INTRODUCTION

Advertising has long been viewed as a method of mass promotion, wherein a single
message can reach a large number of people. However, this mass promotion
approach also has its own set of problems since many exposed to an advertising
message may not be within the marketers target market and thus, may be an
inefficient use of promotional funds. However, this is changing as new advertising
technologies and the emergence of new media outlets offer more options for targeted

advertising. Advertising also has a history of being considered a one-way form of

marketing communication where the message receiver is not in position to
immediately respond to the message. In fact, it is expected that over the next
10-15 years advertising will move away from a one-way communication model and
become highly interactive. Another characteristic that may change as advertising
evolves is the view that advertising does not stimulate immediate demand for the
product advertised. That is, customers cannot quickly purchase a product they see

advertised. But as more media outlets allow customers to interact with the messages
being delivered the ability of advertising to quickly stimulate demand will improve.
BACKGROUND

Vodafone entered India in December 2005.

Acquired 10 percent stake in Bharti Ventures Limited (Bharti Airtel)

Successfully rebranded 'Hutch' as 'Vodafone.

Vodafone Essar started expanding its presence in India.

Rebranding included
Change is good... Baseline - Hutch is now Vodafone

Earlier Campaigns : Happy to help, Friend circle, Cheaper SMS, Amar Chitra Katha Alerts.

THE ADVENT OF ZOOZOO

Ogilvy & Mather, the agency that handles Vodafone advertisements, was asked
by Vodafone to create a series of 30 advertisements which could be aired each
day during the IPL Season II.
They employed Bangalore-based Nirvana Films to shoot these ads in Cape Town,
South Africa through the Cape Town based production house, Platypus
Productions.
Zoozoo has a big egg-shaped head with scrawny legs and thin body. At first look,
it looks like an alien. Zoozoo speaks a completely gibberish language.
Zoozoo were lovable, funny and they had some madness about
them that people connected to them immediately.

COST

Animations 10-15 times costlier than real people.

ZooZoos had low cost costumes, real people.
Speedy Schedules.
30 advertisements cost only Rs 3 Cr.
20-30 sec long.
ZooZoo name nowhere in commercial.
Massive Viral Marketing.

OBJECTIVE

Promoting The value Added service of Vodafone.

VAS is considered a cash cow for cellular companies

3g Service needed more awareness, hence Faster, Smater, Better (Power for you)
was leveraged with help of this campaign.

Create the required buzz around the brand and break the clutter among the frenzy
surrounding the IPL.

OBJECTIVE ACHIEVEMENT

Yes, this campaign didn't generate the sales number to justify the return on the
massive investment. Yes, this campaign will never create the pull for Vodafone
value added services or increase revenue to that extent.

These were never the objectives of this campaign, therefore we shouldn't judge
the effectiveness based on these parameters.

Zoozoos have been successful in giving Vodafone a makeover and establishing

maximum brand presence.

In fact, the IPL 2 will forever be remembered as the season of Zoozoos.

MISSING ELEMENTS

Rural Population could have been targeted in the same campaign by adding some
local language voice over.

This would have pushed the overall success of the campaign to the next level.

Company had invested a huge amount in the overall Advertisement

Product:
VAS services of Vodafone are the products in consideration. As mentioned earlier
around 30 different services are provided by Vodafone.
Price:
VAS services offered were charged around Rs.30 in general. Chota Recharge was
available in various price ranges from Rs.10. This ensured price affordability to all.
Place:
Most of the VAS services were promoted in urban areas and had urban audiences in
mind while providing services.
Promotion:
ZOOZOO Ads were extensively used to promote all the VAS.

SEGMENTATION

Vodafone enacted the image of an urban common man, through ZooZoo

character they displayed various offers and the usefulness.

The various services offered by Vodafone such as chota recharge, group SMS
service, busy alert service, fashion tips, recharge anywhere, bhakti songs,
stock alert, voice SMS etc were shown in the most creative way imaginable.

Not all Ads were easy to understand as far as the rural population of India is
concerned. A very large portion of the total Indian population didnt get
much information however they too loved the character.

Some explanatory vocal sentences could have increased the segmentation by

a great extent; moreover region specific languages would have made this
campaign much more impactful.

TARGETING AND POSITIONING

Vodafone tried to showcase all the VAS services they have to offer; through
different theme specific advertisements.

ZooZoos were used in different ads to show how VAS services can be beneficial

Positioning Vodafone as fastest network, focusing mainly on urban population.

Urban population were the most exposed these ads; the target customers
were clearly the same.

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
WEAKNESS:
Undermining effect on brand Vodafone
Had an undermining effect on the brand Vodafone
Difficulty in understanding faced by rural population
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 2 expected to have good TRPs
THREATS:
A major intimidation to the brand VODAFONE
Ads could get lost in major marketing war during IPL.
Rural Population may drift to competition, as they saw no value addition.

Advertising - Internet

Dedicated microsite What kind of Zoozoo are you?

Downloadable Ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers and videos.
Facebook aimed at building a community.

VIRAL MARKETING
Vodafone came up with creative advertising campaign of zoozoo during IPL-2.
This strategy was a buzz and lived up to the brand image of great creativity and
clever marketing.
In the first 10 days of IPL-2 it reached 89 million people.
This has helped its company to raise not only its profits but also tremendously
increased its brand image. This strategy captured imagination of millions all
across the country.
MARKETING PRACTICE
Zoozoo campaign was one of the best campaign in marketing. Never in the
history of Indian advertising, we witnessed a campaign that generated so much
interest and curiosity among all the segments of the society, be it young or old.

IPL attracts all the deep pocket advertisers and to standout, one needs to think
out of the box. This clutter is a nightmare for the marketer.
The success of ZooZoo is the success of minimalism and simplicity.
One should appreciate the creative talent of O&M and Nirvana Films who proved
that Indian Advertising has come of age.
A Well Directed Social Media Campaign
The official fan page of ZooZoo saw a rapid growth.
On May 4, the keyword Zoozoo was the third highest search word on
google.co.in and its YouTube channel was the second most subscribed channel in
India.
We must appreciate its simplicity and subtleness of communicating messages.
Here, Vodafone is trying to tell us VAS stories in a world akin to; yet different,
from humans.

AD CAMPAIGN IMPLICATION

Vodafone operates in what is known as oligopoly. An oligopoly is a market

structure that has unique features because it is characterized by a few sellers and
mutual interdependence.
Each seller tries to outdo the other through what is known as price
wars (cutting down prices) and non-price wars. Advertising is part of nonprice war where a firm tries to outdo its competitors through marketing and/or
advertising strategies to generate mass appeal.
Zoozoos are part of a unique and innovative advertisement strategy aimed at outdoing the strategies of Vodafone's competitors.

Persuasion Matrix for ZOOZOO

Persuasion Matrix helps marketers see how each controllable element of their ad
interact with the consumers response process
Promotional Planning
Comprehension/Receiver - Television audience
Attention/Source - Zoozoo
Presentation/Channel TV Commercials
Yielding/Message - The different ads
Distribution
These services were started in all circles by Vodafone at one go
ZooZoo campaign was in place with all distributors in super quick time

THE TELECOM BATTLE

Bharti Airtel, Idea are biggest competitors
Airtel launched My Airtel My Offer with Madhavan and Vidya Balan
Idea launched Walk when you talk with Abhishek Bachan
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BETTER?
Zoozoos became more popular than the network.
Messages written in text in the end - difficult to comprehend for viewers from
semi urban and rural areas
Avoid hammering different products in short span
Phased release of each storyline to promote different offers.
Some Number Crunching
Vodafone reports on at end of Q1 FY10.
Vodafone India added 7.68 million subscribers in the quarter.
ZooZoo advertisements helped Vodafone to increase its customer base by
3.8% in Q1.
Vodafone reported an increase of 23 percent in revenue at constant exchange
rates.
LEARNINGS
Low cost ads can make good impact
Concept is important
Expensive Brand Ambassadors can be avoided
Ads more relate to common man
Most Importantly

Keep it simple

CONCLUSION

ZooZoo advertisements helped Vodafone increase its customer base by 3.8 % in

the 1st quarter of 2010.

Experts claim that the ads did not achieve the target of increasing VAS usage.

This campaign didnt generate the sales number to justify the return on the
massive investment. This campaign will never create the pull for Vodafone value
added services or increase revenue to that extent.

These were never the objectives of this campaign, therefore we shouldnt judge
the effectiveness based on these parameters.

What this campaign was set out to do? Create the required buzz around the
brand and break the clutter among the frenzy surrounding the IPL and thats
exactly what it did.