EdTech hops on to the live cricket bandwagon
Culturally, India has placed great value on education. Success in education is considered not just the key to a secure and comfortable future but also a matter of pride. The Indian EdTech sector has tapped into this sentiment effectively and it shows at its current size of $700 million. However, the market is expected to grow 8x to 10x in the next five years^.
As the COVID-19 lockdown was enforced, classrooms shifted online and there was a focus on digital tools for teaching. Educational technology found its day in the sun – not only was it adopted widely, but it was also understood to be the foundation of learning in the days to follow.
What the category looks like
EdTech companies emerged as strong brands targeting educated professionals, post-graduate students and importantly, parents of children in school, with a higher than average threshold for spending. The sector tried its best to ensure that the learning wouldn’t stop despite the pandemic.
The category is interesting with two or three players dominating in a market of a whopping 4,530 active EdTech startups^^ – especially after the spike due to COVID-19 and aggressive marketing during IPL 2020. The other EdTech players are niche, but the market overall is cluttered and its offerings can be broadly classified as free or paid versions of:
- Reskilling
- Self-paced learning modules are offered by players like Coursera, Udemy and Udacity
- Assisted learning modules such as the ones offered by Upgrad, Imarticus, Aakash Institute
- Test prep
- Government exam prep by brands such as Khan Academy, Unacademy
- Non-government exams courses by players such as Test Funda, Career Launcher, IMS Learning
- K-12
- K-5 modules by brands such as Cuemath, Toppr, Magic Crate, BYJUs
- 6-12 courses as offered by brands such as Vedantu, Doubtnut, Hashlearn
Audience sentiment
Star Distillery* data shows that price and course structure are the audience’s primary considerations, but the brand name is among the top three parameters considered while choosing an online education platform. This proves that building the brand is paramount for players looking to make a mark in this category.
Live cricket and EdTech
For EdTech platforms to take advantage of the sector’s current booming nature, it is important to reach and engage with the right audiences. And there are few better platforms than live sports, especially the upcoming VIVO IPL 2021. This makes sports advertising on Disney+ Hotstar critical to the marketing mix of any EdTech brand.
The OTT platform has a paying subscriber audience, which makes it more engaged with the content. Connected TV (CTV) users on Disney+ Hotstar are urban and educated, fitting perfectly with the audience profile that EdTech players aim to target. The platform has a proven record when it comes to brand building by storytelling through midrolls, pre-rolls and through interesting associations as enabled by Brand Lab.
Disney+ Hotstar’s data-and-technology backbone can be used to target even niche audiences using geo targeting on Live Cricket. This helps brands reach consumers in metros or towns with a population of 1 million or just over, or even specific states. Further, geotargeting’s specificity takes advertisers to audiences’ living rooms, helping brands truly get the eyeballs that matter.
When these advantages combine with the right messaging – the course details, pricing, the brand’s USP and differentiating factors, among others – it results in a powerful video marketing strategy. It’s something only live cricket on Disney+ Hotstar can offer.
*Star Distillery is an intelligence centre for data-driven business decisions powered by technology.
Source – ^http://www.businessworld.in/article/EdTech-Market-Is-Booming-In-India-/20-09-2020-322696/
