Competitor Analysis
EduFund's unique value proposition of targeting parents at an early stage to invest in mutual funds for their kids' future education differentiates it from competitors who cater to either experienced investors or those focusing on last-minute educational needs like loans and scholarships. To effectively capitalize on this uniqueness, EduFund must develop a product and communication strategy that is tailored to beginners and risk-averse users, ensuring simplicity and ease of use to avoid overwhelming its target audience.
Takeaways
Edufund distinguishes itself with a purpose-driven and product-centric messaging approach, but to further capitalise on its unique value, it can explore a domain-centric and people-driven positioning, standing out in a niche domain.
Takeaways
Brand tone perceptual mapping
Product centric
Task Driven
People Driven
Domain Centric
(Education/ life)
product facilitating investment goal driven experience
product capturing the needs and values of the user
(Tools & offerings)
Target Audience
USPs
Edu exp.
calculator
Market Presence
Services
MF
Global
India
Working women
Risk averse investors
one-stop ecosystem for Indian parents to save and plan for their child’s education
Comparison platform of a broad financial range
Risk averse investors
Focus on education loans and investment options
Personalized career guidance and college admission support
International education loans, scholarships, career guidance
Parents of school children
Newbie investors
Newbie investors
Students aspiring to study abroad
Students aspiring to study abroad
International
International
Nationwide
Nationwide
Nationwide
Nationwide
Students aspiring to study abroad
India
US
Trading
Gold investment
Insurance
Loan
Scholarship
Mentorship
Policy Bazaar
Lxme
Avance
Leverage Edu
Leapfinance
Education Finance services
Edufund
Customer Journey Map of a potential user in the product
Discover
Enroll
Engage
Achieve
Extend
Comes across the platform
Realises the need for investing for their kids needs
Downloads the App or goes to the website and registers with PAN details and KYC
App
Website
CRM
App/ Website
App/ Website
App/ Website
Instagram / facebook
Youtube
Friends
Eye-opening and focused content drawing the user’s attention towards investing for their kids’ education.
Simple Onboarding process makes it easy for users to set foot on the app.
Self-intiative research outside app is required if the user is new to mutual fund investment
Simple and intuitive interface. One-on-one support from the Relationship Manager
Purchasing the first mutual fund gives them a sense of accomplishment.
Visualizing their savings grow over time can be rewarding.
Delivery of content creates a sense of urgency through fear (negative reinforcement)
Parents have an overall vision for investing for their child, but not specifically for education
Issues with OTP, impacting their patience as well as trust on the platform.
Financial jargons overwhelm the users and make them feel helpless.
Feel a lack of engagement or purpose for continued platform usage post the investment.
Users may feel anxious about the performance of their investments. Lack of clarity on how to continue.
“Can’t I afford my kid’s education?”
“Maybe this app will help me be more prepared.”
“Yayy. I took the first step towards securing my child's future”
“What now? ”
“I don’t understand any of these terms. Maybe Mutual funds aren’t for me ”
Personalised Customer Experience: Capitalise on the strong initial customer base for tailored investment solutions.
Upselling & Cross-Selling: Use high customer retention rates to offer additional investment products.
Niche Education Focus: Align offerings with target audiences for other education supplements such as coaching and other
Online Sales Channel: Boost organic marketing efforts for wider reach.
Adding more adjacent goals along with core goals, due to increase in career and skill options
Exploit strengths to seize opportunities
Partnerships & SEBI Registration: Enhance trust and counter external threats.
Content Marketing for Awareness: Address low financial awareness.
Curating more engaging financial learning content to make users more aware.
Using Strengths to Handle Threats
Simplify Financial Language: Improve financial inclusion.
Distinctive Branding: Make the platform less replaceable.
Inclusive Awareness Creation: Widen content marketing reach.
Keeping parents more informed about the development in the educational world Help parents and students to forecast risks associated with political tensions abroad and help them, keeping
Address Weaknesses to manage threats
Inferences from SWOT-TOWS & PESTEL analysis
Simplified product Language: Eliminate complex financial terms for broad accessibility so as to include B30 Cities and growing investors.
Improve App Engagement: Enhance cross-selling and upselling within the app.
Build Brand Loyalty: Key to success in organic marketing. Investors look out for strong trust factor in financial product.
Use of new tech (AI & ML)
Create more touchpoint and visibility to attract new consumers trying to find new alternatives to fund their eduction amid rising educational fee.
Mitigating Weaknesses to Leverage Opportunities
Consumer Interviews Insights
The target group displays a high degree of risk aversion in investing, particularly through non-government agencies.
Strong Risk Aversion
They are more likely to trust and engage with services that have a strong and trustworthy brand presence.
Emphasis on Brand Trust
Most parents are more comfortable with the idea of taking loans when the need arises.
Parents who have experienced the challenges of repaying their own educational loans are more inclined to make financial plans in advance.
Learn from Experience
They rely on peer guidance and experiences when making decisions about their child's education.
Limited knowledge about investments contributes to their reservations about investing.
Parents are hesitant to prepare financially for uncertainty about their children's future aspirations.
Many parents struggle with maintaining financial discipline when it comes to savings.
Reactive Approach to Education Financing
Social Influence
Lack of Investment Knowledge
Limited Financial Discussions
Lack of financial discipline
Further deep diving into each area - Product, Messaging & Trust
Difficulties in exploring the app due to complexity
Emphasis on task completion over user engagement and communication
Lack of User Journey Structure
Lack of consistency between the website and the app
Lack of information hierarchy
Redundant Information
Ineffective Onboarding
Misaligned Target Audience
Complex language
Product Analysis
UX Heuristics | Customer Journey | Product trend analysis | Usability testing | Customer Review
Brand Promise
Positioning Statement
Value Proposition
Value Description
In-App
Web
Key Messaging
Proof Points
Only org. offering education centric financial saving and planning
Providing financial guidance and planning to parents
Capturing all education needs of an education life cycle
One-stop platform for your child’s educational financial planning
Prepare you for your education costs
Covering all your edu-finance needs
Dream for quality education
Highlighting the importance of saving and planning for educational needs
Gap in translating the proof points
Fear & urgency based messaging
Disconnected experiences
Fading messaging
distinctiveness
Failure to highlight the value seeked by TG
Planning your child’s journey to college with us
Diverse financial methods to fund and save
Personalised goal setting & expense calculator
Class wise bucket for MF investments
Education & financial counselling
Padhai ki mehengayi bad rahi hai, to apki savings kyu nahi?
All you need to plan, save and send you child to college
Kal ki college ki mehengayi ke liye aaj kijiye invest!
Do you want to exit the app? The cost of education rose by 10% between 2012-20
Time is running out! Avg. college cost 9n US in 1.23 Cr
Messaging Analysis
Current messaging
Alternate Approach to messaging
“Unlock Your Child's Potential without Limits!”
“EduFund Puts Education and Financial Planning in Your Hands.”
“Don't Compromise, Invest in Their Dreams Today!”
"Harvard, Princeton, or IIM? You focus on the dreams; we handle the planning."
Current Brand Archetype
Recommended Brand Archetype
Innocent
Sage
Explorer
Rebel
Magician
Hero
Lover
Jester
Everyman
Caregiver
Ruler
Creator
Innocent
Sage
Explorer
Rebel
Magician
Hero
Lover
Jester
Everyman
Caregiver
Ruler
Creator
Current messaging is relying on inducing fear to create awareness about the rising education costs. The perceived tone is that of a Ruler (authoritative, strong).
The messaging tone should be that of an Everyman (approachable, relatable) and a Magician (making dreams come true) in marketing and that of a Sage (empowering through knowledge) on the platform.
India has one of the largest saving rates to GDP. But still Indians prefer safety and liquidity over returns.
Assessing trust of the user
Empowering customers
with the right knowledge
Trust in
EduFund
Brand
Advocacy
Increase
in organic
referral
Transparency
Adhering to regulations
& compliance
Enhanced product
experience
Human connect
Testimonials
Trust
C
o
m
p
e
t
e
n
c
e
E
x
p
e
r
i
e
n
c
e
V
a
l
u
e
40
40
30
20
33
Does the organisation keep its promises?
Do you believe in the organisation?
Is the organisation capable of fulfilling the needs of its users?
· Competence
Understands user benefits
Transparency
Delivers promise
Reliability
· Experience
Expertise
Responsiveness
Individualisation
Point of view
· Value
Understands my needs
Sociability
Vision
Communitarian
Recommendation
Visual design
Customisation option in college caluculator
Optimize Website Design and Communication (Priority: High)
Revise the website design to align with best practices and create a visually appealing, consistent interface.
Improve communication through clear, concise messaging, and intuitive navigation.
Enhance Onboarding Process (Priority: Medium)
Develop a comprehensive onboarding process with step-by-step guidance to help users quickly and effectively get started.
Incorporate user feedback to continually refine and improve the onboarding experience.
Enhance Engagement Features (Priority: Medium)
Introduce engaging elements such as gamification, rewards, or notifications to motivate user participation.
Implement user feedback mechanisms to assess user satisfaction and preferences.
Implement user engagement strategies like personalization, feedback loops, and social integration to maintain user interest.
Demo of what will happen in each feature
Appeal (Priority: High)
Maintain the minimalistic design while adding visually appealing elements to enhance user engagement.
Ensure a consistent design language across the app and website for a seamless user experience.
Simplify Financial Language
Consistent graphic elements and language
Differentiate between image based graphic and illustrated to show difference from brands
Dark mode may not work as a default state for the this particular area . it can be optional
Online Touchpoints
Offline Touchpoints
Website
Social Media
Referral program
Search engine
optimization
Mobile App Features &
Push Notifications
Content
Marketing
App store
optimisation
Edufair stalls
Schools (seminars
and counseling)
Reducing drop-offs- KYC to investment
Enhance first-time onboarding experience
Value exchange to the customer to reduce drop-offs
User experience enhancement
Forecasting next action of User
Capturing evolving needs of parent
Trust creation in the product & brand
User feedback loop
Reward based system
Increase re-visit of existing users
Cross-selling/ up-selling opportunities
Channels & Touchpoints
Retention
Acquisition
Onboarding rate (KYC)
Active Users Rate
Conversion rate
Activation
First valuable action
Loyalty & Advocacy
Increasing Revenue
Referral
Revenue
"Retention is the new acquisition"
03
01
Product
Messaging
Brand
Advocacy
Increase
in organic
referral
04
Establishing Trust for Organic Referral
Consistent and compelling brand narrative
The narrative across all touch points should be consistent and also highlight what core value is offered by Edufund rather than what problem it is solving. In order to exist in the specialist realm, a holistic narrative of Edufund is key.
Trust in
EduFund
Areas of focus
02
The messaging Gap
Capturing the Ideal target group
Intended message is, Edufund as a investment experience entered toward Education domain. A misalignment is observed as the product experience is currently more task centric.
Creating and nurturing trust would require in value creation for the users in a holistic level. This would come from right messaging, enhanced product experience and capturing the right touch points for acquisition
Current
Users
Potential
Users
B30
Parents
T30
Parents
Current app experience is pulling in a digital native, financially informed parent. In order to capture the intended TG, modifying the current product experience in alignment with the financial needs and aspirations of a T30 parent is essential.
Product Experience
Touchpoint messaging
Trust creation
Limited Customer reach-out & feedback
Weak Organic Customer Flow
Customer Journey Optimization
Consistent Omnichannel Experience
Converging
The challenges faced in three core areas: product, messaging, and customer engagement
Inconsistent Brand Messaging
Reimagining urgency Messaging
Limited Market Visibility
Lack of Clear Value Messaging
Misalignment of Product Messaging with user activity
Fading Messaging Distinctiveness
Complex Product Range
In-App Communication Challenges
Task-Focused Usage:
Website-App Consistency
Ongoing Technical Problems
Need to impart Trust
Strategic Road map
