MBA Research Paper

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BU682 Group Report
Kevin Magnan: 145818510
Scott Henry: 145820360
Dorian Bondor: 080952090
Aljosa Krajisnik: 109003055
Scott Martin: 203042870
Yubin (Riki) Yao: 145802660

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Contents
Situational Analysis.......................................................................................................................... 2
Customers.................................................................................................................................... 3
Competitors................................................................................................................................. 4
Climate......................................................................................................................................... 5
Problem Statement ......................................................................................................................... 6
Options ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Options for Addressing:............................................................................................................... 6
Option 1: Direct Sales at Teaching Conventions and/or Trade Shows........................................ 7
Option 2: Targeted Marketing via Facebook and Linkedin ......................................................... 7
Option 3: Create Compelling Content to Drive Traffic to Site..................................................... 7
Recommendations........................................................................................................................... 8
Implementation Plan..................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix Knowledgehook Interview ............................................................................................ 12
Bibliography................................................................................................................................... 15

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Situational Analysis
Knowledgehook is a cloud-based software that helps grade school teachers get students
more engaged with math practice and homework. The company operates from within Waterloo’s
Accelerator Centre, coordinating a variety of remote parties across North America. The
following analysis, informed by company Co-Founder, James Francis, details the firm’s internal,
micro-environmental, and macro-environmental situation.
Company
Knowledgehook’s product-line consists of two offerings that are aimed at engaging,
improving, and supporting students as they navigate their school’s math curriculum.
The company’s free offering, GameShow, is a product that offers teachers a new, fun,
and interactive way to conduct reviews and assessments in their math classes. The content is
web-accessible and consistent with the school’s curriculum. Students are able to participate using
any web-enabled device by interacting with projected questions in real-time.
Knowledgehook’s paid offering, Knowledgehook Premium, includes a homework tool
that enables independent practice on assigned material. Knowledgehook premium is offered in
two packages; See exhibit 1 for associated pricing and package contents.
Exhibit 1: Product Offerings and Price points

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As a young startup, Knowledgehook has yet to solidify a strong image within the market;
however, the company supports the talent, culture, and momentum necessary to cross the
‘Chasm’, penetrate the North American market, and pursue their ultimate goal of replacing
textbooks.
Customers
Knowledgehook’s total addressable market consists of more than 115,000 public school
within North America.1,2
The firm’s current success has so far been limited to Ontario, with
eleven district school boards adopting the paid solution. Knowledgehook’s current low-cost
commercial strategy centers on scraping twitter data to target users engaging in online
conversation about competing products, and partnering with advocates from within the math
community. The co-founder has expressed interest in pursuing a new strategy, generating
groundswell among teachers with GameShow and targeting key decision makers (super-
intendants) by selling-in paid solutions through school boards; note: school boards have a 16-
month sales-cycle.
Although there are two segments of teachers (those who want to augment lessons and
those who want to prepare children for standardized testing), Knowledgehook has chosen to
target both segments with the same strategy, offering a plug-and-play product that will optimize
learning in both situations, while requiring no added time investment on the teacher’s behalf.
Additionally, both of these segments share a common underlying distrust in big business (ie.
Pearson) and a fear that ed-tech will eventually replace their profession; Knowledgehook must
therefore be wary when communicating with these stigmatic individuals.

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Competitors
The majority of competing products only incorporate two of the three necessary elements
needed to produce a superior product; these elements include: the software, teacher involvement,
and action-oriented data. Knowledgehook’s software targets the ‘sweet spot’, depicted in exhibit
2, providing the teacher (the analyst) with the software and data required to optimize their
student’s learning experience and adapt to their educational needs.
Exhibit 2: Data-Tool-Analyst Framework
By targeting this sweet spot, Knowledgehook’s products can both inform learning and
engage students better than competing products, effectively granting the company a unique
position within the low-cost educational tech market. Competitors tend to either focus on
engagement (replacing the teacher) or informing classroom learning (while ignoring
engagement); as depicted in exhibit 3.
Analyst
Teacher
Tool
So ware
Data
Analy cs
SWEET
SPOT

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Exhibit 3: Product Positioning Map
Climate
Stable political, regulatory, and economic environments are not expected to pose a
significant threat to Knowledgehook within the foreseeable future; contrarily, the rate at which
the socio-cultural and technological environments have been changing could potentially render
the product obsolete. Technological disruption is responsible for creating this business
opportunity, and can easily be responsible for taking it away.
Engagement
InformingInstrucon

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Problem Statement
The main marketing problem for Knowledgehook is how to generate pull demand as soon
as possible from the teachers in the United States around Game Show so that these teachers can
influence the super intendant’s/principal’s buying decisions while simultaneously keeping
marketing costs as low as possible since the firm is still in its start-up phase. KH should also
maximize learning in this phase in order to optimize their marketing strategies accordingly as
they accrue experience. Below is a chart with potential implementable solutions for KH:
Options
Options for Addressing:
Solution Cost Time Necessary to
Implement
Opportunity to
Learn from Findings
Direct sales at
teaching
conventions/trade
shows
High Long High
Targeted marketing
via Facebook and
Linkedin Low Short High
Create compelling
content that drives
traffic to KH website High Long Low
Status Quo: Top-
down sales to boards
High Long Low

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Option 1: Direct Sales at Teaching Conventions and/or Trade Shows
In order to expand into the U.S., KH could hire and train salespeople and have them
attend teaching conferences or trade shows in order to educate teachers about Game Show and
even potentially solicit teachers that are interested in the product. The main concern around the
direct sales method is that it is very expensive. As a start-up, it is important for KH to reserve as
much capital as possible, and the prospect of hiring, training, and flying sales staff across the U.S.
to attend conferences is no feasible financially. Another major concern is how long it will actually
take in order to generate conversions. A salesperson needs to attend a conference, meet the right
educator, solicit, and potentially make a sale. This process is too long and there are other
processes that accomplish the sales transaction a lot quicker. The one benefit of the direct sales
approach is that the salespeople, and ultimately the KH executives, will learn a lot of valuable
information about their market segment through these conferences. In sum, impediments high
costs and the long amount of time it would take to implement this solution far outweigh any
potential educational value that could be extracted from these sales trips.
Option 2: Targeted Marketing via Facebook and Linkedin
KH could also expand into the U.S. through digital channels such as already existing
social media platforms that teachers are already utilizing. According to the Ontario College of
Teachers, 30% of its members spent two hours a day on Facebook in 2011 (Bielski). As more
millennials are entering teaching roles, this number is only projected to increase. In terms of cost,
marketing on Facebook and Linkedin is far cheaper than traditional marketing methods and KH
does not need to add someone to its payroll in order to implement this solution. Also, Facebook
and Linkedin targeted advertisements take almost no time to implement. Once the design of the
advertisement is decided, it can be uploaded and sent to teachers’ profiles. Another benefit to
targeted marketing via social media is the access to analytics that can tell KH many things about
how their marketing is consumed that the firm may not have considered; this allows the firm to
nimbly make adjustments in order to maximize revenues generated from such a marketing
campaign.
Option 3: Create Compelling Content to Drive Traffic to Site
KH could invest in a marketing campaign through a third party in order to generate mass
appeal around Game Show. The currently available marketing technologies are very impressive,
and KH would be wise to implement some tactics such as personalized user videos. In terms of
cost, hiring a third party marketing agency is expensive, and is a cost that KH really does not

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need to incur. Another reason that this solution may not be the most attractive is due to the time it
would take the third party marketing firm to design an ad of quality. This solution also provides
possibly the least learnability; the marketing firm designing the advertisement may have some
analytical tools that they take advantage of, and if they do, they will likely charge a premium for
access to these tools.
Recommendations
It is our recommendation that, given current marketing challenges and a limited budget
for addressing them, Knowledge Hook should develop a targeted Facebook marketing strategy to
build demand in the American teacher consumer segment. Still image advertisements can be
automatically displayed through Facebook directly to teachers in the United States. Given the
current, and increasing, activity of teachers on Facebook, this approach provides KH with a low-
cost, scalable, and specifically targeted awareness building strategy.
The advertisements used in the suggested Facebook marketing campaign should be
designed to show Game Show in action in the classroom while emphasizing the essential role of
the teacher using the software. It is essential that teachers view the product as a valuable tool for
supplementing, and not replacing, their teaching. Still image graphics (like the example included
in this report) should be designed for display through Facebook, and to inform consumers while
driving them to KH’s social media platforms and website. Once consumers are directed to KH
communication platforms, they should be provided with easy and obvious access to video content
that displays the benefits of Game Show in action. An option for achieving this involves filming a
volunteer teacher using Game Show in the classroom, and having teachers provide testimonials
for how the product has enhanced learning for their students. To maximize consumer interest and
learning, communication through all content should clearly state the purpose, versatility (ie. use
not limited to math), and exciting nature of the product.
By monitoring the performance metrics of the Facebook marketing campaign and the
location of new teacher sign-ups, KH can execute a bottom-up customer acquisition strategy in
addition to the top-down strategy already in place. Advertisement performance indicators
provided by Facebook can be used to refine and improve communications while developing a
further understanding of the end users of the product. Additionally, monitoring how many
teachers are using the product from different schoolboards can accurately inform KH’s front line

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sales approach. When teacher participation within a schoolboard hits a decided upon threshold,
this information can be used to communicate with the teachers involved and attempt to sell the
schoolboard on more widespread product adoption.
In the longer term, and if Knowledge Hook’s marketing budget increases, there are
alternative options for building product demand and purchase intentions among teachers and
school boards, respectively. Game Show can be advertised and/or demonstrated through
professional development programs organized by individual schoolboards to improve teaching
methods. Also, advertising space can be purchased in education magazines for teachers to provide
another platform for displaying the advertisements already developed for the Facebook campaign.
For example, ‘Professionally Speaking’ is the magazine claiming Ontario teachers as a reader
base. Finally, KH can be demonstrated at education technology conferences and trade shows.

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Implementation Plan
Figure out how to target teachers on social media, specifically Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/business?campaign_id=894282133965802&placement=bro
ad&creative=77611413152&keyword=+facebook++advertisement&extra_1=aa1c81da-1064-
44f6-a160-9ab0a1af2c97
Strategy - Knowledgehook already has an excellent online presence when its name is
searched using Google. It has a company website, Twitter page, Facebook page, and LinkedIn
page. This is a good start to successful online marketing.

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Cost – For ad sets with automatic bidding, the minimum daily budget is $1.00 USD and
must be at least 2 times your cost per click (CPC) bid. For example, if you have a $1.00 CPC bid,
your daily budget must be at least $2.00.
https://www.facebook.com/business/help/318171828273417
Targets – Facebooks can help reach a lot of teachers with useful advertising of
Knowledgehook. With a reasonable budget as instructed by Facebook, it will be possible to reach
marketing targets. Frequency of the ads determines their cost and they have a massive reach
through the teacher audience already present on Facebook for 2 hours per day (Bielski).
https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/how-much-facebook-ads-cost

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Appendix Knowledgehook Interview
Biggest marketing challenges?
 Money and time
 Teacher demand
 US launch – GameShow (free product) big launch in US is key.
o Most cost effective way to get into the US.
o Getting into the right markets, explaining GameShow well to new
customers.
o Creating viral campaign for US.
 Strong advocacy program to promote product.
Who are key decision makers involved in the buying process in their customer segment?
 Try to go to superintendent and work down.
 Also trying to build demand from bottom
 Trying to open up sales at a school level, so principle/math head/ teachers can
buy.
Who is subculture?
 Underlying distrust in big business (ed-tech big disappointment, Pearson)
(massive online lecture)
 Tech not delivering enough in the classroom space
 Knowledgehook isn’t replacing teachers; teachers are still a key component.
 Eventually to replace textbooks (long term goal)
 Built for teachers who don’t want to put the time in.
Key positioning to teachers
 Ranges from getting kids ready for standardized tests, and provide system that
kids want to participate in
 Ability to inform teaching and improve.
 Two types of teachers, but definitely some overlap between the two.
Pull demand from teachers instead of selling to district

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 Can’t force teachers to adopt certain teaching methods, so you need to create
demand at the bottom
 Administration could buy it but if teachers don’t want to use it, it will just sit on
the shelf.
How are you different from competition?
 More of a southwest airlines strategy, low cost provider but also enjoyable
 Engagement vs. informing instruction (one on one teaching is the best possible)
 Improving teaching quality is most important
Why not push demand with kids and parents?
 Have product for parents but it’s on hold at the moment (not prioritized)
 Advised not to go into B2C untill later on
o Have to deal with lots of customer service; ratings and reviews need to be
maintained
“Competition” feature in GameShow
 Tool that needs to be managed carefully
 Can be bad driver, can lead to negative emotions towards internal competition
 There is losers in competition, and can perpetuate students already not confident
in math skills.
 Potential to compare between different schools.
Current promotional
 Strong math community on twitter, so go in and pull twitter handles at certain
taglines; link handles to registered emails, then send email to distribution list.
 Partnered with influential people in Canada who mention company (advocate
program)
 Free product launched in August 2015.
 Pennants and medals shipped out to put social pressure on teachers to compete
with each other
 In Canada, would cold call individual schools, and target that way, but probably
not replicable in the US.
Ideas for future promotional

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 New campaign could mock the old system, but needs to protect the classroom, or
build the classroom, etc.
 Institutional rows of desks, vs. what Knowledgehook is, freeform, collaborative
learning. Teaching is a human activity and needs to stay that way to ensure proper
informed instruction.
 Teachers love hearing about how important they are.
 Lists of principles and vice principles in the US.
 Facebook targeting by profession, cheaper than convention. (Protect your
classroom).
 Shouldn’t come off as rich educational company (still the small guy providing an
innovative solution vs. big ed tech selling products that don’t really solve the
problem)
Negative feedback
 Competition, but teachers can turn off that feature if they want to.
 Initially somewhat buggy, but that’s common and pretty much under control.
Conversion to pay product
 16-month sales cycles for school boards, need to play to budget cycles.
 Teachers can go to website and click play now for free
 Create an account,
 Kids need devices
 Content is built in (competition is different)
 Pay product, contact hook and they can give trial sessions.
 If X teachers at school are using pay product, can approach principle/board for
sale.
 Have to design communication at a large scale.
 Free product is still completely fine on its on in a group, and premium is for
individual learning.

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Bibliography
Mark, G. (2014). Selected Statistics from the Public Elementary and Secondary Education
Universe: School Year 2013-14. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
The Council of Ministers of Education. (2016). "CMEC." Education in Canada: An Overview.