Zee Learn’s transformed avatar will reshape educational landscape: Himanshu Yagnik

In conversation with Adgully, Himanshu Yagnik, Chief Operating Officer, Zee Learn Ltd, shares insights into the remarkable journey of Zee Learn and its transformative initiatives in the education sector. From the brand’s expansion to its recent brand transformation, Yagnik delves into the company’s strategic vision, marketing strategies, and the pivotal role of technology in shaping the future of education. Explore the milestones, challenges, and the promising outlook for 2024 as Zee Learn continues to evolve and innovate in the dynamic landscape of education.

How has Zee Learn’s journey been so far? What are the different courses that it offers?

Zee Learn has experienced significant growth since its inception, expanding its presence to over 700 cities and nearly 2,000 centres through its flagship brand Kidzee.  Moreover, the Mount Litera Zee Schools have established themselves in over 80 cities, with close to 100 schools. Zee Learn also offers vocational training courses in creative and media arts, catering to individuals aspiring to make career in media, entertainment or creative fields.

• Kidzee focuses on early childcare.
• Mount Litera Zee School caters to K-12 learning.
• Zee Institute of Creative Arts offers vocational courses in Animation, VFX, Gaming, and more.
• Zee Institute of Media Arts provides courses covering behind-the-camera activities in filmmaking like editing, sound design, and direction.

Could you tell us about the recent brand transformation of Zee Learn? What are the expectations out of it?

In a significant stride towards reimagining education, Zee Learn Ltd, India’s leading company in the education segment that is known for its commitment to academic excellence, proudly announced its grand revamp. The transformed avatar is poised to reshape the educational landscape, offering students, parents, and the community an innovative and enriched learning experience.

This brand transformation is aimed at nurturing the next generation and making them future-ready. We want our students to usher in an environment where the child is stimulated to learn and hence our new mascot signifies relatability, engagement, fun and interactivity. We believe that learning should fundamentally be fun, engaging, creative and energetic with heightened optimism.

As an evolving business, we aim to expand into new markets with our newest offering through a change in our overall strategic approach. This brand refresh ensures that our brand image aligns with the current state and goals of the organisation. With changing consumer preferences, we want to appeal to a new generation of consumers keeping sight of the changing trends. The new brand identity will ensure we stand out from the competition by creating a fresh and unique appeal. It will also help us re-engage with our audiences by creating excitement and interest in the brand.

What are the different ventures of Zee Learn and what impact are they making?

Zee Learn stands out in the education segment with Mount Litera Zee School, a rapidly growing K-12 chain, and Kidzee, the largest preschool chain in India. Additionally, Zee Learn offers vocational education through Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA) and Zee Institute of Creative Art (ZICA). Notably, it caters to supplementary education such as competitive examinations, test prep courses, tutorials, and higher education degree courses. The digital ventures augment learning experiences through platforms like the Kidzee Pentemind App, Kidzee Tab, Robomate, and R+ notepad.

What is the marketing strategy of Zee Learn and the marketing mix? What are the marketing activities and brand activations undertaken by it this year?

Zee Learn tailors its marketing mix for each brand. For instance, for Kidzee, local community engagement and social media play a significant role, whereas for Mount Litera, showcasing holistic development and CSR initiatives take precedence. This bespoke approach aims to resonate with the specific audience of each brand, leveraging both traditional and digital media strategies.

Who is the TG of Zee Learn and what are the different marketing strategies it is employing to reach its target group?

The target group that Zee Learn addresses is primarily the parents. But the expectations of parents are different when looking for preschool as compared to when they are on a lookout for a Kto12 school. This necessitates a change in messaging as well as medium to showcase as our USPs. On the messaging front, Kidzee focuses on a child-friendly learning environment, while Mount Litera emphasises on holistic development, influencing the messaging and showcased activities. For Kidzee, we largely adopt social media, newsletters, blogs and parent meets/ seminars to communicate with our TG. In Mount Litera Schools, we promote testimonials, social reviews, partnerships etc to address our TG.

What is the long-term brand vision of Zee Learn?

A child’s human rights are non-negotiable for us. We prioritise a child’s human rights as part of our ‘What’s Right for the Child’ (WRFC) ethos. Our fundamental belief and ideology is shaped by the right to trust, the right to be respected, and the right to live in an abuse-free world.

How is Zee Learn filling the gaps in the education sector?

Zee Learn is committed to instilling skills, knowledge, and values in our children in order to give them an inner voice for the 21st century. In the new phase of growth, not only do we plan to expand in India, but we plan to further strengthen our footprint in other countries. Our learning environment allows each child to nurture the learning mind and we have introduced innovative and well-rounded curriculum that integrates the latest educational trends and methodologies. This ensures that students receive an education that is not only academically rigorous, but also practical and aligned with real-world demands.

What are the major milestones achieved in Zee Learn’s journey so far and the challenges it encountered? How did it overcome those challenges?

Zee Learn has consistently won various accolades like Tech Circle – Business Transformation Award, Radio City Business Titans – Excellence in The Category of Preschool, Forbes DGEM – Listed as 200 Select Companies with Global Business Potential, The Fortune Leadership Awards – Education Brand of the Year.

While there were a lot of challenges that we faced since inception, but the most recent was the pandemic which created challenges for entire mankind. We overcame the challenges posed by the pandemic with continued support from our franchisees and parents. Adoption of online learning and teaching was one of the challenges which cropped up during pandemic but our teams worked seamlessly to overcome it. All this was done without compromising our ideology of ‘What is Right for the Child’. Our never say no approach helped us reach out with solutions to parents, which helped them address the learning needs of their kids. 

How was the year 2023 for Zee Learn?

2023 has been a great year for us. We’ve met our numbers on business front, launched new curriculum for Kidzee, revived our corporate and brand identity and expanded our product line. In short it was a year full of excitement and progression.

What are the growth projections and future outlook of Zee Learn for 2024?

• Developing and enhancing our online learning platforms
• Delivering high-quality digital content
• Enhancing student learning experience
• Global expansion and partnership
• Sharp focus on skill development

How is Zee Learn leveraging technology and digital media?

We’ve embraced technology as an integral part of our educational approach. All our school classrooms are equipped with smartboard-based classrooms, online resources, and personalised learning platforms to enhance the learning experience. Additionally, we’re exploring AI-driven learning systems, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) to create immersive learning environments. Our future plans involve further leveraging technology to facilitate personalised learning, adaptive assessments, and real-time feedback mechanisms to cater to diverse learning needs effectively.