This marks upGrad’s third collaboration with Star Sports post, IPL 2020, and India vs England series in 2021 Higher edtech company upGrad has inked an ad deal with Star Sports for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) finals between India and New Zealand and the 2021 Wimbledon Championship. This marks upGrad’s third collaboration with Star Sports post, IPL 2020, and India vs England series in 2021. As part of the deal, upGrad will undertake a 360-degree campaign on TV, digital and social to talk about its MBA programs as the batch launches for MBA across B-Schools are coinciding with the upcoming sports extravaganza. The TVC is the brand’s attempt to showcase the rat race amongst students for pursuing MBA from a young age and how even post receiving their degree, they still have to compete in a crowd to secure jobs. upGrad talks about how to pick the relevant option for oneself and look outside the box, beyond the conventional options, that does not give you a namesake MBA degree but gives you a career-outcome linked MBA degree. The MBA ad campaign by upGrad will be first released on YouTube and Star Sports followed by over 50 TV channels in a range of regional languages like Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu. upGrad CEO - India Arjun Mohan said, “While saving up to pursue a higher education degree, working professionals often have to halt their career. This is where edtech leaders like upGrad are working rigorously to bring Indians a variety of online MBA options which offers quality content pedagogy backed with global university credentials and can be pursued without having them to quit their lucrative jobs.” Star Sports SVP Anil Jayaraj said, “We are excited to collaborate with upGrad for their new ad campaign. The World Test Championship and Wimbledon are global marquee events keenly followed by the viewers across India. In the coming few months, these events will be one of the biggest platforms for marketers to leverage. The WTC will be broadcasted at a prime time across five languages; we are confident of setting a new viewership record.” The Womb Co-Founder Navin Talreja added, “The ad reflects on the nostalgia of the quintessential childhood game of musical chairs and highlights the dearth of outcome-oriented MBA degrees thereby reinforcing the brand positioning of ‘Sirf Naam Ki Nahin, Kaam Ki Degree’. It is a poignant take on the MBA education system, admissions & outcome infrastructure in the country – a palpable dissonance which leading edtech players like upGrad are bridging.”