AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

ADVERTISING REPORT ON

PUG TO ZOO-ZOO

INTRODUCTION

In 2007, during a visit to this country, Vodafone Group’s then India-born CEO

Arun Sarin had said that he aims to make the company India’s largest mobile

operator with a marketshare of 25% by 2010.

Vodafone’s India story has unfolded fast and furious since then. And when the

group, which has operations in over 30 countries and is the world’s largest cell

phone operator by revenues, announced its annual (2008-09) results last month,

the India plan looked well on course.

The company’s revenues in India stood at 2.68 billion pounds, while from the

entire Asia-Pacific region revenues were at 5.81 billion pound for the fiscal 2009.

During the year, the company added 24.6 million customers in India and ended

the year with the highest rate of net additions in the market. In fact, in March this

year, Vodafone overtook market leader Bharti Airtel in subscriber additions,

roping in 2.85 million new users.

As the numbers stand today, with 71.5 million subscribers and customer

penetration of 34%, Vodafone is the second largest service provider by revenue

in India. While announcing latest results, Vittorio Colao, chief executive,

Vodafone Group, said, “We have continued to drive penetration in India,

generating strong revenue growth from our brand and commercial offers and a

substantial investment in network coverage.”

Analysts point out that one needs to assess Vodafone’s performance against the

overall growth story in the mobile telephone market in India. In the last fiscal, the

cellular subscriber base in the country grew 66% to touch 261 million, up from

157 million in 2006-07.

But what makes Vodafone’s India story so interesting is the sheer number of

early obstacles in its way. For Vodafone—which had acquired 67% stake in

Hutchison Essar from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa (the company

was formally renamed Vodafone Essar in July 2007) with the stated aim of

grabbing a piece of the fast-growing Indian mobile market—the journey was

fraught with branding booby traps.

First, brand Hutch had to make way for Vodafone, whose brand value was

estimated at $21,107 million by MillwardBrown’s 2007 Brandz, a ranking of the

Top 100 Most Powerful Brands. And the transition was to cover 16 telecom

circles, over 35 million customers, 4 lakh shops and thousands of employees of

the erstwhile Hutch, which was then India’s fourth-largest mobile service

provider.

All this was to be connoted through a new visual identity—from the deep pink

logo of Hutchison-Essar to Vodafone’s trademark deep red speech mark

introduced in 1998.

What made the task complicated was the fact that in India, the brand Hutch itself

had undergone several changes—in fact, a year before Vodafone stepped in,

Hutch had invested several crores to replace brand Orange in Mumbai.

“Our aim has always been to grab the No 1 slot in the consideration set of the

consumer,” says Harit Nagpal, director, marketing and new business, Vodafone

Essar.

The inaugural TV commercial showed the trademark pug (minus the boy) moving

out of a pink kennel into a red one. An energetic version of Hutch’s signature

‘You and I’ tune played towards the end, as the super concluded, ‘Change

is good. Hutch is now Vodafone’. There were four more commercials featuring

Hutch’s animated boy and girl, introducing the new brand’s logo to consumers.

Vodafone put in close to Rs 150 crore into the first phase of the rebranding

exercise—with Rs 60 crore in mass media and another Rs 90 crore in retail

activities.

In the second phase, Vodafone ushered in its global strapline—“Make the most

of now”, which replaced “How are you?” in 2001. By then it was apparent, the

boy-and-pug chapter would soon be over. In 2008, Vodafone used the platform

of cricket when it unveiled the ‘Happy to Help’ series during the first season of

the Indian Premier League (IPL).

This season the Zoozoos are all the rage. These characters have virtually

hijacked the online media as well as television—to convey a value added service

(VAS) offering in each of the new commercials.

From the looks of it, Vodafone can tick the check box on meeting its early

branding challenges. But there are issues, such as falling average revenue per

user (ARPU). It reported a fall in ARPU from Rs 350 per month in March 2008 to

Rs 295 in December 2008, down to Rs 274 per month in March 2009.

The company is quick to point out that every player has suffered on the back of

falling rates and that it is increasing focus in rural India, where usage is, in any

case, lower.

Vodafone certainly hopes that the Zoozoos with their simplicity will take

Vodafone one step ahead in its plan for India.

The pug debuted in the year 2003 for Vodafone's (then Hutch's) network

campaign called 'Wherever you go, our network follows'. Over the years, the

pug has been used in various campaigns, including the one announcing the

transition from Hutch to Vodafone. The last pug campaign was released in

November 2008 for the 'Happy to Help' series.

The pug plays a different role each time in every Vodafone campaign. "First it

was about network, then it was about brand change and now it is about

Vodafone's customer service," he adds.

During the IPL, Vodafone had released the ads featuring eggshell characters

called Zoozoos which had become quite famous. When asked why these

overnight sensations were dropped in favour of the pug, While the Zoozoos are

the brand's newest property (and will continue to be used for campaigns in

future), they are in no way 'endorsing' the brand. "Both the Zoozoo's and the pug

have a different role to play and they will be used at appropriate times and for

different occasions, both the Zoozoos and the pug are good properties for the

brand.

The new campaign featuring the pug almost seems to be in continuation with the

'Happy to Help' series of last year, with situations involving the pug helping the

girl. For some the new ads for Vodafone might be just an extension from its

previous ads, while others are willing to overlook that aspect.

The pug series operating at the brand level and doing the job of maintaining and

reinforcing brand values while topical communication such as Zoozoos keep the

brand fresh and exciting. " On the other hand, the pug still hasn't lost its charm

and continues to garner positive responses from the audience.

DIFFERENT ADVERTISEMENTS SHOWING THE

JOURNEY FROM HUTCH TO VADAFONE:

The first advertisement was the one in which a boy and a pug was shown.

Wherever this boy goes the pug follows him and the tagline was “Wherever you

go, our network follows”. This was launched when HUTCH used orange

colour.

In 2005, HUTCH was relaunched and orange colour was replaced by pink colour.

Reasons behind changing the colour were:

The company decided to re-brand its product, get rid of the brand

name Orange, as it is called in Mumbai, and bring it under the same

umbrella as the other 12 circles in the country .

Naveen Chopra, corporate vice president, group marketing,

Hutchison Essar, said, "The idea is just to refresh the brand, and

inculcate a new 'Hutch spirit'."

Tagline was the same but in the end it says “ HUTCH, now in pink”

The advertisement shown was:

On 21 September, HUTCH became Vodafone by controlling stake in Hutchisson

Essar by paying $10.9billion.

Tagline was: “Change is good, Hutch is now Vodafone”. Advertisement shown

was:

The film opens on a dog in a house with a toy-bone in his mouth.

Suddenly he gets up and runs out of the house for something.

He comes back with a pink toy-bone as the jingle plays, “You and I...

...in this beautiful world.” Hutch “Now in pink.”

PROBLEMS FACED BY VODAFONE IN ITS INITIAL

STAGES:

• There were millions of Hutch India related pages floating around on the

Internet and remained till eternity, always confused visitors of the web.

• Visitors still looked for Hutch and end up in official dead-ends (instead of

redirects).

• Visitors looking for Vodafone, didn’t found much to help them out

(unless Vodafone has done a damn good job)

• The web strategy team had to re-look at SEO, all associations, links,

partnerships, content, and had to work really hard to get things in the right

place all over again.

The film opens on a pug coming out of a pink kennel.

Running through forests and green fields it reaches a red kennel.

After a little inspection the pug gets into it from one side and comes out...

The ad ends as we see the pug settled comfortably in its new home.

Super: Hutch is now Vodafone

...of the other. Super: Change is good.

COMMUNICATION TOOLS USED BY

HUTCH/VODAFONE:

1. Pug:

2.Irfan Khan:

Sitting in a restaurant IrfanKhan talks about the Diminishing value of money.

He demonstrates the fact by saying, “nayi picture lag jaati hai,do sau rupaiye ka choona lag jaata hai.”

He further illustrates his point as he says, “chai-paani ka bill sau rupaiye se zyaada ho jaata hai, sau rupaiye mein aaj-kal hota kya hai?”

But the next moment he tells us the exception of Hutch’s recharge card that comes for Rs 99 with a validity of 30 days.

Voiceover: “Hutch ka naya recharge. Rs 99. Chale poora mahina.”

The ad ends on our man asking the waiter for credit as he comes with a bill of Rs 155.

3. Zoo-zoo

A group of zoozoos are looking at a notice board carrying the exam results.

One of the zoozoo starts crying loudly and runs away because of a bad score.

Another Zoozoo celebrates his success in the exams by dancing.

Tension build amongst other zoozoos as they see their friends' reactions to their respective results.

The message onscreen reads: Get exam results

The TVC ends with the super: Make the most of now.

PUG V/S ZOO

The pug debuted in the year 2003 for Vodafone's (then Hutch's) network

campaign called 'Wherever you go, our network follows'. Over the years, the pug

has been used in various campaigns, including the one announcing the transition

from Hutch to Vodafone. The last pug campaign was released in November 2008

for the 'Happy to Help' series.

Rajiv Rao, executive creative director, South Asia, Ogilvy India says that the pug

plays a different role each time in every Vodafone campaign. "First it was about

network, then it was about brand change and now it is about Vodafone's

customer service," he adds.

Harit Nagpal, chief marketing officer, Vodafone India says that the pug is used

once in seven to eight months and this time, the same procedure had been

followed. The pug had not "gone anywhere," he maintains.

During the IPL, Vodafone had released the ads featuring eggshell characters

called Zoozoos which had become quite famous. When asked why these

overnight sensations were dropped in favour of the pug, Rao clarifies that while

the Zoozoos are the brand's newest property (and will continue to be used for

campaigns in future), they are in no way 'endorsing' the brand. "Both the

Zoozoo's and the pug have a different role to play and they will be used at

appropriate times and for different occasions," Rao explains. Nagpal adds that

both the Zoozoos and the pug are good properties for the brand.

The latest commercials by Vodafone featuring Zoozoos have hit the Indian

Market like a storm. They have caught attention, became popular and will now

probably go into history as one of the most brilliant advertising idea for the

industry. The question on every advertising manager’s mind will be “Why have

they clicked?”

If we look at the history of Vodafone in India, they have had a similarly succesful

campaign when they were known as Hutch. The Hutch Puppy started as a small

campaign, grew into a really popular one and got a lot of recognition. The Hutch

Puppy probably had a decent enough brand value and now we can see a puppy

being used in a lot of other ads trying to use that brand equity, which Vodafone

did not care to take along.

Sometimes the most perfectly surveyed and tested campaigns fail miserably and

sometimes small campaigns become a rage! This campaign of Vodafone

Zoozoos should get credit for all aspects! Vodafone launched the campaign

during IPL, one of the most expensive times to launch a campaign on television.

Vodafone made 15-30 advertisements for different services offered, which

involved a decent commitment to the campaign! Plus they have taken all the right

steps to make it popular both on television and online.

The advertisement also puts a question in front of other telecom companies,

does having big movie stars and cricketers as their brand ambassadors really

help? Can’t simple animated characters based on local theatre slim built women

dressed in white costumes, called Zoozoos draw more attention? It has changed

the way advertising can be done and seen! A new trend, a new wave!

PROJECT ZOOZOO

Prakask Varma, ad film maker, Nirvana Films, has directed the commercials and

he accepts that zoozooz were a big challenge to create. The practical aspects of

how they will move, talk, gesticulate and emote were very important. Also,

costume design and art work were crucial elements.

In two-and-a-half months, the agency had to come up with 30 ads each of which

is 20-30 seconds long. pre production itself took three months. Shooting, editing

and sound recording for 30 ads had to be done in 10 days. The campaign was

shot completely in Cape Town, South Africa. The entire shoot cost approximately

Rs 3 crore.

VODAFONE & ‘The Art of Innovation’

Zoozoo is definitely anthropomorphic, and was created by the creative team at

Ogilvy and Mather (O&M) India. The company’s plan was to air 30 different

commercials featuring the zoozooz during the IPL Cricket tournament. It was no

mean feat to churn out so many commercials at a go with the risk of consumers

not grasping them as fast as the brand churns them out. But Zoozoo connected

with the audience immediately. So much so, that one of the ads was viewed

13,000 times in one week on Youtube. Zoozooz have also captured the

Facebook audience’s attention with having over 35,000 friends. Zoozooz are not

animated characters. They are the real people behind the costumes. The design

of the characters is such that it fools anyone into thinking it is animation, and that

indeed was the very illusion that had to be created. The big egg heads with thin

hand and legs made them look so much enigmatic. “We wanted to create

something unique. A character that would always be memorable… somewhat

alien and yet, very human,” says Prakash Varma, who made the films. “When we

started out, the idea was to ensure that no one should be watching cricket.

Everyone should be talking about Zoozoo.” Now that is some statement

considering cricket is nothing less than a religion in India. Great work buddies…

Way to go!!!

Zoozooz are not animated. They are real  people who were made to wear body

suits. The design of the characters is such that one gets fooled into thinking it is

animation which was indeed the very illusion that had to be created. In fact, the

material of the body suits.

Zoozoos, a new innovative concept from mobile service provider Vodafone Essar

is on its way to capture hearts of millions of viewers similar to that of 'Hutch

dog'.Prakash Varma, ad filmmaker, Nirvana Films, has directed the commercials,

and reveals that the Zoozoos were a big challenge to create. The practical

aspects of how they will move, talk, gesticulate and emote were very important.

Essentially, costume design and artwork were crucial elements.

“It took me three weeks of pre-production to understand how it will work,” says

Varma. There were two fabrics that were considered for the body suits, and one

was rejected for it had too many wrinkles and was shiny. The wrinkles would

have shown when the characters moved, thereby shattering the illusion of

animation. “So we chose the more practical, thicker fabric,” Varma explains. 

The production team divided the outfit into two parts: the body and the head. The

body part of the outfit was stuffed with foam in some places, while the head was

attached separately. To make it look bigger than a human head, a harder

material called Perspex was used, which in turn was stuffed with foam (with

scope for ventilation).

 If one wishes to understand the size of this head, here’s a fact: a human head

would typically reach up to the mouth level of this giant Zoozoo head. “We kept

the hands and legs thin, which is why we cast women – and occasionally children

– wearing the costumes,” says Varma. The thin limbs, contrasted with big bellies

and a bulbous head, all add to the illusion that these creatures are ‘smaller’ than

humans. Sets were created to suit the size of the Zoozoos. Cinematically, this

‘size’ was a trick: the creatures look smaller than they actually are on screen, to

portray a different world of sorts. For this, the speed of shooting was altered:

Nirvana shot it in a high-speed format to make them look the size that they do.

Furthermore, simple sets/backdrops were created and spray painted with neutral

Greys – a colour of choice so that attention isn’t diverted from the main

characters. For a supposedly ‘outdoor’ shot, even the shadow of a Zoozoo was

kept ‘live’ and not done in post production: it was painted in a darker shade of

grey on the ground. An even lighting was maintained throughout.

There was virtually no post production work done. The films were shot by

Nirvana in Cape Town, South Africa, with the help of a local production house

there, called Platypus. Incidentally, the same combination of people also worked

on the ‘Happy to Help’ series last year. When asked whether Cape Town is fast

becoming a tourist spot for Vodafone and Nirvana, Varma laughs, saying, “Oh

no! It’s just that we are very comfortable with the team there and know what sort

of work to expect from them.” Nagpal adds here that the production cost had to

be minimal for unveiling such a large number of commercials. “Otherwise, our

production costs would exceed media spends,” he quips. 

 The official fan page of Vodafone Zoozoo campaign on Facebook has so far

attracted over 70,000 fans. Neo@Ogilvy, the digital arm of O&M, which is

managing the Zoozoo Facebook brand page, claims that the official fan page on

the social networking site has received 2.6 million page views till date, since its

launch on April 20, 2009.

Besides, video clips of the Vodafone Zoozoos TVCs (television commercials), the

Facebook page is also offering its users downloadable Zoozoo screensavers,

wallpapers and sound clips of Zoozoo ads. A video showing the making of

Zoozoo ads has also been uploaded. To build and sustain engagement on the

Zoozoos Facebook brand page, Vodafone uploads its TVC on daily basis, even

before they are aired on TV.

Already 20 TVCs have been uploaded on Facebook. Vodafone will be releasing

a total of 30 Zoozoos ads during the IPL season on TV channels.

Connect with Zoozoo

Zoozooz have stormed the digital world. Zoozooz are featured in specially

created microsite. Here, one can take part in quizzes and contests, including

“What kind of Zoozoo are you?”. Each Zoozoo has a unique set of characteristics

and traits allotted to it. The microsite also allows for zoozoo goodies to be

downloaded (including wallpapers, screensaver and ringtones) and offers details

on the IPL.

Apart from the microsite, a Zoozoo fan page has been created on Facebook,

which has more than 5,600 members. Fans have access to special tag-me

images, Zoozoo sounds (such as Zoozoo laughter and music tracks) and ad

previews. People are also following Zoozoos on Twitter and get updates

whenever new commercials go in the air.

Also, in the pipeline are a spot, titled “A day in the life of Zoozoo” on Twitter, and

merchandise such as key-chains, mugs, T-shirt, Orkut theme and mobile phone

stands.

Vodafone’s Zoozoos has taken the online world by storm. Looking at the recent

stats about the popularity, I think its one of the best campaigns which trickled

from mainstream to online world and people are going crazy about it.

If we talk about stats, then here is a small snippet:

Its official fan club brand page which is being maintained by Neo@Ogilvy,

the digital arm of O&M has garnered near about 70K fans (2.6 million

page views yet) since its launch on April 20 in Indian Premier League.

2400 messages have already been posted on the ZooZoos brand page’s

wall.

On May 4, the keyword ‘ZooZoo’ was the third highest search word on

Google.co.in and its YouTube channel is the second most subscribed

channel in India.

Now if you ask me then surely I’m all excited about it since its been a long time

that I’ve actually come across real good example of leveraging social media to

such extent in Indian context except for couple of top of mind recall like Tata

Jagoore campaign, MTV Roadies,  the Pink Chaddi campaign etc. But this is one

is typically different in terms of audience acceptance and real good use of user

generated content. If you talk about engagement then it has reached a level

where fans have started using the ZooZoo characters to create image, which

they are uploading it on the brand page and thus spreading the word.

Infact, I too liked it when it was first aired on television much due to its simplicity

and sutbleness of communicating a message. Here, Vodafone is trying to tell us

VAS stories in a world akin to, yet different, from humans.

But as rightly pointed out by Harit Nagpal, chief marketing officer, Vodafone

India, the success is not defined solely by the number of fans, but also by the

extent of engagement that it will build with the consumers.

Though measuring engagement would be difficult but looking at so many people

engaging themselves via social media channels and spreading the word, surely it

will do much good to the brand equity of Vodafone in the longer run.

'Making of Zoozoo'

Zoozooz had thin limbs, contrasted with big bellies and a bulbous head, all add to

the illusion that these creatures are ‘smaller’ than humans. Sets were created to

suit the size of the Zoozooz. Cinematically, the size was a trick: the creatures

look smaller than they actually are on screen, to portray a different world of sorts.

For this, the speed of shooting was altered: Nirvana shot it in a high-speed

format to make them look the size that they do.

Furthermore, simple sets/backdrops were created and spray painted with neutral

Greys – a colour of choice so that attention isn’t diverted from the main

characters. For a supposedly outdoor shot, even the shadow of a Zoozoo was

kept live and not done in post production: it was painted in a darker shade of grey

on the ground. An even lighting was maintained throughout.

There was virtually no post production work done.

Zoozoo Costumes

The characters needed to look animated. So there were two fabrics that were

considered for the body suits, and one was rejected for it had too many wrinkles

and was shiny. The wrinkles would have shown when the characters moved,

thereby shattering the illusion of animation.

The costume was divided into two parts, the head and the body. The body part of

the costume is stuffed with foam to create rounded shapes. To create large

heads they used a material called Perspex, which was again stuffed with foam. If

one wishes to understand the size of this head, here’s a fact: a human head

would typically reach up to the mouth level of this giant Zoozoo head.

The expressions on the faces of the Zoozoos, deliberately simplistic and limited

in number, were all made in rubber and pasted onto their heads. While the

change in expression and the characters could have been animated, it would

have taken several years to finish 30 television commercials and come at a huge

cost to the advertiser.

People behind Zoozoo

Zoozooz are not animated characters. They are real people wearing body suits.

They are all local theatre actors. As the shooting schedule was punishing, the

film maker had to use adult actors as opposed to children, who would have been

better suited to play the part of the Zoozooz. As a result, to make the characters

look tiny, all the sets and props had to be larger than life. Also, as they had to

wear an enlarged head piece, they were practically blind.

“They couldn’t see where they were going, so we had several funny instances

where the actors would walk right out of the frame during shooting. Also, it was

very difficult for them to breathe with those headpieces on, so the actors would

take them off every few minutes for some air. But after the first few days, we got

into the groove of things and managed just fine,” says Prakash Varma, director at

Nirvana Films.

Vodafone: Leaving pugmarks all over

Vodafone has released four new commercials under its 'Happy to Help'

campaign, which, like the earlier 'Happy to Help' one features the trademark pug

and the girl. This time around, the ads have been released to promote offerings

such as Vodafone Mobilestores, Self Help, Vodafone Stores and Mini-Stores and

Vodafone Self Service Kiosks.

The first film, called Garden, shows the pug helping the girl dig pit to plant some

saplings. The second one, titled Baking, has the girl trying to read a recipe from a

book and the pug helps her by trying to hold down the pages of the book.

Another ad called Soap shows the girl taking a shower in a cubicle when

suddenly, her soap slides out of her hand and the pug pushes the soap back in

to the cubicle. The fourth ad is called Dorm and is about how the pug signals to

the girl when the dorm inspector is making his daily rounds.

Ogilvy India is the agency that has worked on the campaign while the ads have

been directed by Vodafone 'veteran', Prakash Verma of Nirvana Films, who is

behind some of the most famous films for Hutch/Vodafone, including the recent

Zoozoo attempt.

The new campaign featuring the pug almost seems to be in continuation with the

'Happy to Help' series of last year, with situations involving the pug helping the

girl. For some the new ads for Vodafone might be just an extension from its

previous ads, while others are willing to overlook that aspect.

Sandip Mahapatra, vice-president and head, planning, McCann Erickson says

that the pug is still relevant as it is like a Vodafone signature. As a supporter of

the continued use of this mnemonic, he says, "The network is a faith-based

service, akin to your religious beliefs. And much like one's belief in God, one is

secure that he exists somewhere." He adds that Vodafone uses the pug for two

unseen factors in mobility. Chances are when put to the test, the network signal

or the service delivery might prove weaker than expectation, much akin to one's

faith wavering in religious matters. "The pug and the girl lull you into a belief that

is irrational. And that to me has been the whole point of this body of advertising,"

he concludes.

Rajeev Raja, creative head, DDB Mudra, says that despite the pug having been

around for many years, the little stories in the campaign continue to be engaging.

"I see the pug series operating at the brand level and doing the job of maintaining

and reinforcing brand values while topical communication such as Zoozoos keep

the brand fresh and exciting. "

Nilesh Vaidya, creative director, Euro RSCG has a different viewpoint. He says

that the earlier campaigns featuring the pug had changed the code of the entire

category. "But maybe the time has come to put it to rest as its becoming a blind

spot now," says Vaidya. He concludes by saying that the pug ads will work only if

it is given a totally new surprising twist to the story, which, at this point, sounds

unlikely.

Amar Wadhwa, planning head, Cheil Communications, says that he has been an

ardent fan of Vodafone's advertising and while the brand made a brilliant

transition from the pug to the Zoozoos, by reverting to the pug again, especially

without changing the creative context, the communication looks jaded.

"Also, as a consumer I feel as if two different brands are talking to me: the 'pug'

brand and the 'Zoozoos' brand," he says. Also he feels that unlike in the past, a

couple of situations in the commercials are a bit contrived.

On the other hand, Nagpal from Vodafone feels that the pug still hasn't lost its

charm and continues to garner positive responses from the audience.

The ZOOZOO Effect

A bunch of little white eggheads scampering around, making no sense of the

gibberish dialogue they exchange (which really sounds like a re-run of a bad

cassette) be catapulted to international stardom! Even the most hardcore cricket

buff doesn’t mind their ‘nautanki’ between the overs. In fact, over the weeks,

they’ve become bigger than the product itself capturing a huge chunk of the

market space. Today, they have a dedicated Facebook fan club. Their ads and

news hit the networking site and Youtube before the telly. E-mails are flooded

with their making, pictures and genesis. They are the highlights of chat sessions.

And now that they are focusing on merchandising too, Zoo Zoos, people, have

turned into this unbelievable phenomenon. If Hutch made Pug the ‘national’ dog,

Zoo Zoo’s are the new youth icon - one that will truly be missed after IPL’s grand

finale. But trust us, it won’t be long before B-schools and media faculties across

the world turn these into one of the biggest and most successful case studies.

“To tell you the truth, we really didn’t expect this response,” gushes the brains

behind the Zoo Zoo, O&M’s Executive Creative Director, South Asia, Rajiv Rao.

The brief by Vodafone, tells Rajiv, was to talk about the services and run it

parallel throughout the IPL. “It was one film, one value-added service a day,”

after months of toying with ideas and brainstorming, the team at ad agency

Ogilvy and Mather, short on time, zeroed in on the Zoo Zoo. “It’s common for

creative people to perform at the last hour,” laughs Rajiv, who finalised the look,

packed their bags and shot the entire campaign in South Africa along with ad

filmmaker of Nirvana Films, Prakash Varma and local production house there,

Platypus. “We needed characters that had continuity in them, and Zoo Zoos fitted

perfectly,” he adds. As for the name, it really has no logic. Like Rajiv says, it just

goes with the character.

When it came to the making, animation was never an option. They shot real

people and made them look animated. “Which was different, fresh and

challenging, in a sense, it was ‘live’ animation!” Rajiv was open to

experimentation and all set to change the mindset of people. For Varma, the

toughest test was costume design and artwork. “How they will move, gesticulate,

talk, emote…” Varma tried different looks and fabric for anything that wrinkled or

shined would kill the illusion of animation. What added to the animated effect

were big heads stuffed with foam outlined with a hard material called Perspex.

“We kept the hands and legs thin, which is why we cast women - and

occasionally children - wearing the costumes,” says Varma. The thin limbs,

contrasted with big bellies and a bulbous head, gave the ‘small’ impression. Then

came the sets - all in neutral greys, even lighting so that attention was on the Zoo

Zoo. Varma then shot it in a high-speed format to make it look animated.

“Zoo Zoo pictures, e-cards, vote for your favourite Zoo Zoo, which friends looks

like Zoo Zoo, group Zoo Zoo sms, wallpapers, desktop themes, videos….Zoo

Zoos are a super duper blockbuster!” tells PR guy Sachin Khurana as he updates

us on several other things in the pipeline like mugs and key chains. It’s great to

be in Zoo Zoo land. Hope to see them soon after their South African vacation .

Marketing of Zoozoo

Vodafone planned to spend some four months’ worth of marketing monies in one

month and use the platform of IPL as the brand visibility is at its peak during IPL.

If only one or two ads had been aired, viewers would have got bored watching

them over and over again during the IPL. So campaign of 30 ads was launched.

The aim was to release approximately one ad a day, to sustain interest till the

end of the IPL.

Zoozooz connected well with the audience and the campaign was a hit. There

was the curiosity factor piquing viewers who wonder, who are the Zoozooz

really? Are they alien? They have a certain madness to them, which makes them

likeable and memorable.

Zoozooz are everywhere now. On the Zoozooz Facebook page, people can view

new commercials, download images and wallpapers, and participate in a “What

kind of Zoozoo are you?” contest. In the pipeline are a spot, titled “A day in the

life of Zoozoo” on Twitter, and merchandise such as key-chains, mugs, T-shirts,

and mobile phone stands.

Telecom company's ZooZoo ad wins PETA award

The awards are given to businesses that take advantage of humane alternatives

to the use of real animals in their advertisements, PETA said in a press release

here.

'ZooZoo' is part of the latest Vodafone ad campaign which has replaced the

company's 'pug' ad campaign.

PETA had raised objections in the past to the use of animals, including a

parakeet and a dog in Vodafone's advertisement campaigns.

The 'pug' advertisement was bad news for real life pugs as many viewers

purchased pugs and breeders cranked out as many puppies as they could. Late

when the fad appeal wore off,many dogs ended up in shelters or were

abandoned,the release said.

'ZooZoo' ads are a refreshing change from earlier Vodafone campaigns, says

PETA Chief Functionary, Anuradha Sawhney.

"The popularity of this ad campaign proves there are many creative ways to

convey a message without using animals. Animals used in films are often treated

as little more than props and many suffer terribly behind the scenes," she said.

REFERENCES

• http://www.4to40.com/fastforward/default.asp?junk_emails=India_Hutch_Ad

• http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/15/stories/2007021502081800.htm

• http://www.techgadgets.in/networking/2007/20/hutch-renamed-to-

vodafone-in-india/

• http://ibnlive.in.com/news/hutch-becomes-vodafone-from-tomorrow/49019-

7.html

• http://www.techshout.com/telecom/2007/20/hutch-gets-renamed-as-

vodafone-in-india/

• http://www.labnol.org/india/corporate/hutch-pink-to-soon-don-vodafone-

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vodafone-pug.html

• http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=14&url=http

%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki

%2FZooZoo&ei=1lrKSoOpG47GMPyfhfMH&rct=j&q=zoozoo&usg=AFQjC

NFeMpbDf1YtC-VCa3eCRJlb74Srdw&sig2=b2SN1H-3yxplTajt_NJNfw

• www.indianpad.com/.../chika-the-hutch-pug-and-this-beautiful-world/ -

• http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A

%2F%2Fwww.indianexpress.com%2Fcomments%2Fthe-zoozoo-effect

%2F465365%2F&ei=DVvKSr60C4zyMezpnfMH&rct=j&q=effect+of+zoozo

o&usg=AFQjCNFyFkzdNEoI3XKZB55W0iDtOwBQmg&sig2=bPvJGrCyexI

qtokyaPmMdw

• http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A

%2F%2Fwww.expressindia.com%2Flatest-news%2Fthe-zoozoo-effect

%2F465365%2F&ei=DVvKSr60C4zyMezpnfMH&rct=j&q=effect+of+zoozo

o&usg=AFQjCNHtls4E_gmnKJU3H8UuRKguRGMYxw&sig2=MQ1Q__-

ITn-7-zHQooassA

ANNEXURE

DETAILS OF THE PERSON INTERVIEWED:

NAME: Arun Kumar

DESIGNATION: Relationship Manager

COMPANY NAME: Vodafone Essar

COMPANY ADDRESS: C-45, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase II, New Delhi-

110020

MOBILE: 9811918662

Email: arun.kumar9@vodafone.com