Lintas Media Group (LMG) has come together with Times Red Cell and Auto Vertical, to create a mascot for Maruti WagonR named Mr. WizeR. The toon character (see picture) aims to represent everything that the brand WagonR stands for, smartness and leadership, for instance. Auto Vertical is Maruti Suzuki's agency on record.
According to V.S Mani, senior vice-president and general manager, Lintas Media Group, "Mr WizeR is a corporate executive, who has solutions to problems. He will be shown in both office and general life situations. Mr WizeR's colleagues and friends often look to him for advice, because he has a balanced and practical approach towards issues."
"WagonR will be an integral part of the storyline and the brand fit will be merged with the story. Though he has a modern outlook, he is deeply rooted in the Indian value system," says Mani.
Speaking on the strategy behind the new campaign, Shashank Srivastava, chief general manager-marketing, Maruti Suzuki said, “The objective of this campaign is to revitalize the brand and beat the clutter with an innovative concept while communicating the core strength of the brand in the most effective manner. Mr WizeR, an embodiment of all values that the brand WagonR stands for, would provide a strong presence and connect to the brand in the fastest growing marketing medium - Internet and help us in reaching out to our audiences better.”
Depending upon the response to this campaign, WagonR aims to take this character to all media domains and plans to have Mr. WizeR as the face of future campaigns.
The cartoon character made its first appearance in a cartoon strip in The Times of India from July 17 onwards. The cartoon strip will appear every Friday, on the business page of the daily. Mr WizeR will also be seen in blogs, online virals and TV campaigns. The creative team at Times Red Cell will also work on the story for a two or three column strip.
