Campaign Face-Off: Toppr's 'Hardworking Student' v/s Unacademy's 'New-Age Teachers'

Experts examine and grant marks to the impressive teachings in this campaign face-off between Toppr and Unacademy Teachers Day campaign.

September 5 witnessed the advertising world pouring in wishes and expressing gratitude to the ‘teacher’ in everyone’s lives with social media posts and ad films. Toppr and Unacademy – both brands dealing with education- did their bit on the occasion. A look at Toppr and Unacademy Teachers Day campaign.

While the former wishes Happy Teacher’s Day to ‘the teacher who is also the most hardworking student’, the latter puts the spotlight on the young and vibrant new age teachers.

Toppr’s Teachers Day Campaign - Most ‘Hardworking Student’

A teacher is a person who helps students acquire knowledge, competence or virtue. However, what goes behind being a teacher? The campaign conceptualized by Lowe Lintas was designed keeping this question in mind, which most often goes unnoticed. The long hours of preparation for every class, planning lessons, and more make each of these teachers a ‘hardworking student’ in the true sense.

The objective of the campaign was to give a fresh new perspective about teachers. Through the flow of the film, it was imperative to show the teacher’s prep process as a part of her daily life. Also, balancing the protagonist’s character, seeming like a student in the first half of the film and the final reveal was crucial. Achieving that was critical for the film’s objective blooming out.

The brand also leveraged social media to its core to spread the message across the millennial world while taking the adults on a trip down memory lane with memes around Maths, teachers, and more.

Also Read: M&A go-getters express gratitude towards their role-models on Teacher’s Day

Unacademy Teachers Day campaign - Tribute to new-age teachers

A blackboard, piece of chalk, middle-aged woman sitting in front of the classroom explaining various complex concepts is a usual picture that comes to mind when it comes to a Teacher.  

This year, Unacademy aimed at changing the narrative to showcase the evolving energy of teachers in new India. Their latest film conceptualized by Schbang is a tribute to educators across the country who are not only helping young minds realize their true potential but also helping shape the country as we know it. 

Without any filter, the campaign showcases the everyday hustle educators have been going through, right from the research, the dedication and the commendable courage and patience to go out of their way to encourage and empower young minds across the nation, selflessly.

Unacademy too took hold of digital media to acknowledge the unmatched resilience of teachers and organized a #TeachersDay giveaway contest.

Like every year, this time around too, brands rolled their sleeves to redefine the significance of a teacher, a guide, an educator on the occasion of teacher's day. We turn to our experts to find out who among the two - Toppr and Unacademy did the teaching right.

Experts Take:

Vikas
Chawla, CO-founder, Social Beat

Both campaigns stem out of powerful insights about
the target group: ‘Teachers being the most hardworking students, which most
others might be unaware of’ and ‘the extent to which the teachers’ community is
willing to push boundaries to pursue their passion’, respectively. This gave
both campaigns all the more reason to connect with and create an impact amongst
the targeted.

However, for me, Unacademy takes the cake since it manages to pull off a couple
of nuances in a better way. 

Toppr has a stronger message, a few great moments such as the scene in the rickshaw and an enlightening insight about the target group. But Unacademy manages to crack the mother-daughter equation with gripping story-telling and a feel-good end, beautifully, while maintaining the intrigue factor. 

Owing to the more nuanced storytelling and the way
the emotions were dealt with - Unacademy is my pick, this Teacher’s Day.

Ashmita
Chitlanga, Senior Account Manager, Social Panga

The first video by Toppr is my pick.

The video keeps the audience guessing and hanging
up until the last moment where they showcase that the protagonist in the video
is a teacher herself. This reflects the constant process of learning that
teachers undergo, which is often not looked at or acknowledged. It makes the
video quite heartwarming showcasing a different side to Teachers' Day
altogether.

Naushaba Ara, Designer, Candere Jewellery

To compare similar scripts, both the ads are great and bring forth a sense of nostalgia and respect for our teachers. The Unacademy video, however, is more relatable to today's day and age and with the kind of education we have today, where you don't need a classroom or a teacher who is necessarily older than the students. The script does not give away the fact that the protagonist is the teacher until the end. Her enthusiasm and respect for the job she has undertaken are shown clearly, she is more of a mentor in this video. Just the kind of teacher one would love to have.