What's da Number?

Oh well, more dope on the new vodafone customer care AD. Well we all were surprised that the trademark pug came back. I was sure that after transitioning to Vodafone, the brand managers would use the pug sparingly inorder to reinforce the new brand into everybody's consciousness. But they've resorted to using it after just 7 months of the transition it seems

According to this article on agencyfaqs, The pug was used in a specific service based ad instead of a thematic brand AD, because according to Mr.Harit Nagpal, chief marketing officer, Vodafone India, "Customer care is the face of our brand, so in a sense, this aspect of Vodafone encompasses the entire brand.” Therefore, the pug

Ahhh, they were trying to remind everybody of what lousy service they offered when they were Hutch. Also did anyone notice that there was no number given? As in which number to call when somebody wants to avail their excellent service? I think thats a major flaw in execution because although everyone is now aware of their supposed service offerings, I'm sure Vodafone customers would have also like to know the service call numbers. And also this campaign would have inspired more trust had they given their numbers out.

I mean Airtel's 121 is pretty famous for customer care and this is one of the major features of why most people I know chose Airtel - their customer service. Service branding methinks is a word of mouth thing. You can make people aware that it exists but the consumer confidence only comes in after it is experienced and spoken about. This works only if more people experience customer service, and if its good, then recommend it to their friends. Its hard to sell a service, more so, customer care. I guess people will be skeptical till they actually try it. So vodafone lost a major opportunity, methinks, in converting a few people into believers and ergo into evangelists.
I can think of why they didn't advertize the number - inorder not to put more strain on the infrastructure I guess. But really it still puzzles me as to why they didn't put the number out there..