Key Trends and the Best Campaigns in the EdTech Industry

Authored by Chandan Bagwe, Founder & Director, C COM Digital

The onset of the pandemic firmly entrenched the trend of blended learning and this decade is the one to be dominated by EdTech in India. In what is probably being perceived as the biggest revolution in EdTech marketing, now every player aims to be a ‘Brand’ and behave like one! Thus, to stand out, taking the plunge and making the investment in branding and marketing was a change that was forthcoming. To learn how and where it all started, let’s take a recap of the last decade and the impact it made on 2021 and 2022.

India’s EdTech Moment: A Quick Throwback

EdTech, at present, is not what it was a few years back and COVID-19 proved to be a turning point for the industry. The pandemic left a significant effect and drove the concept of e-learning in India. The fact that e-learning could be accessible, convenient, and affordable amongst aspirants of all age groups was not quickly embraced by parents. Most brands in this space focused most of their energies on thrusting adoption and communicating the effectiveness of virtual learning. But on the other hand, there were also many companies that people weren’t aware of on a national level. Major spending was directed towards radio, television, mass media, and digital, as the market size was relatively small as compared to what it is today. 

Fast forward to the pandemic year and the following one that forced schools, colleges, universities, and coaching institutes to shut down, thereby making “learning from home” a norm. This is what propelled the pace of EdTech growth in India. As per the RBSA report, India bagged $2Bn worth of investments in the EdTech space in 2020 alone, which happened to be the highest in 5 years! The recipients of this disruption were those who had survived and established their foot in the industry for many years. Such EdTech brands sensed the need to have a comprehensive, well-rounded solution to induce investments and drive growth. Since most players offered more or less the same solutions, it was clear that the best strategy to sustain and grow in this highly-competitive space was to distinguish through branding and marketing. 

The quest to dominate and influence the consumer’s mind has emerged as the primary goal of EdTech companies, which they are swiftly succeeding at. This, coupled with the hunger to promote new solutions, has powered some of these brands to aggressively execute tried-and-tested marketing tactics. Many top players including Byjus, Vedantu, WhiteHat Jr., and upGrad are signing up top social media influencers and celebrities as brand ambassadors. Leveraging innovative digital formats and circulating integrated campaigns have become a popular mode of promoting products and services. Whether it is the e-commerce industry, telecom, or EdTech, the workable marketing wand has rightfully been passed on!

This brings us to classifying some of the campaigns released by the top EdTech companies that took the internet world by storm in 2021 and 2022. The new entrants can seek inspiration from their work and set out to transform their modest company into a sought-after EdTech ‘brand’.

Best EdTech Campaigns That Might Hit You With a Wave Of Nostalgia

#1 Study Abroad With upGrad: This out-of-the-box campaign featuring Amitabh Bachchan is designed to promote its recently launched sub-brand – upGrad Abroad. Aimed to reassure young aspirants and parents that learning opportunities from world-renowned institutions need not be restricted by financial or societal constraints, The Womb – the brains behind the concept of the ad film – is climbing the ladder of success owing to the positive response from the audience. The campaign focuses on how students can go abroad and pursue further education by doing a part of it virtually in India. Through the ‘Study Abroad’ program and campaign, upGrad’s intent has been to cater to two big unmet needs in the country: the affordability and accessibility factors needed to get into an international university.

Upgrad Campaign

#2 Learn with Eduauraa - #AbFuturePeSabkaHaq: The campaign featuring actor Ranveer Singh is based on the premise that everyone has an equal right to how their future plays out. Conceptualized by Publicis, this film shows a young boy returning home from his coaching institute on a cycle. Looking at him being tired, Singh calls out numbers for each subject and associates them with kilometres. He then shares a few words of encouragement with the young boy stating he would become an international cyclist rather than a doctor since he was honing his cycling skills instead and not retaining the knowledge he grasped. Singh then presents the benefits of learning at home through Eduauraa to him. The objective to democratize education in India so that students are not deprived of quality education due to the high costs of virtual learning seems to have touched the right chords. 

Eduauraa Campaign

#3 Zindagi Ka Syllabus by Vedantu: A pioneer in LIVE virtual learning, Vedantu, in 2021, launched its brand campaign Zindagi Ka Syllabus to highlight the significance of an inspired teacher in a student’s life. The campaign, which featured Vedantu’s brand ambassador and actor Aamir Khan, covered real-life stories of how the platform’s teachers inspire and impact their students, even though they are not physically present. The tagline #ZindagiKaSyllabus Sikhate Hai rightfully emphasized the role a teacher plays in nurturing students and inculcating lessons of love, kindness, and trust, which are important as much as academic excellence. Interestingly, to attain maximum visibility and create brand awareness, the campaign was released in 7 languages, namely; Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali, and Telugu. 

Vedantu Campaign

#4 BYJU’s Education for All: Conceptualized and created by the internal brand team, the CSR campaign captures the hope and innocence young children possess for a better tomorrow. The video campaign that celebrates the one-year milestone of the Education for All initiative shares a glimpse of the impact that the brand has made in the lives of 1000s of students through technology usage to uncover the learning barriers. What particularly grabs the most attention is the film’s music, which follows with the beat of the mathematical ‘Table of 2’, composed by actor-singer Raghubir Yadav.  

Byju’s Campaign

To Sum It Up

Marketing education is not simply about making courses and curriculum seem superficially appealing. As a matter of fact, it is very important to present the perquisites of the program and the element of fun involved in the learning model to alleviate the monotony experienced by aspirants. Keeping this in mind, a number of leading EdTech companies, including the ones mentioned above, have resorted to marketing campaigns to not only promote their latest solution but also build brand awareness and credibility. These campaigns have proven to be informative, as well as unique, in their bid to support students of different aptitude levels, from diverse backgrounds with different ambitions.

 

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and Adgully.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.

 

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