ABSTRACT and move them to purchase. An

ABSTRACT and move them to purchase. An

ABSTRACT Today’s media landscape advertisers find it ever more challenging to break through the clutter of competing ads in order to shape consumers attitudes and intentions and move them to purchase. An alternative strategy to greater advertising spending may be more creative advertising, which has been proposed to promote advertising effectiveness. However, researchers have neither agreed on a model of advertising creativity nor conclusively linked Zoozoo ad campaign to key measures of effectiveness.Based on a sample of twenty real life campaigns from Vodafone’s ZooZoo Campaigns, and a panel of consumer responses, this thesis provides strong support for a of ZooZoo characters based on novelty, meaningfulness, humor, positiveness, and well-craftiness. It concludes that these particular ads were more effective in promoting ad and brand attitudes, brand interest, purchase intentions, ad and brand WOM intentions, as well as perceived ad expenditure and effort.

Results hold even among consumers with a negative general attitude towards advertising.A test of the relative effect of Zoozoo ad campaign and media expenditure on sales value produces inconclusive results, however. Finally, the study shows that the ZooZoo campaigns were considered more creative among consumers and were more effective in their communication. Executive Summary In today’s world of competition, firms are selling goods and services through a variety of direct and indirect channels. Mass advertising is not nearly as effective as it was, so marketers are exploring new forms of communication, such as experimental, entertainment, and viral marketing.

One such innovative idea is Vodafone’s Zoozoo campaign. 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. In this report, we analyze the marketing strategies used by Vodafone, the efforts that have been put in the making of Zoozoo, and the impact it had on the customers mind. We also discuss what exactly were the objectives behind this idea of marketing. Zoozoo actually was a well directed social media campaign. We need to have a look at the statistics which prove this fact.The Zoozoo character looks quite funny and easy going on screen.

But it has been lots of efforts and expenses that have gone behind making of Zoozoo. The ideas used to make Zoozoo are quite interesting. One of the important concepts used to make Zoozoo a buzz is‘viral marketing. ’ IPL2 was probably the best time to launch these ads.

Almost all the Zoozoo ads promoted VAS services of Vodafone. The discussion of 4 P’s of marketing will help in analyzing the approach of Vodafone and kind of research they have done before launching its products.It will also give us an idea as to where Vodafone could have done better. We conducted a public survey to know people’s reaction to the Zoozoo ads, its effect on their approach towards VAS services, can Zoozoo really replace pug as an icon for Vodafone, etc. The data which we have gathered through this survey sheds light on success of Zoozoo in the minds of customers. In a nutshell, Zoozoo campaign is a revolution in the Indian market and we will have lot to learn from the strategies used by Vodafone. Area of research Advertising Research objective The research is on the Vodafone Zoozoo iconic campaign.

The research would also show the effect of this campaign on the consumer behavior towards the brand. Scope The research would be based on the success of the Zoozoo campaign across all media. Research Methodology Qualitative Questionnaire Justification of choosing the topic The Zoozoo commercials were one of the most successful campaigns of all times. Over 41 million people viewed it across the country. 75% of this population viewed this campaign at least 5 times. INTRODUCTION There is always a need to find a sustainable differentiation in a highly competitive telecom market.

Search is always on for a perfect platform to showcase the array of products and services, building emotional connect with the customers and yet be positioned as a market leader. With millions of Indian television viewers expected to tune in, for the Season 2 of the Indian Premier League cricket, a perfect media opportunity was upon the brand owners of Vodafone as this was set to become the biggest mainstream entertainment option for viewers in the summer of 2009 –a chance to talk to over 40 million consumers in 47 daysO& M created a unique world of lovable and funny egg shaped characters to tell the brand stories of Vodafone in. The Zoozoos represented a much simpler and more uninhibited world than our own – a world we could easily relate to. The Zoozoo commercials were viewed in rapt attention by over 41 million people across the country. But massive as they are, numbers alone don’t really do justice to a campaign that actually touched the hearts of Indian consumers. The ways in which the Vodafone Zoozoos have affected consumers is what makes it a truly iconic campaign.

Vodafone showcased 29 different products and services through the period of the IPL, each communicated in a simple, refreshing manner. Origin Of Zoozoo During one month of IPL second season, it seemed the world cares nothing but Zoozoos and we can feel it even now, when the ads and the iconic figures are not on air. Let us analyze various aspects of this Vodafone campaign. Zoozoos are white, ghost-like creatures with ballooned bodies and egg heads who are used to promote various value added services of Vodafone.

These ads though look animated are actually real humans in the Zoozoo costumes.The big idea actually came from the format of the medium available to Vodafone – the IPL, and the way viewers interacted with the medium. With 59 matches across 37 days, the IPL viewing audience was characterized by a high level of duplication across the tournament – the same people seemed to be watching the matches every day. When it came to the cricketing action, they had something new to look forward to every day. But brand communication on the other hand, was subject to very high levels of fatigue.

So Vodafone turned the characteristics of a media property into a strategic initiative for the brand.Vodafone decided to do the unthinkable – surprise the viewers/customers by introducing a new product/service message from the Vodafone repertoire every day. To bring the idea to life, it was necessary for Vodafone to first string these brand messages together with a device that would melt its way into the hearts of a billion strong nation and the now iconic Vodafone Zoozoos were born. For the campaign to be successful, Vodafone needed for the world of the Vodafone Zoozoos and their stories to be all permeating.

And every piece of the communication mix needed to work to the teeth, for the sum of the parts to be greater than the whole. Making of zoozoos and Cost The zoozoos weren’t animated characters they were actual human beings who were made to wear body suits. The design of the characters is such that one gets fooled into thinking it is animation. 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 him three weeks of pre-production to understand how it will work. 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 they chose the more practical, thicker fabric.

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. They kept the hands and legs thin, so they casted women and occasionally children wearing the costumes. 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 Grey 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.

According to Mr Harit Nagpal, Marketing & New Business Director, Vodafone Essar, the biggest challenge in making the films was expense, the audience and creating such large amount of ad films in one month. O & M spent huge amount of money.Viewers would not like to see the same ad during the matches again and again. So, Vodafone decided to produce a series of films that will be shown each day. They made 30 ad films, 13 of which are on the air.

Social Media Campaign The official fan page of Vodafone Zoozoo campaign on Facebook has so far attracted over 22,33,675 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 more than 2. 6 million page views till date.

On May 4, the keyword Zoozoo was the third highest search word on google. o. in and its youTube channel is the second most subscribed channel in India.

These ads are typically different in terms of audience acceptance and real good use of user generated content. If we talk about the engagement then it has reached the level where fans have started using Zoozoo characters to create images, which they are uploading on the brand page and thus spreading the word. We must also 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. Impact on the brandThe campaign had a very visible impact on brand health scores prodcts and services showcased helped position the brand as a leader, who developed the market and had differentiated offerings from the competition Cube dangler Bunting Shelf strip Mobile manners campaign Zoozoo Recharge Card & sticker Zoozoo DVD’s Zoozoos on You Tube Zoozoo game – Spot the difference Zoozoo MMS clips Zoozoo merchandise The wedding cards with a Zoozoo surprised everyone; the Zoozoo cakes that were baked; Zoozoo cookies were not far behind; Birthday parties with Zoozoo themes fast became the norm; Zoozoo merchandise did brisk business.Zoozoo rakhis sold in hoards. Cityscapes were painted with Vodafone Zoozoo murals.

Most recently, India’s leading retail chain, Shoppers Stop approached Vodafone to create and retail exclusive Vodafone Zoozoo merchandise – a first for any commercial brand in the country. The Zoozoos even caught the attention of leading butter brand Amul – who paid homage to the Vodafone Zoozoo campaign on its advertising Coasters Car Stickers Pen stand Bottle opener 4 Ps of Marketing Mix Product: VAS services of Vodafone are the products in consideration. Around 30 different services are provided by Vodafone.Price: Each of the VAS services are offered at a rate of Rs. 30 in general.

This price varied for different kinds of services. Chota Recharge was available in various price ranges from Rs. 10. Other monthly VAS services were charged accordingly Place: Most of the VAS services were promoted in urban areas and had urban audiences in mind while providing services. Since most of the services were luxury services, rural population could afford to spend extra money on them. Promotion: These VAS services of Vodafone were promoted using zoozoo ads and various other ads before zoozoo.

These zoozoo ads were made for each of the VAS service and made an impact on minds on customers SWOT Strengths: 1. Penetration in media as well as social networking sites: Vodafone operates in a market known as oligopoly. Advertising is part of non-price war where a firm tries to outdo its competitors through marketing and advertising strategies to generate mass appeal. Zoozoos are part of a unique and innovative advertisement strategy that has far outdone the strategies of Vodafone’s competitors. Due to all these factors, the campaign had a good amount of penetration in media as well as social networking site .

Depiction in the form of a cartoon character: Zoozoo is a semi alien semi-human character living in an earth-like place. These are very simple beings but are very expressive. They laugh aloud, cry loud and have a child like simplicity around them.

The success of zoozoo is the success of minimalism and simplicity. 3. Wide media coverage: An important factor which aided the zoozoo campaign was the scale of the campaign. Around 25 ads were aired during the IPL season which kept the curiosity high among the viewers.The fan club of zoozoo touched to around 70,000 and various interactive quizzes came up such as ‘Which zoozoo are you? ’ There were also mobile downloads of wallpapers and screensavers.

All these transformed into a great viral marketing event. 4. Low production cost: The cost incurred in the implementation of the zoozoo campaign as compared with the benefits it generated was infinitesimal. Easy and cheap animation techniques were used resulting in low production cost. 5.

No celebrity endorsement: No celebrity was required as a brand ambassador which resulted in a dual advantage.Firstly, it greatly reduced the production cost and secondly it generated a massive appeal among the audience being an innovative concept. Weaknesses: 1. Undermining effect on brand Vodafone: The campaign had an undermining effect on the brand Vodafone. This was because the campaign more focused on innovation assigning a secondary importance to the brand Vodafone. Zoozoo stole the entire show rather the VAS 2.

Problem faced by rural population: The ads used the art of depiction of man in the form of cartoon characters. This technique which seemed appealing to the urban population had interpretation problems at the rural level.The main cause for this was obviously low literacy levels in the rural areas which engendered a feeling of suspicion and weirdness in their minds.

Opportunities: 1. Advertising through zoozoos: The campaign revolutionised the conventional way of advertising through public figures and celebrities. This being a novel and indigenous concept provided a great opportunity to excel. 2. Cost benefit: As the advertisements did not make use of celebrities as brand ambassadors, it resulted in a large chunk of money being saved which be utilised for other useful activities.

An important advantage of this was that since the concept was a novel one it, in fact, proved beneficial to use cartoon characters while simultaneously providing a cost advantage. Threats: Ads getting lost in marketing war: In IPL season 2, people are more enthused about the matches as compared to watching advertisements. That is to say the advertisements assume a secondary importance. In this time, an ad has to be really eye catching and appealing so as to captivate the interest of the viewers.

So there is a definite possibility of the ads getting lost in the marketing war. Best Marketing PracticeZoozoo campaign is one of the best campaign in marketing. Never in the history of Indian advertising, had we witnessed a campaign that generated so much interest and curiosity among all the segments of the society, be it young or old.

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 simple beings that 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.Each ads tells a very simple story. After all, brands are made through story telling.

This unprecedented scale has kept the curiosity high among the viewers. It has in fact 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. REWARDS AND RECOGNITIONSVodafone Essar, one of India’s leading GSM Mobile services provider’s Zoozoo campaign won three accolades – two Gold and one Silver, at the Asia Marketing Effectiveness (AME) awards ceremony. The ‘Vodafone Zoozoos’ campaign won Gold and Silver in the ‘Most effective use of advertising’ category and the ‘Best Integrated Marketing Campaign’ category respectively. The Zoozoo Ads have won the PETA award (People for Ethical Treatment for Animals) this award is given to businesses that take advantage of humane alternatives to the use of real animals in their advertisements.At 9 June 2009 two of Vodafone Fiji Limited’s staff won the top awards at the inaugural Productivity Champions Award Ceremony. On 25 October 2010 Vodafone won awards at the recent MMT conference and exhibition held in Dubai, it won best operator led MMT project. Vodafone emerged the most awarded brand at Goafest 2010 with the Zoozoos sweeping a total of 15 metals in the Creative Abbys including two Grand Prixs, three Golds, four Silvers and six Bronzes.

It also picked up two metals in the Media Abbys. RESEARCHAs discussed earlier, the main motive for studying the Zoozoo ad campaigns is to check the effects it has on consumer behavior. ————————————————- ————————————————- Top of mind recall is considered if the brand features in first few brands mentioned by the respondent for the mobile operator category. Vodafone has the highest top of mind recall with users mentioning it among the top brands recalled by respondents ————————————————-Brand Ambassador recognition was also used to find out which brands are on top of consumer’s mind which may act as a stimulus in multiple situations. ————————————————- Both Pug and Zoozoos were on top of the mind of the respondents.

————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- Out of the 3 successful Brand ambassador’s of Vodafone Zoozoo finds the top recall position in minds of respondents