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JUMPLIST

Context

Categorisation

Problems After Q2

The Strategy

Discovery

Hook

Promotion

Conversion

The Output

Launching ET Masterclass: an AI learning ecosystem

2025 - 2026

In 2025 Q1, The Economic Times, a legacy media brand with 70 years of history, pivoted to capture the burgeoning AI education market. What started as two experimental programs quickly scaled into a full-scale e-learning ecosystem.

As part of the core design team, I was tasked with moving the vertical from scratch.

12+

Mastclasses

40L+

In A Single Month

5x

ROAS

Context

A basic understanding

The journey began with two flagship AI programs: AI for Business Professionals and AI for Students, led by industry expert Ansh Mehra. The initial market response was exceptional, validating a high demand for AI literacy among The Economic Times’ user base.

But this was just the beginning. We wanted to scale it.

To capitalize on this momentum, the business set an ambitious target for December 2025: scaling the vertical into a multi-category educational platform.

The journey began with two flagship AI programs: AI for Business Professionals and AI for Students, led by industry expert Ansh Mehra. The initial market response was exceptional, validating a high demand for AI literacy among The Economic Times’ user base.

But this was just the beginning. We wanted to scale it.

To capitalize on this momentum, the business set an ambitious target for December 2025: scaling the vertical into a multi-category educational platform.

Course Categories

We partnered with various industry experts and was required to design a system capable of supporting four distinct categories:

  • AI for Finance: Targeted at personal wealth management.

To maximize retention, I implemented an Interleaved Content Strategy. By 'sandwiching' high-engagement sections between foundational news blocks, we prevented audience drop-off at both ends of the spectrum. This architecture allowed us to serve the 22-30 Next-Gen investors without alienating our core audience (40+).

  • AI for Markets: Focused for trading and investment insights.

To maximize retention, I implemented an Interleaved Content Strategy. By 'sandwiching' high-engagement sections between foundational news blocks, we prevented audience drop-off at both ends of the spectrum. This architecture allowed us to serve the 22-30 Next-Gen investors without alienating our core audience (40+).

  • AI for Business Professionals: Upskilling the corporate workforce.

To maximize retention, I implemented an Interleaved Content Strategy. By 'sandwiching' high-engagement sections between foundational news blocks, we prevented audience drop-off at both ends of the spectrum. This architecture allowed us to serve the 22-30 Next-Gen investors without alienating our core audience (40+).

  • AI for Kids: Introducing AI fundamentals to the next generation.

To maximize retention, I implemented an Interleaved Content Strategy. By 'sandwiching' high-engagement sections between foundational news blocks, we prevented audience drop-off at both ends of the spectrum. This architecture allowed us to serve the 22-30 Next-Gen investors without alienating our core audience (40+).

Early Success

We partnered with various industry experts and was required to design a system capable of supporting four distinct categories:

Problems after Q2

The Death of Direct Sales

As the project scaled, the team hit a wall. Traditional direct-to-paid sales funnels became unviable due to high Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and negligible Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

  • Funnel Inefficiency: Users weren't buying high-ticket courses directly from ads or pop-ups.

  • Creative Fatigue: High-intent users were seeing the same assets too often, leading to a dip in engagement.

New Strategy

The "Free-to-Paid" Pivot

We redesigned the entire user journey. We pivoted 80-90% of our focus to a Free Session funnel.

Let's take AI for Business Professionals for instance;

Let's have a look of how we managed to capture the user using this funnel.

The Discovery

The Discovery

ET Web/mWeb: Integrated entry points across high-traffic properties.

ETPrime and ETMarkets App:

Push Notifications: Designed automated PN flows that served as the primary lead generation engine for the ET Main and ETMarkets apps.

Popups:

Print Ads:

✨

Connect to Content

Add layers or components to swipe between.

The Hook

The Hook

Created a low-friction "Free Session" registration landing page for each masterclass.

Massive lead volume captured via a low-friction entry point.

✨

Connect to Content

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The Promotion

The Promotion

WhatsApp: Drove ~76.5% of revenue; optimized creative sizes to increase visibility and CTR.

Email: Scaled "Story + Image" layouts which consistently outperformed traditional email templates.

Creative Cadence: Implemented a 3-day refresh cycle (instead of weekly) to keep engagement high across 12+ masterclasses.

✨

Connect to Content

Add layers or components to swipe between.

The Conversion

Paid Conversion

The transition from a free attendee to a paid student required a seperate landing page.

✨

Connect to Content

Add layers or components to swipe between.

Output

Record-Breaking Results

  • Revenue Milestone: Generated ₹40+ Lacs in February, the highest monthly revenue in the team’s history.

To maximize retention, I implemented an Interleaved Content Strategy. By 'sandwiching' high-engagement sections between foundational news blocks, we prevented audience drop-off at both ends of the spectrum. This architecture allowed us to serve the 22-30 Next-Gen investors without alienating our core audience (40+).

  • Sustainable ROI: Achieved a consistent 5x ROAS despite the increasing complexity of the offerings.

To maximize retention, I implemented an Interleaved Content Strategy. By 'sandwiching' high-engagement sections between foundational news blocks, we prevented audience drop-off at both ends of the spectrum. This architecture allowed us to serve the 22-30 Next-Gen investors without alienating our core audience (40+).

  • Proven Funnel: The "Free Session" journey successfully drove 91.8% of total revenue, proving that the design-led pivot was the correct business move.

To maximize retention, I implemented an Interleaved Content Strategy. By 'sandwiching' high-engagement sections between foundational news blocks, we prevented audience drop-off at both ends of the spectrum. This architecture allowed us to serve the 22-30 Next-Gen investors without alienating our core audience (40+).

Solving Information Chaos for Gen-Z Investors

One Man Army

Dec 2025 - Jan 2026 (2 Months)

I led the design of a mobile-first, AI-native experience, by architecting a system that handles massive data-density with a next-gen visual language, We pivoted a 70-year-old brand to capture a new audience.

The Interventions

  • Mobile-First Design: Redesigned the entire Budget hub for high-concurrency, thumb-driven navigation.

  • Budget GPT: Built an AI-native interface to translate complex fiscal policy into natural language.

  • Branding: Created a new 3D visual identity.

4M+

Unique Viewers

35%

Increase in GenZ Footfall

8M+

Total Page Views

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Work In Progress. More to come.

Handcrafted with 🧡 by Brijesh.