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When upGrad showed you the way to becoming your college friends’ boss

The leading online higher education company’s campaign talks about the rewards you stand to earn, post an online certificate course.

What does it take to get one up on your college mates’ careers? If you go by what upGrad, a leading Mumbai-based online higher education company, has to say, all it takes is to take up one of its courses.

Online education - that saw a staggering spike last year during the COVID-induced lockdown - has come full circle. Today, the emphasis is on what you stand to win once your finish one of upGrad’s courses.

upGrad’s new campaign reflects this change in communication. The main ad shows us how Sohini has surpassed her collegemates to become their boss.

And, in subsequent short bites, we see how Sohini’s friends, and now juniors, respond to her becoming their boss; it’s quite cute.

Arjun Mohan, CEO-India, upGrad, said, “At upGrad, our core belief has been to offer the working professional community best-in-class opportunities with regards to universities, faculty, and placements. Both career growth and success depend on these tenets.”

“The campaign aims to bring out this differentiated positioning of the brand in the higher edtech industry. While our past campaigns have helped us to create significant awareness and establish upGrad as an online higher education leader, we now wish to push the envelope further. We want to build preference for the brand, especially among a large set of ambitious working professionals who are looking for meaningful career growth, faster.”

Navin Talreja, co-founder, The Womb, the agency behind the campaign, added, “After landing a job, many working professionals find themselves stuck in the same job role without any growth and not much of a salary hike.”

“While the want to study is present, their fear of losing regular income and the insecurity of, perhaps, not landing a good job makes them believe that a linear growth cycle in suboptimal positions, or organisations is their only option.”

“This campaign seeks to shake these working professionals out of their career inertia and position upGrad as a viable option that facilitates strong career outcomes in a contemporary, relatable, and engaging manner.”

Vinil Mathew, the director of the film, said, “The films have a relatable, slice-of-life quality, with an interesting blend of tongue-in-cheek humour and the fuzzy warmth of friendship. It was an absolute joy to collaborate with the super creative team at The Womb and a progressive client like upGrad.”

What’s interesting to see is the fact that upGrad’s rivals have also spoken on similar lines. Great Learning’s new ads are on great jobs as well as appraisals.

Simplilearn released three ads on higher remunerations and getting your dream job.

Looks like it’s all about the rewards now.

Agency credits:

The Womb Communications

Founding partners: Kawal Shoor and Navin Talreja

Creative team: Suyash Khabya and Shreyas Manjrekar

Planning team: Abhishek Hariharan and Ipshita Khan

Account management: Heval Patel and Richa Shah

Production house credits: Breathless Films

Director: Vinil Mathew

Executive producer: Swadha Kulkarni

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