VODAFONE ESSAR'S ADVERTISING STRATEGY

The 'Zoozoos' Campaign

Vodafone Essar

Vodafone entered India in December 2005 Acquired 10 percent stake in Bharti Ventures Limited (Bharti Airtel) Successfully rebranded 'Hutch' as 'Vodafone Rebranding included- Change is good... Baseline - Hutch is now Vodafone Earlier Campaigns : Happy to help, Friend circle, Cheaper SMS, Amar Chitra Katha Alerts

Introduction - ZooZoo campaign

Zoozoos: Advertisement characters promoted by Vodafone during the India Premier League Season 2 (IPL) Campaign to communicate the VAS offered by the company The ads were created by Ogilvy & Mather, an agency under Executive Creative Director, Rajiv Rao, South Asia.

Days before Zoozoo

Pug was the mascot for vodafone Taken over from Hutch IPL 2008 had Vodafone going in Pug for its Happy to Help service

Making of Zoozoo

Prakash Verma of Nirvana Films Filmed in South Africa with local crew Movement, Talk, Gestures, Emotions, Costume designs and artwork 3 weeks pre-production and 2 different fabrics

Costs
Animations 10-15 times costlier than real people ZooZoos had low cost costumes, real people Speedy Schedules 30 advertisements cost only Rs 3 Crores 20-30 sec long ZooZoo name nowhere in commercial

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS: Campaign penetrated both in the media as well as in social networking sites Was representation of a common man depicted as a cartoon character ZOOZOO Wide media coverage, more precisely through video Easy and cheap animation leading to low production cost

No celebrity endorser - No associated risks and costs

SWOT Analysis (cont)

WEAKNESS:

Had an undermining effect on the brand Vodafone Zoozoos becoming more popular than the network itself Difficulty in understanding faced by rural population Messages written in text in the end - difficult to comprehend for viewers from semi urban and rural areas Phased release of each storyline to promote different offers

SWOT Analysis (cont)

OPPORTUNITIES: Revolution in the conventional way of advertising that was through public figures and celebrities Low advertising cost leading to provision of cheaper services IPL Season 4 expected to have good TRPs THREATS: A major intimidation to the brand VODAFONE Ads could get lost in major marketing war during IPL

Advertising - TVC
About 30 different TVCs for VAS including - Cricket alerts, beauty alerts, phone backup, Chota Credit, Vodafone Maps, Vodafone call filter, Live games, Musical greetings etc. 20-30 seconds ads with the message about the VAS. And ending with Make the Most of Now

Advertising - Internet

Dedicated microsite What kind of Zoozoo are you? Downloadable Ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers and videos Facebook aimed at building a community

Themes for advertisement

Magic Box Stock Alerts International Roaming Bhakti Saagar Busy message Dating Tips Voice SMS Fashion Tips Recharge Anywhere Ringtone Facebook Group SMS Call Divert

Background Music Exam Results Beauty Tips Phone Backup IPL commentary Cricket Alerts IPL contests Chotta Credit Maps Live Call Filter Live Games Musical greetings Start of the match

Pricing and Promotional Offers

Offers like providing Cricket Alerts, Beauty Alerts, Phone Backup, Chota Credit, Maps, Call Filter were provided All these services were at affordable prices, some around 30 Rs per month

Viral Marketing

Vodafone was successful in effort of viral marketing Strategy captured imagination of millions across the country Every age group was interested in the ad and the related VAS products

Success

ZooZoos dominated social networking sites Videos had 3million hits in 3 weeks Most watched viral video for 2 weeks and Youtube ad downloads Vodafone India added 7.68 million subscribers in the quarter ZooZoo advertisements helped Vodafone to increase its customer base by 3.8% Vodafone reported an increase of 23% in revenue at constant exchange rates

Learning's

Low cost ads can make good impact Concept is important Expensive Brand Ambassadors could be avoided Ads more relate to common man Most Importantly
Keep it simple

THANK YOU