Cheeka is a pug

Pug

The pug is a "toy" breed of dog with a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, and a compact square body with well-developed muscle. They have been described as multum in parvo , referring to the pug's personality and...

 who appeared in the "You & I" advertising campaign

Advertising campaign

An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...

 of Hutch's cellular service in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, along with the child actor Jayaram. The dog follows the boy in unlikely locations, prompting the tagline

Tagline

A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...

, "Wherever you go, our network follows." The duo first appeared on TV

Television in India

Television is one of the major mass media of India and is a huge industry and has thousands of programmes in all the states of India. The small screen has produced numerous celebrities of their own kind some even attaining national fame. TV soaps are extremely popular with housewives as well as...

, billboard

Billboard (advertising)

A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...

s, newspapers and bus shelters in 2003 and became instant celebrities all over India. The campaign was created by Mahesh V. and Rajeev Rao, Senior Creative Directors at Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...

, Mumbai. The dog hails from the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and is owned by Vishal and Lisa Bambekar of Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

.

Birth of the idea

In the year 2003 in India, several telecommunications companies were competing for a share of the rapidly growing mobile phone

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

 market. Hutch wanted to convey the message that its service was robust enough to provide coverage in every part of its coverage areas. It hired Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai to create an advertisement campaign focusing on this theme. Mahesh V. and Rajeev Rao, Senior Creative Directors at the agency, spent a whole night developing the idea. "We did not want to talk about technology, and we consciously avoided showing people talking on the mobile", says Mahesh. Their first idea was a little sister following her brother. "On second thoughts, we concluded that a dog would be much less mushy", adds Mahesh. That's when they hit upon the theme, "Wherever you go, our network follows", and the idea for the campaign: a dog that follows a boy in the most unlikely places — school, bath, barber shop, etc. "Man's best friend was the simplest analogy that could represent unconditional support", says Renuka Jaypal, National Business Director of O&M.

The campaign

The television ad was the first to be shot, a 60-second sequence in lush green Goa. The role of the boy was played by Jayaram, an eight-year-old who had already starred in four other ads. Cheeka was suggested for the role by an assistant at Nirvana Films, the makers of the ad. The campaign became a hit, and was soon followed by a print version for newspapers. Cheeka earned Rs.

Rupee

The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...

 1.5 lakh

Lakh

A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...

 for the campaign, and still appears in Hutch ads, representing the network. Recently, she featured with her pink nose, when Hutch changed its signature color from orange to pink.

Critique

The campaign was well received all over India. "To me the magic of this campaign is its simplicity", says Piyush Pandey

Piyush Pandey

Piyush Pandey is the Executive Chairman & National Creative Director Ogilvy & Mather India and the winner of over 600 awards for advertising from all over the world. He is also Vice Chairman of O&M South Asia. Under Pandey, Oglivy & Mather has become the third largest advertising agency in India...

, National Creative Director of O&M. "It impacts your emotional retina in such a way that you enjoy it while it is happening", adds advertising legend Alyque Padamsee

Alyque Padamsee

Alyque Padamsee is an Indian theater personality and ad film maker. He is probably best known in the English-speaking world for playing Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the film Gandhi...

. "There was something about Cheeka that was very enduring and also there was an instant rapport with the kid", says Jaypal. Padamsee adds, "You rarely see pugs in ads because they are ugly. This goes against the grain and that's why it clicks." The campaign was ranked the Top Print Ad of 2003 and among the Top 10 TV Campaigns of 2003 in India by Business Today.

The ad is similar to the approach used by Fido Solutions

Fido Solutions

Fido Solutions is a Canadian cellular telephone service provider currently owned by Rogers Communications. It was formerly owned by Microcell Telecommunications. Fido does, however, remain a separate entity from Rogers...

, a major mobile service provider in Canada. It is also similar to the concept of network technicians following the customer in recent Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless

Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....

 ads in the US.

Impact on popular culture

The ad campaign was followed by a rise in the popularity of pugs in India, and the sale of pugs more than doubled within months, with prices shooting up from about Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000-60,000. A few other ads also appeared in the following months, inspired by the idea of a dog following a boy. In addition, Cheeka remains the wallpaper

Mobile wallpaper

A mobile wallpaper is a computer wallpaper sized to fit a mobile device such as a mobile phone, personal digital assistant or digital audio player. Screens range in size from 128x128 to 640x360 and the height is often greater than or equal to the width...

most often downloaded by Hutch customers onto their phone screens as of 2005.