On the Brand Elements of Vodafone

Vodaf star India has an integrated merchandising strategy to ensure that they r apiece the maximum node base and provide a heel of touch purposes for the substance abuser. The sales and distribution of Vodaf maven products is through with(p) through their dedicated protrudelets as well as otherwise outlets, sm each shops and stores. Vodafone has set up similar format Vodafone stores all allwhere India to give their consumers a seamless and coherent experience wherever they maybe.At the a wish well(p) judgment of conviction a number of mini stores ensure that the customers exhaust much number of places to resolve their minor problems and enquiries. These too provide a locus for the customers to settle their bill imputables immediately. Vodafone India also beseeches its sim cards through general retailers and pays them a small margin on the sale of each sim card. Post compensable consumers be given offers and upgrade schemes to ensure that the company maintains a kin d with them. Thus the sales and distribution aspects of Vodafone in India ar taken apportion by Dedicated outletsMini outlets Retail shops Mobile shopsThe intenteting communication theory of Vodafone argon typically very up market and generally the posture is such(prenominal) that amongst the masses Vodafone is perceived as an aspirational sword. With a nidus on the Power To You positioning all the current ads of Vodafone ar focusing on picturization of the benefit that the consumer will get once he be deduces a Vodafone customer. The marketing communications ever so depict Vodafone as a young and up market pock. The TV advertisements of Vodafone are always targeted at ensuring that the customer rump understand the benefit that they want to offer.Vodafone typically does non emphasize strongly on print ads and tuner ads. Although at the times of important data link ups and events one jackpot see single page ads in the newspapers, magazines etc as well as small audio clips on the radio lucre. Vodafone uses the events programme as a promotion tool. Events equal IPL which are sure to picnic eye balls are sponsored by Vodafone and large scale TV denote is done to ensure that the customer may help IPL colligate run on his handset. Currently Vodafone has combined with the highest TRP grossing Big Boss and is providing a medical prognosis to the customers to visit the Big Boss house.AdvertisingVodafone lays special emphasis on productive advertising. They came up with the highly successful zoo zoo driveway which became a hit with all the consumers. All their ads clearly gift the benefit for the user and are done in such a way such as to induce good trademark recall. Television advertising is a major tool used by Vodafone to push its brand as well as the promotions that they are coming up with. From time to time they use other media like print and radio also to push their product or offering to the masses.EventsVodafone ties up with a num ber of events which are designed to create daily or special brand cerebrate interactions. They generally combine with high popularity TV shows and events which provides them good eye balls and ensures that a particular number of people always view what they acquit to offer. Vodafone emphasizes more than on above the line activity. Their strongfinancial background ensures that they can pump in their money in such events and ensure a strong brand recall.Interactive MarketingVodafone is fashioning extensive use of the online segment to invite more and more consumers with the brand. They throw a presence on all the social networking sites and are providing special offers on those pages as well. A number of users can connect with the brand and talk , discuss close the unhomogeneous aspects of the brand online itself. They periodically keep revising the promotional offer advertisement that they put up on such pages. They are providing their entire scarper of products, service and promotion related information on these sites.Vodafone Communication Strategies carry Elements distinguish divisions are those trademarked devices that serve to identify and contraryiate the brand. These are also sometimes k at one timen as brand identities. Items like brand consult, logo, mnemonics, characters, spokespersons, slogans and jingles are some items that can be characterized as brand elements. All or roughly of them are trademarked and registered by the parent company of the brand and these are what appear in front of the consumer in the brands communication and help increase recall of the brand as these are things that the consumers remember a brand by it.According to theory, there are some specific criteria which need to be kept in mind sequence deciding on the brand elements. These are points which when satisfied help in serving the full purpose of having brand elements. Some of these criteria are1. unforgettable These elements should be easily recognized and can be easily recalled.2. significant If not all then close of the brand elements should have a meaning and should associated in some or the other way with the nuance and values of the brand.3. Likeable In simple toll brand elements should be fun, interesting or may be aesthetically pleasing so that the consumers like it and attach positive connotations with these elements.4. Transferable Brand elements need to be the alike for different markets and geographies, for different product or service categories. So transferability across these boundaries is critical.5. Adaptable They must be flexible and the company should be able to update them as and when required.6. Protectable They should be legally protected from counterfeiting and copyrights violation. Brand Name VodafoneVodafone is one of the largergest telcom operators in the realism a bulky with other big call like Bharti Airtel, Idea and AT&T. It carries with itself a reputation of be one of the finest telecom ser vice providers across the world and the ca-ca carries an element of desire with it. In India, the brand was earlier known as Vodafone Essar, due to the parent companys holding pattern. except, Essar has been a business name since long in the country and is associated with other businesses as well.So the Essar part was done away with and the brand name is now Vodafone. It being a inappropriate brand attracts consumers and the consumers already on the subscriber list note noble-minded to be associated with a big international brand. It is easy in wrong of memorability and meaning and having a long history attached to it along with the geographies Vodafone is now operating in, it has proved its adaptability and transferability. Brand LogoVodafone calls it the Speechmark Logo. It is a quotation mark in a circle. The quotation marks before and end of a conversation is depicted in the logo and Red color has been its integrated color for long.The name is written below the design. It is the same logo as is used globally although in some areas like Portugal Vodafone has used a different logo. This is vital as it shows to the consumer that the company will offer the same level of quality in service as is being provided globally. boilers suit the logo has been there for a long period of time. So from the consumers point of view, it is memorable and the red color is liked by one and all. It is protected from any violation like copying or faking. It is a likeable logo which helps in increasing the recall of the brand as soon as the logo appears in from of the consumer.URL (Uniform Resource Locator)The website link or URL for the global website is http//www.vodafone.com and the link to the Indian website is http//www.vodafone.in. These are registered domain names so protection is taken care of. As there are provisions of checking and making bill payments online, going through various responsibility rates and value added services details on the website, the online i nterface is a very vital component among the brand elements. The URL simply has the name of the brand and in for India as the extension. It is easy to remember and use, hence making it an effective brand element.CharactersCharacters represent a special type of brand symbol, one that takes on human or real-life characteristics. Since Vodafone entered into the Indian market, there have been two primary characters associated with the brand. The first is the famous pug which was used in the earlier advertisements and portrayed the consistency of service in the tagline wheresoever you go, our network follows. The second and extremely popular character which Vodafone created was the Zoozoo.Real people wore grey suits to portray comical characters in a major communication consort aimed at increasing cognizance about the value added services provided by Vodafone. The fight back includes every channel from television and print advertising to billboards and hoardings at the point of sale. Zoozoos as a character have been loved by one and all and have helped tremendously in increasing the brand awareness among consumers.However sometimes characters take on such a presence in the mind of the consumer that the characters dominate the brand name itself. Zoozoos have become such a phenomena today that people generally would watch the advertisement and bemuse the channel before any message is communicated. So in the long run, continuing this campaign indefinitely could hurt Vodafones brand equity in India. SlogansSlogans can contribute to brand equity in twofold ways. They can play off the brand name to build brand awareness and image and can also contain product related information and other meanings. Vodafones current slogans in the 2010 advertising campaign is Isnt it nice when someone makes you feel special and Power to you. The ads focus on the close friendship of two school girls and the care each one shows for the other.The company wishes to communicate to the co nsumer the various value added services it offers, which it terms as Vodafone Delights, to indicate their services intend to delight the consumer in every possible way and the slogan powerfully conveys that Vodafone is a brand that cares about its consumers and believe in doing the small dwarfish things to delight them and make them feel special always.Their previous slogans like Happy to Help, Power to you and Wherever you go our network follows have been equally successful in associating different meanings with the brand meanings like consistency of service, the consumers power to choose what service to avail and what to pay for and the brand being ever present in reference of any need for the consumer. JinglesMost consumers remember the You and I in this beautiful world jingle, which ran as background in the communication campaign consisting of the pug pursual the kid, part him and doing chores for him. The current campaign has the jingle The little things you do, a sweet and melodious song which portrays the intended message quite well. Vodafones jingles strongest point is their likeability and consumers tend to remember them very conveniently. Jingles, have hence always been a critical brand element for Vodafone. Communication CampaignsVodafone keeps coming out with new communication campaigns at regular timeintervals. It ran the Pug campaign for some time initially. Then it launched the Zoozoo campaign and now it has recently launched the Vodafone delights campaign. other small campaign that had been running until recently was the Rs. 4 me sab kuch which had a communicate parrot trying to convince people that four rupees are of no value today but Vodafone offers a lot of things in retributive that amount.These changes in communication campaign strategies and focus on different things every time shows that Vodafone stresses on being innovative in its advertising, trying to come up with something new and refreshing, which will be liked and remembere d by the consumer for a long time. They have never used media or sports celebrities for their communication, unlike competitors like Airtel, Idea and Reliance who use sports celebrities and bollywood stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan for their endorsements and advertising.Their campaigns generally have had a 360 degree approach, reaching the audience through multiple impart. Some of the channels which Vodafone always covers are1. Television advertising is done on most popular channels and in major sports events that generally have a long run and are repeated all over the year.2. Newspapers/ cartridge holder advertisements in all major dailies, but mostly in English newspapers, business newspapers and general and economics magazines.3. Hoardings/Billboards on the highways and on the bus gelt all over major cities across the country are helping increase awareness and hence, recall of the brand.4. Small prints at point of sale, variable from major retail outlets to sma ll panwari shops.5. Event sponsorships for major sporting events like Indian Premier League and the UEFA Champions League in football, an event widely followed in India now. Infact according to a research, Vodafone along with Pepsi were found to be the most visible brands after IPL ended earlier this year.6. Radio On radio they have only run the Parrot campaign as this does not require any major display to go with the voice.Overall their communication campaigns have been innovative and appealing enough to not only attract the consumers attention but also make and maintain the brands position is the mind ladders. The Zoozoo campaign according to people was a little over run and at one point of time was alter to creating a perceptual block in the consumers mind.So the new Parrot and Delights campaigns have freshened things up. There have been other small campaigns as well, one cock-a-hoop one which had Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton featured in it. However the recall for that ad i s very low and it can be categorise as an unsuccessful campaign.