A STUDY OF IMC ON UPGRAD

A Study of Integrated Marketing Communication with Reference to UpGrad
Sant Rawool Maharaj Mahavidyalay, Kudal 1
CHAPTER NO.1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
UpGrad Education Private Limited is the India’s top-rated higher education
platform for the working professionals. The company basically provides the courses into
three different segments i.e., Data, Technology and Management. In the future the
traditional education will be taken by the online education.
UpGrad business model works on a two-way approach that bridge the gap
between the learners and learning providers to make them future ready, started in 2015.
It is an EdTech start up that came out with the motive to help students with their higher
education. It is a business where they provide multiple courses to the students which
students can easily access from anywhere. They also cater a large variety of courses
ranging from undergraduate programs to Master’s degree programs. Master’s degrees and
some post-graduate programs are only offered on a fee payment system. Otherwise, most
courses are at very nominal cost or free of cost. All the courses offered a completion
certificate unlike other educational applications in the market.
UpGrad Pvt Ltd. Main key duties included:
• Advertising educational programs in youths
• Marketing Product in nearby areas
• Create awareness about online learning in society
• Online promotional activities
• Tele Marketing
• Preparing advertisement materials
The Integrated marketing communication tools used by UpGrad’s Education
include online marketing, sending direct mails and messages to the students & there
presents providing detail information about the courses, online advertisements,
telemarketing, and direct marketing by inviting other students to the office for counselling
or meeting them at their desired location. Marketing is also done through print media by
giving ads in newspapers or small boards at specific locations.

1.2 INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT
It is essential for organizations to promote their brands well among the end-users
not only to outshine competitors but also survive in the long run. Brand promotion
increases awareness of products and services and eventually increases their sales, yielding
high profits and revenue for the organization. Integrated marketing communication refers
to integrating all the methods of brand promotion like sales promotion, direct marketing,
public relation, personal selling, social media and so on, to promote a particular product
or service among target customers. In integrated marketing communication, all aspects of
marketing communication work together for increased sales and maximum cost
effectiveness.
It is critical for organizations to use an IMC approach focused on a consistent
brand message across all media channels. IMC effectively reaches consumers with the
intended message stimulating awareness, creating trial usage, and ultimately achieving
brand loyalty for the products or services of an organization. An effective IMC approach
can create a strong brand based on a consistent message strategy projecting a unified
voice. Consistent messaging avoids confusion and reinforces the brand with consumers
over time and builds greater trust and awareness. An organization’s products or services
become top of mind when it comes time to purchase using an IMC approach.
The reason for adopting Integrated Marketing Communication approach is that it
involves detailed analysis of both the product as well as target market. It is essential for
marketers to understand the brand, its offeringsand end-users. You need to know the
needs, attitudes and expectations of the target customers. Keep a close watch on
competitor’s activities. The features of products and services ought to be in line with the
work culture of the organization. Every organization has a vision and it’s important for
the marketers to keep in mind the same before designing products and services. Marketers
need to focus on consumer experience which refers to what the customers feel about the
product. Products need to meet and exceed customer expectations. Communication tools
include various modes of promoting a particular brand such as advertising, direct selling,
promoting through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on.
Organizations need to keep a regular track on customer feedbacks and reviews. You need
to have specific software like customer relationship management.

1.3 COMPANY PROFILE
OVERVIEW
UpGrad Education Private Limited is an online education platform that enables
individuals to develop their professional potential in the most engaging learning
environment. Online education is a fundamental disruption to the traditional model and
willbehaving afar-reaching impact. At UpGrad we work towards transforming the online
education wave into a tsunami! At UpGrad, our objective is to help individual climb their
future career ladder and transition smoothly into promising job profile. UpGrad is an
online higher education platform providing rigorous industry-relevant programs designed
and delivered in collaboration with world-class faculty and industry. Merging the latest
technology, pedagogy, and services, UpGrad is creating an immersive learning experience
anytime and anywhere.
UpGrad is an educational company that offers students various online courses in
the field of data, technology, and management. The courses are designed not just only for
the students but for first-time job seekers, working professionals to help them meet their
career objectives. These courses are designed in collaboration with popular universities
such as IIIT-B, Bits Pilani, Cambridge etc. The courses are offered to facilitate a smooth
learning experience, a comprehensive ecosystem that includes one-on-one mentoring and
peers to peer learning, industry learning, career guidance etc. All these things together
provide a holistic approach to optimise the benefits out of the courses offered by UpGrad.
As we all know that now everything is turning online and education is a part of it now.
Online education has many benefits; 24/7 access, clear all the doubts, flexibility, new and
economical courses etc. UpGrad is founded by Mayank Kumar, it is a Mumbai based
start-up bringing the best out of the student. The company has tied up with numerous
institutes to facilitate career-oriented courses so that students can achieve what they have
been looking for.

VISION
The vision of UpGrad is to power career success for every person of the global
workforce as their trustee lifelong partner
MISSION
To provide opportunities to advance your professional journey through
rigorous online programs that offer personalized support, developed in
collaboration with best-in-class faculty and industry professionals.
UPGRAD VALUES
• Accountability
They take actions not just keeping their teams or learners in mind but they take
them on behalf of UpGrad. They take onus for raising the bar for themselves, their
teams, learners and for UpGrad, and deliver the best.
• Speed
In a fast-paced environment, they think proactively and are agile but at the same
time are open and adaptable to change.
• Passion
They are changing lives by ensuring that their passion creates an impact. They let
passion be the driving force that helps them to aim higher and give back to our
colleagues, learners and communities around them.

• Integrity
They always do the right thing. Whether it’s their colleagues, teams or learners,
they always show transparency in everything they do to build a strong and trusting
relationship with each other.
• Respect
UpGrad are a close-knit family, they are empathetic and humble towards each
other as well as all their learners. They exhibit inclusivity, diversity of thoughts
and actions in our day-to-day behaviour.
• Excellence
They seek areas of collaboration and always explore new possibilities. They strive
to innovate and are not afraid to take risks to deliver a superior experience to their
teams and learners.
UPGRAD’s CULTURAL PILLARS
LEAD the future of education with UpGrad
L
Long Term Thinking with Clinical Execution
E
Empathy and Impact
A
Accountability and
Ownership
D
Delivering Excellence

UPGRAD - COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS
Type Private
ISIN 🆔
Industry
• EdTech
• Online education
• Higher education
Founded 📆 March 2015; 6 years ago,
Founders 👔 • Ronnie Screwvala
• Phalgun Kompalli
• Mayank Kumar
Headquarters 🏙️ Mumbai, India
Area served 🗺️ Worldwide
Key people Ronnie Screwvala (Co-founder, Chairman)
Products 📟 UpGrad Learn (platform), UpGrad (mobile app)
Net worth $1.2 Bn Valuation (August 2021)
Funding $360.99 Mn (December 2021)
Revenue🤑 ₹230.1 crore (US$32 million) (FY 2020)
Number of employees 2500 (2021)
Subsidiaries • UpGrad Jeet (former The Gate Academy)
• Rekrut India
• UpGrad Campus (former Impartus)
🌐 Website www.upgrad.com

STARTUP JOURNEY OF UPGRAD
2015
Founded by Ronnie
Screwvala, Mayank
Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli
and Ravijot Chough.
2016
Acquired Pyoopil
education technologies it
was selected as the official
education partner for the
Government of India’s
‘start-up India’ learning
program.
2017
UpGrad in collaboration
with ‘invest India’
developed the ‘start-up
India learning program’
featured in the list of top
10 most innovative
companies India by Fast
company.
2018
Acquired Acadview
Software. Two of the co-
founders, Ravijot and
Phalgun, are listed in
Forbes 30 under 30 class of
2018. ‘Best Education
Brands’ awarded by the
Economics Time.
Linkdin’s ‘top 25 start-
ups.’
2019
Entered into a partnership
with Infosys & Wipro to
provide upskilling
solutions to their
employees. Unveiled its 1st
ad campaign featuring
actor Vicky Kaushal.
Acquired CohorortPlus.
2019
Awarded the ‘Best Tech
for Education’ by IAMAI.
Reached the 1250 “careers
transition” mark.

2020
Launch 35 new diverse
online programs all
programs to have start
date every month rather
than quarter to become the
1st
in India to disburse
university-approved
degrees target 40 Mn
south Asian migrant
population world-wide &
strengthen global
2020
Signed up for a high value
deal with Star India to run
ad campaigns throughout
IPL. Raised INR 50 cr
debt from IIFL Income
Opportunities Fund. On-
boarded over 21,500 paid
learners and has impacted
more than 370k
individuals globally. In
June 2020, UpGrad
reported Gross Student
Revenue of INR 50 crores
2020
UpGrad ranked No.1 in
the LinkedIn top start-ups
India 2020 list
APRIL
2021
UpGrad jeet helps
aspirants achieve single-
digit rank in GATE 2021
cross the milestone of
INR100 Crore a month
and achieved an Annual
Revenue Run rate (ARR)
of INR 1200 Crore with
over 1mn total registered
LifeLongLearners.
2021
Revenue increased by
95%, from INR 85cr in
fy19 to INR 163cr in
FY20. On-boarded over
100 colleges and
universities onto its
platforms to pave the way
for blended online
learning as the future of

UPGRAD HISTORY- HOW IT’S STARTED?
Although there were firms in the K-12 division and platforms catering for MOOCs
(Massive Online Open Courses), none of them presented formal education coupled with
a complete learning experience. Mayank envisioned that the necessity for online learning
would be much higher for technical certifications, given the addition in the working
culture at that time. Again, none of the present companies wholly drilled into the online
higher education sector. This led to the idea behind UpGrad that was consequently started
in March 2015. by Ronnie Screwvala, Phalgun Kompalli and Mayank Kumar with
programs in entrepreneurship. In September 2016, the Government of India appointed the
company as the official education partner for the Start-up India programme (Start-up
India Learning Program, a free four-week online learning programme for entrepreneurs
was launched in January 2017). In October 2016, the firm acqui-hired Pyoopil Education
Technologies, a mobile-based SaaS (Software-as-a-service) product used by companies
to deploy online training programmes. In October 2018, it acqui-hired Acadview, an
online learning platform for the graduate students. UpGrad began with the conviction that
in an ever-changing industry, professionals need to continuously upskill themselves in
order to stay relevant. Since then, they have always focused on building a great online
learning experience by collaborating with the right universities and industry partners. We
then steadily built a strong support system around our learners. Starting with our first
program in Entrepreneurship, UpGrad has created some of India’s largest online
programs to help thousands of professionals achieve their career goals in the areas of data
technology, and management. Mayank has broad knowledge and experience in the
education industry, both as an advisor and an investor. He perceived the advantages of

low infrastructure costs and an enormous student base in lessening the price of obtaining
education by the online channel. These factors began with online courses being 53%
cheaper than offline options. Owing to the elasticity of time, schedule, etc., online
education is a suitable learning method. In conclusion, many online education companies
have hopped in to fill a wide gap of online courses.
In July 2019, UpGrad acqui-hired CohortPlus, an online community for product
managers and data science enthusiasts. In November 2019, the organisation got
accredited by National Skill Development Corporation and its courses were added to
eSkill India, NSDC’s e-learning aggregator. In April 2020, UpGrad was chosen by the
All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to make such topics like artificial
intelligence and machine learning accessible to all students. In November 2020, the firm
acquired The Gate Academy, a coaching institute focused on entrance tests for various
Public/Government Sector jobs, and rebranded it into UpGrad Jeet. Later in December,
UpGrad acquired Rekrut India, a recruitment and staffing solutions firm.
In March 2021, Financial Times included UpGrad into “Asia-Pacific High-
Growth Companies” list. In April, UpGrad partnered with an Israeli-based AR start-up
EyeWay Vision aiming to enhance the learning experience. Late in May 2021, UpGrad
acquired Impartus, a video-learning solutions provider, for ₹150 crore (around $20.6
million), and rebranded it as UpGrad Campus. Beginning with its first entrepreneurship
program, UpGrad has produced some of India’s greatest online programs to help
thousands of professionals and college students achieve their career aims in the areas of
data, technology, and management.
UPGRAD - STARTUP CHALLENGES
Like all businesses, UpGrad encountered multiple challenges. The most
significant one was the stigma surrounding the credibility of online education. There is a
general perception that online education is frivolous. UpGrad had to prove otherwise
through its product, customer experience, and success stories; and this was a tough job.
Getting recruiters to accept that online education could be as rigorous as offline
education was the next hurdle. Finally, when it came to product pricing, UpGrad priced
itself at a discount to offline competitors, but at a premium to other online competitors. It
was an uphill task to explain the value proposition of the programs to the learners.

ABOUT UPGRAD - FOUNDERS AND TEAM
Ronnie Screwvala | Co-founder
& Chairman, UpGrad
Ronnie Screwvala is the chairman
of the Start-up UpGrad. He is a
well-known personality in the
Indian television industry and the
founder of UTV Group (now
known as Walt Disney India),
founder trustee of Swades
Foundation, founder of Unilazer
Ventures, Board of Advisor AIESEC India, and the founder of RSVP Movies. He is a
great personality, has featured on Esquire’s List of the 75 Most Influential People of the
21st Century and ranked 78 among the 100 most influential people in the world on the
Time 100 (compiled by Time Magazine, 2009). He was also listed amongst 25 Asia’s
Most Powerful People by Fortune Magazine and titled the Jack Warner of India.
Mayank Kumar | Co-founder & MD,
UpGrad
Mayank Kumar is the managing director and
leads the overall operations at UpGrad. Before
his UpGrad stint, Mayank was the VP of
Education at Bertelsmann- Europe’s largest
media and education conglomerate—where he
oversaw the education strategy and its multi-
million dollars investments in India. He also
served as a Board Member of iNurture—
India’s number one provider of industry-
specific academic programs. Mayank holds a Bachelor’s degree from IIT Delhi and an
MBA from the Indian School of Business. He received the coveted BWDISRUPT 40-
under-40 Achiever of the Year Award’17 by BW Businessworld. Before joining
Bertelsmann, Mayank was a Senior Principal at The Parthenon Group where he
advised clients in the education sector on market potential, growth and market entry

strategies, investment decisions, revenue & profit uplift strategies. He participated in
deals worth USD 1 billion flowing into the education sector and worked with clients from
China, South-East Asia, Middle East India, and South America. He also worked at
the Tata Strategic Group, advising Tata’s strategic direction.
Ravijot Chugh | Co-founder, UpGrad
Ravijot Chugh heads career services, product,
design, content, delivery, and student success
divisions at UpGrad. Ravijot was at
Housing.com as a product lead and then at the
Parthenon Group where he advised multiple
companies and private equity investors on due
diligence, market-entry, and growth strategy in
the education sector of emerging markets across
the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. He
also co-founded a social travel start-up called
36hrs.in in San Francisco. Ravijot Chugh holds
a Batchelors’s degree in Computer Science from IIT-Delhi and was part of the Forbes
Asia 30 under 30 cohort of 2018.
Phalgun Kompalli | Co-founder,
UpGrad
Phalgun Kompalli is the head of sales and
marketing at UpGrad. He heads university
partnerships and customer acquisition in
addition to sales and marketing. Before
UpGrad, Phalgun was a Principal at The
Parthenon Group—an education strategy-
consulting firm—where he was involved
in advising large education conglomerates
and investment funds on their growth and
investment strategies in the education sector. Phalgun has done significant work in the
field of higher education and technology-enabled learning across India, the US, Brazil,

Africa, and Southeast Asia. He worked at Opera Solutions before his Parthenon stint.
Opera Solutions is an analytics firm providing consultation to Fortune 500 companies on
their revenue and cost optimization initiatives through data analytics. He completed his
Bachelors in Technology from IIT Delhi.
UPGRAD – BUSINESS MODEL/USP
UpGrad is primarily a direct B2C company wherein the consumer enters the
program (post getting an admission) and pays upfront for the registration. For its
enterprise market, the company accepts payment from corporations for training their
employees. UpGrad’s program pricing reflects its commitment towards getting students
placed. 50% of the program fees are collected from the learner only if they get placed
after the program’s completion. This pricing strategy is the first of its kind in India.
UpGrad’s program pricing reflects its commitment towards getting students placed. 50%
of the program fees are collected from the learner only if they get placed after the
program’s completion. This pricing strategy is the first of its kind in India.
An important USP for UpGrad is its mentorship; the real point is that the start-up
uses money on mentoring while others find a course and set it online. Some other
differentiators are its tech platform, interactive user interface, and most importantly,
content—all of which have been designed from basic by its team. The team doesn’t collect
the content and compile it. About 60-70% of the UpGrad’s curriculum comes from
lecturers or mentors who bring in their real-life practices to the students. Once registered,
learners can easily log on to learn.upgrad.com and access the course they opt for.
CHALLENGES FACED BY UPGRAD
Like any other ed-tech start-up, UpGrad too has had its fair share of challenges, a
few of which have been mentioned below:
Funding
In those days, investors were not willing to put their money on any online learning
business that targeted only working professionals and not K-12 students. Owing to this
reason, the initial funding came from the 3 co-founders, with Ronnie Screwvala providing
the majority of the initial funds. As of February 2021, however, the company is close to

raising $100 million, wherein Temasek is willing to invest $50 million, while
International Finance Corporation (IFC) has committed a sum of roughly $45 million.
Pushing professionals to enrol for courses
When UpGrad was launched in 2015, the entire online education world revolved
around the K-12 model that catered only to students. Professionals and graduates,
especially in India, had to be pushed to try new courses to stay industry relevant. Since
the Indian professionals were not so much into online learning, the company had to follow
aggressive conventional and digital marketing strategies to bring them on-board.
Pushing employers to consider the credibility of degrees earned online
Yet again, most of the employers in India are still not open to considering the
specializations and degrees earned online equivalent to the ones earned through full-time
offline courses. As a result, UpGrad had to spend considerable amount of money and
effort in highlighting the value of its university-affiliated specialization programs.
FUNDING OF UPGRAD
UpGrad’s founders contributed the primary funding. The first investment phase
went into building the learning experience, product, content, etc. The following step of
the investment is meant for formulating larger awareness amongst users and corporate
entities.
UpGrad Funding Rounds
For the very first time, in April 2021, UpGrad raised its first external equity
funding round since being founded in 2015, driven by Temasek. UpGrad reached unicorn
status with the latest investment on August 9, 2021, where the business was backed by

Temasek, International Finance Corporation, and IIFL. The company is now valued at
$1.2 Billion. The company is aiming to touch revenue worth $2 Billion by 2026.
COURCES PROVIDED BY UPGRAD
The company provides the courses into 3 different segments-
• Data
• Technology
• Management
In the field of data there are different courses like PG Diploma in data science,
Masters in Data Science and PG certification in Data Science.

DATA VERTICAL
Post Graduate Diploma from IIIT Bangalore
It is the 12 months program. One has to complete all the courses successfully to obtain
this prestigious recognition from IIIT-B with a specialization in any of the following:
Natural Language Processing, Deep Learning, Business Intelligence/ Data
Analytics, Business Analytics, Data Engineering. The fee for the program is Rs.
285000. Eligibility for the program is person should be graduate with minimum 55% in
his graduation. Person gets the following benefits-
• Connect with a global network of accomplished IIIT-B Alumni
• Widely recognised and valued Post Graduate Diploma in Data Science
• Network with Data Science professionals across all industries
Key Highlights for the program
• Designed for Working Professionals
• IIIT Bangalore Alumni Status
• 14 Programming Tools & Languages
• 60+ Industry Projects
• NASSCOM validated 1st PG Diploma
• 360 Degree Career Support

• One-on-One with Industry Mentors
• Dedicated Student Mentor
• Job Assistance with Top Firms
• No Cost EMI Option
Benefits
• Post Graduate Diploma without quitting your job
• Cutting-edge curriculum designed by industry experts
• Alumni status from IIIT Bangalore
• Career transition with 58% average salary hike
Post Graduate Certification from IIIT Bangalore
It is the 5-month program. Student have to complete all the courses in the program
successfully to receive Post-Graduate Certification in Data Science from IIIT-Bangalore.
The fee for the program is Rs. 75000 + GST. Benefits after completing the course-
• Connect with a global network of accomplished UpGrad and IIIT-B Alumni
• Upgrade to a widely recognised and valued post-graduate program in Data
Science
• Network with Data Science professionals across all industry sectors
Key Highlights
• 300+ Hours of Learning
• 7+ Case Studies and Projects
• Timely Doubt Resolution
• Dedicated Student Success Mentor
• UpGrad Alumni Status
• Fortnightly Mentorship with Industry Experts
Benefits
• Post Graduate Certification Without Quitting Your Job

• Cutting-Edge Curriculum Designed by Industry Experts
• Alumni Status from UpGrad
• upgrade to PG Diploma in Data Science
Masters of Science in Data Science
It is 18 months program. Student have to complete all the courses successfully to obtain
this prestigious recognition from LJMU. The program fee is Rs. 485000. The eligibility
of the program is the bachelor’s degree with 55%. The Key benefits of the program is-
• Connect with Global network of Faculty from LJMU
• Get access to complete digital library of LJMU.
• Earn a Master's degree same as on-campus degree at 1/10th the cost
Key Highlights
• Only online M.Sc. in DS for working professionals
• 60+ Case Studies and Projects
• Fortnightly Group Mentorship with Industry Mentors
• IIIT Bangalore & LJMU Alumni Status

• Global access to job opportunities
Benefits
• M.Sc. & Post Graduate Diploma without quitting your job.
• Cutting-edge curriculum designed by industry experts.
• Alumni status from IIIT Bangalore & LJMU.
• Career transition with up to average 58% salary hike.
• Hiring opportunities from Uber, Microsoft, PwC, Genpact and more
PG Diploma in Machine Learning and AI
It is 12-months program. The student has to complete all the courses successfully
to obtain this prestigious recognition from IIIT Bangalore. The minimum eligibility of
the program is Bachelor's Degree with minimum 1 year of work experience or a degree
in Mathematics or Statistics. The program fee is Rs. 285000. The benefits of the program
are-
• Widely recognised Post Graduate Diploma in Machine Learning and AI
• Network with Machine Learning professionals across all industries
Key Highlights

• 30+ Case Studies and Assignments
• 5+ Practical Hands-on Capstone Projects
• 25+ Industry Mentorship Sessions
• Job Placement Assistance with Top Firms
Masters of Science in Machine learning and AI
It is 18-months program. The student has to complete all the courses successfully to
obtain this prestigious recognition from LJMU. The program fee is Rs. 485000. The
eligibility criteria for the program are Bachelor's Degree with minimum 1 year of work
experience or a degree in Mathematics or Statistics. The benefits of the program are-
• Connect with Global network of Faculty from LJMU
• Get access to complete digital library of LJMU
• Earn a Master's degree same as on-campus degree at 1/10th the cost
Key Highlights
• Only online M.Sc. in ML & AI for working professionals
• 5+ Practical Hands-on Capstone Projects
• 25+ Industry Mentorship Sessions
• IIIT Bangalore & LJMU Alumni Status
• Access to Global Opportunities

Advance certification in Machine Learning and Cloud from IIT Madras
It is the 9-months program. Complete all the courses successfully to obtain this
prestigious certification from IIT Madras. The program fee is Rs. 200000. The minimum
eligibility for the program is Bachelor’s degree with proficiency in any one of the
programming languages R/Python/Java/C/C++ and at least 2 years of industry experience
in Software/Data domain. The benefits of the program are-
• IIT Madras, India's no. 1 Rank Engineering Institute for last four years by NIRF
Ranking
• Widely recognized Advanced Certification in Machine Learning and Cloud
• Network with Machine Learning and Cloud professionals across all industries
Key Highlights
• Learn from the faculty of IIT Madras
• Designed for Senior Working Professionals
• Practical Hands-on Workshops
• One-on-One with Industry Mentors with timely doubt resolution
• Advanced Certification from IIT Madras

MANAGEMENT VERTICAL
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) Liverpool University
It is 20 months program. Become a part of global & strong alumni network of
one of UK's Top B- School - Liverpool Business School. Minimum eligibility for this
program is Bachelor’s Degree with minimum 50% marks and at least 2 years of Full-
Time Work Experience. The fee is of the program is Rs. 400000. The key benefits of the
program are-
• Get an MBA Degree from a leading UK B-School at 1/10th the cost.
• Become a part of strong alumni network of Liverpool Business School.
• Learn industry relevant skills to enhance your career
Key Highlights
• Get an MBA Degree from Liverpool Business School
• Get a PGP in Management from IMT Ghaziabad
• Experience 1-week immersion program at university campus
• Alumni status by Liverpool Business School and IMT Ghaziabad
• Get 1:1 Mentorship from Industry Leaders
• Network with peers at Offline Basecamps
• Advance your career with 360° Career Support
• World Education System (WES) recognized. Move one step closer to working
abroad

• Specialize in any of the key functional domain through a 4-month long industry
project
• Learn with students from 15+ countries across the world
Key Benefits
• MBA Degree from UK's leading Business School
• Earn PG Program in Management from IMT Ghaziabad
• 1-week immersion program at university campus
• Alumni Status from Liverpool Business School & IMT Ghaziabad
• Industry relevant curriculum for Career Growth
• Regular interaction with Global Faculty & Industry Experts
• Peer-to-peer interaction via offline networking events
MBA (Global) Deakin Business School
It is a two-year program. Become a part of global & strong alumni network of
one of Australia's Top B-School - Deakin Business School. The minimum eligibility
criteria for the program are Bachelor’s Degree with minimum 50% marks and at least 3
years of Full-Time Work Experience. The program fee is Rs. 500000. The key benefits
of the program are-
• Get an MBA (Global) Degree from Top 1% of Business Schools Worldwide
• Graduate from a B-School with dual accreditation - AACSB and EQUIS
• Learn industry relevant skills to enhance your career

Key Highlights
• Get an MBA (Global) Degree from Deakin Business School
• Get a PGP in Management from IMT Ghaziabad
• DBS is Top 1% B-Schools Worldwide
• Alumni status by Deakin Business School and IMT Ghaziabad
• Get 1:1 Mentorship from Industry Leaders
• Network with peers at Offline Basecamps
• Advance your career with 360° Career Support
• Get a Dedicated Student Success Manager
• World Education Services (WES) recognized. One step closer to working abroad
• Learn with students from 15+ countries across the world
Benefits
• MBA (Global) Degree from Australia's leading Business School
• Earn PG Program in Management from India's leading Business School
• Alumni Status from Deakin Business School & IMT Ghaziabad
• Industry relevant curriculum for Career Enhancement & Growth
• Regular interaction with Global Faculty & Industry Experts
• Peer-to-peer interaction via offline networking events
MBA (Executive) with Specialization in Business Analytics
It is the 18-month program. Become a part of a community of management
leaders with a degree and alumni status from NMIMS Global Access School for
Continuing Education. The program fee is Rs. 400000. The eligibility for the program is
Bachelor’s degree (10+2+3) in any discipline from a recognized university with minimum
55% marks and 3+ years of work experience OR, Bachelor’s degree (10+2+3) in any
discipline from a recognized university with minimum 55% marks and a postgraduation
/ professional degree with minimum 55% marks and 2+ years of work experience. The
key benefits are-
• Get an MBA (Executive) from a NAAC A+ accredited and category 1 university
• One-of-a-kind MBA (Executive) with specialization in Business Analytics
• Complete your MBA (Executive) without leaving your job

Key Highlights
• MBA (Executive) from NMIMS Global Access School for Continuing Education
• Designed for working professionals
• 1000+ hours of rigorous learning
• 3-month industry-driven capstone project
• 200+ hours of live faculty interaction
• 10 hands-on projects
• 360-degree career support
• One-on-one interaction with industry mentors
• Dedicated student success manager
• Offline events for peer-to-peer networking
Executive Program in Blockchain Technology Management
It is a 5-month program. Receive the prestigious certificate from IMT
Ghaziabad, ranked #12 in top B-schools in India by Business Today, 2018. The minimum
eligibility for this program is, the applicant should have at least 2 years of work
experience. The Program fee is Rs. 118000 + taxes. The benefits of the course are-

• Earn the prestigious IMT Ghaziabad MDP Alumni status
• Connect with a global network of Blockchain Professionals
Key highlights
• 4 Annual offline workshops
• 1-on-1 Industry Mentor
• 13 Case studies and Assignments
• Personalized Resume Feedback
• Mock Interviews by Hiring Managers
• IMT Ghaziabad MDP Alumni status
• Dedicated Student Success Manager
• 0% EMI Option
Key benefits
• Executive Certificate in Blockchain Management
• Earn the prestigious IMT Ghaziabad MDP Alumni status
• One-on-One Industry Mentorship

• 14+ Projects and Assignments
Product Management certification program
It is 6-months program. Joint certificate from Duke Corporate Education and
UpGrad. The program fee is 150000+ GST. The minimum eligibility for the program is,
the applicant should have an undergraduate degree. The benefits of the program are-
• Duke CE, Ranked top 3 for 19 consecutive years in Executive Education by the
Financial Times
• Lifetime access to Duke CE’s Thought Leadership journal ‘Duke CE Dialogue’
• Certificate easily shareable across LinkedIn, Naukri etc.
Key Highlights
• DUKE CE Certifications
• 300+ Recruiting Partners
• 15+ Live Q&A Sessions
• 1:1 Mentorship from Product Experts
• Personalized Resume-Building Exercise
• Mock Interviews with Industry Leaders
• 360⁰ Placement Assistance

• 3 Years Unlimited Content Access
Key Benefits
• Globally recognized Product Management program
• Become a Product Manager without an MBA
• Rigorous and customized feedback on assignments
• 100% placement assistance
• One-on-one industry mentorship
PG Certification in Digital Marketing and Communication
It is 6.5 to 12-month program. The student needs to complete all the modules
successfully and receive a Post Graduate Certificate and Alumni Status. Join a vibrant
digital marketing community and become part of one of India's top marketing
universities. There are 4 different specializations in digital marketing i.e., Branding and
communication, social media and content marketing, Marketing Analytics and Marketing
Communication- Public Relation. The course fee depends on the number of
specializations the student opts for. The fee ranges from Rs. 87750 + taxes to Rs. 127750
+ taxes. The minimum qualification is bachelor’s or equivalent degree. The benefits of
the program are-
• PG Certificate from MICA
• Join MICA alumni network
• Easily shareable across LinkedIn, Naukri, etc.
• Valedictorian ceremony at the MICA campus
Key Highlights

• Certifications from MICA and Facebook
• 15 Case Studies and Live Projects
• MICA Alumni Status
• Hands on Experience of 20+ Tools
• Dedicated 1:1 Student Mentor
• Fortnightly Coaching by Industry Mentors
• Personalized Resume Feedback
• Mock Interviews by Hiring Managers
• Offline Basecamps for Networking
Key Benefits
• PG Certificate without Quitting Your Job
• Alumni Status from MICA
• Hands-on Experience with the Latest Tools
• Certificate from MICA and Facebook
• Hiring Opportunity from Uber, Genpact, Microsoft, PwC and More
• No Cost EMI
TECHNOLOGY VERTICAL
PG Diploma in Software development Specialization in Blockchain
It is 11-month program. The student receives the prestigious PG Diploma from
IIIT Bangalore. Become a part of the Blockchain community with Alumni status. The fee
of the program is Rs. 225000. The minimum eligibility of the program is bachelor’s
degree in Engineering, Science or Mathematics (B.E., B.Tech., B.Sc., BCA/MCA). No
prior coding experience required. The benefits of the program are-
• Widely recognized Post Graduate Diploma in Blockchain
• Access to on campus facilities and offline events
Key Highlights

• 9 Projects & Case Studies
• Content Access for 3 Years
• Job assistance till 1 year after completion
• 4-tier Timely doubt resolution
• 500+ hours of content
• 4 Annual offline workshops
• 250+ Hiring Partners
PG Diploma in Full-Stack Software Development
It is 11-month program. The student has to complete all courses successfully and
receive a Post Graduate Certificate. Become a part of the developer community with PG
Alumni status from IIIT Bangalore. The program fee is Rs. 225000. The minimum
eligibility for the program is Bachelor's Degree in Engineering; no coding experience
required. The benefits of the program are-
• PG Diploma from IIIT Bangalore
• Alumni status
• Graduation ceremony at IIIT Bangalore
Key Highlights

• 9+ Projects and Assignments
• Practical Hands-on Workshops
• 3 Guaranteed Job Interviews
• Personalized Feedback on Assignments.
COMPETITIVE SCENARIO
Being an Ed-tech company there are various platform for the online
education. The major competitor is Great Learning, Simplilearn.
Great Learning
Great Learning is an ed-tech company that offers programs in career critical competencies
such as Analytics, Data Science, Big Data, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence,
Cloud Computing, DevOps, Full Stack Development and more.
Their programs are taken by thousands of professionals globally who build
competencies in these emerging areas to secure and grow their careers. At Great Learning,
their focus is on creating industry relevant programs and crafting learning experiences
that help candidates learn, apply and demonstrate capabilities in areas that are driving the
future.
Simplilearn

They provide online training in disciplines such as Cyber Security, Cloud
Computing, Project Management, Digital Marketing, and Data Science among others,
where technologies and best practices are changing rapidly and demand for qualified
candidates significantly exceeds supply.
Based in San Francisco, California and Bangalore, India, they have helped over
one million professionals and companies across 150+ countries get trained, acquire
certifications, and upskill their employees. Their training courses are designed and
updated by 2000+ renowned industry experts. Our blended learning approach combines
online classes, instructor-led live virtual classrooms, project work, and 24/7 teaching
assistance. Their vibrant community of experts and certified professionals is a powerful
resource pool of tips, tricks, and insightful advice. More than 40 global training
organizations have recognized us as an official provider of certification training. They
have been named the 8th most influential education brand in the world by LinkedIn.
Coursera
About Coursera is one of the biggest players in the industry with over 24
million users (February 2017) and 250+ employees. Started in the year 2012 by two
Stanford professors- Andew Ng and Daphne Koller, Coursera grew at an extremely fast
pace, acquiring

$146 million till date. It offers more than 2000 courses with each course lasting
somewhere 4 to 10 weeks
Why UpGrad is better than competitors?
The main reason why UpGrad is better than their competitors is that other provide
the certification course but when it’s comes to UpGrad they give the degree that too from
the top- notch universities like IIIT-B, IIT Madras, NMIMS, LJMU. UpGrad provides the
placement opportunities with the top MNCs. There are around 300 hiring partners
associated with UpGrad. UpGrad provides the hybrid course i.e., online + offline. In this
type of program, the student used to attend 25 offline classes in their own cities. The
CEOs from top MNCs used to come for the sessions and live lectures.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF UPGRAD
Strengths:
• The company provides academic and hands-on support for all its students by
providing them with live projects, case studies, group assignments, access to live
lectures, mentorship programs and interactive content team.
• Ronnie Screwvala as the co-founder provides thrust to UpGrad’s brand value.
• Extremely high course completion rate of 90-95% in the industry where average
course completion rate of MOOCs is less than 7% Content developed and delivered
in collaboration with industry leaders.
• Strong offline experience provided to the students - including workshops, meetups,
webinars etc. One of the very few companies in the online ed tech sector to offer
placement assistance to its students.
Weaknesses
• High investment required from working professionals in terms of time and money.
• Very few courses to offer currently.
• Still lags in terms of brand value of its certification program compared to
established players.
Opportunities

• Opportunity to diversify and add more courses.
• Opportunity to add more specialized courses that will lure more working
professionals/students to enroll.
Threats
• UpGrad’s courses start from Rs. 32500 and go up to Rs. 2,85,000 and it is a major
threat since many MOOCs offer the course for free.
• Generic courses like entrepreneurship, Digital Marketing suffer heavy threat from
competitors due to more established brand names & also due to large number of
alternatives available.
• Organizations with heavy financial backing, more course offering and a wider reach
already in the market.
• There are niche courses that UpGrad offers like certification course in
Entrepreneurship and Product Management but there are courses in Data Analytics
and Digital Marketing which again would bring it into generic market and may
pose as a threat.
• Organizations with heavy financial backing, more course offering and a wider
reach already in the market.
UPGRAD – ACQUISITIONS
• UpGrad has acquired Work Better on January 10, 2022, for an undisclosed sum.
Work Better will be merging into UpGrad after the acquisition, and will be
renamed as UpGrad Work Better, which would then offer tailor-made courses for
employees and organizations. The entire team of the company will be reportedly
joining UpGrad, which would be strengthening its enterprise learning and
development (L&D) offerings. With this acquisition, Work Better will bring in
300+ corporate clients and 250+ trainers to UpGrad for Business (a B2B arm).
• UpGrad aggressively acquired many start-ups to expand their business
exponentially. Talentedge is the latest company that is acquired by UpGrad on
December 6, 2021. Though the deal value is not disclosed by the company,
UpGrad has stated in a press statement that the deal is valued around 3-4X of this
year’s revenues of Talentedge, which was reported to be at around Rs 130 crore.

• UpGrad has acquired Global Study Partners (GSP), an Australian two-sided
marketplace for the recruitment of international students, on November 29, 2021.
The company has further promised to invest $16 Mn for a 100% stake in GSP and
then allot another $10 Mn for its future growth.
• UpGrad acquired KnowledgeHut, short-term skilling and training courses start-
up on August 3, 2021. Some other notable acquisitions made by the company were
when UpGrad acquired Impartus for Rs. 150 crores ($20.6 Million).
• Impartus was a video-learning solutions provider, which is currently operating as
a complete subsidiary of UpGrad. UpGrad acquired Acadview Software in 2018,
thereby venturing into the college education space. Before this, the company had
acquired Pyoopil Education Technologies, a mobile-based SaaS (Software- as- a-
service) product used by companies to deploy online training in 2016.
• In 2019, UpGrad acquired CohortPlus, India’s largest and most active community
on product management and data science.
Acquired Date Acquisition
Work Better January 10, 2022 Undisclosed
Talentedge December 6, 2021 Undisclosed
Global Study Partners November 29, 2021 Undisclosed
KnowledgeHut August 3, 2021 Undisclosed
Impartus Innovations May 24, 2021 $20.22 million
Rekrut India December 15, 2020 Undisclosed
The Gate Academy November 24, 2020 Undisclosed
CohortPlus July 4, 2019 Undisclosed
AcadView October 29, 2018 Undisclosed
Pyoopil Education
Technologies pvt. Ltd.
October 17, 2016 Undisclosed

UpGrad Acquisitions – Successko
UpGrad conducted its maiden ESOP on July 13, 2021, and in it, the company
promised the liquidity of an amount close to $29.5 Mn (Rs 220 crores). The maiden ESOP
of UpGrad has formed a large ESOP pool of around 13% of the enlarged equity base and
is planned to benefit both the early and promising team members of the company. The
inclusive ESOP scheme boasts of having over 600 team members, who share the growth
story of the company, consisting of 37 early team members.
The company has further increased its employee stock option program
(ESOPs) pool by 28% in the middle of November. UpGrad, which has earlier spoken of
17,25,810 options (UPGRAD Education-Employee Stock Option (New) Scheme, 2015)
has now made it 22,25,810. This also resulted in lifting the pool’s value by 29%, to Rs
427 crore, which was last reported at Rs 331 crore.
UPGRAD - PARTNERSHIP
UpGrad - Star India Deal
UpGrad has signed up for a high-value deal with Star India. This enabled UpGrad to run
its latest ad-campaign "Sirf Naam ki Nahin, Kaam ki Degree" across television
and HOTSTAR (OTT platform) throughout the IPL 2020. The move was initiated to
expedite the adoption of technology and online education.
In 2017, UpGrad in collaboration with 'Invest India' developed the 'Start-up India
Learning Program'. 'Start-up India Learning Program' is a free online entrepreneurship
course by Start-up India.
The approach of attracting consumers also included partnerships with entrepreneurship-
focused publications to spread the word around. For increasing the customer base, they
focused on some subject-specific channels to attract learners. It partnered with

universities to launch the next set of programs. Those partnerships also helped scale the
existing programs.
UpGrad has tie-ups with the following educational institutes:
• International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-B).
• Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
• Pilani (BITS Pilani).
• MICA.
• Duke Corporate Education (Duke CE).
• Cambridge Judge Business School.
• Institute of Management Technology (IMT Ghaziabad).
• HDFC Life for insurance-related courses.
• IIT Madras, for certification course on Machine Learning and Cloud.
UpGrad - Awards
Being a reputed name in the space of online education, UpGrad has been
recognized and awarded by many prestigious bodies.
• In 2016, it was selected as the official education partner for the Government of
India’s ‘Start-up India’ learning program. Through the program, UpGrad
offers entrepreneurship-based courses in 2 languages—Hindi and English—to the
budding entrepreneurs of India.
• In 2017, Mayank Kumar, the co-founder and CEO of UpGrad, was recognized as
the Achiever of the Year by BW Disrupt (Business World) at its 40 under 40 events.
• In 2017, the start-up was featured in the list of ‘Top 10 Most Innovative Companies
India’ by Fast Company.
• The company received the ‘Best Education Brands’ award by the Economic Times
and made it to LinkedIn’s ‘Top 25 Start-ups’ in 2018.
• Two of the co-founders, Ravijot Chugh and Phalgun Kompalli, are listed in Forbes
30 Under 30 class of 2018.
• In 2018, UpGrad’s Machine Learning Program - PG Diploma in Machine Learning
and AI in association with IIIT Bangalore, was ranked as the #1 Course on Artificial
Intelligence in India by Analytics India Magazine.
• The company has also been awarded the ‘Best Tech for Education’ by IAMAI in
2019.

UPGRAD - FUTURE PLANS
In the next 5 years, UpGrad aims to train and build the careers of over 1 million
learners and expects its impact to reach at least 5 million working professionals associated
with it in a cascading effect. This growing ecosystem, in the long run, will serve as the
momentum for establishing it as India’s largest online higher education company with a
strong focus on employability.
The company is all set to revolutionize the online learning experience and
enhance the employability quotient of its learners. After raising INR 50 crores from the
IIFL Income Opportunities Fund, UpGrad is looking forward to acquiring more EdTech
firms this fiscal year.

CHAPTER NO. 2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
• To define the meaning and potential of the Integrated Marketing Communication.
• To know about how integrated marketing communication process take place
through UpGrad.
• To analyse company and their product range.
• To analyse target audience and competitors.
• To find out what customers think now about “UpGrad” performance.
• To understand the most efficient marketing communication campaigns for the
UpGrad.
• To study presence of company in target audience.
• To know about how students/youths react to the UpGrad.
2.2 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
• The scope of this study is to find out the effectiveness of tools of Integrated
Marketing Communication to increase the customers attraction towards UpGrad.
• This study helps to choose more effective method of marketing communication.
• The conclusions may help the organisation in marketing work environment for
better utilization of Integrated Marketing Communication and in turn making the
customers get complete satisfaction.
• One of the important scope of this study is also to increase the market
segmentation of UpGrad.
2.3 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
• The time of the study was not sufficient to measure customer’s response towards
the company.
• The conclusion about strength based on result of survey may not achieve 100%
degree of accuracy.
• The main source of data for the study was primary data with help of self-
administrated questionaries. Hence the chances of unbiased information are less.

2.4 DATA COLLECTION METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Types Of Methods
There are three ways of methods of research methodologies;
• Explorative:
Exploratory research is defined as research used to investigate a problem which
is not clearly defined. It is conducted to have a better understanding of the existing
problem, but will not provide conclusive results.
• Descriptive:
Descriptive research is defined as a research method that describes the
characteristics of the population or phenomenon that is being studied. This
methodology focuses more on the “what” of the research subject rather than the
“why” of the research subject. Descriptive methodology is used in the present
study.
• Experimental:
Experimental research is any research conducted with a scientific approach, where
a set of variables are kept constant while the other set of variables are being
measured as the subject of experiment.
Sources of Data
• Primary Data: -
The primary data is collected from the respondents by questionnaire and also
through observations and discussion with administrative employees.
• Secondary Data: -
Apart from primary data, the secondary data is being collected through the records
of Intercedes Education.
Tools Used For Analysis
• Instrument: -

A structure questionnaire is used, and the questionnaire is about the satisfaction
of the customer
• Method: -
The research is conducted by using questionnaire method. The information is
collected from the customers of UpGrad.
Techniques For Data Analysis
• The data is analysed with “Simple analysis technique”. The data tool is percentage
method.
• Percentage method is used in making comparison between two or more criteria. This
method is used to describe relationship.
Percentage of respondents = Number of respondents/Total number of respondents X 100.
2.5 SAMPLING DESIGN
• Sample Size:
The sample taken among various customer is 50.
• Sample Method:
The research was made by the survey in accordance to the convenience of the
customer.

CHAPTER NO. 3
LITRATURE REVIEW

3. LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
The term Integrated Marketing Communications was first coined in 1989.
Since then, the concept of marketing communications has shifted from a dominance of
advertising. The American Association of Advertising Associations (4 A's defined
Integrated Marketing Communication as "an approach to achieving the objectives of a
marketing campaign through a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods
that are intended to reinforce each other." At that time the 4A's recognized the importance
of various mediums including advertising, public relations, sales promotion and direct
marketing for delivering consistent messages across marketing channels. During the
1980's many companies began to take a broader perspective of marketing communication
and seeing the need for a more strategic integration of their promotional tools. The decade
was characterised by the rapid growth in the areas of sales promotion, direct marketing
and public relation. The firms gradually started moving towards the process of Integrated
Marketing Communication (IMC).
Marketers started demanding for the innovative means for marketing
communications from the ad agencies. Many companies have then started to look beyond
the traditional advertising agencies and have started using the different types of
promotional specialist. As marketers became more sophisticated and develop a better
understanding of Integrated Marketing Communication, they are recognizing that it
involves more than just coordinating the various elements of marketing and
communication program. As Integrated Marketing Communication evolves, it is being
recognised as a business process that helps the companies to identify the most appropriate
and effective methods for communicating. The need to focus beyond advertising
predominately was due to several factors.
• It was becoming increasingly difficult for a single message to have a significant
impact there were other ways to effectively reach customers; and technology
advances made audience targeting and database marketing more efficient and cost
effective.
• The concept is more cantered on the customer, specifically customer shopping
and buying preferences.

• Integrated marketing communications leverages the opportunity to place
messages in front of the customer at various stages of the buying cycle.
Considering the theory that it takes 7 and 12 impressions before a message is
effective at moving a customer to purchase.
• Different series of integrated product messages will help in explaining the full
product story and effectively reaching out to the customer.
Integrated marketing communications uses the principles of the four Ps
(product, price, promotion and place) to pull together all aspects of marketing
communications, these include advertising broadcast, outdoor, online, direct marketing).
online/digital media (e-commerce, email marketing. social media, mobile marketing
search engine optimization, content marketing), public relations, promotions, sales,
customer service, trade shows/events and product promotions. In today's world,
organizations not only push out message but also use technology to reach to their target
audiences. Businesses and organizations rely on Internet to inform customers about the
product and to provide the ability to purchase products, when appropriate Organizations
also use social media to interact with customers and prospective customers. And since the
Internet is so highly used as a source of information, organizations and businesses strive
to rank in the top listing of an Internet search Originally marketing was focused around
the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) which narrowed companies’ perspective to
concentrate on their internal concept. There needed to be a change of direction as the
McCarthy’s model was outdated. The idea of integrated marketing communication was
first investigated in 1993 by Don E. Schultz, a professor most notable for his study and
contribution toward the IMC. Schultz revolutionised the 4P’s concept by changing with
the 4C’s model the 4 parts include Consumer, Communication, Convenience, & Cost.
This switched the attention towards the consumer-oriented outlook which took into
consideration their needs and wants. Integrated marketing communication accomplished
synergy when each element was executed in accordance with the overall vision of
organisation which allows the message to be executed efficiently. Businesses are now
able to implement IMC strategically within their business practise as it has progressed
toward the holistic analysis from audiences internally and externally. Company started to
take a different angle when approaching the questions concerning the preference of
consumer. Finding out who the target market is to answer the 4C’s and study what

products they’re willing to purchase, the willing amount of money they will spend for it,
how the product will fulfil their needs and wants, the accessibility consumers have to
purchase the product and communication for ease of correct information being
transmitted. Changing the emphasis onto what consumers desire leads to higher success
being attained through IMC, as it being influenced by not only internal stakeholder but
also external ones Expanding from this, Tom Duncan and Sandra E. Moriarty form the
concept of communication-based relationship marketing. This model expanded from the
concept of general one way, business influencing consumers what to believe scenario
(Lucia, Del Barrio-Garcia, & Kitchen 2012).
However, Duncan and Moriarty initiated that communication between business
and consumers was the key to developing strong establishment for the consumer-oriented
marketing endeavours. As they pursued their studies, they found a strong and positive
correlation between the interactions of communication and marketing as they both
interconnected to create a dynamic element of market the process of IMC through
communication-based marketing goes through a sequential three stage process.
Organisation begin with choosing an effective mixture of communication methods, in
addition, the marketing methods are selected, thereafter the best of each elements is fused
in integrated together which is channelled from the organisation to the audience using a
clear and efficient method. Subsequently, these findings shaped the way for modern
marketing as it is known for today as being an interactive two-way approach that build
report with stakeholders. Developments from integrated marketing communication have
evolved into three. The theory of marketing has morphed into a multi-dimensional with
techniques analysing all aspects of the organisation, where integration has become
customary. The evolving nature of integrated marketing communication will continue to
transform its concepts especially with technologies being developed at a fast pace.
Organisations are seeking strategic approaches to gain a competitive advantage which
IMC delivers through combining the most dynamic elements and incorporating mediums
such as social network and media enables marketing communication to interact globally.
As we have identified that the cross-functional approach holds an advantage tactically
nevertheless needs the supervision of all departments and senior managements to identify
internal and external weaknesses so they’re rectified to succeed in integration.

3.2 FEATURES OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
• Outside-in approach:
An initial key feature of Integrated Marketing Communication is that the
process should start with the customer or prospect and then work back to the brand
communicator in determining the most appropriate messages and media to
persuade or induce the communicator’s brand. The IMC approach avoids an
“inside-out” approach (from company to customer) in identifying communication
vehicles and instead starts with the customer (“outside-in”) to determine those
communication methods that will best serve the customers’ information needs and
motivate them to purchase the brand.
• Use of appropriate marketing communication tools:
IMC tools include advertising, sales promotions, sponsorships, etc. Such
is the case with marketing communications: not all tools (again, advertising, sales
promotions, sponsorships, etc.) are equally effective for all jobs. Rather, a truly
professional marketing communicator selects those tools that are best for the job.
A professional marketing communicator must carefully select those tools that are
most appropriate for the communications objective at hand.
• Message consistency:
The philosophy and practice of IMC is the demand that all the
communication through various IMC tools must all strive to present the same
message and convey that message consistently across diverse message channels,
or points of contact. Marketing communications must, in other words, speak with
a single voice. Coordination of messages and media is absolutely critical to
achieving a strong and unified brand image and moving consumers to action. A
vice president of marketing at UpGrad. fully recognized the value of speaking
with a single voice when describing his intention to integrate all the marketing
communication contacts for UpGrad education facility and system. This
executive captured the essential quality of “single voicing” when stating that,
under her leadership, “Whenever consumers see a UpGrad advertising, they’ll be
seeing the same message.” Now, every piece of communication from package to
Internet has to reflect the same message.”

• Build relationships:
IMC believes that successful marketing communication requires building
relationships between brands and their consumers/customers. A relationship is an
enduring link between a brand and its customers. It can be argued, in fact, that
relationship building is the key to modern marketing and that IMC is one of the
keys to relationship building. Successful relationships between customers and
brands lead to repeat purchasing and perhaps even to loyalty toward a brand. The
importance of relationship building has spawned the growth of an entire industry
of consultants and software suppliers who are involved in the practice of customer
relationship management, or CRM.
• Influence consumer attitude:
A final IMC feature is the goal to affect the behaviour of the target
audience or target market. Successful IMC requires that communication efforts be
directed at encouraging some form of behavioural response. The objective, in
other words, is to move people to action. An IMC program must be judged,
ultimately, in terms of whether it influences behaviour; but it would be simplistic
and unrealistic to expect an action to result from every communication effort.
Prior to purchasing a new brand, consumers generally must be made aware of the
brand and its benefits and be influenced to have a favourable attitude toward it.
• Cost-effective:
IMC helps in the optimum utilization of resources. The systematic
communication mix helps in avoiding the duplication of images, photos, etc.
Agency fees are reduced by using a single agency for all communications and
even if there are several agencies, time is saved when meetings bring all the
agencies together – for briefings, creative sessions, tactical or strategic planning.
This reduces workload and subsequent stress levels – one of the many benefits of
IMC.
• Creates an Integrated Communication Plan:
The best marketing strategy in the world will ultimately fail if you are
unable to get the right message to your potential customers at the right place and

the right time. An integrated marketing communications plan matches your
available budget of time and money to the most effective means for distributing
your message. No matter how great your product or service, if your potential
customers don’t know it exists; there will never be a sale.
• Budget and allocate resources:
An “integrated marketing communications plan” must have a target
budget and resources assigned to each element of the plan. Depending on the size
of budget, brands will probably need to make trade-offs between methods to
achieve communication goals. In addition, brands need to have the internal or
external resources aligned to carry out the plan. A good integrated marketing
communications plan can take marketing efforts to the next level.
3.3 PROMOTIONAL TOOLS FOR IMC
• Advertising:
Advertising is defined as any paid form of non-personal communication
about an organisation, product, service, idea by an identified sponsor. The paid
aspect of this definition reflects the fact that the space and time for an advertising
message generally must be bought.
• Direct marketing:
Direct marketing is much more than direct mail and mail order catalogues.
It involves a vac database management, direct selling, telemarketing & direct
response ads through direct mail, and various broadcast and print media.
• Interactive / Internal marketing:
The interactive medium that is having the greatest impact on marketing is
internet. While the internet is changing the ways, companies design and
implement their entire business and marketing strategies, it also changed their
marketing communications programme. Millions of companies, ranging from

large corporation to small local businesses, have developed website to promote
their products and services.
• Sales promotion:
The next variable of promotional mix is sales promotion, which is
generally defined as those marketing activities that provide extra value or
incentive to the sales force, the distributor, or the ultimate consumer and can
stimulate immediate sales.
• Public relations:
Public relations refer to non-personal communications regarding an
organization, product, service, or an idea not directly paid for or run under
identified Sponsorship. It usually comes in the form of new story, editorial, or
announcement about an organisation or about its product or services.
• Personal selling:
It is a form of person-to-person communication in which a seller attempts
to assist or persuade prospective buyer to purchase the company’s product or
service or to act on an idea. Unlike advertisement, personal selling involves direct
contact between buyer and seller, either face-to-face or through some form of
telecommunication.
3.4 OBJECTIVES OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
• Attention and Awareness:
One of the main objectives of IMC is building attention and awareness for your
brand. A consistent brand voice helps build stronger relationship with consumers.
Strong relationship translates into customer loyalty. Attention and brand
awareness drive more traffic to your site or store, giving you more opportunities
for sales.
• Interest:
Another objective of IMC is to generate interest in your product by informing
customers of what differentiate your product or services from your competitors.

This objective is not much about making sales, but building relationship and
convincing your target customers to interact with your brand.
• Desire:
The next objectives of IMC are cultivating the desire in your customers to make
a purchase. In crating desire, you are trying to move your customers from liking
your brand to deciding to make a purchase.
• Action:
After relationship with your customers, gaining their trust and piquing their
interest in your product, your last objectives of IMC is promoting the customers
to act on purchase.
3.5 IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
• Helps build good customer relationships:
Companies want to develop and nurture relationships with their customers
- it cannot be achieved simply by creating a great product, pricing it appealingly,
and making it accessible to your target audience. Integrated marketing
communications can enable your brand to convey the intended message across
marketing channels and mediums, which resonate with your targeted audience.
This way, marketers are not left wondering how their audience is perceiving it.
• Enables personalized communications:
One way of building increased personalization is through loyalty
programs. Whet better than Starbucks. Their reward program features a mobile
app that rewards loyal customers with limited time, bonus offers and extends it
even for merchandise purchased outside their stores. Starbucks has reported a 14%
rise in members to 16.3 million people in Q1, 2019.The Point Defiance Zoo &
Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington increased their customer count by 300% by
identifying.
• Segmentation by consumer groups:

In an era where consumer groups are becoming increasingly segmented,
integrated marketing communication enables B2B companies to target consumer
segments based on their preferences, needs, attitudes, and interests. Segments can
be based on:
1. Demographics - i.e., Age, gender, income, ethnicity. Men watch more sports
programs than women. American women influence 83% of consumer
spending, amounting to $7 trillion marketers can use these factors to design
marketing communication targeted at women.
2. Psychographics - i.e., responses that reveal a person’s interests, thoughts,
activities, i.e., believers, achievers, thinkers, innovators, experiencers, strives,
and more). Atlantic City based casino Revel, designed an integrated
marketing communication for ‘leisure and lifestyle’ consumers via TV, radio,
print and digital ads around the ‘Elevations’ theme, that suggested you
experience a new high like never before.
3. Generations - i.e., Millennia’s, baby boomers, Gen X, Seniors, social class,
orientation. Millennia attract maximum advertising dollars who continuously
look for bargains and promotions, yet seek high-quality products and
experiences.
4. Geographic area - Consumers in a specific geography will receive marketing
communication based on an event happening in their city/town. For example,
during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, P&G launched the ‘Thank You,
Mom’ ad campaign in honour of the courage and fortitude shown by mothers
through their child’s life.
• Improved brand perception:
A successful integrated marketing communication program that can
position a product appropriately in the consumer’s mind so that she can compare
it with other competitors. A unified message helps in creating a healthy and
positive brand image. Industrial equipment manufacturer Scott Equipment was

spread across 25 different locations in the US with each region creating different
brand images for their products. Scott Equipment hired Peter Mayer advertising
agency to integrate their marketing under a tagline named ‘Heavy-Duty
Commitment’ that let consumers know of the support they can expect.
• Increased customer retention:
Integrated marketing communication enables higher levels of customer
acquisition, retention, and loyalty. Moreover, maintaining repeat customers is less
expensive than replacing customers who move away. While marketers can use
integrated marketing communication programs to sell products, and acquire new
customers, increasing retention and loyalty should be their primary focus. When
a customer logs on to a website and is greeted with a message saying “Welcome
back, Jennie!”, that means Jennie has been on the website in the past and the
website content can be customized to display information on products/solutions
that Jennie wants to purchase.
• Measure the impact:
An integrated marketing approach connects brands with each customer
through various channels, collectively or sequentially. It produces meaningful
insights across multiple channels that enable marketers to measure the impact of
every component of a campaign. It lets brand managers identify the channels that
are working and the components that resonate with the target audience. Integrated
marketing communication has exponential benefits to businesses.
3.6 ADVANTAGES OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
• Competitive advantage:
Although IMC requires a lot of effort, it delivers many benefits. It can
create competitive advantage, boost sales and profits, while saving money, time
and stress. The ability to keep a customer for life is a powerful competitive
advantage.
• Building brand identity:

IMC, with help of various communication mix, builds a strong brand
identity by tying together all images and messages.
• Message credibility:
IMC also makes messages more consistent and therefore more credible.
IMC helps the marketers in choosing the right message for the target audience
with the right communication tools. This reduces risk in the mind of the buyer
which, in turn, shortens the search process and helps to dictate the outcome of
brand comparisons.
• Cost-effective:
IMC helps in the optimum utilization of resources. The systematic
communication mix helps in avoiding the duplication of images, photos, etc.
Agency fees are reduced by using a single agency for all communications and
even if there are several agencies, time is saved when meetings bring all the
agencies together – for briefings, creative sessions, tactical or strategic planning.
This reduces workload and subsequent stress levels – one of the many benefits of
IMC.
• Increased profits:
IMC also increases profits through increased effectiveness. In a busy
world, a consist and crystal-clear message has a better chance of cutting through
the ‘noise’ of over five hundred commercial messages which bombard customers
each and every day.
• Updating the consumer:
Carefully linked messages also help buyers by giving timely reminders,
updated information and special offers which, when presented in a planned
sequence, help them move comfortably through the stages of their buying process.
• Avoids deviation:

IMC helps in coordinating corporate messages, positioning and images
across all places. Such coordination ensures same message and content across all
communication and hence avoids deviation in the message.
3.7 DISADVANTAGE OF INTREGRATED MARKETING COMMNICATION
• Restrict creativity:
IMC can restrict creativity. There will be no more wild and crazy sales
promotions unless they fit into the overall marketing communications strategy.
The joy of widespread creativity may be silent, but the creative challenge may be
greater and ultimately more satisfying when operating within a tighter, integrated,
creative brief.
• Time-consuming:
IMC deals in coordinating the message across the various media.
Appropriate coordination requires systematic planning which becomes a time-
consuming process.
• Spoils corporate image:
IMC requires coordination with various media and advertising agency.
Proper track with these advertising agencies is a must, failing in which, the
communication many a time distorts and spoils the corporate image.
• Requires proper coordination:
Sadly, some organizational structures isolate communications, data, and
even managers from each other. For example, the PR department often doesn’t
report to marketing. The sales force rarely meets the advertising or sales
promotion people and so on. Imagine what can happen when sales representatives
are not told about a new promotional offer.
3.6 COMPONENTS OF IMC
• The Foundation:
As the name suggests, foundation stage involves detailed analysis of both
the for marketers to understand the brand, its offering and end users. You need to

know the needs, attitude and expectation of the target customers. Keep a close
watch on competitor’s activities.
• Brand Focus:
Brand focus represents the corporate identity of the brand.
• Consumer experience:
Marketers need to focus on consumer experience which refers to what
consumers feel about the product. A consumer is likely to pick up a product which
has good packaging and looks attractive. Products need to meet and exceed
customer expectation.
• Communication tool:
Communication tool include various modes of promoting a particular
brand such as advertising, direct selling, promotion through social media such as
Facebook, twitter, Orkut and so on.
• Promotional tools:
Brands are promoted through various promotional tools such as trade
promotion, personal selling and so on. Organisations need to strengthen their
relationship with customers and external client.
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION PLANS NEED TO
INCLUDE
• Detailed summary of your marketing plan as to how it intends to promote products
and service among target customer.
• Background, history and vision of your organisation.
• Know your product well. Include features and essential components of your
brand.
• Target market needs to be described well. Plan out how your brand can meet and
exceed customer expectations. How clarity as to how your brand is better than

your competitors and why should consumers only buy your product and not go
anywhere else. It is essential to read customers mind and know their perception.
• Compare your brand with competitors.
• Do SWOT Analysis which highlights the strengths, weaknesses, threats and
opportunities of marketing plan.
• Specify the tools and methods which would help you create awareness of your
brand.
3.8 INTREGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION CATEGORIES
• Inside-out Approach-
The inside-out approach to integrated marketing communication has a one
Sid view point as it combines the elements of communication and marketing to
create a single unified message. Granting this approach is solely based on the
organisation’s perspective. It demonstrates poor customer orientation. This
approach is deprived of the organisation’s strategic notion. The term used to
describe the integration of marketing communication is “one voice” which
represents the one clear message organisations are wanting to achieve when
communicating to consumers. IMC changes when applied to different
organisation; however, the inside-out approach is weak due to the stagnant,
outdated method.
• Outside-in Approach-
The outside-in approach of IMC seeks to understand needs and wants of
the consumer. In addition to previous category, this approach establishes
significant progression. Organisation can gain in depth knowledge based on
consumers and therefore can accommodate the way they approach to fulfil their
requirements. Relationship marketing aids in building up a history of frequent
conversation between organisations and stakeholders which create trust. IMC
approaches in a unique way as it operates backward by concentrating on
customers first, then determining the most effective course of marketing and
communication method to implement.

• Cross-Functional Strategic Approach-
Cross-functional strategic approach of integrated marketing
communications diverges away from the other two categories, it does not centre
around the concept of marketing promotional elements, instead the focus has
shifted toward restructuring the organisation to increase a customer-centric
environment. Investing for the reorganisation sparks change where all
departments interconnect to work cohesively toward managing and planning all
stages of brand relationship. As a unified organisation, the cross-functional
process is a competitive advantage as they can achieve through improving the
relation amongst message sent from all departments through channels to the
receiver. By sending strategic message and monitoring any external reaction it
encourages the prospect of gaining feedback data from consumers. The process is
circular not linear at the beginning organisation and consumer communicate by
interacting and dialogue which ignite the relationship, over time trust is earn and
the consumer may continue to purchase, which in turn increase sales and
profitability for the organisation and finally, the relationship is strong and the
organisation retain customer. Two-way communication is advantage for a cross-
functional approach as the business and consumer are interactive for brand
communication, evaluating and planning to fulfil both of their needs and wants.
Implementing IMC is a flexible process due to the changing nature of marketing
dynamics therefore by eliminating borders within the organisation it allows for
the notion.
3.7 IMC PLANNING PROCESS
This process is guide by an IMC plan that provide the framework for developing,
implementing, controlling the organisations IMC program
• Review of Marketing Plan –
Before developing promotional plan, marketers must understand where
the company has been in current position, in the market where it intends to go,
and how it plans to get there. Most of this information should be contained in the
marketing plan, a written document that describes the overall marketing strategy
and programme developed for an organisation.

• Review of Marketing Plan –
Before developing promotional plan, marketers must understand where
the company has been in current position, in the market where it intends to go,
and how it plans to get there. Most of this information should be contained in the
marketing plan, a written document that describes the overall marketing strategy
and programme developed for an organisation.
• Promotional Program Situation Analysis –
After the overall marketing plan is reviewed, the next step is developing a
promotional plan is to conduct situation analysis. In the IMC program the situation
analysis is focuses on the factors that influence or are relevant to the development
of promotional strategy. Like the overall marketing situation analysis.
• Analysis of the Communication Process –
This stage of promotional planning process examines how the company
can effectively communicate with consumers in its target market. The
promotional planner must think about the process consumer go through in
responding to marketing communication. The response process for products or
service for which consumer decision making is characterized by high level of
interest is often different from that for low involvement or routine purchase
decision.
• Budget Determination –
After communication objectives are determined, attention turn to the
promotional budget. Two basic question are asked at that point; what will the
promotional program cost? How will the money have allocated? Ideally, the
amount a firm needs to spend on promotion should be done to accomplish its
communication objective.
• Developing Integrated Marketing Communication Program–
Developing the IMC program is generally the most involved and detailed
steps of promotional planning process. At this stage of planning process, decisions
have to be made regarding the role of each element and their coordination with

one another. Each promotional element has its own sets of objectives and budget
and strategy for meeting them.
• Monitoring evaluation and Control –
The final stage of IMC planning process is monitoring, evaluating and
controlling the promotional program. It is important to determine how well the
IMC is meeting communications objectives and helping the firm accomplish its
overall marketing goals and objectives. Integrated marketing communication
sounds like a complicated theory but it’s quite simple.
ADVERTISING ON INTERNET
Like broad cast or print the internet is an effective medium for advertising.
Advertising on Internet helps in a variety of forms like banners, sponsorship, pop-ups,
pop-under, interstitials. Push technologies, links, paid searches, behaviour targeting, a
contextual ads, and rich media. All of these forms are explained as follows:
• Banners: The most common form of advertising on the web is banner ads.
Interestingly, the size of banner ad remains unchanged. Banner ads may be used
for creating awareness, recognition, entering viewers into contests and
sweepstakes, or direct marketing.
• Sponsorships: Another common form of advertising is sponsorships. There are
two types of sponsorships. Regular sponsorships occur when a company pays to
sponsor a particular section of a site. A more involved is content sponsorship, in
which the sponsor not only provides dollars in return for name association but also
participates in providing the content itself.
• Pop Ups/ Pop Unders: When a computer is accessed a window appears on the
screen in an attempt to get attention. These advertisements are known as pop-ups,
and they often appear when any site is accessed. The pop-ups are usually larger
than the banners but smaller than a full screen. Pop-unders are the advertisement
seen down at the web page and are seen only when the user leaves the site. A
research survey revealed that the pop-ups and pop-unders are annoying.
Therefore, the companies now don't prefer these as an option. Some marketers
believes that the pop ups and unders are at the declining stage.

• Paid search: This is the fast-growing form of advertising. In this form of
advertising the advertisers pay only when a consumer clicks on their ad or link
from a search engine page. In an effort to more specifically target customers that
may be interested in their offerings, advertisers buy ads on search engine sites
such as google. Yahoo, so that when visitor to the site keys in a specific search
word or phrase, an advertisement targeted to that category appears.
• Rich media: Rich media is a digital advertising term for an ad that includes
advanced features like video, audio, or other elements that encourage viewers to
interact and engage with the content. While text ads sell with words, and display
ads sell with pictures, rich media ads offer more ways to involve an audience with
an Ed. The ad can expand, float, etc: The access is available aggregated metres on
audiences.
PUBLIC RELATION ON INTERNET
Throughout the years there have been many changes in the media that have
affected the practice of public relations. The appearance and popularity of such tools an
offset printing, radio, television and magazines have each dramatically changed the way
public relations professional do business. But no change has appeared as fast and as strong
as the Internet. The Internet offers public relations professionals millions of opportunities
to perform research and spread their message. This new medium has expanded both
internal public relations and external public relations. From electronic mail to newsgroups
to World Wide Web sites professionals now have the chance to communicate with the
person in the office next door, their consumers and the world. The possibilities are
endless. Public relations professionals did not actually begin to take the Internet seriously
until the 1990s, and now many agencies are scrambling to catch up. Public relations
offices are now expanding their staffs to include specialists in interactive media, and
many agencies that deal strictly with online Public Relation have arisen. Today, there are
hundreds of links on the Internet that offer pr services. Advice and information. It is hard
to imagine public relations and most other professions without the Internet.

SALES PROMOTION ON INTERNET
Sales Promotion is one of the major activities of any Marketing Function in
any business. Sales promotion is always drawn up based on the sales strategy combined
with the nature and composition of the market. Audio, visual, print media advertising
besides sales promotional campaigns have been the normal set of activities that go with
marketing when it comes to the E Marketing strategy, the need for online advertising
remains the same as it is for the conventional sales. The e marketing is different from the
traditional modes of sales promotion methodology or the process adapted.
DIRECT MARKETING ON INTERNET
Online marketing in effective for a number of reasons. It costs very little to
contact new customers and it is usually much faster and easier to create digital
advertisements than print-ones. Direct marketing, however, offers many advantages that
firms should consider as firm decide upon an advertising plan for the business. Not only
the small demographic can be targeted, but also the contact to those prospective customers
in a way that may be more effective than traditional online marketing will be possible.
Direct mail on the internet is essentially an electronic version of regular mail. It relies
heavily on lists, and an attempt to reach consumers with specific needs through targeted
messages. Sometimes users may receive less targeted and unwanted emails. It is referred
to as junk mail, these messages are called as SPAM.

CHAPTER NO. 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
1. The chart and graph shows that from where did customers get reference of
UpGrad.
Opinion of customers No of Customers Percentage
Social Media 49 89.10%
Print Media 3 5.50%
Mouth Publicity 3 5.50%
Total 55 100%
Interpretation
Out of 100% customers, 89.10% customers got reference through Social Media, because
we mostly focus on Social Media, 5.50% got through mouth publicity users told everyone
about UpGrad service. 5.50% customers got the reference through print media.
89.1%
5.50%
5.50%
CHANNELS THROUGH CUSTOMERS REACH TO
UPGRAD
Social media Print Media Mouth Publicity

2. The chart and graph shows that in which segment course they did apply in
UpGrad.
Interpretation
Out of 100% customers, 7.30% peoples applied for data vertical courses. The percentage
of peoples applied for management vertical is 27.30. 10.90% peoples applied for
technology vertical. The 54.50% peoples are still not applied but thinking to apply for
courses in different verticals.
7.30%
27.30%
10.90%
54.50%
COURSES APPLIED BY CUSTOMERS
Data Management Technology Didn’t apply yet
Opinion of customers No of Customers Percentage
Data 4 7.30%
Management 15 27.30%
Technology 6 10.90%
Didn’t apply yet 30 54.50%
Total 55 100%

A STUDY OF IMC ON UPGRAD

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