The challenge
EGFWD (Egypt FWD), a national initiative in partnership with Udacity, provides free digital tech education to Egyptian youth. While the program saw massive early momentum, engagement dipped as creative fatigue set in. Applications declined in quality and cost per application soared, putting pressure on marketing efforts to reignite performance.
The situation
After a strong first year fueled by PR, influencers, and national attention, applications to EGFWD began declining. Rising advertising costs, stagnant messaging, and a generic “free education” pitch were drawing less committed applicants. High dropout rates and low graduation numbers signaled the quality of the applicant pool was falling.
“They are experts and they are reliable. I know 100% they manage and are keen about the campaigns. They know where the deficiencies and the challenges are, and try a lot of things proactively.”
The breakthrough
Think Orion was brought in to revive the campaign through message personalization and creative testing.
“They know where the deficiencies and where the challenges are, and try a lot of things proactively.”
The takeaways
Generic, one-size-fits-all messaging created low-quality traffic. Nuanced, persona-specific ads won back attention.
Free is good, but outcomes are better at attracting driven, qualified applicants.
Application quality correlates with long-term student outcomes. Better leads mean higher graduation rates.
Even successful programs decline if the message and media are not constantly evolving.
Inside 30 days, application quality was up 50%, cost per application down 25%, and the ambitious KPIs the team had been falling short of were met.
A reason to apply that meant something.
