You and I again…

When IIPM comes to education, never compromise 

…together in this beautiful world

 

Ohhh! The cute little pug is back! That was the first reaction of the public at large who first saw the new Vodafone commercial. Yes indeed it’s back, but this time it has grown a bit fatter, now that it has become a part of the Vodafone family. Ever since it was announced that Hutch would have to give way to Vodafone (after Vodafone acquired Hutch), the very first question that was asked – what would happen to the pug. Will it die a natural death or will we see a makeover of the pug? Well the suspense is over. Now that the transition is taking place, the pug is being put forward as the most important element facilitating the change from Hutch to Vodafone. The storyboard starts with the oh-so famous Hutch pug sitting in front of a pink kennel (pink was the trademark colour of Hutch) and then leaving for a stroll. The pug returns back only to find a bigger red kennel instead of his pink one. The message that comes up is “Change is good,” followed by “Hutch is now Vodafone.” Rajiv Rao, Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather (agency handling Vodafone), told 4Ps B&M, “The task at our hand was simply to communicate to people that Vodafone is a new brand & Hutch has now changed to Vodafone.”

 

  In the recent past India Inc. has witnessed many a name changes happening, but Hutch’s conversion to Vodafone goes a step further in not just communicating that this change is for the better but also vehemently shouting from the rooftop that change is for the good. One simply cannot deny the fact that Hutch has a tremendous brand value in India and simply cannibalising the brand would have hurt Vodafone badly. Not to mention that competition (read Airtel, RCom) would have used it to its advantage to gain dominance in the Indian telecom segment. The underlining idea here was to state that there has been a change but not complete change, and the pug remains in the branding strategy as a symbol of reassurance. Rao further adds, “Initially when the ‘You and I’ campaign was unveiled by Hutch, the pug stood for network and that was also the core thinking behind the then punchline, ‘Wherever you go, our network follows…’, but today the pug has in fact become the soul of the brand.” Hutch’s commercial always revolved around great music and emotional appeal and Vodafone has kept that theme too. Music Composer Rupert Fernandes, (created the ‘You and I in this beautiful world’ tune), has pumped up the tempo of this tune for Vodafone, as the new tune gels well with the stark red colour of the brand. The new tune also provides an element of vibrancy and also emphasises that Vodafone is the big daddy as far as Hutch is concerned.

Keeping the pug alive might have been a good strategy, but shooting an ad using a pug is never an easy task. Elaborates Rao, “The 51 seconds visual took a whole day to shoot and getting all those expressions that made your heart melt after watching the commercial were not easy to get. There were a lot of people whose job was to simply fool around with the pug so that it could deliver the right expressions.” Well all said and done, the pug is yet again the scene-stealer and the ad has been able to raise the eyebrows of all and sundry. Clearly, the objective of communicating the conversion from Hutch to Vodafone has been achieved; that too in record time!

 

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM – Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!