Q] Could you tell us a little bit about what went on behind the scenes as you came up with the ‘Historical Café’ campaign?
‘Historical Café’ is the first brand campaign we’ve launched for India as a market. Canva has been available here for quite some time, but we hadn’t worked on a major campaign until now. Our primary goal was to create awareness and educate the users about Canva’s simplicity and versatility. Many people perceive design as complex and intimidating, so we wanted to break that barrier. By integrating humour and casual scenarios—like a dinosaur making a poster or Columbus editing a photo—we aimed to show that design is for everyone and part of everyday life. The campaign needed to feel heartwarming and light-hearted while demonstrating how anyone can use Canva for various purposes.
Q] What is Canva’s unique selling proposition in India?
Canva’s primary unique selling proposition (USP) is that it serves as an all-in-one design platform, offering graphic design, photo and video editing, as well as AI features, all in one place. Unlike other tools that separate these services, Canva combines them, creating a holistic and comprehensive solution. It is free, user-friendly, and employs drag-and-drop features, catering to both novices and design enthusiasts. Specifically for the Indian market, Canva localises its content by providing festival templates (such as those for Diwali), region-specific images, and AI features in multiple Indian languages. The goal is to ensure that Indian users can easily access relevant, localised content in their preferred language and on their chosen devices.
Q] What is your business model and user acquisition strategy?
Canva’s mission is to ‘empower the world to design,’ making anyone with design needs a potential user. Our acquisition strategy targets a broad audience, focusing on anyone who is active online. We offer a free version along with different subscription plans, so users can choose what suits them best. Canva is designed for various users: general consumers, content creators, educators, and businesses.
Q] Our platform aligns with our mission to democratise design globally, including in India.
For general consumers, particularly on social media, Canva provides templates for creating posts, which is a major use case. Creators benefit from features such as AI, photo, and video editing. Educators have access to tools like presentations and whiteboards, while businesses, whether small or large, utilise Canva to maintain brand consistency across platforms. Ultimately, we aim to integrate Canva into users’ everyday lives through tailored solutions for their visual communication needs.
Q] Does Canva cater more to urban consumers in India, or does it also have a significant presence among rural users?
We’ve been around for 10 years, and our focus in that time has been on building a strong product foundation, introducing features, and educating users. While many of our users may currently come from more urban markets or those with better digital awareness, we don’t prioritise one segment over another. Our goal is for anyone using the internet, whether urban or rural, to use Canva. We’ve also localised the platform with features like language support and optimised mobile experiences to cater to rural users. We’re constantly innovating to ensure our product is accessible across all segments in India.
Q] In terms of numbers what percentage of Canva users utilise the free model compared to the paid version?
While we cannot provide exact figures, a large portion of our users access the free version for tasks like creating social media templates, invites, and cards. However, many professional users, particularly small businesses, utilise pro or team features. As we are still establishing our presence in the market, we do not push any specific subscription plan, allowing users to explore the platform for free. Our focus is on catering to both casual and professional users according to their needs.
Q] What is Canva’s marketing mix, and how is the budget allocated towards the different channels?
We take an integrated media approach with our campaigns, balancing both digital and traditional platforms like TV to ensure we reach and educate every user in India. While we utilise global digital platforms, we also prioritise local platforms such as OTT platforms, streaming services, and regional TV channels that are more relevant to specific audiences. Over the two months that the campaign has been live, we’ve been optimising our media mix to maximise reach and engagement. This strategy ensures a well-rounded presence across various mediums, helping us allocate our budgets effectively and adjust based on where we’re seeing the greatest impact in terms of reach and user education.
Q] Considering Canva as a global company, where does India stand for Canva as a growth driver in the global ecosystem?
India is one of Canva’s top 5 growth markets, and we’ve seen over 100% year-on-year growth. Given this strong performance and the immense potential in India due to its large population, we’ve made significant investments in marketing, localising the product, and creating tailored content for Indian users. The market’s vast opportunity continues to drive our commitment to further invest and grow in the region.
Q] Which are the key growth markets in India in terms of regions?
Our campaign takes an all-India approach, aiming to reach users across the country, from rural to urban areas, and in both Hindi and non-Hindi speaking regions. We don’t target specific audience segments based on location, region, or state. Instead, we focus on making Canva accessible to everyone—from students to businesses—regardless of their background. While we do localise content for different languages, such as Tamil or Bengali, to enhance user understanding, we don’t prioritise one language or market over another. Our goal is to ensure Canva is a platform usable by all, across the country.
Q] What are some of the upcoming interesting campaigns for Canva that we need to look out for?
This is our first campaign, which has taken months of dedicated effort to conceptualise, create, and bring to market. We have exciting upcoming launches planned, including new templates, features, and product categories. Additionally, we aim to introduce more marketing campaigns in the next few months and will launch them in various markets.
