Vodafone: Puppy Love 2.0

Vodafone breaks its new 'Made For' campaign with a slice-of-life film called 'Made for First Love'. The campaign aims to promote the brand's network and connectivity credentials.

From the house of the brand that famously likened its network to a canine companion, with its 'Wherever you go, our network follows' campaign, comes yet another rendition of the same thought. In this new film, viewers are let in on one side of a conversation, between two love-struck teenagers, that goes on for hours on end. Quite clearly, the objective is to demonstrate how Vodafone's network facilitates uninterrupted, lengthy conversations with no call drops. And what better way to convey this than through a never-ending conversation between two adolescents in love?

Created by Ogilvy Mumbai, the ad is part of a larger 'Made For' campaign. More ads designed to bring out the brand's network-related credentials, through relatable everyday stories, are on the cards. As shared by the Vodafone spokesperson, "Every day our users push the limits of our network a little bit more. The brief to the agency was to develop a campaign that reinforces network superiority among our users and users of other operators."

Rajiv Rao, national creative director, Ogilvy India, says that the campaign also looks to reassure existing Vodafone users and tries to make the choice easy for new users who're yet to select a network. Regarding inevitable comparisons of the First Love film to the brand's pug films, he explains that the two are different in that the pug campaign assured viewers that 'Vodafone's network will never leave you' while this one, though ultimately about network, is more about how 'your conversations will never be interrupted'.

Propositions that the upcoming films are likely to bring out include: 'wide reach' (availability of a signal at unlikely places like basements, lifts, underground metros, hilltops or the outskirts of a city), 'superior voice clarity' (the ability to be heard in a noisy place like a disco/concert or a noisy local train compartment and the ability to be heard while speaking softly) and 'high speed data experience' (superfast 3G, uninterrupted internet connection, internet availability outside the cities and ease of downloading or streaming heavy files).

About the current film, Rao tells afaqs! that showing just one side of the couple's conversation was a conscious attempt to keep it real. "In real life, if someone's on the phone next to you, you'll never see the person on the other end of the line. And split screen execution is a 'done' thing - we've been seeing it for years, right from the time black and white cinema showed phone conversations. So, we decided to leave the joy of picturing the girl in the ad to the viewers. There's a certain mystery to showing only one side of the call."

Led by television, the 360 degree campaign will be extended to print, outdoor, digital, radio and on-ground media platforms.

Lovable Insight?

While Ashish Khazanchi, vice-chairperson and national creative director, Publicis Ambience, thinks it is a "nicely crafted" and "fairly charming" film, he wonders whether, in this category, that's enough these days. "In the last year or so, this category has become extremely high decibel and competitive. It is either the big sales pitch of the offers or extremely high impact advertising that has been the order of the day in telecom. I know there will be enough number of pre-pubescent boys going all 'fruity' about it, but unlike them, I don't think it's going to give the marketing folks in the competitors' office any sleepless nights," he says.

As an odd aside, Khazanchi points out that this is one of the rare (or perhaps only) Vodafone ads where the agency has shown a phone actually being used.

Minakshi Achan, co-founder, Salt Brand Solutions, feels 'first love' is a delightful way to communicate the product benefit. For her, the idea is "bang on!"

"I love the simplicity of the film," she says, "It occupies the same world of innocence which is created for all of Vodafone's work. Vodafone's previous work creates a beautiful world and this one does too."

With such an age-specific insight, is there a risk of alienating members of the TG that don't fit the 'first love profile'? "You don't have to be 18 to appreciate the film. It is a universal idea and I certainly don't see it alienating anyone. In fact, it is very inclusive and charming enough to bring a smile to your face," Achan says. And as Ogilvy's Rao puts it, "Everyone has been through this stage at some point in their lives. So it's something all viewers can relate to."

Achan reminds us, "Soppy girls have been seen in Indian advertising a million times, but a young boy revelling in his first love, wanting to stretch the conversation and not wanting to stop is quite charming and fresh."