ZooZoos- Endearing, Economical & Effective

Dr Amit Rangnekar

www.dramitrangnekar.com

ZooZoos

Nov 2008
Client- Vodafone
Agency- O&M
Creative Director Rajiv Rao & team of 25
Brief- create simple, uncommon characters
Name- fun, memorable, catchy, easy to pronounce
Link characters through multiple ads in a campaign
Objective- Relate VAS stories through aliens, akin to
human world

Vodafone

IPL1 ads- memorable Pug ads

IPL2 ads focus- portray different VAS
Voice SMS, group text, call divert
Objective- connect VAS through a special alternate
world via the charming, lovable ZooZoo medium
Explain 1 story/service per day for 30 days
IPL 59 days, so 2 rounds to sustain interest
Curiosity- draw viewers into the ZooZoo world
Viewers look forward to & anticipated new instalment

Filmmaker

Prakash Varma of Nirvana Films

Filmed in South Africa with local crew
Critical- How ZooZoos move, talk, gesticulate & emote
Crucial- Costume design & artwork
It took me 3 weeks of pre-production to understand
how it will work. 2 fabrics 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 we chose the more practical, thicker
fabric. Prakash Varma

Humanising the aliens

Mulled different ideas & concepts for months
2 design versions- A fat Mr Potatohead-style humanoid,
and a slim version with a giant head and scrawny limbs
Egghead concept finalised
Strange all-white alien-esque humanoids
Large white heads+ black dots (eyes & mouth), stand out
Characterisation: lead simple lives, move in a certain way,
emote like humans
Chirp in an incomprehensible language
Simple, silly, funny, adorable
Limited emotions- Big frowns, hearty laughs, big grins

ZooZoos

ZooZoo- sounds cool, goes with the character

ZooZoos- from another planet
Deliberate design
ZooZoos- assumed as an animated cartoon
Fact- real people on real sets in real costumes
ZooZoos interact around the product story

ZooZoo Heads

ZooZoos Cast

Create an alien- other world animated effect

Sets created to suit the size of the Zoozoos
Create illusion that zoozoos are smaller than humans
Enhance contrast between big heads, bellies & tiny limbs
Women of slight build, occasionally children & men
Locals or from Mumbai dancing & ballet troupes
ZooZoos' fluidity and grace, despite their goofiness

ZooZoos at Rest

Outfits

2 parts: body and head

Body part stuffed with foam
Perspex Heads (hard material)to make them look bigger
Heads stuffed with foam (for ventilation)
Human head reaches only up to Zoozoo heads mouth
Difficult to see surroundings from inside the Zoozoo
head

Directors
Special

Costumes
Drying

Sets

Films shot in Cape Town, South Africa

Local production house, Platypus
Simple sets/backdrops
Neutral grey, to highlight attention on the ZooZoos
Create supposedly outdoor shot
Zoozoo shadow kept live
Painted in a darker shade of grey on the ground
Even lighting maintained throughout
Virtually , not post production

Between Sets

In Action

Retake

Lifesize for
Impact

Has it
come
right?

1st Ad- Ringtones

Ringtone
s

Ringtone
s

Ringtone
s

Getting it right
Films in high-speed format to connote animation
The design of the characters is such that one gets
fooled into thinking it is animation. In a sense, it is
live animation! Rao
Challenge- artworks to bring ZooZoos to life
Emotions with real faces hidden by hard foam?
Paste exaggerated impressions to fit the ZooZoos
emotional disposition
ZooZoos fluctuate from super-happy with ear-to-ear
grins, to frightened, with its mouth pursed in a tight
'O'

Foam Features

String Tie-Ups

Cricket & Entertainment

Dating Tips

Phone Back Up

Crocodile Meal

Zoozoo engrossed
in reading a book

Fed up, the reading

zoozoo turns the other
zoozoo in the opposite
direction

A noisy zoozoo comes,

makes irritating sounds
doesnt stop

After seeing of the noisy

Zoozoo, zoozoo resumes
reading. Screen message
Don't want to take calls?
Divert your calls

Reading zoozoo
ignores, moves in
opposite direction

TVC ends Make the

most of now

Why so many ads

Overdose?
Were acquiring customers at a very fast pace, but a
large number of them are unaware of the range of
services we offer. For instance Phone backup, is
advertised now, but was launched two years ago!
Harit Nagpal, CMO, Vodafone
Media spends and brand visibility peak during IPL
4 months ad spend was spent in 45 days
Need- Novel idea to register without ad fatigue
1-2 ads repeated over 45 days would bore viewers

Ad themes

Magic Box
Stock Alerts
International Roaming
Bhakti sagar
Busy message
Dating Tips
Voice SMS
Fashion Tips
Recharge Anywhere
Ringtones
Facebook
Group SMS
Call Divert

Background Music
Exam Results
Beauty Tips
Phone Backup
IPL Cricket commentary
Cricket Alerts
IPL Contest 1 & 2
Chhota Credit
Maps live
Call Filter
Live! Games
Musical Greetings
Star of the Match Contest

Fashion Tips

Beauty Tips

International Roaming

Maps Live!

IPL Contest

Cricket Alerts

IPL Commentary

Weather

Busy Message

Musical Greetings

Facebook

Live! Mails

Star of the Match

Campaign costs
Animations 10-15 times costlier than real shoots
Zoo-zoos- low cost costumes, real people, shooting
Speedy schedules
30 different ads, cost only Rs 30 million(Rs 3cr)
Each spot roughly 20-30 seconds long
Production cost could not exceed media spends, had
to be minimal for unveiling such a large number of
commercials Harit Nagpal, CMO Vodafone
Zoozoo name nowhere in the communication
Massive viral marketing miracle

Web Successs
Will viewers remember Vodafone's VAS or ZooZoo?
ZooZoos dominate home & office conversations &
social networking sites
Either way, creates a strong association
Wallpapers, emoticons, ring-tones, videos, contests,
videos, pictures, stories, interviews
Significant net traffic, Videos- 3m hits in 3 weeks
Web's most watched viral video for 2 weeks- Visible
Measures

Web Impact
ZooZoos- a near cult status
Exemplary viral marketing in action
YouTube- Zoozoo ad downloads
Facebook- Fan page with Zoozoo sounds and ads
Facebook- 3L ZooZoo fans
Twitter
More sign-ups than Facebook 26-11 & 'Pink Chaddi'
campaigns
Future- merchandising-cups, keychains, figurines, etc.

What kind of ZooZoo are you

What kind
of ZooZoo
are you?

IPL Impact

85% of the most visible brands on-screen

Week 1
Vodafone most watched brand during ad breaks
Next- Airtel, Lifebuoy Total, Airtel Broadband Internet
Service & Complan
Vodafone- 15% of overall commercial ads
Next- Havells Fans 8%, Airtel & Idea 7% each & Lifebuoy
Total 6%
Week 2
Vodafone most watched brand during ad breaks
Airtel Broadband, Airtel, Bajaj DTS-I, Idea
On-screen includes all brands that appear on the screen
when the score cards, player list, etc is shown

ZooZoos future
Certain madness makes them likeable & memorable
IPL1- Happy to Help campaign- animated boy-girl duo
VAS offerings
Vodafone- Pug- stuck with a format
Characters limited by definition
Zoozoos- an entire world of such characters
Shapes, size, sex, age, activity- no bar
No set format, fosters creativity and innovation
Zooperb impact
Problem- Zoozoos cannot become bigger than the brand

ZooZoo Amul Ad

References

http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/may/29/slide-show-1welcome-to-the-world-of-zoozoos.htm
Zoozoo: The new brand 'endorser' for Vodafone
Devina Joshi| afaqs! | Mumbai, April 28, 2009
Vodafone most watched brand during IPL breaks
Sapna Nair| afaqs! | Mumbai, April 23, 2009
The making of Vodafone ZooZoo
http://cliquee.net/2009/05/the-making-of-vodafone-zoozoo/
ZooZoo Ads: www.labnol.org/india/zoozoo-characters-in-vodafoneads/8407/ - 43k - Cached - Similar pages Welcome to vodafone ZOOZOO www.vodafonezoozoo.in/
Vodafone Zoozoo family www.vodafone.in/ipl09/zoozoo.aspx
ALL Vodafone Zoozoo IPL Ads in one www.youtube.com
Making of zoozoo-CNN ibn 1 min 38 sec www.youtube.com

References

Zoozoo enjoys 15 min under the sun

www.livemint.com/2009/05/01004841/Zoozoo-enjoys-15-minunder-the.html
ZooZoo Wallpapers www.bollyadda.com/2009/04/zoozoowallpapers-zoo-zoo-wallpapers.html
"Zoozoo"Vodafone| (VAS)
www.bollyadda.com/2009/04/zoozoovodafone-vas.html
Zoozoos on Facebook!
blogs.livemint.com/blogs/lounge/archive/2009/04/30/vodafonezoozimps-on-facebook.aspx
afaqs! Zoozoo: The new brand 'endorser'
www.afaqs.com/perl/news/story.html?sid=23893
Zoozoo blog.arpitnext.com/2009/05/zoozoo-vodafone-ipl-comicadvertisement.html