Vedantu does a Domino's. Can it deliver?

Simple? No. The parents found a big hole. ‘Yeh to sab koi bolta hai [this is what everybody claims]’ was how most of them reacted. The scepticism was genuine. The problem, Krishna explains, is that no edtech player had tried to quantify trust.

Six months later, Krishna boldly puts a number to trust: Fee-back guarantee. The edtech startup rolls out VIP (Vedantu Improvement Promise), which consists of two things. First, a guarantee to improve academic performance of the kid. Secondly, return of the fees if parents are not satisfied. VIP’s best part, he reckons, is no hidden terms and conditions. Even if an internal assessment shows progress in child’s learning but parents feel otherwise, the startup would refund the entire fees. “There would be no question asked,” he smiles. The point, he lets on, is not 100 percent fee back. “It’s about taking responsibility,” he says. In short, it is time to walk the talk.

Vedantu, reckon marketing and branding experts, is trying to do a Domino’s. 'Thirty minutes or free' pizza is what made Domino’s win the trust of the consumers and quickly scale up its business, says Ashita Aggarwal, marketing professor at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.

Money back, she says, is a potent marketing tool to disrupt any consumer segment. In the case of Vedantu, which is a challenger brand, a guarantee of performance would definitely help it score immediate brownie points. “If they live up to their claim, mindshare would get converted into market share,” she says. ‘Guarantee or free’ offer is not an easy one to make or deliver, largely because of the variables attached. The flipside is as high as the upside, especially when the proposition revolves around a service, and not a product. Learning has too many ‘conditions apply’: From student, to teacher, to parents, and to the external environment. “There is no silver bullet,” Aggarwal says.

One of the misfires is ‘soapification’ of education. Though it is a business of learning, it is not FMCG, underlines Jagdeep Kapoor, chairman and managing director of Samsika Marketing Consultants.

“It’s not ‘my soap can clean better than yours’ or ‘colour nikla to paisa vaapis’ [if colour fades, you get the money back],” he says.

While marks are important in academics, he explains, one has to also worry about remarks. “There is a very thin line between a smart and a desperate move,” says Kapoor, who believes that Vedantu has exposed its desperation. He believes that the edtech startup’s TV commercial, featuring actor Aamir Khan, is also ironical.

Khan’s iconic films Taare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots have made parents take a hard look at putting pressure on the kids, and Vedantu’s commercial is like marking a full circle for the actor. “Brand ambassadors have become more of a commodity,” Kapoor says.

Vamsi Krishna, co-founder, Vedantu

Krishna, for his part, asserts that the idea is not to commodify education. As an entrepreneur, he stresses that one needs to bet on things one believes in. “It’s a bold concept. You should put the money where your mouth is,” he says.

While conceding that the move might draw mixed reaction—read polarising remarks—Krishna maintains that the idea is to inculcate a culture of accountability. Parents, says, never look for refund. For them, time and trust is money. Fee back, he accepts, will definitely put teachers under pressure. “I can tell you we were nervous when we designed this,” he recalls. “But it’s a right move,” he explains. According to him, if there is tension in the edtech system for a right reason, then it’s worth having.

Meanwhile, Domino’s has tweaked its 30-minutes delivery proposition. And for a good reason: High online delivery due to pandemic blues. ‘It’s [30-minutes offer] not applicable’ reads a pizza order receipt. Will Vedantu also add a ‘T&C’ to its promise? It will take a while before the report card gets ready. Till then, it’s on the mark, get set and go.