So much has been written about ZooZoo in various media. Hence I am not going to repeat it all over.
Read a wonderful analysis in afaqs here : Afaqs on ZooZoo
Another nice one in Businessline : Business Line on ZooZoo
Rajesh of Blogworks on ZooZoo : Here
Some ZooZoo ads here : ZooZoo collection
I never expected Vodafone to be a creative volcano.When Hutch became Vodafone, I was little sceptic whether the creative spark of Hutch will be carried forward by Vodafone. The news of the famous Pug being discarded deepened my scepticism.
But the brand just beat all those cynicism . The Happy to Help campaign and the VAS campaign all proved that this is a brand that will do anything to be creative.
ZooZoo was created to promote the value added services ( VAS) of Vodafone. Vodafone was trying hard to capture the VAS Space because it is a potential cash cow for cellular companies.
Vodafone also wanted to make the most of the IPL season 2. Although IPL is a crowd puller, it is also a marketer's nightmare because of the clutter. IPL attracts all the deep pocket advertisers and to standout, one needs to think out of the box.
Thus ZooZoo was born. ZooZoo is a semi alien semi-human character living in an earth-like place ( lot of which is left to the viewer's imagination).These are very very simpe biengs who are very expressive. They laugh aloud , cry loud and have a child like simplicity around them. I think many of us wanted to be such an expressive being which makes ZooZoo very personal .
The success of ZooZoo is the success of minimalism and simplicity. Although the production process of ZooZoo ads are not simple, as a consumer I was attracted to the simplicity of the concept and the execution. ZooZoo also highlights the power of storytelling. Each ads tells a very simple story. Afterall brands are made through story telling.
Another factor that aided the success of ZooZoo is the scale of the campaign.Reports suggest that there are around 25 different ads of ZooZoo to be aired during this IPL season. This unprecedented scale has kept the curiosity high among the viewers. It has infact dwarfed all the other advertisers in this season.
There is lot of risk being taken behind this campaign. The Vodafone managers who okayed this campaign may have risked their jobs to bring out such a massive campaign. The agency also risked their credibility. One should appreciate the creative talent of O&M and Nirvana Films who proved that Indian Advertising has come of age.
Vodafone has taken ZooZoo beyond advertising. The fanclub in the facebook page of ZooZoo has already touched 70,000 and counting. The brand has comeout with an interactive quiz that shows the type of ZooZoo you are : here
There are also mobile downloads of wallpaper, screensaver etc.
All these has transformed into a great viral movement. There are already a plethora of mail forwards and blogposts celebrating ZooZoo.
ZooZoo is a great marketing story. Vodafone has benefitted immensely by this campaign. It caught the attention and fancy of the consumers, aroused curiosity, told stories and made people retell the story.
Marketing Guru Seth Godin always emphasised that Brands should be Remarkable. He defined remarkable as " Worthy of Making a Remark about "
The ZooZoo is a classic example of being Remarkable...
Read a wonderful analysis in afaqs here : Afaqs on ZooZoo
Another nice one in Businessline : Business Line on ZooZoo
Rajesh of Blogworks on ZooZoo : Here
Some ZooZoo ads here : ZooZoo collection
I never expected Vodafone to be a creative volcano.When Hutch became Vodafone, I was little sceptic whether the creative spark of Hutch will be carried forward by Vodafone. The news of the famous Pug being discarded deepened my scepticism.
But the brand just beat all those cynicism . The Happy to Help campaign and the VAS campaign all proved that this is a brand that will do anything to be creative.
ZooZoo was created to promote the value added services ( VAS) of Vodafone. Vodafone was trying hard to capture the VAS Space because it is a potential cash cow for cellular companies.
Vodafone also wanted to make the most of the IPL season 2. Although IPL is a crowd puller, it is also a marketer's nightmare because of the clutter. IPL attracts all the deep pocket advertisers and to standout, one needs to think out of the box.
Thus ZooZoo was born. ZooZoo is a semi alien semi-human character living in an earth-like place ( lot of which is left to the viewer's imagination).These are very very simpe biengs who are very expressive. They laugh aloud , cry loud and have a child like simplicity around them. I think many of us wanted to be such an expressive being which makes ZooZoo very personal .
The success of ZooZoo is the success of minimalism and simplicity. Although the production process of ZooZoo ads are not simple, as a consumer I was attracted to the simplicity of the concept and the execution. ZooZoo also highlights the power of storytelling. Each ads tells a very simple story. Afterall brands are made through story telling.
Another factor that aided the success of ZooZoo is the scale of the campaign.Reports suggest that there are around 25 different ads of ZooZoo to be aired during this IPL season. This unprecedented scale has kept the curiosity high among the viewers. It has infact dwarfed all the other advertisers in this season.
There is lot of risk being taken behind this campaign. The Vodafone managers who okayed this campaign may have risked their jobs to bring out such a massive campaign. The agency also risked their credibility. One should appreciate the creative talent of O&M and Nirvana Films who proved that Indian Advertising has come of age.
Vodafone has taken ZooZoo beyond advertising. The fanclub in the facebook page of ZooZoo has already touched 70,000 and counting. The brand has comeout with an interactive quiz that shows the type of ZooZoo you are : here
There are also mobile downloads of wallpaper, screensaver etc.
All these has transformed into a great viral movement. There are already a plethora of mail forwards and blogposts celebrating ZooZoo.
ZooZoo is a great marketing story. Vodafone has benefitted immensely by this campaign. It caught the attention and fancy of the consumers, aroused curiosity, told stories and made people retell the story.
Marketing Guru Seth Godin always emphasised that Brands should be Remarkable. He defined remarkable as " Worthy of Making a Remark about "
The ZooZoo is a classic example of being Remarkable...
Eventually, I have worked in this campaign as a part of production team of nirvana films. Believe me while creating these ads we didn't imagine that this much massive reaction we will get through these ads. There were about 25 to 30 stories (scripts) but Varma's eye for detail and unique way of story telling made it simply stand apart. I am stunned when i saw facebook's zoozoo community has approximately 140000 fans... certainly Vodafone has planned everything before the release of ads.... to aquire evry single communication channel.... they ahve launched zoozoo toolbar also.... kool..
ReplyDeleteWell, after more than 30 days of Zoozooing on TV, it is beyond my doubt that these human aliens are an advertising success. As discussed, the simplistic communications were bang-on in illustrating the various VAS, besides successfully promoting brand Vodafone at the emotional level.
ReplyDeleteIn the age where the 'concept' is increasingly driving the brand communications, Vodafone has lead the way with the Pug and now the Zoozoos. They say that viral is the चाबि to a successful campaign - where the consumers themselves start advertising the brand. Zoozoos' popularity on the internet (social networking sites and blogs) only prove the point of a strong concept doing the trick for a brand. In fact adept marketing lies in the agility of the brand to stoke consumer sentiments in the right direction - To its credit, Vodafone was quick to aid the promotion of Zoozoo on the internet.
Vodafone is slowly waking up to the idea of using Zoozoos in out-of-home media, and perhaps, print. However, in my opinion, the TVCs still form the backbone of the (still) hoardings - on seeing the OOH hoardings, I connect to the communication only by recalling the TVC and not from the OOH communication alone. The point I am trying to make here is, for all those who believe that the TVC is dead (in the age of new media), Vodafone and Ogilvy have shown how the TVC can serve as the 'operating system' (e.g. Windows), while other media communications (internet, OOH, print etc) can successfully run like programs (e.g. Office!!) and deliver results for the brand PC. TV still rules the advertising landscape - other traditional and new media can successfully compliment the TVC to deliver a "through-the-line" (ATL + BTL) knock-out punch for a brand.
Recession talk is in the air - from MBA classrooms to boardrooms. Various advertisements have milked this recession "cut-back" theme (including Airtel). Vodafone's Zoozoo comes as an 'egghead' of fresh breath in the gloom and doom. Although the Zoozoo may not prompt the expense-wary consumer to straightaway press the VAS button, the consumer may atleast have the VAS offerings in mind - as the Pundits have declared, VAS will be the new telecom battlefield in the future, now that voice and text has been conquered.
Last but not the least, lets spare a thought for the Vodafone (and Ogilvy) officials who sanctioned this creative and the huge media budgets. When I first saw a Zoozoo ad, I didn't exactly like it. But it grew on me. And I am sure that it grew on many of us. Vodafone and Ogilvy undoubtedly took a risk by putting the Pug in kindergarden for babysitting, to give birth to the Zoozoo. I am sure heads would've rolled, if not reputations tainted, in the event of a failure. But what a grand marketing success it is turning out to be! Cheers to the Zoozoo!
hi,
ReplyDeleteI have analyzed the vodafone brand and tried to answer the following questions...
How do different elements like the pug, the zoo zoo and these cartoon characters connect with each other and with the Vodafone brand? What does the Vodafone brand stand for? Where does the punchine of "Make the Most of Now" fit in all this?
http://punchlineexpert.blogspot.com/2009/09/vodafone-make-most-of-now.html
Requesting your feedback on it..