India calling: Vodafone’s strategy, unplugged

It may be hard to believe, but the enormous communication exercise for Vodafone currently on display in India started with a simple client brief. “We were told, ‘Just go out there and tell people Hutch is now Vodafone’,” says Rajiv Rao, executive creative director, O&M, South Asia, the creative brain behind the rebranding campaign.

To show the transition from Hutch to Vodafone, O&M launched a rather direct, thematic ad showing the trademark pug in a garden, moving out of a pink coloured kennel (symbolising Hutch) and making his way into a red one (the Vodafone colour). A more energetic, chirpier version of the ‘You and I’ tune associated with Hutch, plays towards the end, as the super concludes, ‘Change is good. Hutch is now Vodafone’.

Four other ads with the pug did the rounds of telly screens. These five and 10 second spots cast the dog in situations where he, literally, saw red, using the colour as a visual mnemonic to remember the brand by. The pug was shown in a red basket, popping up from a red cart, drying himself on a red mat, and hiding in a red blanket. Each of these made use of the ‘Hutch is now Vodafone’ tagline.

The print ads, in all major languages in several leading dailies, were kept unbelievably simple: a still shot of the pug inside a red kennel. The same creative was used in outdoor hoardings as well, in all the 16 circles in which Vodafone now operates.

It wasn’t easy integrating Vodafone with Hutch; the latter, as is known, is a subtle, understated brand, while globally, Vodafone represents high energy, dynamism and young vitality – all represented by its bright red speech mark logo.

“Yes, Vodafone is more energetic than Hutch,” admits Rao. “So we put in elements such as a more energetic tune and feel to the film.”

The vibrant new version of the signature tune, ‘You and I’, was composed by Rupert, who created the original tune, too.

Considering the fact that Hutch was a well-loved brand in India, surely expectations were high from O&M? “Yes, we were under pressure to not mess things up, considering that this is such a big brand we’re talking of!” says Rao. “But the most loved factor about Brand Hutch – the pug – itself was the solution to our dilemma.” The idea, he says, was to ensure that people don’t forget the old brand; rather, they welcome the new one as an improvement over the old. “We want customers to know this brand just got better,” signs off Rao.

A little before Hutch was rebranded as Vodafone, O&M had come up with the ‘magician’ ad for Hutch, which also made use of the pug. At that point, many industry experts debated whether the pug was being overused by the brand. By recasting it in the Vodafone commercials, the answer is, ‘Apparently not.’

“The pug is the brand’s soul,” says Rao firmly.