This work is for a confidential client to help them design an app that helps ‘Graduating Students’ in India take more informed decisions and succeed in their careers through gamification. Such a product can be a breakthrough for the 500 M strong Indian workforce, which 12.2 M graduates joining the workforce every year.
This post walk through the following:
Ideation, Problem Statement, and Solution
Competitive Analysis and Differentiation Canvas
Wireframes of the Solution
Beta-Launch
Go-to-market Strategy
1. CAREER FEED
S T A Y I N F O R M E D W I T H Y O U R I N D U S T R Y H A P P E N I N G S
A N D M A K E Y O U R C A R E E R B E T T E R E V E R Y D A Y
2. AGENDA
• Executive Summary
• Persona and Empathy Map
• Problem Statement
• Solution
• Market, Competition and
Differentiation
• Wireframes: How it actually
works?
• High-level Roadmap
• Beta-Launch:
- Product Hypothesis
- Pricing
- Segmentation
- Metrics
- Launch Activities
- Activity Delegation (RACI
MATRIX)
• Go-to-Market:
- Learn from beta Launch
- Launch Process Overview
- Stakeholder Identification
and Management Plan
- Product Launch Marketing
Process
- 3 Phases of Product
Launch
- Launch Timeline
- External Communication
Tools
- Press Release timeline
PART 1 PART 2 PART 3
3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: RIDING THE HOCKEY
STICK GROWTH WITH CAREER FEED
• Graduating students want personalized help to succeed in their
careers
• India is massive country with 500 M people in the workforce
with 12.2 M new graduates joining the workforce every year
• Career Feed solves the problem by providing a personalized
and gamified UI with a focus on milestone based learning
• Beta launch to be done inTier 1 MBA colleges, with a focus to
validate activation and retention
• On validating the core product hypothesis, full scale launch to
get 300 K active users in year 1
Career learning market
4. CONFIDENT GEN Z GENELIA IS CLUELESS
ABOUT HER FUTURE
18 Years Old
Last year of
Graduation
Studies at Delhi
University
SAYS
“I’m cool and I know exactly what to
do”.
FEELS
Insecure because she hears news of her
classmates in college getting great offers.
Overwhelmed, because she doesn’t
know what to prepare.
THINKS
How do I find what to prepare?
I am not as good as my classmates.
DOES
Online career research.
Reaches out to family and friends to
learn more about a job that appeals to
her.
Applies for jobs and prepares for
interviews.
Genz Z Genelia is fictitious. In real work situation this persona would be based on user interviews.
5. Graduating students want personalized help to
learn more about their career choices and how to
succeed in those career choices so that they can
through cut through the noise of unhelpful
advice/information.
Problem Statement
6. SOLUTION: CAREER FEED
Choose where
you are in your
career
Set career goals
Get customized
news feed based
on your goal
Track progress
by completing
actions
Discover and do
career relevant
courses
Get rewards on
reaching
milestones
Invite friends for
group study
Share progress
on social
networks
CF
“Stay informed with
your industry
happenings and make
your career better
every day”
7. A LARGE UNTAPPED MARKET UP FOR
THE TAKING
A broken link between massive markets - higher education market and job search market
Indian workforce is about 500 M people
LinkedIn’s penetration of 45 M people is just 9%
of the workforce
12.2 M new graduates
join the workforce
every year
Source:Thinknum, Appendix 1, Indiaspend
8. DIFFERENTIATION CANVAS: CREATING STRATEGY
PROFILES
Features/ Glassdoor Linkedin Career feed
Positioning Help people everywhere
find a job and company
they love.
Connect the world's
professionals to make
them more productive and
successful
Helps employees stay
informed with your
industry happenings and
make your career better
every day
Platform Type Reviews Website Social Network Aggregator
Unbiased Reviews 9 0 9
Salary Information/
Evaluation
7 7 7
Newsfeed 0 10 7
Social 0 10 6
Gamification 0 7 10
Personalization 0 7 9
Job Postings 8 9 5
Learning 0 8 10
9. POSITIONING IS ABOUT BEING UNIQUE NOT BEING
BETTER. CAREER FEED IS STRONG ON COMPETITOR GAPS.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Unbiased Reviews Salary Info Newsfeed Social Gamification Personalization Job Postings Learning
Uniqueness of Career Feed
Glassdoor Linkedin Career Feed
LinkedIn is the best at Newsfeed, Social and Job Postings
Glassdoor is the best at unbiased reviews, Salary Reviews, and Job Postings
Career Feed CHOOSESTO NOT COMPETE IN areas of competitor strength butTO COMPETE IN
areas of competitor weakness – Personalization, gamification and learning – with a limited Social experience.
16. ROADMAP
Develop the Minimum
Viable Product
&
Beta Launch to validate
the product hypothesis
Next 3 Months Next 6 Months
Iterate based on
learnings from beta user
activity
&
Full scale go-to-market
Launch business facing
Ads platform
&
Start focusing on
working professionals
Next 9 Months
Empathy Stickiness &Virality Revenue & Scale
17. B E TA
L A U N C H
Product Hypothesis
Pricing
Segmentation
Metrics
Launch Activities
Activity Delegation (RACI MATRIX)
18. PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS
“Providing a gamified and personalized news feed with learning
focused content aggregated from the web will help retain users for
at least 3 months, which will enable us to expand to other markets
and reach 5% market penetration (300 K active users) in one year”
Assumption: it takes 3 months of retention to breakeven on the CAC for every user
19. PRICING AND REVENUE MODEL
• Free experience with Personalized Newsfeed
• Paid experience with Gamification, Social and Learning enabled
• Prices at Rs 500 per month (1/3 of LinkedIn)
• Full experience to be enabled for free during beta launch
Freemium
Subscription
• Commissions when users purchase content from Partners (Coursera,
Udemy, Scrum.org)
Partnerships
• Ads on the newsfeed after reaching significant volumes of users
Ads
20. SEGMENTING AND PRIORITIZING GRADUATING
STUDENTS MARKET
High Low
Student proactiveness for Career Choice and success
Established Placement Cells
Activity on Online Communities
Tier 1 MBA Schools
Delhi University
Tier 2 MBA Schools
Working professionals looking
learn more or change careers
Other undergraduate,
MBA and Masters
schools
21. METRICS: SOLVING FOR ACTIVATION AND RETENTION
Acquisition
Activation
Retention
Referral
Revenue
Are users really
interested?
% Completed onboarding
process
DAUs, MAUs, 3 Month
Active users,Time spent
Is there enough value
in the newsfeed to
bring users back?
FUNNEL STAGE
TEST STATEMENT MOST IMPORTANT METRICS
(ATTHIS STAGE)
NORTH STAR METRIC
Time Spent per user, per cohort and total
22. ACTIVITIES TO GET INTO TIER 1 MBA SCHOOLS: STAYING
LEAN WHILE MAXIMIZING ACQUISITION
Tier 1 MBA Schools
Collaborate with
Placement cells of
IIM
Founding team Visits
classes
Setting up stalls at
campuses
Hire students
ambassadors
Ads in Campus
newsletter
Offline
Launch Teaser
Videos for IIM
Campuses
Targeted facebook,
Linkedin and
Instagram ads
Partner withYouTube
channels – Inside IIM
Online
23. DISTRIBUTION OF BETA LAUNCH ACTIVITIES: RACI MATRIX
Activity Founding
Team
Field Marketing
Team
Online Marketing
Team
Product
team
Collaborate with Placement
cells of IIM
I R,A C
Founding teamVisits classes R,A C
Setting up stalls at campuses I R A, C
Hire students ambassadors R A C
Ads in Campus newsletter R A C
LaunchTeaserVideos for IIM
Campuses
I R A, C
Targeted Facebook, LinkedIn
and Instagram ads
A C
Partner withYouTube channels
– Inside IIM
I R,A C
Monitor Usage and collect
feedback
I R A
R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consult and I = Inform
24. F U L L S C A L E
G O - T O - M A R K E T
Learn from beta Launch
Launch Process Overview
Stakeholder Identification and
Management Plan
Product Launch Marketing Process
3 Phases of Product Launch
LaunchTimeline
External CommunicationTools
Press Release timeline
25. LEARN AND ITERATE BASED ON BETA LAUNCH
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
Daily Active Users Monthly Active Users
% Completed onboarding
(Activation)
3 Month Active users
30%
4000 1250
300
Above numbers are fictitious.They’re presented for illustrative purposes
26. STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION
The Executive Team. CEO/Founder, Leaders of
Marketing and Technology (CTO)
Finance. To make sure Product launch fits within the
financial parameters and models of the company.
Customers. Success and failure of the product is
determined by the customers and users. To ensure their
expectations are met and value is delivered
Marketing. Should believe in Product and align the
product and the business
Operations / Support. To make sure the Product is
scalable, deployable and maintainable.
Partners and Analyst. To ensure strategic
Partnership and Press and media relationship is
maintained for successful Product Launch.
27. STAKEHOLDER MAP SHOWING INTEREST & INFLUENCE
Keep Completely Informed
Finance, Partners
Regular Minimal Contact
Operations and Support
Manage Most Thoroughly
Executive Team,
Marketing Team
Anticipate And Meet Needs
Customers, Analyst
INTERESTOFSTAKEHOLDER
INFLUENCE OF
STAKEHOLDER
28. LAUNCH PROCESS OVERVIEW
New Product
or Service
Ready for
Launch
Buyer
Personas
LAUNCH
Marketin
g Plan
Advertising
Websites,
Customer
Demo, Social
Media Strategy
Product/
Service
Manuals
Field
Marketin
g team
Training
Customer
Satisfaction &
Customer
Support
PRE-LAUNCH POST-LAUNCH
29. PRODUCT LAUNCH MARKETING PROCESS
• Traditional media
• Social media
• PR & bloggers
outreach
• Launch event
• On-campus displays
• Measure impact
• Sustain buzz and
conversation
• Testimonials &
reviews
• Case studies or
success stories
• Traditional media plan
• Social media plan
• Outreach plan for
Campus Ambassador
• Advance outreach
• Create brand assets for
launch (video, Images,
written content)
Buzz
MomentumLaunch
30. PHASE 1 TACTICS: BUZZ
Awareness
WHAT, HOW & WHY
• Email Marketing
• FAQ prepared
• Website updated
Awareness &
Demand Generation
• Identify the channels
for proper targeting
of relevant audience
• Deploy
responsibilities to
individuals for
successfully
managing an
awareness program
• Inform existing
customers
• Customer Referral
programs
• Online marketing
programs
• Special discount for
existing customer base
Focused on Retention
Focused on
Demand Gen
• Online Marketing
programs with
relevant channels
• Social Media
• Start hiring campus
ambassadors
Focused on
Awareness/Lead Gen
• Set-up stalls in
College
campuses
Internal
Channel
Customers
Prospects
Promotional
31. PHASE 2 TACTICS: LAUNCH
Internal
Channel
Customers
Prospects
Promotional
Awareness
WHAT, HOW & WHY
• Key offers for partners
& key stakeholders
• Branding Activities like
designing logo,
taglines
Awareness &
Demand Generation
• Channel Presentation
• Customer Presentation
• Press releases
Focused on
Retention
• Beta Customer
Referral
• Personas
Focused on
Demand Gen
• Online Marketing
programs with relevant
channels
• Content creation
• New offers to customers
Focused on
Awareness/Lead
Gen
• Direct mail
promotion
• Education
Conferences
• Career Fairs
32. PHASE 3 TACTICS: MOMENTUM
Awareness
WHAT, HOW & WHY
• Internal emails
Awareness &
Demand Generation
• Try & Buy programs
• Customer
Presentation
• Channel Presentation
• Incentive programs
Focused on Retention
• Online marketing
programs
• Customer Referral
Focused on Demand Gen
• Identify key clients
• Online Marketing programs
with relevant channels
• Social Media
• New offers to customers
Focused on
Awareness/Lead Gen
• Exhibitions
• Direct mail promotion
• Trade Shows
• Conferences
Internal
Channel
Customers
Prospects
Promotional
33. PRODUCT LAUNCH TIMELINE
• Launch event grand opening
• Speaking engagement
• Email announcement
• PR and events
• Radio commercial
• Web update
• Social media update
• SEO
• Press release
• Sample deliver to channel
• buyers and target media
• Pricing
• Promotion strategy
• Product Descriptions &
Portfolio
• Product fact sheet
• Targeting and Positioning
• Usage Test
• Competitor Analysis
• Sample preparation
• Presentation(PPT)
• Social media set up
• E-newsletter design
• Direct mail design
• Promotion video
• Manpower allocation
Of promotion events
Launch
Product
Development
Months 3 Months 2 Months 1 2Weeks Week 1
35. PRESS RELEASE PLAN
Press
Release
15th Sept
Analyst
Report
30th
Sept
Media
Briefings
30th Nov
Customer
Spokesperson
5th Jan
Webinars
30th Oct
Partner
Press Release
15th Nov
Media
Presentation
15th Dec
Analyst
Briefing
15th Oct
37. ENDING NOTES
• Factors like virality aren’t considered because value risk – does it really solve a user problem?
– has to be mitigated first.
• While working professionals is a larger market than graduating students, graduating students
have a higher intensity of demand and hence, provide a viable entry point.
38. MARKET SIZING – FINDING TOTAL
NUMBER OF GEN Z GENELIAS
Total number of students enrolled = 36,642,378 = 36.6 M
Graduating students (assuming average college duration is 3 years) = 36.6/3 = 12.2 M
Graduating 2017 - 18
M Phil 11,370
Ph D 53,804
Certificate 59,074
Integrated 65,259
PG Dipoma 78,421
Diploma 902,645
Post Graduate 1,371,437
Undergraduate 9,672,117
Total 12,214,126
http://aishe.nic.in/aishe/reports