OpenDurian

The Objective

EduTech start-up OpenDurian strives to make learning the English language accessible for all. While the company has been rolling out textbooks and online courses for the last 10 years, an apprehension towards learning the language still existed within the local community. This led the brand to seek new ways to reach a wider audience by making learning English as fun and engaging as possible in hopes of bridging the language gap among communities.

The Solution

Leveraging personality-led content on TikTok to Make Learning Entertaining

Understanding the power teachers have in the classroom, OpenDurian used TikTok's intuitive and creative formats – like the green screen effect, livestreams, and trending sound bites – to produce short-form, educational videos that provided audiences with quick and easy ways to learn basic English. Lessons were also fronted by instructor Kru Dew, whose magnetic personality and humourous antics captured the attention of the audience and drew them into each and every lesson published on the platform.

OpenDurian also began taking lessons out of the classrooms and into the streets, wherein Kru Dew was able to showcase how English could be used in everyday situations, be it the supermarket, restaurants, or in daily conversations with loved ones.

This sense of spontaneity resonated with the larger TikTok community, who continue to value and champion authenticity, prompting their videos to skyrocket in views within the span of a year. In addition to being discovered by new audiences, users also began to consistently tune into the channel and build up their skills in the language via OpenDurian's entertainment-filled videos.

The Result

Since joining the platform, OpenDurian has reached over 2.1 million followers on its channel, while livestreams have consistently seen 4,000 viewers on average.

Most prominently, OpenDurian's unique content style – which seamlessly blends education with entertainment – has contributed to an 80% growth in engagement amongst target audiences, supporting the brand's efforts to build a steady following of dedicated users on its platform. This also increased awareness of their other online courses and textbooks, with click-through rates to these materials seeing steady year-on-year growth (between 2021 and 2022) of over 88%.

By leveraging the platform to bring more accessible educational content to the masses, OpenDurain has now set a new target to reach over 20 million Thai people via its TikTok, including supporting teachers in remote schools with the materials to not only engage students better but also help them reach their full potential when learning English.