ZooZoo Magic

Alien-like white eggheads scuttling around, uttering gibberish, made their television debut in Indian Premiere League (IPL) season II that just concluded in South Africa. The little white disproportionate curious creatures with black dots indicating eyes and mouth are called ZooZoos and are brand endorsers for Vodafone’s value added service (VAS) in the “make the most of now” television ad campaign. Within days of their debut, they became an international phenomenon. The viral video of the ad campaign posted on video-sharing sites spread rapidly, entertaining viewers and kicking off conversations in online social media networks. According to Visible Measures, an independent third-party measurement firm measuring the consumption and distribution of online video for internet video publishers, advertisers and social marketers, the ZooZoo viral videos have been rated as the most viewed. For a second week (May 11, 2009) in a row, the ad spots, created by O&M, maintained the number one rank in Visible Measures’ top 10 viral video chart. While Harit Nagpal, chief marketing officer, Vodafone India, claims the company is acquiring customers at a fast pace since the TV campaign, what is definitely certain is the rise in the number people in the ZooZoo fan club in Facebook. As on May 27, the total number of fans were at 2,64,929. “We thought that this campaign will do well but never thought it would become such a phenomenon,” said Kumar Subramaniam, executive brand director on the Vodafone business in Ogilvy & Mather. Vodafone, in its earlier avatar as Hutch, made Pug a popular dog. Now ZooZoo has become a new word in popular vocabulary. Ironically, nowhere in the ad is the name ZooZoo uttered.