Zoozoo, the iconic comical character created by Ogilvy & Mather after wooing the local market is all set to debut on the international circuit. Vodafone officials have given a nod to Ogilvy & Mather to take the leap. The concept, which was earlier, designed for the second season of IPL, is now being seen in its second innings after taking the country by storm.

The concept and the campaign were conceived by Rajiv Rao, National Creative Director, O&M, and the film was directed by Nirvana Films.

Vodafone had designed a new concept everyday with the comical Zoozoo’s for the IPL-2. In its second version, Zoozoo’s are spreading the ‘Power to You’ message by showcasing all the value added services offered by Vodafone. Zoozoo merchandise has also been all over the market since October.

Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, South Asia, added that the international market was a definite possibility and lot of progress has been made in the past one week.

The Zoozoos are back with a bang. The O&M creation, which were exclusively designed for the IPL, have made a comeback. Vodafone Essar has launched its latest Zoozoo campaign along with an online contest. The contest is called ‘Complete the Zoozoo Story’ and aims at capitalizing on the brand through social media.

The contest is valid from November 24, 2009 till January 1, 2010. Individuals can participate in the contest by logging on to Facebook or Vodafone’s official site. Participants can win a BlackBerry Storm every week along with Zoozoo franchisee products.

According to the contest, participants will watch snippets of the upcoming Zoozoo commercials and they will have to complete the ads according to their vision, thereby creating their very own Zoozoo story.

Complete the Zoozoo story your style. Click here to participate.

Omnicom seems to have hit a hetric as in a period of less than a month; it has bagged three global accounts.

Earlier this month OMD took Monster’s global media-planning and -buying account without a review, and just last week it was awarded telecom giant Vodafone’s $1 billion-plus global media-buying account in 19 regions, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain — all regions where they previously held the business — as well as regions in which they weren’t managing the business, such as the U.K., Australia, India, Greece, Ireland and South Africa.

And now Virgin Atlantic has awarded its $30 million-plus traditional and digital global media business to Omnicom Group’s OMD.
Paul Dickinson, marketing director at Virgin Atlantic, said the consolidation was done to develop better brand consistency around the globe.

OMD and RKCR/Y&R both previously held the media and creative accounts, respectively, in the U.K., Virgin’s biggest market. The consolidation effort was initiated from Virgin’s headquarters there.

As part of a global consolidation of its marketing and media accounts, Vodafone-the telecom major company has handed over its media rights to Optimum Media Direction (OMD). Earlier the rights were with Group M’s Maxus.

The account highlights global media-buying across 19 regions, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain — all regions where they previously held the business — as well as regions in which they weren’t managing the business, such as the U.K., Australia, India, Greece, Ireland and South Africa.
Thus taking care of European, Middle East and Asia-Pacific markets.

The pitch, which was called for three months ago, and the account has been won by Team Vodafone of WPP (for Europe, West Asia and Africa) and Carat (in the UK). Carat won the business in January this year from OMD.

The account transition from Maxus to OMD will happen over the next few months, as per a Vodafone spokesperson. In India, the advertising spends for the brand is pegged at approx Rs 300 crore.