Edtech brands prefer TV over digital; Byju's top advertiser: TAM data

India’s cumulative digital ad spend is expected to grow 10 times over the next decade and will likely account for 70-85% of the total ad market which currently stands around 30%, various reports suggest. However, edtech giants seem to buck the trend. 

If TAM data has any indication, top education brands have started preferring TV over digital medium for their campaigns. Their growing presence on digital media, which was quite visible during the pandemic lockdowns, has come to a halt as of now. As per figures provided by TAM, the TV ad volume of edtech brands grew 2.5-fold over the past one year while growth in the digital ad volume declined. 

Considering Quarter 1 (April to June) of 2020 as the base (the period that was marked by the harsh nationwide lockdown), the TV ad volume of edtech brands grew 83% and 102% in the next two quarters of the year and 70 % in the fourth quarter that is January to March 2021. It swelled further in fiscal 2021-22 with a whopping y-on-y growth of 153% and 80% in the first and second quarter respectively. 

This indicates the growth of TV ad volume of edtech brands throughout the pandemic. Data for Q3 is not available yet. In contrast, their digital ad volume grew fast from first to the second quarter (23%) and the third quarter (59%). The growth was merely 31% in the last quarter of 2020-21. The first two quarters of 2021-22 saw merely 10-13% y-o-y growth.

Byju’s & upGrad Among Top 

In terms of the number of advertisers, digital was far ahead of TV though. Compared to 130 edtech brands that queued up for TV ads, more than 2,800 brands advertised on digital, TAM data shows. Byju’s has been the top advertiser in both digital and TV. This is followed by Whitehat Jr, ITV, upGrad and Vedantu. On digital, Byju’s, Simplilearn, Unacademy, Whitehat Jr and Great Lakes were among the top five. 

Education and ecom-education sectors witnessed a huge growth during the lockdown period as schools and colleges moved on to conducting online classes.

With many schools and colleges shut, digital learning platforms have been investing heavily in TV advertising during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches to drive user acquisitions.

Armed with popular brand ambassadors, Byju’s (Shah Rukh Khan), upGrad (Vicky Kaushal who was with the brand till 2020), and Great Learning (Virat Kohli) are also riding on celebrity endorsements for better recall and reach through their IPL ads. 

While Byju’s spokesperson declined to comment, Arjun Mohan, CEO - India, upGrad explained, “At upGrad, our focus is on Consumers, and not media. Based where our Consumers are present, our media mix gets decided. For instance, in cases of our top-selling verticals like MBA - which has a pull across tiers, as well as for verticals like Degrees - where parents and elders play an influential role in purchase decision, we complement our Digital plans with not only TV, but strong surround influencer marketing.”

“Our Consumer-obsession is reflected in our current sponsorship of Shark Tank on TV as well. At upGrad, we stand for job seekers as well as job creators. The entrepreneurs on Shark Tank India, today can potentially create thousands of jobs in Bharat tomorrow. Assessing their business pitch and identifying possible lacunae, we are offering them need-based courses. So we looked at our association with Shark Tank as our crusade to empower the entrepreneurial community – the job creators of tomorrow, to upscale their businesses,” says Mohan.