Zoozoos all the way!!!!!

Zoozoos all the way!!!!!

The current flavour of the season, IPL being held in the Rainbow nation has turned out to be a rather damp squib, what with the expectations of it being better & bigger than the last season. But this isn’t about the IPL; it’s about the Zoozoos (the new Vodafone advertisements) which have been so charming to the viewer.

They have managed to break the clutter.

The volume of ads are so huge that it seems we are watching the ads and in the break, watch some cricket thrown in for good measure. Yet they do not seem irritating or monotonous. I can bet that they have not turned into ‘white noise’.

This is also because they must surely be having a pipeline of ads for various Value-Added Services (VASs) over the period of IPL. (According to Rajiv Rao, Creative Director, O&M, 30 is the number)

But after a longtime we can see an ad which is not just creative but also an ad which might help Vodafone Position itself as a Value-Added Service provider. This also would have a direct effect on its bottomline because of the high revenues from VAS.

After these ads, I am sure Vodafone would be synonymous with VAS. Vodafone surely is on the way to earn a ‘word’ in the minds of the consumer i.e. VAS. And it will firmly be entrenched in the viewers’ mind

It also has totally annihilated the entry of Aircel in the biggest and most congested circle i.e. Mumbai. It seems to be a ‘Hot-on-Heels’ strategy by Vodafone because it was launched almost immediately after Aircel opened operations in Mumbai

It also seems a strategic move to ‘move’ out of the image of the ‘Hutch pug’ and give Vodafone a new identity of its own.

It’s a long term strategy of Vodafone where Vodafone will earn returns on it when the tide turns and the present downturn ends. Apart from this, as 3G is rolled out in India, the connectivity and speed of the internet over the cell phone is sure to improve which will have a direct effect on the usage of VAS.

This focus on VAS seems to be entirely opposite to the focus of telecom leader in India, Airtel, which is concentrating on the prepaid customer through its customised plans for loved and dear ones (Madhavan- Vidya balan new ad talking about cutting usage in the present downturn).

Airtel is focusing on the vast 90% of the prepaid Indian population by giving them customised offers which, as yet, no service provider has done for prepaid customers.

This is also more to do with customers not switching to other service providers when ‘Number Portability’ comes into effect in September 2009

Tata Indicom on the other hand is focusing on Clarity in connectivity through its “hello…...hello” ads which seem irritating after a certain period of time.

The ad is talking about the technology aspect of connectivity. Although the technology aspect is good, it isn’t a differentiating factor because for a customer, the service matters, not the way in which it is provided. Technology is of no importance to the customer here.

BSNL: it has 2 ads both concentrating on VAS but those are for caller tunes which is preposterous to say the least because caller tunes fad has passed long back

Aircel: though its brand ambassador MS Dhoni, it too is trying to focus on VAS but as I have mentioned above, Vodafone has totally overshadowed it and it surely isn’t going to get noticed although Aircel has the best customization when it comes to VAS

	Vodafone	Airtel	Tata indicom	BSNL	Aircel
Creative content	High	Ok	High	Low	Low
Recollection factor	Very high	Ok	Low	Low	Low
Positioning	VAS	Customization	Connectivity	VAS	VAS
Revenues *	Yes	Yes	No	No	No

* Revenues means whether the ad will result in revenues for the company.