Exclusive: Strengthening post-paid vertical, Vodafone launches Vodafone RED

While everything in the media and entertainment domain is getting quick and snacky, telecom services are following suit with attractive prepaid offers and additional services. However, for Vodafone, postpaid is one of the key business driver and thus, with an aim to grow this vertical at a more accelerated rate, Vodafone has embarked on a project to strengthen the value proposition of postpaid for the customers. Vodafone had launched an exclusive postpaid product that comes with a bundle of benefits for the consumer – Vodafone RED.

To make Vodafone RED’s presence felt in the market, Vodafone has launched a 360 degree campaign with an objective to establish Vodafone RED as a leadership postpaid product with a compelling value proposition. While the product has a lot of features, the launch campaign will focus on the key benefits of Combo Plans, Pool & Share and Relationship Manager – and will talk of the benefits of each proposition.

Conceptualized by Ogilvy and Mather, the three films focus on the key features of the product: Combo Plans, where the customer can enjoy minutes, data and SMS allowances in a single plan; Pool & Share, wherein the customer can pool and share his allowances with a group of upto 5 family members/devices and Relationship Manage, wherein the subscribers to the top-end plans would get an access to a dedicated Relationship Manager.

Adgully caught up with Ronita Mitra - Senior VP, Brand Communication and Insights, Vodafone India and Rajiv Rao – National Creative Director, O & M to get a better understanding of the marketing plan.

When asked about the brief given to the agency, Rao said, “The brief to the agency was to develop a 360 campaign that creates awareness and interest for our exclusive postpaid product – Vodafone RED and the campaign should bring alive the key features of the product – Combo Plans, Pool & Share and Relationship Manager through simple stories to drive message delivery.”

Speaking about the campaign, Mitra said, “The TVCs are sober, simple and clear cut sends the message. Without shouting that there is something new coming from us we wanted to express our offering with our treatment. Vodafone RED is a bundle of products and services. This world of Vodafone RED became the campaign idea. We needed to create a campaign effect, and I think that is where the creative idea played a big roll. We believe that it comes to life in how we look, what we say and how we act which also helps us differentiate ourselves and stand out from the crowd. We also keep universality and relativity in mind. We don’t constraint ourselves with where the location is and where we need to shoot. The relativity with the consumer is very important for us. The consumer should relate to whatever we are showing, it is right for the script and delivers the message.”

She feels that the time is right to launch a product like this for Indian postpaid customers as today the consumers are much more evolved and understand the benefits of postpaid and have faith and trust on the brand. “Our brand strategy is about building a strong, coherent brand globally: one brand, united behind a single idea,” Mitra said.

Looking at the increasing penetration of smart-phones, manifold growth of data and multiple devices in each household, Vodafone introduced exclusive postpaid plans that come with a lot of added benefits and the campaign establishes Vodafone RED as the umbrella postpaid product with three differentiated benefits.

When asked what stimulated the launch of Vodafone RED, Mitra stressed upon the fact that ‘Vodafone RED’ was developed following extensive research and after gaining deep insights about customer usage and preference. “It is a unique and innovative product proposition that goes beyond a conventional tariff plan. ‘Vodafone RED’ eliminates the need for multiple rentals for voice and data and brings in a new concept of integrated solutions across multiple segments to give worry free connectivity to its customers,” she added.

When asked about out of the three plans under Vodafone RED which was the most preferred one during the market research, Mitra told us that while the ‘Combo Plan’ is the key purchase driver. Consumers felt that Voice, text and data in one plan is convenient, the combo plan is the key product benefit of RED and ‘Pool and Share’ is the conversation starter. 

The three films will run for a period of six weeks and will be supported by a high decibel 360 campaign – inclusive of impact and performance touch points across print, radio, OOH, digital and on-ground activations.

As the marketing objective is to strengthen leadership in postpaid through a compelling value proposition, highlighting and explaining the media mix, Mitra said, “The campaigns are designed with an aim to create awareness and interest for Vodafone RED by bringing alive its three key features. While TV (all genres and channels) will be the lead medium to create awareness for the key features, OOH will be used to create a BIG launch and rapid awareness. Radio will build frequency and aid awareness for the key features whereas Retail journey is designed to create engagement with product features. Last but not the least the most important role will be played by Digital, which will be used to drive education and advocacy by extensive communication of the key features and though the Print campaign are still under discussion and finalizing process but the medium will Create interest by educating about the features.”

Under OOH medium, high decibel 2-3 week OOH plan across markets, helium Balloons atop Vodafone Stores in 7 key cities –Ahmedabad, Baroda, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Vizag and Vodafone Belvedere Metro Station in Gurgaon branded for Vodafone RED will be seen over various markets/cities of India. As Mitra mentioned above, Radio will build frequency and aid awareness for the key features: there will be three radio spots focused on the key features and there will high presence in top 2 radio stations in all priority markets.  

TVCs in Detail:
Vodafone RED Musician: Combo Plans:
One of Vodafone RED’s key features is Combo Plans. Most postpaid users take different packs for Minutes, SMS and Internet. The Combo Plans eliminate the needs for this by combining all these in one convenient pack.

In the first TVC, that focuses on establishing the feature of Combo Plans - we see a musician playing a guitar on a busy road, eager to entertain passers-by. But they aren't impressed and we see them walk by, ignoring him. Disappointed, he retreats to his home and gets busy working. We see him putting together some objects and testing the sound they make. The next day, we see him at the same location, but instead of one instrument, he has a contraption of several instruments strapped around his body. He starts playing them all at the same time, creating music that arrests the attention of everyone around. The crowd enjoys the music and applauds. Thus demonstrating how we all like many good things in one.

Vodafone RED Juicer: Pool & Share:
The second film shows the leader of the village getting fruits from all the villagers. The villagers bring him fruits of different sizes and types. He passes the fruit boxes on to the other villagers who are stationed atop a massive wooden juicer. Once all the fruits are put in it, he signals other men waiting by the side. They start turning the wheels of the juicer and instantly, orange juice trickles out from the bottom of the juicer.
The leader takes a sip and as the villagers expectantly wait for his verdict, he breaks into a smile to show his full approval. Everyone cheers and share the juice and drink their fill.
The message in the end says Come together and Share. It then explains Vodafone RED's Pool and Share feature - where you can form a group of your family members and pool and share your benefits like SMS, minutes and data to optimize your usage and minimize wastage.

Vodafone RED Traveler: Relationship Manager:
The third film in the campaign opens in the same village. We see a backpacker passing by, who seems new to the village. The villagers walk behind him, followed by their leader, and smile at him when he turns. He keeps walking, limping as he is tired from the long journey. The villagers pick him up and help him sit down and relax. One by one everyone comes to his service, bringing him food, drinks and even a huge wooden fan. He is visibly excited and just then he sees the leader arriving in a big wheeled cycle. The traveler is then helped onto the cycle as he leaves the village with all the goodies given by the villagers. The villagers bid him farewell as the message appears in the end - We all love to feel special.

It further explains Vodafone RED's feature that offers consumers a dedicated relationship manager. [By Aanchal Kohli | Twitter: @aanchalkohli]