By Deepali Gupta
It’s IPL time folks… and the Zoozoos are back! The poofy-loveable white creatures, Zoozoos, return this Indian Premier League (IPL) season, participating in familiar TV shows, promoting personalised services that Vodafone India can offer.
The first two advertisements that will be released on Wednesday will feature a Zoozoo coming back for performances in a competitive dance show until the three judges give him a Perfect 10. The message: Get the number you want. The second is a quiz show in which the contestant uses ‘Phone a friend’ but runs out of credit to avail an instant small recharge.
The entire campaign that will run till the finale of the IPL cricket tournament on June 1, will promote a number of other such services which “address customer pain-points,” said Vodafone’s senior vice-president, brand communications, Ronita Mitra.
In India’s intensely competitive telecom industry, ease of usage often termed as customer experience is the biggest differentiator, apart from cost, for users while choosing between two mobile phone operators at a time of increasing popularity for mobile number portability (MNP). Customer experience assumes even more importance as operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular target people who spend more, and not just focus on user additions.
- Harish Bijoor
Brand consultant Harish Bijoor, who runs his own firm, however thinks the Zoozoo property is now jaded and it is time for it to be retired. “The point to remember is that the audience watching the IPL is a young audience. It is irreverent, wanting change. They (viewers) tend to tire when they see the same creative again.”
Bijoor said if the first appearance of Zoozoo’s scored a nine on a scale of 10, in his assessment by last season that rating had already halved and is likely to fall further this time around. “There is definitely a blip (in brand value) after every IPL.”
This marks the fifth season for the Zoozoos since their debut in 2009. The campaign that continues to account for nearly a quarter of the company’s annual brand spends also yields results.
When the Zoozoo’s came, Vodafone had broken away from its runaway success campaign with the Pug (dog), which was initiated by its predecessor. It was the first conspicuous change in advertisement campaigns for Vodafone that made an entry into India after buying the existing operations of Hutchison Whampoa in a $11-billion deal.
Then Vodafone embarked on replacing all Hutch branding with its logo, but kept all other communication in sync with Hutch’s activities.
The Zoozoo’s were another runaway success for ad agency Ogilvy and Mather. In 2012, the agency had proposed to break away from the Zoozoo campaign in the IPL season and replaced it with Internet promos through a series of tele-matches. The Zoozoo’s have been used to communicate service-specific messages in the past and similar to their second season, this time around too they will be promoting products across segments like voice, internet, and customer service.
Source:The Economic Times
Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Licensed to republish