ZooZoo- The Vodafone Mascot

Remember that cute white mascot with white ballooned bodies and egg heads? Yes, you guessed it right we are talking about ZooZoo, the official mascot of Vodafone. Rajiv Rao, the executive creative director of Ogilvy India was the mastermind behind the creation of ZooZoo. It all started when Ogilvy & Mather was asked by Vodafone to create a total of 30 advertisements that could be telecasted during IPL Season 2. 

The brief that was given to the agency was to make real people look as animated as possible. Next what we see are some small-bodied, thin women who were covered in layers of white fabric. The facial expression on these ZooZoo was made of rubber and then pasted on the actors in order to minimize the time and cost involved in shooting the ad. There were several challenges involved in the shoot because the right material had to be chosen for the bodysuit in order to avoid wrinkles during any kind of movement, using a neutral and simple background for the shoot. The actors could not see anything as they were covered from head to feet. All the [rops on the set, including the shadows were created by spray painting. 

You will be amazed to know the size of the sets that were kept so big so as to make these characters look small. Now you may wonder, why didn’t the producers sign up small children for the ads, it was majorly because the schedule of the shoot was odd. The entire film was shot within 10 days. ZooZoo was split into two parts – the body and the head. While the head was created using a harder material called Perspex, the body was made using a special material stuffed with foam in some places.

The time when ZooZoo was launched, Vodafone was one of the main broadcast sponsors of IPL. This gave Vodafone a perfect opportunity to reach a wider audience. They could be seen wowing audiences by their cute looks. During the launch, a separate micro-site was created for the audience to engage and interact with. This was done by hoisting multiple quizzes, contests, and distributing goodies, wallpaper, screensavers, and ringtones for the ZooZoo lovers. They came into the picture to promote the various value-added services of the telecom operator.

In terms of results, these ads became really popular and gained a huge fan following on social media platforms. According to Wikipedia, there are around 200 pages on ZooZoo, and thousands saw the ads on YouTube. The “Making of ZooZoo” video got more than 10,000 views in just four days. “The Busy Message” video has got 213,131 views and “Roaming with Girlfriend” has got 171,779 views in one month. Vodafone also received the 2009 Glitterbox  Award from PETA for replacing Pug with a more human alternative for ads. 

They were named ZooZoo because it sounded “cute, lovable and a bit mad like characters”

In the year 2013, Vodafone made a comeback with an army of mini ZooZoo which was called Zumies. They also had their own anthem, Zumi Zumi.

In 2015, ‘My Vodafone App’ was launched featuring ZooZoo. During the same phase, Siddharth Banarjee of Vodafone revealed that ZooZoo was used by the brand whenever a new offering is placed. Vodafone also introduced Super ZooZoo as a symbol of the Vodafone 3G launch in India.

Conclusion

This initiative helped the brand save a lot of money. It also helped Vodafone gain a larger share of brand recall within a shorter time. Vodafone proved that one does not need a big celebrity name as a brand ambassador until they are creative enough to make one of their own.

About the Author:

Aditi Garg is an MBA student, filled with curiosity to learn and explore more of the Digital Marketing World. As a Digital Marketing Executive at Social Buzz, Aditi takes an active part in curating content, and strategizing marketing campaigns to execute them with perfection!

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