Essence wins integrated media duties for online higher education platform UpGrad in India

Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency which is part of GroupM, today announced that it has won integrated media agency of record duties for online higher education platform UpGrad in India following a pitch. The agency’s scope of work spans both offline and digital media.

UpGrad provides rigorous industry-relevant online courses and education programmes designed and delivered in collaboration with world-class faculty and industry professionals, including in the areas of data sciences, marketing and management, product management, entrepreneurship and technology. Merging the latest technology, pedagogy and services, UpGrad aims to create an immersive learning experience anytime and anywhere, to advance professionals’ journeys and build careers of tomorrow.

Led out of Essence’s office in Mumbai, the account will be supported by key practice leads across communications strategy, data strategy, client analytics, experience, media planning, media activation and advertising operations.

Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder and Managing Director at UpGrad, said, “The advent of new age technologies like data science and artificial intelligence has made it pertinent for the IT professionals of today to upskill themselves. We at UpGrad provide the means of upskilling through an immersive online learning experience. To reach a wider audience with our brand message, we have Essence on board with us. Being a technology-focused company itself, Essence understands our language of business.”

Anand Chakravarthy, Managing Director, India, Essence

Anand Chakravarthy, Managing Director, India at Essence, said, “The online education sector is expected to witness exponential growth in the coming years. The UpGrad team is very forward-thinking – they are keen to lean in, experiment and push boundaries, in line with our own progressive learning agenda. We look forward to delivering our full-service media offering focused on data, measurement and technology, and help UpGrad become even more successful on this exciting journey.”

This development follows Essence’s recent announcement of Airtel joining its portfolio of clients in India, which also includes Flipkart, Google, Honda two-wheelers and Zee Entertainment. The UpGrad win marks another important milestone for Essence, as the agency continues its rapid growth in India and across the Asia Pacific region. It further demonstrates the success of Essence’s approach to working with clients who want to drive transformational change in marketing and support the agency’s mission to make advertising more valuable to the world.