2Bfluent
The Challenge
2Bfluent is an early stage EdTech start-up providing online foreign language learning services. Its mission is to increase foreign language fluency whilst connecting people of different nationalities, beliefs, and cultures in enjoyable conversations. 2Bfluent currently sells its services directly to individual customers. Our Associate Research Consultants, a team of PhD and postdoctoral researchers, are evaluating the viability of expanding into the Business-to-Business (B2B) market, focusing on opportunities to sell services to schools and the development of a strategic marketing plan to achieve this.
Objectives
1. Produce an insight report outlining the needs of secondary schools in relation to foreign language speaking and students’ conversation skills development.
2. Analyse 2Bfluent’s competitors and produce a competitor summary identifying key areas of consideration for positioning in the B2B market.
3. Collaborate with 2Bfluent to develop strategic marketing recommendations for the target school sector until.
In Partnership with
Doctoral Training Partnerships
Approach
1. Conduct market analysis and identify 2Bfluent’s competitors, building a picture of competitors’ services, communications channels and media coverage.
2. Analyse statistical data about UK secondary schools, the foreign language national curriculum framework and examination bodies to understand current requirements, the support available, gaps and opportunities.
3. Design and disseminate a survey to a representative group of 100 schools to gather more detailed and specific primary data on foreign language teaching and learning.
4. Interview individuals to drill down into the findings and develop an in-depth understanding of schools’ and learners’ needs
5. Collate, analyse and interpret all the data to inform robust, evidence-based recommendations and present these in a report to 2Bfluent.
Funded by
Impact
This project provided 2Bfluent with a detailed research report supported by robust and evidence-based conclusions and recommendations. The analysis of language learning needs in UK secondary schools provided rich data facilitating strategic decisions about expansion into the education sector and other service growth and improvement. As the expansion into the education sector was proven to be a viable and worthwhile, the research findings informed the development of a focused strategic marketing plan, illustrating how and when 2Bfluent can achieve its objective.
Our Associate Research Consultants:
Lee Francis, PhD researcher in Marketing, Lancaster University
See Lee’s LinkedIn profile
Zhuo Chen, PhD in International Relations, Lancaster University
See Zhuo’s LinkedIn profile
Dr Tara Jones, Senior Research Associate, Lancaster University
Lefteris Anestis, PhD researcher in Health Research, Lancaster University
See Lefteris’ LinkedIn profile