Zoozoo

I have been wanting to write about the zoozoos for some time. The whole world seems enamoured with them. This has been a truly historic campaign and has successfully displaced all other advertisements that had some share of mind. Never before has advertisement impact been so impactful that has caught every body's fascination. Who is not talking about zoozoo. The social networking space is cluttered with zoozoos. Comments from the heart have been over flowing. Everybody has fallen in love with these cute creatures. Vodaphone with the help of O&M has cracked the formula for creating magic in communication. First it was the pug that stood for the all pervasive network which established a spontaneous connect with the masses. One should bear in mind that a mobile network is a mass product and hence communication design for this space is a big challenge. After all it has to have a large enough footprint to engulf its target audience. It has to evoke similar response across a spectrum of different psychographic segments. They have successfully done it with the pug for the network but besides interesting, cute, insightful communication design the magic was eluding them as far as advertising their services was concerned. The common thread which can hold a host of services together was not getting cracked. However the zoozoos have ended this search. They are so cute, so sticky, so endearing and so endless, so similar and yet so diverse, so entertaining, so captivating. It transcends across diverse audience segments keeping intact all its virtues. It is blessed with an entertainment quotient that makes it immensely watchable over and over again. The ability to keep boredom at bay gives this campaign tremendous traction. And despite this ability the advertiser has gone ahead and produced several renditions. The last I heard there were 40 in all. This shows the advertiser's resolve and commitment. And above all his conviction. And how correct they have been. They have created history. The mass audience can be connected by simple easy to remember properties. 35 or 40 services cannot be memorized. Definitely not by all units of a mass audience. Hence the need be minimal. This search had yielded the "pug" and now the "zoozoos". Two properties are as such easier to remember. And if the two properties are endowed with the virtues of likability and stickiness, then a substantial share of mind is guaranteed. This is what has been achieved by the creators of this magic. Not only is the creative product superlative but at the same time it perfectly aligns with the brand strategy creating awareness ( I am sure it will be unaided and perhaps top of mind) and builds the most endearing associations for the brand. Brand Equity of Vodaphone will get a huge fillip as a result of this creation. Returns will be many folds and hence the cost of the campaign has been rendered insignificant. Whatever has been the cost, it hardly matters. The advertiser should reward the Agency and creators over and above what was perhaps budgeted for. A deluge of awards can be expected for this effort and why not. Magic is not created everyday. The acceptance that Indian advertising has been getting of late will ensure that this universal piece of work will be grabbed by several markets thereby making whatever the cost has been even more irrelevant. So as they say if you put your money where your mouth is, one then does not have to bother about the quantum because the returns that will come by will more than justify the investment. Merchandising, ringtones, games, virals will all flow in a continuous stream. Congratulations to the entire team of thinkers and creators who have presented to the world what I may call a real work of art.