Duolingo has added Telugu to its list of supported Indian languages alongside Hindi and Bengali. To announce the app’s new Telugu-to-English course, Duolingo’s agency Digitas India created a social-focused campaign with this insight that while people in this region are skilled, their confidence often takes a hit owing to difficulties in communicating effectively in English.
Duolingo’s ‘Go from a star to a global star’ campaign incorporates elements from the Telugu film industry, popularly known as ‘Tollywood’. Instagram reels showcased Duolingo’s mascot, Duo, arriving and touring Hyderabad. The campaign included Duo’s collaborations with local content creators, interactions with the community, a rap track with a local artist, and even a mega-public unveiling with a massive Tollywood-style cutout of himself.
Digitas India also partnered with Roll Rida, a renowned Telugu rapper and created a Telugu rap song that tells the story of how mastering English on Duolingo can transform one from a local star to a global sensation.
Abraham Varughese, CCO, Digitas India said, “What a blast we had working on this campaign! From identifying local barriers to English fluency and unravelling cultural nuances, we took all that we learnt from the success of our brand strategy for Duolingo in India and brought it to life with Duo’s pushy motivation, irreverent humour and an authentic Telugu makeover.”
Karandeep Singh Kapany, Country Marketing Manager at Duolingo India said, “Telugu is one of the top 20 most spoken languages globally and we are happy to introduce a new Indic language course that helps Telugu speakers learn English. Our social-first campaign titled ‘Star Nunchi Global Star Avandi’ (From Local to Global Star) in collaboration with Digitas was aimed at referencing elements from the Tollywood industry. Digitas has played a pivotal role in making this campaign a remarkable success by keeping the brand’s authenticity alive and seamlessly blending elements which are specific to the heartland of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.”
Instagram Reels –
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwZdCw0tQm1/?igshid=M2MyMzgzODVlNw==
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwhWc9yo1i-/?igshid=M2MyMzgzODVlNw==
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