Marketing Plan Assignment: Case Analysis of BYJU’s

Question

Task: You are required to prepare a marketing plan assignment analysing the marketing management of BYJU’s learning application.

Answer

Introduction
Marketing management is an art of choosing the target market of the organization. The process of marketing management enables the management of the organization to enhance sales. It has been stated that marketing management focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation for managing marketing resources and activities. The current study takes into consideration the evaluation of the marketing management of Byju's learning application. The organization has become the world's largest tech company with a valuation of $11.1 billion. Situation analysis, target customers, a collaboration of the company will be evaluated in the study. Moreover, external factors of the company, marketing analysis and strategies will be elaborated throughout the study.

Marketing plan objective
BYJU'S in an ed-tech and online tutorial firm, founded in 2011. In the year 2020, the company gained 2,800 crores. The main product of the company is a mobile application, which offers services like distance learning, e-learning and m-learning to students. Students can access learning from anywhere across the globe. The app has generated wide opportunities in the study for the students, by allowing them to understand the concepts lucidly and interactively as well as helping them get guidance from the best teachers and instructors in the industry, pan-global (Deepak and Jeyakumar, 2019). Educational technology (Edtech) is the combined use of software, hardware and educational practices to facilitate learning. The industry aims to enhance the academic performance of the users. It has been evaluated that the educational technology industry is based on theoretical knowledge. Within the organization, several disciplines are integrated such as communication, artificial intelligence, psychology, sociology. Moreover, several domains are associated with the industry including computer-based training, learning theory and process of m-learning. Educational technology is an effective process of incorporating technology in a positive manner that promotes a diverse learning environment for the students.

As cited by Martínez-Lópezet al. (2020, p.20), Edtech technology is considered as learning management tools. Edtech technology is a learning management system such as educational management, curriculum management. Edtech is considered as an emerging sector that could be widely analyzed into technology-enabled solutions. The leverage technology is integrated to create techniques of learning based on a student's cognitive and affective abilities.

Based on the evaluation of Edtech industry, the major objectives of the marketing plan for Byju's are as follows:

• To enhance reachability as well as awareness among Australian students, in the Australian tech sector by 20%, within 2021
• To increase the profitability of Byju's while operating in the Australian market sector by 25%, within 2022
• To become one of the market leaders in Edtech sector of Australia within 2025

Situation analysis
Who are the customers?
BYJU'S has become one of the best educational learning applications for students. The app is most loved by the students across the age group. The application is contained with overall educational lessons from pre-Kindergarten to class 12. Moreover, the BYJU'S application is engaged to train students who are preparing for IIT-JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS. The management of the company provides free access opportunities for the users for 15 days from the day of registration. With time, the customer base has been growing (Gupta and Nair, 2020). The rapidly growing popularity of BYJU'S enabled the company to expand its target markets.

Who is the business?
SWOT analysis of BYJU’S

Competition of the business
In the modern era, an educational application has a massive demand globally. In this regard, the company is considered as the most valued tech company. It is necessary to identify three things when analyzing a competitor. The three significant things are the actual competitor itself, offering products and market share they hold. The key competitors of the educational organization are Vedantu, simplilearn, wonderschool, age of learning and Meritnation.

Vedantu is a tutorial platform that enables personalized learning. Another significant competitor of BYJU'S is Topper. The organization is renowned for providing various entrance examinations in India as well as abroad. Meritnation is a giant competitor of BYJU'S that offers training and programs for students online. Simplilearn is engaged in providing professional certification courses for the students. To make a competition in the market with its competitors, BYJU'S has integrated innovative and creative teaching procedures to fulfil needs of its respected users in both domestic and international markets (Phadermrodet al. 2019, p.196). Within the Australian market segment, the organization is expected to face stiff competition from Kahoot, ClassDojo and Lumosity predominantly, since these are the most popular learning apps availed by the Australian student community

Who are the collaborators?
BYJU'S has a strong collaboration with Disney bats, discovery channel and Times of India. In terms of BYJU'S collaboration with discovery channel and Times of India SSL, quiz contest provides unique platforms for students of class iv to ix. The quiz is based on knowledge and critical thinking of students. It has been evaluated that the ability of critical thinking can be measured with the help of the quiz. The knowledge-based topic covers a wide range of parameters including verbal, numerical ability, abstract and special reasoning (Tsai et al. 2017, p.139).

Another significant collaboration of BYJU'S is US based multinational mass media Disney Bats. Early learning of the application will boost the special characters of Disney Bats such as cars, toy stories and the newspaper. The reason is a collaboration between BYJU's and Disney Bats to expand the evaluation and creative educational aspects to the larger English speaking markets such as the UK, US and Australia. It is observed that BYJU'S proposed a revenue-sharing agreement with Disney (Fayvishenko, 2018, p.246).

External factor
PESTLE analysis is a significant management tool. The external factors of BYJU’S shape the macro business environment.

Political factor
Political factors have played the most considerable functions in the educational learning industry (Perera, 2017). The federal government has been working on the direction of learning apps. The political factor has the major aim of bringing technological changes. Political factors have a significant impact on long term sustainability and profitability on BYJU'S learning application. The sensibility of the company is increased by the political stability of the country. The political stability of the country helps the educational organization in developing market growth. Since Australia enjoys a stable political environment and shares a good, peaceful rapport with the Indian government, operations, as well as penetration into the Australian education sector, would not be much of a challenge for the organization. The global political environment provides lots of business opportunities to BYJU'S. It has been evaluated that weak law enforcement makes the mentioned business environment unpredictable. Moreover, the high taxation level of the government has influenced the profitability of BYJU'S.

Economic factors
It is necessary to understand the economic factor of the educational learning application. A detailed understanding of BYJU'S can enhance the market share of the learning app. As stated by Dietrich et al. (2017), the economic development of the country directly affects the productivity of a company. Well-developed infrastructure of the company facilitates the growth potential of the organization. The growth of GDP of the country has a significant impact on the long-term growth strategy of the organization. Financial stability of countries like Australia encourages educational organizations to enter into these new targeted markets. Owing to the current pandemic situations and the degree of awareness amongthe Australians, the idea of app-based learning, as well as expert guidance, is expected to earn accolades of success in the concerned market.

Figure 1: PESTLE analysis of BYJU’S
(Source: Dietrich et al. 2017)

Social factors
Changing aspects of demographic patterns are more important for international business organizations like BYJU'S. It is essential to choose the right market with high growth potential. It has been evaluated that social factors are integrated into the growth of BYJU'S. Culture plays a vital role in the marketing aspect of the organization.

Technological factor
The advanced technology helps the learning app to incorporate innovative features for its users. Given the tech-savvy nature of the Australian children and youth, the app is sure to gain quick popularity in the target market. Research suggests that the users of the application are well-satisfied with the services and quality of content and syllabus. BYJU'S learning app can have certain business advantages due to technological advancement. With the help of social media marketing, the organization can make communication with its targeted customers (Dietrich et al. 2017). Moreover, the advertisements of companies are released on various social media platforms. The process has helped the organization to enhance collaboration with their customers. By focusing on emerging technology innovation, BYJU’S learning application has increased market share.

Environment factor
The growing aspects of changing climate has a direct impact on the environment of the organization. Negative responses from the media can be reduced by environmental regulation. Eco-friendly nature of the country has enabled the organization to build a good relationship with its target customers and suppliers (Camilleri, 2018, p.71).

Legal factor
The Data Protection Law is more useful in privacy and security concerns. Moreover, the consumer protection law has been prioritized for the customers. Lawful agreements and legal rights are integrated to reduce issues of the organization. It has been evaluated that the learning app BYJU'S provides a high value of learning agreement. Limitations of the educational applications are addressed by potential legal aspects.

Market analysis and strategies
Segmentation
The marketing segmentation of BYJU'S is associated with several aspects. To capture the market, the organization has focused on the plan. With the help of teaching techniques, the learning application has captured the Indian market. In terms of key partners, the organization has a concrete collaboration with Disney Bats and discovery channel to promote the application to its target audiences. The organization built collaboration with the Disney Bats for expanding business ideas to the English market such as the UK, USA and Australia. It has been evaluated that several companies such as Tencent, LightSpeed Venture are impressed by innovative learning ideas of BYJU'S.

In addressing key activities, the major key activities of the company include information technology infrastructure, IT infrastructure operations. These key activities of the organization enable to enhance the quality of resources for fulfilling the needs of the students (Daellenbachet al. 2018, p.415). Research suggests that customer experience is increased with the help of good relationships with customers. In terms of customer segmentation, the customer segmentation includes teachers, students, parents and other competitive exams.

Targeting
Target market is a type of customer within the market. In the study target market of BYJU'S indicate students between pre-Kindergarten to class 12. Moreover, the organization prepares notes for CAT, NEET, IIT department, IAS, GRE and other important examinations. The target market of the company indicates a group of customers. It is necessary to identify the target market for the development of marketing plans. In the educational organization, the target market is a central aspect of the marketing plan. When sales grow for the company, it will automatically expand its target market. In terms of international expansion, the learning application has emphasized on its domestic target market. It has been stated that growing the target market enhances opportunities for enhancing revenue.

The organization launched an educational application for students' class between pre-Kindergarten to class 12. The organization knows its customer well to meet their needs in the most effective way (Chan et al. 2016, p.856). Based on geographic location, the company focuses on its target market with the help of its collaboration with Disney Bats and discovery channel. The key focus of the collaboration is to enter into the new English market. There is no doubt that the popularity of applications has increased.

Positioning
BYJU’S stands the most significant position of its organic growth. The owner of the application understands parents and student’s perspective towards education. The multimedia application launched in the market less than two years ago. The business strategy of the application has successfully caught the schoolchildren to its strong positioning of learning. Moreover, the company produces effective study materials for competitive examinations.

There are four types of marketing positioning strategies such as product benefits, product price, quality of products, use of product and competitors. The price of the study material is reasonable. The study materials of BYJU'S is contained with highly knowledgeable materials prepared by experienced professionals. The users are well-satisfied with the evaluation of study materials. With time, the demand for products is increasing. The popularity has been increased due to effective teaching skills. The organization understands the needs of the users in the present time (LeatonGray and Kucirkova, 2018). The teaching method of BYJU’S application has proven evidence with success. The quality of products and innovative study materials has taken the organization to a better place compared to its competitors.

Tactical plans-marketing mix
Marketing mix dimensions
A marketing mix is an effective tool combined with several components. All the tools are used to promote the products. It is all about positioning of products sold in the marketplace. In this stage, the effectiveness of the marketing mix of BYJU'S will be evaluated to promote the application to its targeted audiences.

Product
A product is an important commodity to satisfy the needs of customers and groups. In the study, the key product of BYJU'S is the learning application. The learning application is well designed with innovative study materials and teaching procedures. Based on the quality of products, the management of the educational institute focuses to meet the needs and requirements of its customers. Research suggests that the quality of the product can meet the needs of the customers (Išorait?, 2016, p.30). The study materials and teaching procedures have successfully achieved significant place compared to its competitors. The continuous improvement of BYJU'S always sets new records. The major strength of the organization is high-quality learning modules and videos.

With the impact of original content, the organization can attract more customers. Video lessons of the application are prepared and verified by 100 experienced teachers. The organization is engaged to work with effective procedures. It has been evaluated that the high-quality learning module has enabled the educational organization to expand its areas in both domestic and international markets. In the present time, the collaboration of BYJU'S helps to enter into the new English market such as the UK, USA and Australia.

Price
BYJU'S has the option of a free subscription business model. The company has a small subscription fee for eight years which will help students to get unlimited access to their study materials. Moreover, the management of the company also has a plan for the students which assists the students to teach their goals. The course of the application is available with a specific exam to check the ability of students including the subscription fee. Per annum fee of BYJU'S is approximately 105,000 rupees for the next eight years within India, which can be maintained as 2000 AUD in the Australian market. The company also has other plans monthly, which just also be introduced within the target market segment. Furthermore, the application also has a free trial period where students can access the services of the organization. The free subscription is for 15 days. For marketing and promotion, BYJU'S uses 20% of its earning revenue (Wu and Li, 2018). The company has a greater strategy to enhance brand image. The company charges $18 per month to provide effective teaching and study materials to its users. The transaction model of BYJU'S is efficient to have hassle-free payment in favour of its users. Credit card, cash and loan tenure facilities are available for payment (HR and Aithal, 2020, p.262).

Place
In the marketing mix, placement is a very significant part. The company focuses on those stages where students need the study materials of the learning app. To enhance its target market in Australia, the collaboration of the organization with Disney Bats and discovery channel has focused on entering new markets (Abril and Rodríguez-Cánovas, 2016, p.170). The management of the organization has successfully indicated those areas where it needs the requirements of study materials.

Promotion
To promote the learning application to its target market, the management of the educational organization has integrated social media platforms. The effectiveness of social media platforms helps the organization to advertise about the efficiency of the learning application. It has created significant results in organizational perspective. Moreover, the collaboration of the educational application helps to expand its business in the international markets (Pogorelovaet al. 2016, p.6745). It has been evaluated that an effective promotional strategy has prior impact to reach its innovative ideas at the target audiences. Since the Australian are reliant on digital and social media for retrieving information about services being offered by organisations so Byju's should avail both digital and social media platforms for advertising their services and thus, gaining enhanced reachability in the market segment.

Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that marketing management is a core tool to measure and enhance the performance of an organization. In the study, BYJU'S learning application has been evaluated through various stages of marketing management procedures. SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis of the organization have been elaborated. Moreover, collaboration with other companies and competitors of BYJU'S has been demonstrated in the entire study. In the stage of marketing analysis, marketing segmentation, positioning marketing and target market have been evaluated. Besides, the marketing mix of the organization has been evaluated in the entire report.

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