How to Get Your Brand Featured in Economic Times, Mint and Business Standard

Every founder has said it at some point. "We need to get into ET." Every CMO has had it on a quarterly goal. And almost every brand that tries to make it happen on their own walks away confused about why nothing worked.

The confusion usually comes from one place: most brands conflate paid advertising in these publications with earned editorial coverage. They are completely different things, they work through completely different channels, and only one of them actually builds the kind of credibility that moves business.

This piece is about earned coverage. How it works, what journalists are actually looking for, how to pitch without getting ignored, and what the realistic path looks like for different types of brands.

Key things to understand before you read further:

• Economic Times is the world's second largest financial daily after the Wall Street Journal, with over 4.2 million readers and one of the highest domain authority scores in Indian media

• Mint is owned by HT Media and is the publication of choice for India's urban professional class, particularly strong in fintech, startup, and policy coverage

• Business Standard is the publication most read by India's institutional investor and policy community, with a reputation for rigorous, data-backed journalism

• None of these publications openly accept promotional guest posts or press releases as editorial content

• Getting featured requires either a genuine news angle, a relationship with the right reporter, or a strong thought leadership track record, and usually a combination of all three

The First Thing You Need to Understand: Paid vs Earned

Before anything else, let's clear this up because it wastes enormous amounts of time and budget when brands get it wrong.

Paid content in ET, Mint, and Business Standard exists. It is clearly labelled as "Brand Connect," "Sponsored," "Advertorial," or similar. It is bought through the publication's advertising or branded content teams. It can be effective for certain objectives, particularly distribution and SEO, but it does not carry the same credibility signal as editorial coverage because readers can see the label.

Earned content is coverage that a journalist or editor decided to publish because they believed it was genuinely newsworthy or valuable to their readers. No money changes hands for the placement itself. This is what every brand actually wants and what most brands find hardest to get.

The reason earned coverage is so valuable is precisely because it is hard to get. When ET's tech editor writes about your company, that is an implicit endorsement from one of India's most trusted business publications. No advertising budget can buy that signal. It has to be earned.

And earning it requires understanding how newsrooms actually work.

How Journalists at These Publications Actually Think

The single most important shift you can make in your approach to PR is to stop thinking like a brand and start thinking like a reader.

ET, Mint, and Business Standard journalists are not waiting for your press release. They are under constant pressure to produce stories that their readers will find genuinely interesting, that their editors will approve, and that will hold up to scrutiny from the business community that reads them closely.

When a journalist receives a pitch, the question running through their head is not "is this good news for this brand?" It is "why would my reader care about this?"

That question filters out probably 90% of everything that lands in a business journalist's inbox. The remaining 10% shares certain characteristics.

It is tied to a real news moment: Funding announcements, product launches, significant partnerships, regulatory changes, market data, or a response to something that just happened in the news cycle. Journalists work on the news cycle and pitches that plug into something already moving get far more traction than pitches that exist in a vacuum.

It makes a non-obvious argument: The easiest way to get an op-ed placed in any of these publications is to take a contrarian but defensible position on something the industry believes. "Why the micro-influencer revolution is actually hurting brand building" is a more interesting pitch than "why influencer marketing is growing."

It has data: These publications, particularly Business Standard and Mint, have readers who are sophisticated enough to spot thin arguments. Original data, proprietary research, or a credible data point that has not been widely reported is one of the most reliable ways to open a journalist's attention.

It has a named, credible source: Quotes from founders, CMOs, and domain experts with genuine credentials make a story publishable. Anonymous or generic industry commentary does not.

The Four Routes to Coverage in These Publications

There is no single path. Different types of brands and different types of stories travel through different channels.

Route 1: The Hard News Angle

This is the most reliable route and the most straightforward. If your brand has genuine news, a real funding round, a significant product launch, a meaningful partnership, a notable hire, or a market entry with demonstrable scale, that news can be pitched to the relevant reporter covering your beat.

The pitch needs to be tight. One paragraph on what happened, one paragraph on why it matters to their readers, and a named contact for follow up. Send it before the news goes live if possible, with an embargo, because journalists prefer to have time to write rather than scramble.

The mistake most brands make on this route is waiting too long. If your Series B closed three weeks ago and you have already announced it on LinkedIn, the news window is largely gone. The time to pitch business publications is before or the moment of a news event, not after.

Route 2: The Thought Leadership Op-Ed

ET, Mint, and Business Standard all publish opinion pieces from industry practitioners. These bylines are genuinely earned in the sense that they go through editorial review, but they are also relatively accessible compared to hard news coverage because they do not require a news hook.

What they do require is a strong point of view, genuine expertise in the subject, and writing that meets the publication's standard. A 700 to 900 word op-ed with a clear argument, supporting evidence, and a conclusion that has practical implications for the reader is the format that works.

Topics that consistently land in these publications include: regulatory outlook pieces, market trend analyses with data, counterintuitive perspectives on widely held industry beliefs, and sector-specific insights during moments of policy change or market volatility.

The key mistake brands make here is sending pieces that are clearly written to sell something. An op-ed about "why influencer marketing is essential for BFSI brands" that reads like a brochure for your agency will be rejected. An op-ed about "why India's BFSI brands are communicating with retail investors in a language that is not working" with data and a concrete argument will get considered.

Route 3: The Expert Source Relationship

This is the least glamorous route and the highest return over time. It means making the brand's leaders available as expert sources on stories that journalists are already writing, before you have your own news to pitch.

ET, Mint, and Business Standard reporters covering fintech, D2C, real estate, marketing, BFSI, and consumer sectors are constantly looking for credible practitioners to quote in stories. If your CMO or founder is genuinely knowledgeable and available, and if you have built a relationship with the right reporter before you need anything from them, you will start appearing in stories without pitching at all.

This compounds. Every quote in a credible publication builds the journalist's association of your leadership with the topic. Over six to twelve months of consistent availability and quality commentary, your spokesperson becomes a go-to source. That is when the longer features and profiles start happening organically.

Route 4: The Data Story

Original research is one of the most reliable paths to coverage in all three publications. If your business generates proprietary data, survey findings, or market insights that no one else has, and if that data speaks to something the business community cares about, it is a story in its own right.

A D2C brand that surveys 5,000 Indian consumers about festive season spending intent has data that ET's consumer desk will find interesting. A fintech company that aggregates transaction data showing shifts in UPI behaviour across Tier 2 cities has a story that Mint's policy reporter would pick up. A real estate developer with data on NRI inquiry volumes across cities has something Business Standard's property correspondent wants.

The data does not have to be massive in scale. It has to be specific, credible, and genuinely informative about something the publication's readers care about.

What Actually Gets You Ignored

Since most pitches fail, it is worth being specific about why.

Sending a press release as a pitch: A press release is a document. A pitch is a message to a human being explaining why the story they are about to write will matter to their readers. These are different things and sending one when you should be sending the other is the fastest way to get no response.

Pitching to the wrong reporter: ET has dozens of reporters across different beats. Sending a fintech story to the retail reporter or a real estate story to the technology correspondent means your pitch lands with someone who has no reason to care. Spend twenty minutes researching which reporter covers your specific topic before you send anything.

Making it about your brand: "Zutsu Media launches new influencer marketing service" is not a story for ET. "Why India's influencer marketing industry is about to hit INR 3,375 crore and what that means for brand budgets" is. The brand can be in the story. The brand cannot be the story unless the brand itself has reached a scale or achieved something genuinely newsworthy.

Following up too aggressively: One follow up after forty eight hours is appropriate. Three follow ups in a week is not. Journalists remember who respects their time and who does not, and the latter never gets a second chance.

Pitching stale news: If your funding round is three weeks old, your product launch happened last month, or your leadership hire was announced on LinkedIn two weeks ago, the news window has closed. Move to a different angle or wait for the next genuine news moment.

How to Get an Article Published in Economic Times: The Realistic Process

This is one of the most searched questions about Indian media, and the honest answer is that there is no shortcut, but there is a process.

For editorial coverage, the process looks like this. Research which of ET's editorial sections is relevant to your story, whether that is ET Prime, ET Tech, ET BFSI, ET Panache, or the main paper. Identify the two or three reporters who consistently cover your beat by reading their bylines. Follow their work. Understand what angles they have recently written about and what gaps might exist.

Write a pitch that is no longer than three paragraphs. The first paragraph states the story in one or two sentences. The second paragraph explains why ET's readers care about it right now. The third paragraph states who the source is, what data or access you can provide, and your contact information.

Send it. Follow up once. If there is no response, accept that this story is not for this reporter at this time, and move to a different angle or a different reporter.

For contributed op-eds, ET's speaking tree and ET Prime both accept contributed content. The editorial standards are high and turnaround is unpredictable. A well-crafted op-ed with a clear argument and credible authorship has a realistic chance of placement over a two to four week cycle.

For Mint, the Letters and Lounge sections have different submission processes. Mint Prime and Mint's sector-specific verticals are open to strong contributed perspectives from practitioners.

For Business Standard, the BS Opinion section is their primary vehicle for external contributions and runs pieces from senior practitioners, academics, and policy experts. The bar is high and the voice needs to match the publication's analytical tone.

Do Companies Pay to Be Featured in These Magazines?

This is a direct question people search for, and it deserves a direct answer.

You cannot pay to be featured in editorial content in ET, Mint, or Business Standard. Editorial independence is the foundation of what makes these publications trusted, and any arrangement that compromises that would undermine the value of the coverage itself.

What you can pay for is branded content, which these publications clearly label as sponsored or advertorial. The rates for this vary significantly by format, publication, and placement. A digital branded content piece on ET typically starts in the range of INR 3 to 5 lakh for a single placement. Print advertorials are structured differently based on the edition, size, and positioning.

Branded content has legitimate uses. It can distribute your message to the right audience with the credibility of the publication's brand environment. But it is not the same as editorial coverage and should not be treated as a substitute for a genuine PR strategy.

The most effective approach combines both over time. Earned editorial coverage builds credibility. Branded content amplifies specific messages at specific moments. Neither replaces the other.

How to Get Your Business Featured on the News: The Bigger Picture

Featured in ET, Mint, and Business Standard is a goal. Being consistently visible in India's business media ecosystem is the strategy.

One placement, however prestigious, does not build brand reputation. What builds reputation is a sustained cadence of media presence across a mix of top-tier publications, trade media, podcast appearances, speaking opportunities, and digital coverage that together create a consistent impression of a credible, knowledgeable brand.

This is why the most effective approach to business media in India treats PR as an ongoing investment rather than a campaign. Brands that are consistently visible in the media are the ones that have built the relationships, developed the editorial muscle, and created the internal processes to generate stories consistently rather than scrambling when they have something to announce.

For most brands, getting to that level of consistent visibility requires a PR partner who already has the journalist relationships, understands the editorial standards of each publication, and can identify which stories have the best chance of placement at any given moment.

Zutsu Media works with brands across 18 industries on exactly this, building earned media programs that put the right stories in front of the right journalists at the right time. Our PR practice covers media relations, thought leadership, crisis communications, and corporate communications across India's top business, lifestyle, and trade publications.

If you are serious about building your brand's media presence in India's top publications, start the conversation here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q) How do I get my brand featured in Economic Times?

A. Getting featured in Economic Times requires either a genuine news angle tied to something your business has achieved or announced, a thought leadership op-ed with a strong editorial argument and credible authorship, or a relationship with a reporter on the beat that covers your industry. ET does not accept promotional content as editorial. The pitch needs to lead with why ET's readers should care, not with why the coverage would be good for your brand. Most successful placements come through sustained relationship building with the right reporters over time, often managed by a PR agency with existing media relationships.

Q) How to get an article published in Economic Times?

A. For contributed opinion pieces, ET Prime and ET's op-ed sections accept strong, analytically rigorous pieces from practitioners with genuine expertise. The submission should include a tight pitch explaining the argument, the author's credentials, and why the topic is timely. For news coverage, the approach is pitching the relevant beat reporter with a concise story angle, not a press release. Response timelines vary. A PR agency with existing ET relationships can significantly improve the speed and success rate of placements.

Q) Do companies pay to be featured in magazines like ET and Mint?

A. Not for editorial coverage. Editorial content in ET, Mint, and Business Standard is independent of advertising. What companies can pay for is branded content, advertorials, or sponsored articles, which these publications label clearly as such. These are different from editorial coverage in terms of reader perception and credibility. Paid placements are useful for distribution but should not be confused with earned media.

Q) How to get your business featured on the news?

A. The most reliable routes are: having genuine news with broad business relevance, building relationships with journalists before you need coverage, positioning your leadership as expert sources on topics reporters are already covering, generating original data or research that journalists can use, and maintaining consistent media activity rather than pitching only when you have something to announce. Working with a PR agency that has existing media relationships compresses the timeline considerably.

Q) How to get featured on a newspaper as a small or mid-size brand?

A. Tier 1 publications like ET and Mint are harder to access for smaller brands, but not impossible. The most accessible routes are: strong op-eds from a founder with a genuinely interesting perspective, data stories that emerge from your business operations, and being available and credible as an expert source on stories that are already being written. Trade and sector-specific publications are also worth prioritising, as their editorial standards are more accessible and their audiences are often more relevant for B2B brands. Building from trade coverage toward Tier 1 national coverage is a more realistic path for most brands than starting with ET.

The Bottom Line

Getting featured in Economic Times, Mint, and Business Standard is achievable for most serious brands. It is not fast, it is not guaranteed on any individual attempt, and it is not something that happens by sending press releases.

It happens through a combination of genuine news, strong editorial judgment about what stories will land, consistent relationship building with the right journalists, and the persistence to keep the program going even when individual pitches do not result in placements.

The brands that build real media presence in India's top publications are the ones that treat PR as a sustained investment in brand credibility rather than an occasional tactic when they have something to announce.

If you want to build that kind of presence, talk to Zutsu Media. Our PR team works with brands across BFSI, real estate, luxury, D2C, and technology sectors on exactly this kind of long-term media program.

Explore our PR services or get in touch directly.

Zutsu Media is a 360 degree marketing and production agency headquartered in Mumbai, serving brands across India and the APAC region across 18 plus industries.