VIPKid is a global online edTech firm with a proprietary platform that connects students around the world with qualified teachers in the U.S. and Canada. The company is regarded as China's largest edtech unicorn in the fiercly competive virtual learning market.
As a creative manager, my role was to foster relationships with teams throughout the organization to build trust for our department and reinforce our brand authority. My biggest contribution as a designer was deciding the overall style and art direction that create a holistic experience throughout each touchpoint which elevated the brand experience.
Increased Sign-ups
During my 2+ years at VIPKid, we successfully recruited 40,000 new teachers, increasing our total teacher community to 100,000 teachers on the platform making VIPKid's teacher community the largest in the world.
Lowered Cost of Acquisition
Partnering with the Brand Manager, we launched a social media design and content strategy that increased our social media engagement to more than 50,000 impressions. By redesigning the blog and website SEO content, we increased organic traffic and cut the cost of acquisition in half.
Improved Processes
By merging the Brand and Product Team visual style guides, I helped improve design consistency across the customer journey and user experience. And in collaboration with the Product Design Team, we implemented a management solution for templates and creative assets that increased productivity.
VIPKid started as a Skype/Zoom product for English language learning. It allowed teachers in the US and Canada to earn extra income in addition to their traditional teaching jobs. The platform gave parents in Asia access to native English-speaking teachers at a more affordable price than in-person learning.
During the pandemic, we realized our advantage was not our platform since similar products now saturate the market. Our core product was the large community of VIPKid teachers that were ready to mobilize and fill a need for quality educators in a virtual learning space.
The previous marketing strategy positioned VIPKid as a side hustle, depicting teachers as gig-economy workers that hated their jobs. This brand positioning devalued our teachers and upset parents that were expecting professional teachers for the price they were paying.
VIPKid teachers at a minimum have a bachelor's degree and two years of experience. In addition, many are seasoned teachers with master's degrees and some with more than 20 years of teaching experience. Our data also showed that some teachers were earning a living wage through VIPKid.
Working closely with Brand, Marketing, Community, and Business Development leaders, we devised a new brand position to present our teachers as experienced professionals teaching VIPKid's unrivaled curriculum developed by world-class educators.
I oversaw the production of new content and visual assets that spotlight VIPKid teachers' expertise as educators and their ability to engage with young students virtually. Through our new assets and digital channels, we highlighted the diversity of our teachers and our fun and effective learning platform, appealing to both teachers and parents.
Overview
Photoshoot
I worked with the Brand Manager and Project Manager to select models, wardrobe, set location, and create mood boards, shot lists, and set designs. The photoshoot spanned 2 days and produced over 1400 shots and 21 videos.
Through my creative direction, we captured the authentic experience of teaching and learning with VIPKid. It was my strategy to show that with VIPKid, parents were able to continue their tasks at home while their children learned online. I wanted to showcase our teacher's professionalism while also creating a fun and engaging learning experience.
For greater company impact, I collaborated with the product team to align brand/product visual guidelines for a cohesive experience across all digital products and create a more efficient company-wide design system (thus ending the year long battle about which button style to use!). I also incorporated WCAG guidelines to improve digital accessibility and the overall visual experience for all users.
I collaborated with Brand Manager and Product Team to guide the visual experience of a new site that combined teacher and student marketing. This update allowed students to sign up through the website, a function that previously relied heavily on a large sales team.
Due to immediate company needs, we had to quickly roll out the first phase of the site to begin recruiting new students. An improved web experience is planned for future updates.
During the product launch, I took the opportunity to improve the login and signup pages. A survey revealed that users often don't know if they are logging in as a student or teacher. Adding a headline solves this problem while improving SEO and digital accessibility. A global product also needs different methods of login. Offering a mobile and email login accommodates the needs of a wider audience. These minor changes improve the experience and reduce frustration for returning users.
We performed a user survey and concluded that our teachers were confused by the program rules and disliked the clunky user interface. I worked alongside the Brand Manager and Marketing Director to simplify the referral process by adding one-click options for users to share their referral links. The new strategy highlighted additional earning potential, which increased signups through organic search rather than paid traffic.
I revamped our affiliate landing page design to incorporate the new look and feel that I developed in collaboration with our Brand Manager. Our mascots show prospective affiliates that VIPKid is a fun brand to partner with!
As part of the brand refresh, I worked with the Community Team lead to set up a Shopify e-commerce store where our teachers can purchase VIPKid swag. Teachers want more than just a logo on a generic product. My thoughtfully design products quickly became teacher favorites and generated a lot of excitement and sales.
I led a brand refresh that increased our brand equity, which led to new partnerships that generated additional revenue for the company. The updated brand story using content and visuals that elevate our teachers helped create a cult following of loyal educators that rallied to drive brand awareness.