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Additionally, as part of the introductory offer, subscribers who purchase a BlackBerry® Curve™ 8520 or BlackBerry® Curve™ 9300 smartphone by the end of February 2012 can avail one year of unlimited access to the BBM™ service from the date of purchase.

Speaking about the new service Kumar Ramanathan, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone India said “At Vodafone we consistently strive to come up with innovative products and services that not only offers convenience but also value to our esteemed customers. Our Go BBM plan aims to extend the BBM service to our customers across segments at affordable prices. BBM is a powerful and popular service used by a significant segment of our customers to stay connected and we are confident that this service will gain further popularity with this new plan.”

Krishnadeep Baruah – Director of Marketing, India for Research In Motion said, “We are pleased to work with Vodafone to offer the rich communications features and unique user experience of BBM to more customers in India. The Go BBM service plan from Vodafone is an attractive offering that will enable more users to choose and enjoy BlackBerry smartphones and service as per their preferences.”

BBM is one of the largest mobile social networks with over 50 million users. It offers instant messaging for BlackBerry smartphone owners, letting users communicate in real time with the people who matter most. It includes features like immediate confirmation that a message has been delivered and read, as well as the as the ability for users to choose to share their location, or exchange pictures, videos, voice notes, files and more with their BBM contacts.

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Talking about this exciting new app, Anuradha Aggarwal, Vice President- Brand Communication and Insights, Vodafone India, said, “Vodafone Zoozoos have spread cheer through their unique and quirky antics ever since they came into our lives. This special Zoozoo application has been designed to add to the festive fervor and let fans experience the Vodafone way of celebrating life with joy, fun and togetherness. Our lovable Zoozoos will help you send personalized greetings to your friends and family across the world this Christmas. With the world going digital, we are confident that this application will be quite popular amongst the millions of Zoozoo and Vodafone fans on Facebook.”

The Zoozoos, carrying special instruments and exuding the Christmas spirit, invite fans to join them in making cheerful Melodies. Fans can select Christmas carols sung by the Zoozoos and add sounds via their keyboard. To add to the fun quotient, users can slam snow-balls on an oddly shaped gong, shake their hips while wearing a tambourine or even spew bubbles from a Zoozoo-esqe tuba!

‘Zoozoo X’mas Melodies’ application has been created by Ogilvy One worldwide, Vodafone’s digital agency and can be accessed through the company’s website, www.vodafone.in , Zoozoo Facebook page.

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Commenting on his appointment, Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., said, “Nalin comes with an extensive experience and exposure across various functions like marketing, sales, product management and business development. His experience and leadership skills are integral to the opportunities that lie ahead with the increasing consumption of digital entertainment. With his sharp analytical skills and keen business acumen, he would be an asset to Hungama.”

Upon his appointment, Nalin Gagrani said, “I am truly delighted to be a part of Hungama, a leader in the digital media entertainment space. I am looking forward to applying my experience across various functions and sectors in my new role. ”

Nalin brings with him 18 years of experience across sectors like telecom, airlines, retail and beverages. His last assignment was as the Head of Marketing at Aircel- Mumbai and Maharashtra circle. He has also worked in leadership positions at organisations such as Kingfisher, Pantaloon, Vodafone Essar and Jet Airways. An engineer by qualification, Nalin holds a post graduate degree in Management from NMIMS.

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Says Kumar Ramanathan, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone India, “Today, Mobile is considered not only as a medium of communications but also a form of entertainment. Increasingly customers want entertainment and information on the go and we want them to have full control on what services they want to consume. Our Start-Stop services will allow Vodafone customers to manage value-added services in an easy and instant manner ”.

To activate, customers can SMS START to 321 to receive a list of content categories and reply with the category number to get the list of services. Customers can then reply with the selected service number to send activation request. To deactivate, customers can SMS STOP to 321 to receive a list of currently active services and reply with the selected service number to send deactivation request.

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A full 500 meter track section has been covered with heavily powered access points that have been specially solutioned for this event. The support is provided on a highly secure and efficient Wi-Fi network which is being powered by O-Zone and BelAir networks and the content will be available to the McLaren engineers on the Vodafone-McLaren private website.

The technology will enable the engineers to monitor the second by second progress of their car and provide guidance to the driver. These photographs will also help the McLaren team react instantly to the nuances of the new track.

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjeev (Bobby) Sarin, CEO, O-Zone Networks, said: “With F1 coming to India for the first time, this is an exciting time for all of us. Supporting real time photography at F1 definitely gives out the message that not a millisecond of this event can be missed by the McLaren engineers. We are extremely proud that McLaren & Vodafone have shown such trust in O-Zone Networks and look forward to partnering with BelAir in making this project a success.”

Ron Robinson, Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Sales, BelAir Networks, added: “Real-time video requires a high performance, highly reliable wireless network and that’s what BelAir Networks delivers. BelAir Networks Carrier Wi-Fi and small cell solutions are deployed in large-scale networks by the world’s leading service providers so we’re pleased to support Vodafone and O-Zone Networks in this exciting project.”
O-Zone Networks, with the support of BelAir, is also pioneering in delivering such solutions at its own public hotspots like McDonalds and Café Coffee Day.

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To participate in the competition, Vodafone customers have to set any song from SONY music’s deep catalogue of International songs as their Caller tune by calling 12377 (Toll free).On successful download, the subscribers will be eligible to participate and will have to answer a series of questions via SMS on 54345 (toll free). The participating subscribers can win by answering questions correctly in shortest time frame to win daily, weekly and bumper prizes. Three selected grand prize winners will be awarded LED TV each, 6 weekly winners will be awarded an iPad2 each while 45 daily winners will be awarded with iPod Touch.

Speaking on this initiative, Arjun Sankalia, Director: International Music & Special Products said “International music has witnessed a huge surge in India and artists like Shakira, Pitbull, Beyonce have become extremely popular across age groups. Our association with Vodafone will provide music aficionados access to new international music and also win some exciting prizes.”

Commenting on this innovative offering, Kumar Ramanathan, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Essar Ltd., said “We are glad to be associated with Sony Music as they have a global approach and offer the best of international music. This initiative is line with our constant endeavor in offering unique and differentiated experience to our customers through our various products and initiatives. With International music gaining immense popularity in India; customers can now listen to popular songs from their favorite artists and also share the same with their friends.”

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It is the first phone that is totally dedicated towards Facebook and also an absolutely amazing handset for the people who are really in love with Facebook.

Speaking exclusively to Adgully about its new campaign, Kapil Arora, Country Head-Team, Vodafone, Ogilvy India, told us that the client’s brief was very simple and straight forward – basically to introduce a phone with Facebook in this era where everybody is engaging through Facebook, blindly.

The ad depicts how we update our statuses on Facebook. I am sure, all of us do that…don’t we?? Whether it’s, ‘M sad’ or may be ‘off for vacations’. Each and every moment of one’s life is being shared with all your friends. Or else the most famous Farmville on Facebook.. ‘I check all my strawberries, my grapes, my vegetables and harvest them as soon as they are fully grown!! This is how the ad starts and which is really true, Facebook itself so engaging, that one cannot stop this addiction.

Talking about the challenges to enter and create a differentiated campaign and a product, he said, “there were two challenges that were kept in mind while making this campaign. Firstly, most of the phone campaigns are directed towards highlighting the features of the phones and secondly, Vodafone is a service provider and not a mobile company, the campaign has to be in the Vodafone way.”

Kapil adds, “The main idea behind this was to show the make, the product itself show how different it is. Our style of communicating is storytelling and we try our best to engage with our customers.”

The ad very interestingly depicts the daily life story of a person. It is something that is really fresh and upgraded in the market.

Telling about the idea and the prompting, he said, “If we look around it is a depiction of the reality that today almost the whole world is on Facebook, we can actually see people who are wholly and solely on Facebook who even if sneeze, update it as their status. This whole format of depiction in the ad is totally different.”

Vodafone Blue, particularly designed to put the Facebook experience into the heart of the handset, provides a differentiated experience to its customers. The phone allows users to easily share and connect with their friends anytime, anywhere. Vodafone Blue is crafted specifically to bring an ‘outstanding and affordable integrated mobile Facebook experience’ to pay-as-you-go customers. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]

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The transaction follows the settlement between Vodafone and Essar over the sale of Essar’s approximately 33% stake in VEL, announced on 1 July 2011.

The transaction contemplates various exit mechanisms for Piramal, including both participation in a potential initial public offering of VEL and a sale of its stake to Vodafone.

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Speaking on the launch Kumar Ramanathan, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Essar said, “Vodafone is the title sponsor and official mobile partner for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. Leveraging our global association, we are extremely delighted to offer our Indian customers an exhilarating experience by giving them a chance to get up close & personal with the VMM team. ‘Vodafone Race to Fame’ contest will fulfill motor sports fanatics’ wildest dreams and also gives thousands of viewers the thrill of watching it on their television screen.”

Commenting on this unique initiative, Naveen Chopra- Director –Enterprise & Carrier Business, Vodafone Essar said, “Vodafone Drive into the big league extends our commitment to support and recognize the small and medium business community towards an easier path to growth. We are very excited about this initiative and encourage all SME’s to participate in this never before opportunity to add their logo on the cars of one of the best performing racing teams.”

The call for entries for ‘Vodafone Race to Fame -life in the fast lane’ will start from third week of August 2011. Vodafone customers and Global enterprise customers can register themselves on www.vodafone.in/race-to-fame. Shortlisted contestants will compete at Go-Karting tracks at select 6 cities in India. Participants will be tested on their intellectual & physical caliber basis various competitive activities. The lucky winners will get a thrilling chance to be a part of the VMM team & meet their favourite VMM drivers.

‘Vodafone Drive into the Big League’ gives small & medium enterprises an opportunity to have their logo on VMM car. Enterprises with a turnover greater than INR 10 crores and less than INR 250 crores & a total employee base of less than 1000 are eligible to participate. Shortlisted finalists will present their cases to an esteemed panel of experts where they will debate on a live television show for the coveted top spot. Participants can register themselves on www.vodafone.in/bigleague.

Apart from this, Vodafone has also planned a host of other activities like Hot Laps with the VMM drivers and road shows with VMM car among many other initiatives gearing up for the grand finale in Delhi.

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The interiors of the bus have been redesigned to create a 3G Experience Zone that will enable visitors to enjoy and try out 3G services in a fun and interactive manner. People can catch animated Zoozoo images and advertisements on these LED screens on the outside windows of the bus.

Vodafone’s 3G on wheels’ has done the rounds of the hot spots / high traffic areas in Mumbai bringing them closer to the exciting world of 3G. Customers could try out a host of services like high speed internet, video calling and better gaming experience, Vodafone TV and get answers to their basic queries on 3G.

Speaking on the occasion Anuradha Aggarwal, Vice President – Marketing, Brand Communication and Consumer Insights, “At Vodafone, we believe in constantly engaging with our customers in a meaningful and relevant manner that enriches their experience. With this unique initiative customers get a step closer to the ‘Faster, Smarter, Better’ world of Vodafone 3G services.

This digital medium of LEDs has been used for the first time for on-ground activation and engrossed thousands of customers encouraging them to try out Vodafone 3G services.