Sakal Media Group Leverages AI to Transform Print Advertising Data into Actionable Intelligence
Newspapers across India generate significant revenue from advertising, with daily ad spending reaching “tens of lakhs to crores” of rupees, according to Rahul Pawar, Director at Sakal Media Group. However, traditional methods of analyzing this data have been limited, treating valuable information as simply “ink on paper.” Sakal is addressing this challenge by deploying Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to unlock the potential of print advertising data.
The Challenges of Traditional Print Ad Analysis
Several key obstacles have hindered the effective use of print advertising data:
- Reliance on manual processes that struggle to keep pace with the speed of modern marketing.
- The inability to easily analyze print ads, as information is often locked within images and PDF files.
- Manual tracking of competitor advertising or complete disregard for competitive intelligence.
- Sales planning based on memory, intuition, or fragmented data, leading to missed opportunities.
OCR and AI: Converting Print to Data
To overcome these challenges, Sakal Media Group implemented an OCR system to analyze print advertisements across its newspapers. This system utilizes AI to scan each advertisement and convert it into structured datasets, making the data “query-able” in a similar way to digital advertising data.
“OCR and AI can read our newspapers the way a top sales analyst would, every day at scale, and turn daily print into a comparative revenue advantage,” Pawar stated.
How the System Works
The process involves reading every advertisement with OCR and then using AI to convert the images into structured data. This data is then tagged with relevant information, including brand names, categories, placement, and ad sizes, making it easily searchable.
“Insights are generated automatically with no human effort or delays and print finally moves at the speed of digital,” Pawar explained.
Empowering Sales Teams with Proactive Insights
This new system transforms the role of the sales team from reactive to proactive. Instead of responding to market changes after they occur, the team can now identify signals earlier and act accordingly. They can approach clients with contextual data, benchmark performance against competitors, and capitalize on opportunities before they pass.
For revenue planning, the system helps track category momentum, identify gaps in the market, adjust rate cards, and develop data-backed proposals for advertisers.
The system can answer critical questions such as:
- Which brands are increasing or decreasing their advertising spend?
- Which sectors are becoming more aggressive in their marketing efforts?
- Which regions are experiencing growth in specific advertising categories?
- Where are the untapped advertising opportunities?
Early Insights from Pilot Data
Initial analysis of ad data revealed several key trends:
- Healthcare emerged as the most active sector, with 174 advertisements.
- A specific car brand was a frequent advertiser, appearing in 30 advertisements.
- Category heat maps highlighted industries dominating specific regions.
The dashboard also tracks metrics such as total ad area, daily ad volume, and average ad sizes across publications.
“For publishers, this type of insight could help optimise rate cards, identify category momentum, and build more data-backed proposals for advertisers,” Pawar said.
Print’s Evolution: From Space Selling to Intelligence Selling
Pawar noted that print advertising is currently in a “stagnation phase,” rather than decline. According to the Pitch Madison Report 2026, print advertising expenditure in India rose 3 percent to Rs 20,866 crore from Rs 20,272 crore in 2024, although its share of total AdEx decreased from 19 percent to 18 percent.
He emphasized the need for publishers to adapt to evolving advertiser expectations. “Advertisers are becoming more and more data driven as we speak. Digital has already arrived in dashboards, and print must evolve from space selling to intelligent selling,” Pawar concluded.