Move over Virat, Yuvraj, 'ZooZoos Got Talent' this IPL

The IPL kicks off today, and viewers are in for a barrage of campaigns from brands trying to get eyeballs. Vodafone rolls out its latest campaign for the IPL featuring the popular ZooZoos, with two TVCs airing this week.

This IPL, the ZooZoos are going to be promoting Vodafone’s gamut of value-added services, but in the context of popular shows one sees on television. To begin with, the telecom service provider has released ‘ZooZoos Got Talent’ and ‘ZooZoo Quiz Show’. The brand has about 10 commercials in all, and will release two every week. Towards the end of the IPL, Vodafone plans to air all the TVCs together.

Speaking about the campaign, Ronita Mitra, senior VP - brand communication and insights, Vodafone India said, “The IPL 2014 campaign will showcase a gamut of products and services which delivers on the promise of a differentiated telecom brand experience, thus making lives of our customers simple and convenient. The ZooZoos have become a big part of India’s cultural conscience. Breaking through the monotony and fatigue, the ZooZoos have been presented in a refreshed and engaging creative format to communicate our proposition. This year it will be very entertaining for the viewers to spot the pop-culture reference in each of the ads and talk about it.”

‘ZooZoos Got Talent’ has a reality show setting, where a ZooZoo is on stage trying to floor the judges with his performance. He fails to impress the judges the first two times and gets low scores like zeroes and twos. The third time, he puts up a performance that gets him round tens from the judges. Cut to the end slate that says, “Get the number you want. Choose your favourite phone number”.

Watch the ad here:

‘ZooZoo Quiz Show’ is reminiscent of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’; a ZooZoo is stumped by a difficult question on a game show. He tells the host that he wants to call his friend and use a lifeline. The host is smug and dials the number, only to be foiled with zero balance on his mobile. The end slate comes in with ‘Run out of balance? Top-up instantly with Chhota Credit".

Watch the TVC here:

Firstbiz spoke to Rajiv Rao, national creative director, Ogilvy India about what is in store for viewers with the new campaign, the idea behind the pop-culture references and the challenges the team faces in creating multiple unique Zoozoo commercials, each year.

“We took off from the insight that most Indians have favourite TV shows that they follow very closely. We decided to do fun ZooZoo versions of those to promote a Vodafone service in each TVC. Spotting pop-culture references in commercials is always great fun. We try and keep the setting of every ZooZoo campaign current and relevant, without losing focus of what we are trying to promote in the process,” said Rao.

Despite it being IPL season, Rao said that only one or two ads will promote cricket-related services. However, even those will have a TV show reference to them.

So what does it take for Rao and his team to churn out new, fresh ideas every year to keep the Zoozoos from becoming unexciting?

He said, “This is really a huge challenge for us - to make sure people anticipate a new ZooZoo ad week on week, year on year. The ZooZoos have been around for about four-five years now, but we still do everything possible to keep them the same, yet introduce something new. We try not to get carried away in this bid for uniqueness; for instance you will never see the ZooZoos in colour because that is not who they are. It is wonderful how people welcome the ZooZoos and are familiar with their essence. We, in turn, try and give them never-before seen commercials.”

Rao feels that the ZooZoos are as popular among the TG, as they were five years ago. “The ZooZoos work wonders for Vodafone, as post-IPL viewership numbers tell us each year. Our viewers love them. We have had industry experts say that the ZooZoos are now fatiguing viewers with the sameness of the idea, but I would say that the reactions are very mixed.”

The campaign will be exposed to TV, outdoor and digital mediums, while the brand is also going with contests like ‘Vodafone Superfan’ and ‘Vodafone Fan Selfie’ to engage viewers during the IPL.