Jackets and ear panels
For a launch that must be seen on one morning, after we check lead time and price.
/ 01 Newspaper advertising in Kolkata
The right paper,not the biggest ad.
A print budget leaks when the paper is picked by its name, or because a rival is in it. PromotEdge chooses the daily, writes the ad and books the space.
It tracks replies for shops, builders, schools and B2B (business-to-business) firms, so each rupee spent on print matches calls, visits or orders.
Kolkata still reads a morning paper, often in more than one language. A Ballygunge family may take a Bengali daily at home while the same buyer reads an English one at work.
We start with logic and your numbers, not the paper we like. Sometimes print is the wrong tool, and we say so before you spend.
See our print advertising and newspaper advertising pages, or advertising in Kolkata with radio ads and outdoor boards.
- 2015working with Indian brands since
- 65+in-house team: strategy, creative, media and tech
- 4pillars under one roof: strategy, advertising, digital, on-ground activation (BTL)
- 6cities: head office in Kolkata, teams in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar
/ 02 What we handle
From the briefto the tear sheet.
0102 03 04 0506
Display ads
Quarter, half and full pages, strips and solus spots, sized to the job.
Classified and notice ads
Property, hiring, tenders and public notices in each paper's own format.
Puja and Poila Boishakh pages
Festive pages booked early and written for that season's buyer.
Copy and layout
Headlines in Bengali, English or Hindi, built to each paper's columns.
Reply tracking
A separate number, QR code or offer code per paper, so replies show which one paid.
What we believe
We're professionals. We'd rather be blunt than pleasing.
/ 03 Why print works differently here
Many dailies, three reading publics.
Four Kolkata facts shape the plan before you book a single column centimetre.
Readers split by language. Census 2011 gives Bengali as the first language of 61.45% of Kolkata district, Hindi 22.84% and Urdu 13.04%. So one plan often runs in two or three papers, each with its own copy.
Families keep one paper for years. Switching papers changes who sees you. The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) member list shows Kolkata editions from ABP, Pratidin Prakashani and Aajkaal Publishers. Ask about two-paper packages.
Puja is the big peak. Storyboard18 called Durga Puja the second-largest ad season after Diwali. A strategist there put it at 25-30% of a yearly budget for regional brands in Bengal and the East (September 2025).
Poila Boishakh is the second. A 2022 PTI report credited its run-up with one-third of shopkeepers' yearly sales. In 2026 it fell on 15 April.
Send us your last press ad and what it brought. We will say plainly what we would change. Get a free growth plan
/ 04 Kolkata papers at a glance
Who prints what,and when to use it.
| Paper or season | What the record shows | When we suggest it |
|---|---|---|
| Bengali dailies | Anandabazar Patrika (ABP Pvt Ltd), Sangbad Pratidin and Aajkaal have Kolkata editions on the ABC list. | Consumer brands, property and retail. |
| Ei Samay (Bengali) | Launched by the Times Group in 2012; sold in 2024, as reported in May 2024. | Ask the current owner for editions and rates. |
| The Telegraph and national English titles | The Telegraph, The Times of India, The Economic Times and The Hindu each have a Kolkata edition on the ABC list. | Premium launches, schools and B2B offers. |
| Hindi dailies | Sanmarg and Rajasthan Patrika are on the ABC list with Kolkata editions. | Trade schemes and wholesale offers. |
| Poila Boishakh 2026 | 15 April; traders opened new account books (Haal Khata). | Jewellers, sarees, sweets: book in early March. |
| Durga Puja 2026 | Mahalaya on 10 October; Saptami to Dashami, 18 to 21 October. | Lock front pages and supplements by late August. |
Sources: ABC member list, Indian Printer & Publisher, News on AIR and the West Bengal holiday list 2026, read 11 October 2026. These papers are options for you to buy, not our clients or partners.
/ 05 How we run a press plan
Five steps,one clear count.
- 01
Brief and past ads (week 1)
Bring your last few ads and what came of them. We agree what a good result means.
- 02
Shortlist and quotes (weeks 1-2)
Papers picked by reader language, area and rate, each quoted in writing with GST shown.
- 03
Copy and artwork (weeks 2-3)
Each version written for its own reader by our language partners, checked by our team.
- 04
Release day
Material sent before the deadline, the printed copy checked.
- 05
Reply count
We would rather show you results than a nice presentation. Calls, chats and codes are logged per paper and date, and the next rupee goes where replies cost least.
Tell us what’s not working. We’ll send you an honest one-page growth plan, free.
Go deeperMore on this
How we deliver it, and why
How your business model changes the plan
A shop with one counter books small, local editions near Puja and Poila Boishakh. A dealer-led B2B firm uses notices and business titles to reach dealers. A school tracks admission calls per paper. A Burrabazar trader may need Hindi first.
- Start from your last ads. Past replies are the best data you have. A one-page record of what each ad earned.
- Match the paper to the reader. Language and area decide who sees the ad. A shortlist, and the papers we would skip.
- Get every rate in writing. Private publishers negotiate, so rates move by paper and day. Each quote, with GST shown.
- Write for each reader. A Bengali headline that reads like translated English loses people early. One version per paper, read aloud first.
- Count each release. Good results should repeat, not happen by luck. Replies per paper and date.
Our Senior Account Manager, Rima Shaw, is your day-to-day contact. She also sends the reports.
Go deeper: readers, owners and what to ask
Circulation is not readership
The Audit Bureau of Circulations audits the copies its member publishers distribute. That is not the same as how many people read a paper. We found no current public readership figure for Kolkata dailies, so we ask each paper for its latest certificate and decide on edition, rate, position and your own past replies.
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations, read 11 October 2026
Owners change, so rates change
The Times Group launched Ei Samay in 2012 and sold it in 2024, with media reports naming Tidings Media and Communications as the buyer. We work only from a quote dated this month.
Source: Indian Printer & Publisher, May 2024
AI in newspaper advertising: today and next
Today: first-draft lines
Google's help page says the Gemini web app works in more than 70 languages and lists Bengali, Hindi and Urdu. That helps with first-draft headlines. A native reader still checks every line before it goes to a paper.
Source: Google Gemini Apps Help, read 11 October 2026
Next
Our view: drafts and size variants will come faster. Whether a line sounds right to a Behala reader at 7 am is still a human call. Want us to try it on your next ad? Ask us.
Planning Puja or Poila Boishakh pages? Talk to us early, while the good positions are open. Talk to us
/ 06 Cost
What newspaper ads in Kolkata cost.
We do not publish a price list. Space is billed at the paper's own rate, shown in writing, and our writing and design sit on their own line.
What affects the cost
- The paper and the edition: city only or wider Bengal
- Size, in column centimetres for display, in words or lines for classifieds
- Colour or black and white, and the position
- Day and season: Sundays and festive pages often cost more
- Artwork and the number of language versions
How we quote
- Tell us the date, the paper and what the ad must make readers do.
- We ask each paper for its own rate and edition, in writing.
- You get a quote with the paper's rate and our work apart, and approve before any booking. We send it within 2 working days.
What you get in the quote
- The paper, edition, size and day, as the paper quoted them
- Whether GST is inside the paper's quote
- A reply route for each paper: a number, a code or a WhatsApp link
Before paying any agency, ask for the paper's own quote and whether GST is in it.
/ 07 What happens next
What happensafter you ask.
For projects we think we can help, this is how it goes.
- 01
A strategist calls you
In one working day: a 30-minute call with one of our strategists about your business and what is not working.
- 02
You get a 1-page plan
A short, honest plan: what to fix first and what we would do. It is free.
- 03
A quote, if you want one
If you want to go ahead, we send a quote within 2 working days.
We confirm the timeline in the quote. Contracts start at 3 months, with 30 days' notice to stop.
Brands and people are named only as public examples. They are not PromotEdge clients or endorsers unless stated.
Keep exploring
Related pages.
The expertise that fits your business, and the places we work.
More in Kolkata
Advertising across India
Proof and reading
What people say
In their own words
“An aligned partner is always a welcoming step. Someone who can think deep through lines, understand the matrix of product management. Fortunate enough, PromotEdge has been a partner in progress for me. …”
Bobby SrinivasChief Manager Marketing & Brand Marketing at Utkarsh India“As a progressive and emerging digital marketing company, PromotEdge is doing something right to enhance the experience of companies associated with them. …”
Anish Basu MallikMarketing Executive at Unimark Group“PRAN & PromotEdge have been working together for last 1.5 years. Throughout, the work experience is good and satisfactory. As a client, we found PromotEdge very professional and dedicated towards any project assigned to them. …”
Sharif Rezwan KabirBrand Manager at PRAN RFL Group
Booking press in Kolkata?
Send us your last press ad.We'll tell you what it earned.
Straight answers.
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We are here, at Suite 508, Ambuja Neotia Eco Centre in Sector V. The people who plan, write and book your press ads work from that office, and you can go through every paper's quote with them face to face.
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We found no current public readership figure for Kolkata dailies, and circulation is not readership. So we decide on language, area, rate, position and how your earlier ads did, then test small before a big release, and keep the winners.
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Go by who buys from you. Bengali is the first language of most of Kolkata district (Census 2011), so a Bengali daily is the usual start for a consumer brand. English papers suit premium and business buyers, and Hindi dailies suit many trade audiences.
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For Poila Boishakh (15 April in 2026), book by early March. For Puja, plan in July and lock space by late August, since Mahalaya falls on 10 October this year. Front pages and supplements fill first, and late bookings get what is left.
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Yes. Our language partners write press copy in Bengali, Hindi and English, and our team checks each version. Each one should be written for its own reader. A Bengali headline that reads like translated English loses people in the first line.
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Each paper and date gets its own reply route: a number, a WhatsApp link, a QR code or a counter code. After two or three releases you can see which paper brought replies and what each one cost. If none did, we stop.