Through a digital campaign, Practically attempted to drive app installs while adopting a 360-degree approach for its launch campaign. They reached over 2L MAUs to create awareness around their new AI feature and build brand credibility.
This case study explores how the Practically App's launch campaign leveraged Television, Print, and Digital capped with influencers to spread awareness about its 'Scan Anything' feature to promote a new way of learning for students that urged them to #StopSearchingStartScanning. The campaign focussed on driving app installs.
Category Introduction
In India, the EdTech industry has been riding on a robust growth trajectory since March 2020. According to a report by EdTech-focused VC firm BLinC Invest, Indiaโs online education market is expected to be worth more than USD 3.5 billion by 2022 - almost five times the USD 735 million, back in 2019. EdTech has revolutionized Indian education by making it more accessible and convenient while bringing in new innovations for distance education.
EdTech players have garnered a whopping $3.81 billion in funding, nearly a four-fold jump from $971.5 million in funding during the same period previously, according to data from analytics firm Tracxn. Given the cluttered space and almost similar offerings across, most players realize the need to establish themselves as a brand to drive differentiation which has seen players from this sector dominate spending across media in recent times.
Brand Introduction
Practically is an experiential learning app designed for students in classes of 6th-12th with a focus on STEM learning. Aiming to address the needs of all kinds of learners, the product combines a game engine, immersive learning assets, innovative features, and an AI-assisted study buddy, all in one compact cross-platform app. It is built on Edgar Daleโs โCone of Learningโ to enable classrooms with the โLearning By Doingโ approach and increase retention in students to more than 90% for key subjects like Math and Science.
Working on the brand proposition of 'Bring Learning Alive' the Practically app was launched in April 2020. The company also has a differentiated offering for schools and teachers - Practically School solution.
Summary - App Installs Campaign
Continuing to leverage the brand ethos around learning, Practically launched the โScan Anythingโ feature with its app installs campaign. With this launch campaign, the brand attempted to showcase the new way of learning by scanning and not searching. To do this, the mobile camera scanned objects that brought lists results from its content library of 3000+ 3D videos, 1000+ simulations experiences, and 30,000 3D models, sorted by a studentโs curriculum and grade.ย
The โScan Anythingโ feature recognizes pictures, questions, exercises, proofs, etc. from textbooks, magazines, newspapers including capturing images of any surrounding objects and presenting linked curriculum learning information on the app for the learners to pick their learning journey and resolve doubts instantly. Thus, encouraging students to learn from their surroundings, promoting an immersive learning experience.
Objective
- To launch the AI-led โScan Anythingโ feature for Indian consumers
- Establish the narrative of being the worldโs first EdTech to launch this featureย
- Create awareness about the feature and build a connection with consumers showcasing its ease of usage
- Increase app installations, engagement, and feature acceptance.
Brief
Children are encouraged to observe and learn from their surroundings. It is widely believed in a culture that learning is all around us. The brief was to take this belief a notch further and demonstrate that learning from daily objects was not just a figment of imagination but possible in the real world. This was the basis on which the AI-led Scan Anything feature was developed and the Practically 'Scan Anything' launch campaign, executed.
Thus, the task at hand was to introduce the #ScanAnything feature and spread awareness about the new method of learning.
Creative Idea
Whenever children stumble upon a doubt or their curiosity is triggered to learn about something, they search about it on the internet, which sometimes does not show up relevant results, leaving the child confused. The Practically 'Scan Anything' launch campaign attempted to capture this insight and position the scan anything feature as the new age methodology to scan and learn as compared to the search and learn method. This led to the campaign thought of #StopSearchingStartScanning.
Challenges
The TG for the app installs campaign were the students of 6-12 grades and their parents. The consumers and customers are different in EdTech, so the marketing challenge is always to create a campaign that appeals to both sets of audiences.
The other challenge was communication in a cluttered market. Hence, it was important to develop a communication strategy that breaks the clutter, gets noticed, and does justice to the Scan Anything feature not just in terms of creating awareness about the feature but also the claim that itโs the first by an EdTech company to adopt the technique. Further, the brand also had to overcome the demo challenge, especially without on-ground activations, to showcase the feature on a limited budget.
Also read: Case Study: How Nilonโs Diwali campaign reached near to 2 Mn+ users
Execution
The 'Scan Anything' feature launch campaign was digital-first with a focus on print. The look and feel of the entire campaign were developed to get the balance of keeping the tech and product offering as the hero and a way of communication that was light, snackable, and fun for the target audience. Keeping a 360-degrees approach that included Print, Television, social, and influencer, the campaign started with the print ad so that the users could utilize the feature directly from the print ad.
The campaign was executed in four phases - from teaser to launch, post-launch, and sustenance. Each of the campaign stages was timed in a manner that all mediums of communication aimed to contribute to generating a high brand recall through content while driving engagement, without fatigue setting in.
As the first stage, the initiative commenced with the teasers and the two films as part of the feature's launch campaign with the hashtag #StopSearchingStartScanning. Both the videos centered around the new feature while showcasing the benefits and the ease of using the feature.
Further, the brand released a series of posts on social media spreading awareness and highlighting the 'How-tos' of the 'Scan Anything' feature through mobile phones.
While the campaign was announced through the nationwide press release, the Practically launch campaign was amplified through Print Ads for three weeks to enhance the visibility of the initiative across national and regional dailies. As the campaign was initiated, people could scan and experience the feature through the medium.
After two weeks of the campaign on Print media, the #ScanAnythingPractically trended at #4 on Twitter.
Continuing to create buzz on social media, the brand deployed an influencer outreach campaign. A host of macro and micro-influencer were roped in, to spread awareness about the Practically App's launch campaign
All the posts by the influencers aimed to highlight how the Practically app could help better the learning process for children with the aid of technology.
Further, the posts also showcased the process of using the 'Scan anything' feature by the brand while attempting to drive the app downloads.
As part of the Practically campaign, the brand collaborated with Myra Vaikul, one of the youngest digital content creators to amplify the 'Scan Anything' feature while attempting to promote the initiative through a fun, relatable, and holistic video for promotions.
Results
Quantitative
- From 4L+ downloads before the campaign in over a month, the app crossed the 1.5 million milestone, an indication of the feature/product acceptance and marketing impact.
- On average, the feature is getting 10-15k scans every day with the highest being recorded at 33k on the day of the first print ad. Total Scans till date have been over 7 Lakhs
- The audience reach via the Influencer campaign was over 6 million
- Recently, they hit a new high of more than 2 Lakh MAU (Monthly Active Users)
Qualitative
- Practically has also seen a 2X growth in terms of search volumes
- #ScanAnythingPractically trended at #4 on Twitter on September 29, 2021 showcasing the virality of the campaign
- Practically app also broke in the โTop 10 education apps in Indiaโ on Google Play store during the campaign
Quote
โIt is indeed a recognition of the smart work and strategic planning that have driven the app growth. Delighted to be a part of this exciting journey that saw us go from 1 Lakh downloads to 5 Lakh downloads and now eventually 1.5 million downloads. All these milestones were achieved in the last year alone which shows the likeability of the product and the impact of our brand-building efforts. With this growing brand stature, we aim to achieve 3 million installs and then 5 million eventually accelerating our programs in a phased mannerโ, said, Mahadev Srivatsa, Vice President - Marketing & Brand Strategy, Practically App.