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Mohammed Saqlain Ali Khan

Marketing Management

Indiana Wesleyan University

Jim Dobben

June 30, 2023

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Product Differentiation and Positioning In the Education Industry

Definition of Positioning

Positioning is a marketing tactic that presents a specific image or idea in relation to the

competition. Positioning can be accomplished by differentiating one's product from similar

products, either in price, quality, or features. A successful positioning strategy establishes an

identity for a company or product that creates demand from customers. In such cases, the

customer feels the company has defined them and has little choice but to make future purchases

due to the experience developed during their first purchase (Dahlstrom, 2019).

Competitor Analysis

 Current Competitors And Their Offerings, Including Points Of Differentiation For Each

Offering Indicating How They Are Positioned To Each Other In The Market -

Positioning Matrix (Include Graphic Of The Positioning Matrix.)

In the competitive world of education, there are a wide variety of offerings that make it

difficult for a student to choose. Some providers have programs that are in-depth, whereas others

have breakthrough technologies that provide students with the ability to take control of their own

learning. For those students who want to feel more confident about their choice, there is an easy

way to assess each provider's strengths and weaknesses: read their website. Each company offers

information on what they offer and how they stand out from the others in this industry- from

specific classes or subjects taught, as well as how they're trying to be different from other

companies (Tasker, 2021).

There are many companies offering education in new and unique ways. One of the most

prominent companies is Khan Academy, which is focused on providing free online education to

anyone with access to a computer or smartphone. This company does not offer any certificates of
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completion or degrees, but instead focuses on quick learning using videos and other types of

media. They also offer exercises that help students study independently, by asking them

questions about the video they just watched (Nicolaidis & Michalopoulos, 2018).

Another company that stands out from the crowd is Academic Earth, which offers a large

variety of subjects (over 18,000) from a well-known institution at Harvard University. This site

provides certificates for the completion of certain courses or modules as well as access to some

premium features (Charlent, 2017).

 Current Price Points Of Competitors - Create A Table Comparing Price Points For A

Similar Offering

Recommended Positioning

 Recommended Position And Points Of Differentiation For The Client’s Offering - Show

On Positioning Matrix
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The world of education is a highly competitive market, and that is the reason why, to survive

and be profitable, a company must offer an effective solution. According to our findings, the

client’s product has three main competitors: Khan Academy, Academic Earth, and Coursera. The

first one is Khan Academy which offers free online education videos that provide high-quality

content. The three competitors stand out because they offer courses related to different fields,

whereas clients’ offering only focuses on Computer Science subjects (Dahlstrom, 2019).

The second one is Academic Earth which has Harvard University as its main source of

content; but it also offers classes from other institutes like M.I.T., Yale University, and others.

The three competitors stand out because they offer video courses with a variety of content and

different topics from which the students can learn (Williams, 2022).

Finally, the last one is Coursera which has more than 10 million users worldwide, and more

than 2 million users are signing up monthly to use its services. It offers a platform where Courses

are created by top universities around the world and its content is available only for specific

countries. The three competitors stand out because they offer video classes with high-quality

content to assist their students in their studies. The Client’s product would be positioned as an

alternative solution through providing high quality content which will make it different from

other companies, thus making it profitable (Tasker, 2021).

 Key Differentiating Characteristics Of The Offering - Take New Product Ideas And

Describe The Product Or Service In More Detail. Provide Rationale For Your Decision.

The product's key differentiating characteristics are:

 Content available in several languages.

 Courses with high-quality content, organized in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

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 Download course materials on the internet when needed in order to facilitate access to

educational materials even if students are offline.

 Offering specific courses related to computer science, basic and advanced level

programming languages like C++, Python, Java, and others.

 Provide study support through videos or audio and exercise worksheets using an internal

test center platform (Tasker, 2021).

The most important aspect is to provide a new way of learning since students nowadays can

learn in different ways such as watching lectures online, reading articles online, or even listening

to tutorials. The product will be for everyone; for people that can’t attend classes because they

have a physical disability or even for people that just want to take their own time studying and

don’t have time to attend classes. The product will offer high-quality content to facilitate the

students in their studies. The set of courses will be organized in a simple and easy way (Charlent,

2017).

 Define The Value Proposition For The Target Customer

The Value Proposition can be described as a solution for a particular need. The price is not the

key value proposition. The main intention of the service is to provide students with the ability to

learn in a more customized and comfortable way. The target customer could be described as

students that are interested in studying computer science or other related subjects, people that

want to learn things on their own but they don’t have time to attend classes, people that want to

take courses from other schools or universities and want to do it online, people that want more

variety of methods available like software developer courses, marketing manager courses or even

cooking classes for beginners (Nicolaidis & Michalopoulos, 2018).

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Demand Estimate

 Project Demand For The New Offering Considering Buyer Target

The client is focusing on the educational industry because it is very competitive, and they

have a high number of buyers that are looking for a new solution for their education needs. The

education industry is a global industry, and the client will focus on Asia, Latin America, and the

USA when they start to sell their product to maximize profit. They are expecting demand to start

working in other markets like Europe, the UK, and Canada. The client will focus on the

educational industry because it is a growing industry, and they can have access to a high number

of buyers. The client will create marketing strategies to promote their product to reach as many

customers as possible in different countries (Dahlstrom, 2019).

They have the objective of selling their product through online stores like Amazon and other

online stores specialized in selling instructional videos and books, they are also planning to sell

their product through large technology companies such as Microsoft or Google. They will take

advantage of established relationships with technology providers that may be interested in

including their courses for free or at a low cost (Williams, 2022).

 Explain Methodology For Developing Your Demand Estimate

The client will focus on market research to understand what they have to offer based on their

competitors. The client needs a lot of information about customers, groups of customers, and

other various details regarding their competitors’ products and services to compare the main

characteristics. The quantitative data will help them create accurate demand projections

regarding the product that is being offered (Tasker, 2021).

They need to know their exact target audience and where they are to reach them through

different channels of communication such as the web, email, phone, or social media. They will
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also be able to predict future developments in the industry that could affect demand and help

them with adapting themselves accordingly. They will also take into consideration different

demographic and geographic factors that could have an impact in the demand for the product.

They need to see their competitors in different industries like education to understand what they

are offering as a solution for their customers (Nicolaidis & Michalopoulos, 2018).

They will also consider competitors like Amazon or other online stores that can be accessed

by anyone with a computer and an internet connection. The main difference between this product

and other e-learning solutions is that it provides high-quality content to facilitate students

studying through videos or audio, it offers specific courses related to computer science, and basic

and advanced level programming languages like C++, Python, Java, and others (Charlent, 2017).
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References

Charlent, J. (2017). Management of education in industry. Industry and Higher Education, 1(2),

103–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/095042228700100206

Dahlstrom, D. A. (2019). Industry and Engineering Education in the USA. Industry and Higher

Education, 10(1), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/095042229601000105

Nicolaidis, C. S., & Michalopoulos, G. (2018). Education, Industry and the Knowing—Doing

Gap. Industry and Higher Education, 18(2), 101–110.

https://doi.org/10.5367/000000004323051877

Tasker, M. (2021). What are the “Needs of Industry”?. Industry and Higher Education, 5(2),

124–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/095042229100500211

Williams, G. (2022). What Can Higher Education Realistically Expect from Industry? Industry

and Higher Education, 6(4), 203–207. https://doi.org/10.1177/095042229200600402