MxMIndia

Tag: Zoozoos

  • The love affair of Vodafone with IPL continues with the first two ads being released tomorrow

    It’s IPL time and the Zoozoos are back!

    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

     

  • Vodafone's lovable characters the Zoozoos have yet again mesmerized the audiences to become the leading brand page with the highest number of fans on Facebook.

    Vodafone Zoozoos have largest Facebook fan following

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vodafone’s lovable characters the Zoozoos have yet again mesmerized the audiences to become the leading brand page with the highest number of fans on Facebook. (http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/india)

     

    Recent statistics show that the Zoozoo army not only leads in the size of its fan following on Facebook, but the Vodafone Zoozoos page is the most engaging brand on Facebook with close to 617,529. (ER- 0.474%) people talking about it.

     

    Telecom Brands Chart (International)

    Vodafone Zoozoos page ranks 6th amongst the top 10 global telecom brands on Facebook. It is the only brand page of a telecom service provider brand apart from T-Mobile (10th) in the top 10 list. Nokia India is the only other telecommunications brand page from India that makes its mark in the top 10 telecom brand page list on Facebook.

    (http://www.starcount.com/chart/telecoms-brands/4f2ad5672418ae215b00002c/today)

     

    India Facebook Brands Chart

    The Zoozoos are one of the most loved characters in the advertising world. They not just appeal to the audience in the metros but are also popular amongst consumers in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

     

    Their popularity is evident while skimming the list of top 20 Facebook brand pages in India. Currently Vodafone Zoozoos are 19th on the list of top 20 Facebook brand pages in India that is majorly dominated with the pages of the celebrities, production houses, and television channels. Nokia India (mobile handset manufacturer) is the only other telecommunications brand that makes its presence felt in the top 20 list.

    (http://www.starcount.com/chart/country/india/today)

     

  • Ogilvy and Mather dishes up something new for Vodafone every year, and this year the agency lived up to its reputation with the ultra-cute Minions

    Minions music video Zumi Zumi to end Zoozoo campaign

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    An added attraction of the IPL is the season’s Vodafone campaign featuring the Zoozoos, which have been a hit ever since they first appeared on TV four years ago.

     

    Ogilvy and Mather dishes up something new for Vodafone every year, and this year the agency lived up to its reputation with the ultra-cute Minions. The miniature versions of the Zoozoos quickly became popular, and as the IPL season concludes, the campaign ends with a new twist – a music video.

     

    A music video is a first for the Zoozoo campaign. So why now? “When the campaign started it began with a teaser wherein these Minions were getting ready for ‘something’. They got internet, gossip, jobs etc for the Zoozoos so we thought it would be apt for us to end them with an anthem of their own,” says O&M’s Rajiv Rao.

     

    Like the Zoozoos, will we have to say goodbye to the Minions as well when the IPL season ends? “We don’t know yet. Who knows, maybe after three or six months or maybe only next year will we be able to see them,” Mr Rao says.

     

    Rajiv Rao

    And what can we expect from him and his team next year? “Every year, it’s a new challenge and we will see what brief and challenges are thrown at us,” says Mr Rao. He was interrupted by Piyush Pandey who jokingly said, “The future of the campaign is me working as Rajiv’s assistant.”

     

  • The zoozoos are still cute, but the situations can do with more laughs. The new crop of TVCs bring a little smile to your face, but they aren't hilarious

    Debrief: Vodafone: Zoozoos don’t make you LOL

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The IPL is here and so are the zoozoos. I think Vodafone is doing absolutely the right thing. By not overdoing these creatures, they’ve ensured the idea remains fresh. And unleashing them during the IPL makes a lot of sense, given the ‘full family’ audience this chaddi cricket attracts.

     

    The new season arrives with a slew of new ads. And this time they’ve come up with a new addition: Midget zoozoos, so to speak. In one TVC, the midgets transport an opera singer right to a fan’s doorstep. This sells music on the phone. Another ad features them indulging in celebrity gossip. Yes, it’s the same strategy; Zoozoo antics tied to a specific Vodafone offering. This route has worked for the advertiser in the past, no reason why it won’t work again.

     

    However, there’s a problem this time: In the ads I have watched so far, I found the humour quotient to be low. Of course, the zoozoos are still cute, but the situations can do with more laughs. The new crop of TVCs bring a little smile to your face, but they aren’t hilarious. I’ll give you an example: I still recall one of the earlier ads, where a family of zoozoos is seen howling and shrieking as they rush out of a room. We later discover one zoozoo has applied a face mask, and this drives them crazy. This ad promoted beauty alerts. It was just too good, I still laugh when I think of that situation. That’s the kind of fun Vodafone needs to revive if they want the zoozoos to pack in the same impact.

     

    A tip for the creatives: Write these ads from inside a pub, and not from your office.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 3. Still cute, but humour needs to be upped

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad. AdStrat is compiled by Shubhangi Mehta.

    Ad Strat: Vodafone ‘Zoozoos’

    Rajiv Rao NCD,Ogilvy&Mather

     

    Name of the Campaign/Ad: Vodafone ‘Zoozoos’

     

    The Brief: Talk about the various VAS (Value Added Services) that Vodafone has to offer in a way that’s clutter breaking and also keeping in mind the chaos of advertising on IPL, India’s most watched show on TV

     

    Research: Previous IPL experience showed us that the same people were watching the matches every day. Hence there was a high level of impatience when it came to watching the same communication over and over again. We took that learning on board and decided to treat even communication like content – something new to look forward every day.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te5kc5PFZFY[/youtube]

    Key issues: The ads were to be universally understood and enjoyed. Another challenge, because we were working with a large number of scripts, was to keep the freshness going. Third issue was purely operational – actually pulling off such a large number of films in one go was in itself a huge challenge.

     

    Media vehicles: While it was principally led by television, this was a truly 360 degree campaign involving digital, outdoor, retail, radio and experiential media.

     

    Market and client feedback: Two words: HUGE HIT. The campaign resulted in a spike in VAS uptake. On brand health measures, the campaign helped the brand overtake the market leader. It was awarded for creativity and effectiveness at the Abbys, AME, Spikes, Effies and the Vodafone global awards, amongst others. An exclusive line of zoozoo merchandise is a regular feature at Shoppers Stop outlets. The campaign was the most viewed viral in the world for a whole month. It helped the brand garner 2.5 million fans. The success of the Zoozoos is not in that India fell in love with them, but in that the love affair is still as fresh and going strong after 3 years.