Infobip > Case Studies > Ubongo: Enhancing Education with Whatsapp Business API and Answers

Ubongo: Enhancing Education with Whatsapp Business API and Answers

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - RFID
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Education
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Chatbots

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

Ubongo is Africa’s leading edutainment company, creating fun, localized, and multi-platform educational media that reaches millions of families through accessible technologies. They are the largest multi-platform classroom in Africa, reaching 17 million households via television and radio. Ubongo creates and delivers educational entertainment to millions of kids across Africa, helping them learn and leverage their learning. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they faced an increased demand for their services, particularly for on-demand content and support.

The Challenge

Ubongo, Africa’s leading edutainment company, faced a significant challenge due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With a reach of 17 million households via television and radio, Ubongo was already a major player in the African educational landscape. However, the pandemic led to a drastic drop in school enrollment rates, from over 80% to a situation where 226 million learners were unable to attend school. This led to an increased demand for Ubongo's services, particularly from parents who were struggling with homeschooling. While increasing showtimes on TV and radio met some of the demand, it became clear that there was a growing need for on-demand content and support. Parents were specifically requesting content to be sent via Whatsapp due to its data-friendly nature and widespread availability on smartphones. Ubongo also wanted to provide a platform for students to delve deeper into their content through digital platforms, chat apps, and social media channels.

The Solution

Ubongo turned to Answers, a customizable chatbot building platform, to meet the growing demand for on-demand educational content. By integrating Answers with the Whatsapp Business API, Ubongo was able to provide constant customer support through the most popular messaging service in Africa. This solution allowed Ubongo to chat with their customers in three different languages - English, Swahili, and Hausa. Accessing content became as simple as sending a 'Hi' to the official Ubongo Whatsapp account. Users were then offered various options, ranging from language options, TV showtimes to videos. This solution not only allowed Ubongo to meet the increased demand for on-demand content but also enabled them to push content for free downloads directly to their end-users.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Infobip’s Answers solution enabled Ubongo to stay true to its commitment to support kids on their educational journey. Their efforts to maintain their reach and serve their market during the pandemic were recognized by the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Reuters. The solution also allowed Ubongo to push content for free downloads directly to their end-users. For those who still preferred to access Ubongo’s content on conventional platforms like television, users could access a digital TV guide to ensure they didn’t miss it. The feedback functionality of the chatbot also allowed Ubongo to measure the success of this new strategy.

Quantitative Benefit

Ubongo was able to provide on-demand educational content to millions of users during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Within two months of implementing the solution, Ubongo saw positive results, with end-users from different channels being able to seamlessly and consistently connect into a single digital channel.
Users could access content on-demand and download it for offline use.