Study of ZooZoos – A Vodafone campaign

Adarsh RecriwalAmit SharmaAmlendra KatiyarVipul Arora

Vodafone Plc.• World's leading international mobile

communications group• Vodafone Essar the Indian subsidiary of Vodafone

Group commenced operations in 1994 • Currently has over 85.82 million customers.• Ranked #1 Brand in a survey by Brand Equity• Named the ‘Most Respected Telecom Company’, the

‘Best Mobile Service in the country’ and the ‘Most Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the Year’

The ZooZoo Campaign• This innovative advertising campaign was launched in

April 2009 during IPL• After the famous pug, O&M created a new set of

characters called ‘ZooZoos’ • Are funny creatures with egg-like heads and thin limbs

like sticks• Made about 30 advertisements for different services

offered maintaining a consistent brand image• It is popular both on television and online medium• Recently Vodafone has again re-launched the campaign

after it was discontinued for few months after IPL-2

“Who would have imagined that a bunch of little white eggheads scampering around, making no sense of the

gibberish dialogue they exchange, will be such a roaring phenomenon” says Piyush Pandey, O&M

ATTRIBUTES

• Cute • quirky • Cuddly • Alien-like • Harmless • Kiddish • Humorous• Not Complicated • Dumb • Full of life • Adorable

What do they Convey?

• Familiarity• Cartoons we used to watch

as kids• Invokes pleasant memories

and fantastical world we used to live as children but branded by Vodafone, cool to talk about

• Does not produce bias of any kind (class, creed, religion etc.)

“This was something which was created purely out of textbook and is totally an Indian idea. The characters are such that they lead simple lives, speak insane and incomprehensible language and move in a certain way with human emotions.”

ZooZoo Madness on People

• ZooZoo penetration is very large • Skits and wedding invitation card in ZooZoo

format, discos have days on theme of ZooZoo etc.

• Youth icon admired by all age groups• Special quiz page 'What kind of ZooZoo are you'. • And another page allows you to download

wallpapers, mobile wallpapers and screensavers.

An Ad on Google showing ZooZoo in

various moods “ZooZoo” Theme Night at a Delhi

Nightclub

A wedding card used in South India

Context Analysis

The direct contrast of black and white characters with glamorous, loud and colorful IPL 2009, the theory is very relevant in consumer behavior to attract maximum attention.

Analysis of one Ad of ZooZoo • A kid playing alone is being disturbed

by a bully. The scene depicts a younger kid is always treated like an extra on the ground, he is asked to field, gets the last batting and no bowling.

• The situation shows a person when alone and exposed to some danger is just a click away from his friends.

• The bully here is been beaten up by the kids friends, which signifies the strength of unity.

• This can also be interpreted as a girl being stalked by a road side Romeo and the girl calls her friends/brothers for help.

Revolves around the secondary things in life

Zoozoo1: A kidZoozoo2 : The bullyZoozoo 3,4,5&6: Friends of Zoozoo 1

Campaign Objective

• The promotion of Value Added Services through the charming, lovable ZooZoo

• Increased brand awareness and recall

Campaign Analysis

Segmentation and positioning strategy :

• Segmentation– For value added services across all age group,

gender.– Use of a gibberish language, transcending all the

language barriers– Personality of a common man– Only need based segmentation, depending on

the type of services used• Positioning

– As a provider of a very wide range of value added services

– As a telecom provider with a gamut of value added services apart from just the basic features of voice calls

Creative Strategy Awesome characters, the concept , the

expressions, the body movements makes Zoozoo ads different

Specific dialogues (expressions needs no words)adds more humor, are non controversial have a national appeal and simply amazing

Within days People in awe of those cute and lovable characters, but the curiosity heightened when Vodafone disclosed that Zoozoos were not animated

The popularity of this ad campaign proves there are many creative ways to convey a message without using animals

Execution Strategy

Indian Premier League 2 (IPL-2) as a platform to launch their advertisement, which proved to be a great marketing strategy

Then Vodafone promoted these characters on social media sites like facebook, youtube, orkut etc

Next, it launched the ‘Complete the Zoozoo story’ Competition

Now a tie up with Shoppers Stop Launch of Zoozoo goodies and

merchandise like toys, mugs, keychains, t-shirts, etc.

Media Vehicles

The media mix for the campaign included television, print, outdoor, radio activation and online. They mainly leveraged the buzz created through the viral marketing zoozoo campaigns

Television • Commercials were

created explaining one story per service per day for 30 days during the IPL season 2.

• Also launched emailing from Vodafone, Christmas gifts , Alien, envelope ads etc

• Most watched and loved on YouTube.

OOH Media

•Use of hoardings to catch attention•During IPL matches, the hoardings were put up at major traffic centers to catch the attention of onlookers

•Merchandise tie-up with shoppers stop•The product line-up will include T-shirts, kids wear, mugs and bath accessories

Radio Radio City has started an on-air contest for the Zoozoo

fans across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. Winner gets zoozoo merchandise

Print Media Zoozoos had a huge appearance

in the print media like newspapers, magazines.

ZooZoo Calendars 2010 are a huge hit.

Online Media

• Vodafone’s Microsite– One can partake in quizzes and contests e.g.. ‘What kind of Zoozoo are

you?’– Goodies(wallpapers, screensavers and ringtones), can be downloaded

and details on the IPL can be viewed.– Specially created YouTube channel on the site, the TVCs are provided

there for people to watch and share.

• Social Media Networking– Ads on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, SmsGupShup– Zoozoo fanclub in FB has over 3,25,000 fans– FB also offering downloadable Zoozoo screensavers, wallpapers and

sound clips of Zoozoo ads. A video also been uploaded.– FB had zoozoo ads even before airing on TVC’s

Complete the ZooZoo Story Contest

• Watching snippets of the upcoming Zoozoo commercials and completing the ads according to their vision, they will create their very own Zoozoo story

• 1000 t-shirt and 5 BlackBerry will be given out and their stories will also be shared by the company.

ZooZoo Games

Jigsaws

Zoo E-cards

Spot the difference

Media Planning• IPL:

– Is an apt launch pad due to its roaring success in first season – The IPL 2.0 reached a cumulative of 89 million viewers as compared to 70 million

viewers of the first edition of IPL.– But it could as well break the clutter during season with its innovative

advertisements.• TVCs:

– Created a buzz and left them wanting them for more,– They have planned to come up with new ads after the season is over on the

regular television channels.• Social Media:

– This is cost effective media – The overlap of audience active on social media and prospective VAS users also

made the medium significant.

Once the zoozoos have become popular, they have started making the zoozoo merchandise with tie ups with bigger brands like Shoppers Stop.

Budget Allocations• Vodafone has pumped in 2-3 months of

regular ad budget into a 40 days period during the IPL

• Their ad spend boils down to 83.3 crores.• Got on ground and on air sponsorship with

no premium cost, • A 20 second spot on IPL has cost them Rs. 7

lakh along with benefits like on-ground and in-stadia signage.

• For 59 matches the total expense comes to Rs. 65 crore.

Measuring the Effectiveness of the Campaign

• The zoo zoo campaign stood high on all the grounds of media effectiveness i.e.. – Reach– Frequency – Rating – Continuity

IPL Impact

Week 1:• Vodafone most watched brand during ad breaks.• Next-Airtel, Lifebuoy Total, Airtel Broadband Internet

service and complain• Vodafone – 15% of overall commercials

Week 2:• Vodafone most watched brand during ad breaks.• Next-Airtel Broadband, Airtel, Bajaj DTS-I, Idea

Online Media- Effectiveness• ZooZoo viral videos have been rated as the most viewed

viral videos according to Visible Measures • Was titled ‘Most Valuable Puppets’ at 810,356 views• YouTube

– 24th most Subscribed Channel (All Time- India) with 1,741 subscribers

– Vodafone Busy Message generating a total of 197,837 views

• Facebook– Has a quiz is based on identifying “What kind of

Zoozoo are you?”– Official fanclub has more than 325,000 fans– FaceBook was the centre of all web activities with all

videos and the microsite pointing to this page

A wedding card used in South India

• SMSGupShup– Zoozoo group saw participation with 3,847

members (followers) in just 30 posts (tweets).– It included quiz and trivia– Attempt to take feedback on the campaign,

which is quite an appreciable step.• Official Microsite– It got a total of around 90 in-links from various

blogs, whereas the unofficial site got 73 in-links – The site has merchandise, the ads and the quiz

app

A wedding card used in South India

Online Media- Effectiveness(Contd..)

• Google Search– “Vodafone Zoozoo” was a busy search term

throughout the season.– “Zoozoo Wallpapers” saw outbreak on

Google search in India with Delhi and Maharashtra leading.

• Conversation– The high cost of animation was the reason

for using real humans– Sentiment of conversation was positive

biased on blogs and microblogs– Blogosphere “Zoozoo” created a buzz equal

to the “IPL”.

A wedding card used in South India

Online Media- Effectiveness(Contd..)

Recommendations

“ ..Zoozoos are NICE. But will people buy Voda connections because of them?

Sometimes over-dependence on creativity as opposed to effectiveness in advertising may fall fatal in a long

run."

• VAS - deciphered by already saturated urban market .

- More effective and cheaper ways to lure the existing customers.

• New growth drivers- Semi urban and rural India

- Phone still used only for receiving and making calls.

- The ads do not give non-urban customers a reason to use the Vodafone network.

• Over shadowing the brand itself.

Targeting and Positioning

• Price wars with falling ARPUs and MNP

- Highly competitive future. - ZooZoos created a small time buzz, but

difficult to sustain for long.• Clutter with so many ads

- Real message ignored with the entertainment value of egg headed creatures

Strategies and Rationales

• No Twitter Mania - No engaging Content. Just video links. - ZooZoo facts and insiders cud have created wider viral

engagement.

• Not apt marketing buzz created for official ZooZoo microsite.

• Low Orkutting - Orkut- Default socio-net for Indians, but with a constraint for

creating brand pages. - Very low activity and not promoted officially. - Media people have moved to facebook, but not the general

user.

Social Media Strategies

• Blasted the ads during a short span of IPL season

- People have a limited capacity to catch hold from the bombardment of ads.

• Phased roll out of services for people to take advantage of services.

- Ads to be complemented with apt OOH and digital media. Engagement should lead to buying a connection coz of these services.

• Connect through diverse cultural fabric of India.

Promotional Calendar

Measurement and Evaluation Methodologies

Creative Vs Effectiveness grid

• Highly creative crowd pullers. Good as a branding exercise – shedding off pug image of Hutch and creating a cute identity of Vodafone.

• Will increase revenues but will compel people to buy connection?? – serious doubt.

• A part of a brand story, but with a warning tag - one has to be careful about letting the Zoozoos become bigger than the brand or the message

In a nutshell……ZooZOos

Thank You