BRAND TRANSITION FROM HUTCH TO VODAFONE THROUGH INNOVATIVE ADVERTISEMENTS

BRAND TRANSITION FROM HUTCH TO VODAFONE THROUGH INNOVATIVE ADVERTISEMENTS

Hutchs Pug to Vodafones ZooZoo- A story of successful brand transition.

In 2007, Vodafone acquired 67% stake in Hutchisson and re-branded Hutch telecom into Vodafone.

The Hutch Brand Wherever You Go Our Network Follows

Hutch had a very strong brand personality. The slogan Wherever you go our network follows was closely tied up with the Hutch Pug campaign. The ads had a very simple message that was communicated through the dog with backdrop of a beautiful song. The Hutch network was personified as the dog and the Hutch brand automatically drew the brand personality of being adorable, cute. The dog was named Hutch dog and became very popular in India. The dog became the brand ambassador and a great brand asset to Hutch. Hutch leveraged this popularity of the dog and used the dog in its websites and in all its communications.

Brand Transition through Ad

Hutch is now Vodafone. Color of the hutch brand has changed once already with a transition from orange to the gory pink(which is a color only to be seen on Barbie doll's dress). Now once again it has gone through a change and this time along with the color the brand logo has also changed. Vodafone is one of the leading global brands and in brand value ranking 2008, Vodafone is ranked as the 11th in the world and 2nd in Europe. Vodafone brand enjoys the image of being youthful, cutting-edge, high on features (value added services), with high spends in R&D. Vodafone spent around 50 million USD ( 250 Crores INR) for this brand transitioning.

Zoozoo: The new brand 'endorser' for Vodafone

Nothing have been as popular as cricket during cricket seasons in India. The recent ads of Vodafone, telecom provider in India, named ZooZoo have got an exception to it. The ZooZoo ads have melted the millions of Indian hearts making it more popular than India Premier League (IPL Twenty20 cricket).

Six months ago, Vodafone briefed its agency, Ogilvy India, to create uncommon characters a common thread to link the ads in the campaign together. Rajiv Rao, executive creative director, South Asia, Ogilvy India, tells that the only starting point for the team was that the character had to be simple to a stupefying level. And thus, the Zoozoo was born.

Ogilvy experimented with several characters and finally took its love for the term egghead one step too far, creating characters that don the colour white (with black dots for eyes and a mouth), have heads resembling eggs, and disproportionately thin bodies. A completely Indian concept, Rao lent these characters a name: the Zoozoos. Theres no science to it, he explains the name just had to be something fun, memorable and catchy, and not a clever one thats difficult to pronounce.

Making of the Zoozoo

No, they arent animated characters. They are human beings who were made to wear body suits. The films were shot by Nirvana in Cape Town, South Africa, with the help of a local production house there, called Platypus. 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.

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.

The Vodafone's services were personified as quirky and lively personalities named ZooZoo. The comical way of communicating the message brought in the good old connection what Hutch earlier had with people. Vodafone India understood what Hutch stood for and tried to connect to people in the same way. Vodafone could have forced its global appeal to Indian market but, it didnt, rather it created a whole new persona for itself in the Indian telecom market. This confirms that there are no global brands but there is definitely global brand management. Hutch to Vodafone brand transitioning is one of the greatest brand transitions in this world of brands.

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH To study how advertisements have benefited Vodafone in brand transition as well as marketing their services. To study whether their value added services are conveyed to the customers through ads. To study customer satisfaction of Vodafone. To study the various advertisements of Vodafone To know the expectation of Vodafone Customers.

Sources of Data Collection:Basically there are two types of data i.e. secondary and primary: a. Primary Data Collection:Primary data collection contains the following method: 1. Survey Method: It contains distributing feedback. b. Secondary Data Collection: External Sources: Internet, books etc are the external sources. Primary data is used for the core purpose of the project and this primary data has been gathered by survey method. Data collection Tools: Questionnaire, which is used for the survey, is consisting of questions and checklist questions to check the customer feedback. Sample Size: Sample size of 20 respondents.

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

FINDINGS More number of people are aware about Vodafone due to its full on advertising and publicity. These ads have caught the attention of large number of people, thus Vodafone is more popular among the people. Portraying the products and services accurately and substantiating any comparative claims. Their operating companies assess their communications and advertising material periodically to confirm that it complies with the Responsible Marketing Guidelines.

Everyone is aware about the value added services (VAS) of Vodafone as they are depicted through the advertisements clearly. Thus most of the people bought Vodafone by seeing these ads. Vodafone also communicates regularly with its customers to keep them well informed of the benefits of all Vodafone products.

People are not using Vodafone because of high prices. As Vodafone is a global brand there will be price difference in countries that Vodafone operates. Especially in India people are not buying because of high price.

Large sections of Vodafone consumers are using it for more than one year. Vodafone is achieving these objectives by continually updating the range of phones and services offered to keep ahead of its competitors. A product with many different features provides customers with opportunities to chat, play games, send and receive pictures, change ring tones, receive information about travel and sporting events, obtain billing.

People are satisfied with Vodafone services thus they are willing to recommend the brand to others.

RECOMMENDATIONS They need to lower their prices of the products then only they can cover all section of the society. Their ads should be different as usually then only they could keep on attracting the customers. They should continue depicting their value added services in the ads thus more number of people will be aware about of this.

CONCLUSION Vodafones ads have attracted people and which has boost their sales. Vodafone India understood what Hutch stood for and tried to connect to people in the same way. People want Vodafone to lower prices. Everyone is aware about the value added services (VAS) of Vodafone as they are depicted through the advertisements clearly.

We are the innovation

THANK YOU