Oxford Path achieves success at DigiZ Awards 2021 Hong Kong

Oxford University Press (OUP) has been organising baby crawling competitions for over a decade with the aim to advocate the importance of brain development for toddlers. Those well-received campaigns which attracted thousands of Hong Kong parents have also helped parents understand the importance of having language learning materials with multisensory features (like what the Oxford Path series can offer) that can simulate the brain neurons development. Not even the pandemic could stop OUP’s advocacy. OUP has nimbly adopted the use of technology to engage Oxford Path’s target audience with the very first virtual baby crawling competition in 2020.

OUP understood the concerns of parents amid the pandemic and offered an innovative and hygienic way to make the participation fun and safe. Its marketing team created the first virtual crawling competition in Hong Kong with an unprecedented learning experience, combining physical activities which provide a race pack with props with virtual tools such as an AR camera filter. The campaign was successful as it was the first one-of-its-kind to set up a precedent for the industry, setting Oxford Path apart from competitors and standing out in the market as an innovative brand.

The creativity of the virtual crawling competition attracted business partners to approach OUP proactively to develop shared success by widening the exposure to the target audience.

The virtual baby crawling competition was not a single successful case to demonstrate OUP’s vision and inspiration. There has been a variety of initiatives brought about by OUP amid the pandemic to serve the community to capture attention from the industry and customers. For example, in 2020, there were over six million downloads of additional digital resources produced for teachers and learners during school lockdowns due to COVID-19. The home-learning pack launched for infants and toddlers by Oxford Path was also well received by new parents and reminded them of the importance of quality education at home. In its 60th operation in Hong Kong in 2021, as one of the market leaders in the education publishing industry, OUP hopes to continue empowering educators to thrive in trying times.

What’s more, in August 2021, OUP kicked off its Hong Kong’s 60th Anniversary celebration with the Oxford Reading Tree Summer Party allowing local children to meet with the creators of Oxford Reading Tree.

They will then host the Education Leadership Forum with over 20 local and international speakers and 18 webinars to help educators navigate changes in education. The event will address the transformation needs in teaching, featuring thought leaders from the local universities, OECD and UNESCO. Details can be found here.

Looking ahead, OUP will continuously look for more collaborations with different brands to extend  reach to parents of toddlers and young children and adults with more innovative marketing campaigns to come.

OUP is a department of the University of Oxford, the world’s largest university press with the richest history. It furthers the university’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. In Hong Kong, OUP is a significant publisher of educational books, at all levels, and both in English and in Chinese. Courses for the teaching of the two languages in primary and secondary schools are widely used, and texts in the sciences and humanities also occupy dominant positions.

Oxford Path is jointly developed by Oxford University Press's editorial team and 12 international experts and scholars in early childhood education of English and mathematics. It instils basic concepts of English and mathematics in children and cultivates their logical thinking and higher-order thinking in pursuing holistic development. The language learning system designed for children aged 0 to 6 years old is based on great stories and gradually extends the learning with different related learning. With multi-sensory toys, children can develop their reading interest, lively learn and use the language, and develop generic skills through stories with different themes and fun activities.

This article is sponsored by Oxford University Press (China).