Sprite: ‘fresh' brand journey

Sprite embarks on ‘fresh' brand journey

Coca-Cola India's clear carbonated soft drink brand, Sprite, has embarked on a new thematic campaign with the tag line ‘First Drink. Then Think'.

A set of three teasers launched the ‘University of Freshology' campaign a day before the ICC Cricket World Cup, on February 18, and the first ‘reveal' commercial was aired on February 25.

The campaign, encompassing on air, on-ground and digital, will be executed through the year. Sources estimate the marketing budget for the campaign to be in the region of Rs 35 crore. The creative agency behind the campaign is Ogilvy India.

The brand has shed its popular tagline ‘Bujaye only pyaas, baki sab bakwaas' with the new campaign. The insight was that today's teens find smart ways out of tough situations with ‘fresh thinking' — drinking Sprite has been portrayed in the television ads as a sure way to trigger fresh thought.

Digital media is playing a key role in the new campaign, starting with a new Web site — www.sprite.in — and an Indian Facebook page. Among several contests is one where visitors are invited to suggest smart endings to teasers that appeared on television. Suggestions getting the most ‘likes' (votes) will get made into a film. A new contest called CricWit will go live on the Web site shortly, and will be driven by the brand's Facebook fan base.

From brands talking to consumers in the old days, moved to having a dialogue with them. Now, with an application like CricWit, the brand Sprite will only provide a platform for consumers to express their thoughts. That will be part of the next phase of this campaign, where fans will be invited to comment on cricket, whether it's the World Cup or IPL. The most popular as decided by followers on Facebook will win prizes.

The on-ground leg of the campaign will be driven through ‘Sprite Gully Cricket Champs'. The third edition of the street cricket property will be hosted across 27 cities in 11 States, with 32 short-listed teams playing in each city. City winners will get a prize of Rs 1,00,000 and runners up will get Rs 50,000. City winners will play for a zonal title and a cash prize of Rs 5,00,000.

The April 2011 edition will be the biggest on-ground exercise by Sprite in the country. On-pack promotions and roadshows, besides radio, print and outdoor advertising, will support the property.

Street cricket is quick-paced, informal, has unusual rules, and is everything Sprite wants to be and stands for. In terms of timing, it will draw upon the youth TG (target group) in a leisure period starting mid-March.

The new campaign ushers in summer for Sprite, which claims to be the second largest carbonated soft drink brand (after Thums Up) with an estimated 14 per cent share.

‘Super Zoozoo'

Vodafone: After ‘Super Zoozoo' 

Vodafone has launched a campaign to promote 3G services with a series of television commercials during the ongoing cricket World Cup. The campaign marked the return of popular animated cartoon characters Zoozoos, with a ‘Super Zoozoo' performing heroics representing the superior quality of 3G services. A teaser campaign was launched at the start of the World Cup, and the ‘Super Zoozoo' was unveiled during the India-England match on Sunday, February 27

After the successful initial blast, the focus is on getting customers to experience the 3G services. The campaign with the Zoozoos was planned to leverage the World Cup, starting with the teasers. The India-England match was the best platform the company could have asked for to reveal 3G. There will be parallel communication targeting different segments going forward.

Marketing efforts

The company will focus its marketing efforts by segments, ranging from the early adopters of 3G to those unaware of possible services on the faster network.

The messaging will range from tariffs to product offerings on 3G.

The biggest challenge is to get customers to experience the 3G services. Customers can get a risk-free experience of the fast network and service offerings on 3G at Vodafone stores, with experience zones created for promoting 3G.

Noting that only 4 to 5 per cent of handsets in the market today are 3G enabled, A large part of 3G adoption is also hardware adoption. We will be communicating and helping increase the 3G enabled handset adoption. With 3G, it's not a question of competing with other service providers; it's about growing the pie.

Vodafone will also look to draw from its learnings around the world on 3G adoption and services.

Web access accounts for a large part of 3G usage globally. Having the largest 3G user base around the world, the Company understands consumer usage patterns and can bring some of those learnings to India. India could be a little different given peculiarity of the market, different segments, and the large prepaid base. There are likely to be two distinct streams of growth here — one from browsing and the other through localised utilities and services.

‘Unprecedented' hits

Vodafone is delighted that the ‘Super Zoozoo' campaign has received ‘unprecedented' hits on Facebook. The film was unveiled at 10 am on February 27 and attracted over 1,00,000 views in less than two days. Vodafone will continue to invest in marketing through digital media.

The brand must be hoping that the next time it unveils something as successful as the ‘Super Zoozoo', a large number of those viewing it on the web do so on 3G-enabled handsets.

Rural Internet Penetration

Rural India: Internet Penetration

"84% of rural India are unaware of Internet"

Although, Urban India has adopted Internet in large numbers (especially younger generation), Internet penetration in Rural India is close to zilch. Even though Government is making huge efforts to increase the penetration, it seems to be failing miserably.

According to the survey conducted jointly by IAMAI and IMRB, about 84 percent of people in rural India are not aware of Internet. The organizations believe that this lack of awareness is the primary reason that has prevented internet take-up in rural India.

The research further found that 38 percent of rural inhabitants feel no need for internet access. Further reasons for not using the internet include lack of an internet access point (31%), unfamiliar with computers (31%), no computer available (28%), need for guidance (28%), no electricity (22%), and not being able to afford internet (10%).

At present, common service centers and cyber cafés serve as the primary mode of accessing internet, with more than 70 percent of the rural population accessing the internet this way.