhibit 12 Major Conclusions Drawn from Qualitative Study
• Trome was viewed as a newspaper in an intermediate category between formal, traditional news-
papers and entertainment, or sensationalistic tabloids. This intermediate positioning resulted from
its objective news reporting, avoiding slang in headlines and gory pictures, and less police-related
information, coupled with an accessible price.
• When asked to indicate Trome’s differentiating factor, study participants mentioned its variety,
referring to the diversity of topics covered. Information diversity, however, did not drive partici-
pants to view it as a family newspaper, as it was perceived as a newspaper for adults.
• Participants did not spontaneously characterize Trome as a useful newspaper, which denoted that
either this characteristic was not viewed as especially valuable or it was not clearly associated
with it.
• To analyze Trome’s offering, study participants were asked to imagine it as a person. In general,
Trome was described as a person who wanted to talk about everything, rather formal and grave,
but friendly. In some cases, it was viewed as a male, while other participants associated it with a
woman—specifically, a homemaker. This association was reinforced by the newspaper’s initial
promotion.
• Trome’s language choice was viewed as an attempt to stress its popular nature, but this was not
a trait closely associated with other newspaper characteristics.
• According to participants, newspaper sections seemed to lack “zest,” an additional “flavor” offered
by other newspapers.
• One of the most criticized features was Trome’s front page. It was viewed as not attractive
enough to drive impulsive purchases. Participants indicated that it provided too much information
on topics, and, therefore, did not trigger readers’ curiosity. In addition, its graphic features were
considered unappealing. A newspaper could catch people’s attention through pictures or head-
lines, and, in most cases, Trome was failing to do so on either front.
• In spite of a policy to respect sections, study participants felt that each Trome’s section order was
not adequate.
Methodology: Focus Groups.
Sample: Men and women, aged 25 or more, from low-income sectors.
Dates: July 31 through August 13, 2001.
Source: IMASEN SA.
NOTES
1. Socio-Economic Strata (SES) were used as a key variable for information screening.
SES referred to a significant number of people sharing economic and social traits
that distinguished them from other groups. A specific SES was assigned to each
household by adding the scores from five measurements that proved to provide reli-
able and valid information to characterize household socio-economic features. These
variables included household head education, household head occupation, washing
machine ownership, cleaning help, house façade, and number of bathrooms. Results
classified local populations into five segments—A, B, C, D, and E.
2. Street newspaper salesmen. The first time a street newspaper salesman in Peru was
heard shouting the name of the paper he was selling was in 1867. This sale method
was so successful that it was quickly adopted by other newspapers, leading to a new
source of employment.
3. S/ stands for soles, Peru’s currency. In 2001, the exchange rate was US$1 = S/3.50.
4. Typically, tabloids were printed on 380mm x 300mm (15" x 12") sheets. This news-
paper format was widely used because it facilitated reading, as compared to broad-
sheet formats (600mm by 380mm or 23.2" x 15"), preferred by more serious news-
papers, like Great Britain’s Times, or the Berliner format (470mm x 315mm or 18.5"
x 12.4") used by France’s Le Monde. The term tabloid commonly referred to news-
papers concentrating on sensational or lurid news, as the first newspapers of this
kind were printed on this smaller format.
5. Peru’s economic downturn since 1997, characterized by a public deficit nearing 2.5
percent of its GDP, was compounded by a political crisis that followed President
Alberto Fujimori’s resignation after his controversial second election. A video footage
was broadcasted showing the administration’s Intelligence Service (SIN) head,
Vladimiro Montesinos, bribing several country officials and businessmen to support
the government that was already vested with extraordinary powers.
6. Chicha newspapers were known for their vulgar, lurid sensationalism. Starting in
Lima, this type of press expanded to other provinces in tabloid format. It featured
colloquial language, colorful front pages with large headlines and huge pictures of
barely-clad women.
7. Peru’s largest and most renowned market research and polling agency, which also
operated in Bolivia and Ecuador. Its areas of expertise included marketing, advertis-
ing, customer loyalty, media and public opinion studies. In turn, its marketing area
focused on consumer and buyer research.

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Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 1

EMPRESA EDITORA EL COMERCIO (EEEC)

2 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

LIMA’S NEWSPAPER MARKET

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 3

4 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 5

6 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 7

8 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 9

Exhibit 1 EEEC Organization Chart

General Manager Publishing Director

New Businesses Trome Director

Adm. & Finance

Source: Company documents

10 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

2. LIMA’S POPULATION SOCIO-ECONOMIC COMPOSITION

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 11

Total Total SES

Bicycle for sports/leisure 25 19 55 28 22 12 8

4. APPLIANCE OWNERSHIP IN EACH SES IN LIMA*

Total Total SES

12 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

Total Total SES

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 13

1. CATEGORY AND BRAND SHARES OF OVERALL READERSHIP AND PRICES

1998 1999 2000 2001 Prices

Source: CPI, Newspaper Readership Study, Lima 1998–2001

2. BRAND SHARES OF OVERALL COPY SALES

14 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 15

3. LITERACY AND READERSHIP RATES IN METROPOLITAN LIMA (IN MILLIONS OF PEOPLE)*

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 17

5. AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES (IN US$, EXCHANGE RATE: US$ 1 = S/3.50)

Total Total Socio-Economic Segment

18 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 19

Mercado Ceres—A typical scene in Lima: lots of

Source: Lima Capital, Estilos de la Gran Urbe, EEEC, 2007.

20 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

Canilla—Newspaper street salesmen work non-

Source: Lima Capital, Estilos de la Gran Urbe, EEEC, 2007.

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 21

3. CURRENT EVENTS 4. PROMOTION

Source: Company documents.

22 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

3. CURRENT EVENTS 4. MALCRIADA

Source: Company documents.

Trome—News for the Base of the Pyramid 23

Silverware Purchased Traded in Balance

Source: Company documents

24 Case Research Journal • Volume 28 • Issue 3 and 4 • Summer/Fall 2008

Gender SES Age

Gender SES Age

Sample: All 582 interviewees who bought Trome.

3. REASONS TO BUY TROME FOR EACH BUYER SEGMENT*

Cutlery/Coupons Curiosity/Novelty/ Information

Sample: All 582 interviewees who bought Trome.

4. TROME PURCHASES VS. OTHER NEWSPAPERS*

TOTAL Newspaper he/she stopped buying

Sample: All 582 interviewees who bought Trome.