MASCOT MARKETING
Ever wondered about the success of brands that have gotten to our minds merely with their eccentric caricatures?
Amul, Mc Donald’s, SunFeast, Parle G, Big Babol Boomer and various other brands have used simple recognisable entities called as mascots to create strong brand identity. They have employed mascots (characters) such as anthropomorphic animals, person or symbolising objects to personify their brand identity.
Didn’t Amul Girl, Joker Ronald McDonald, Sunny, Parle Girl and Boomer Man cross your mind as you read the brand names?
These characters are depicted as brand characters or avatars working as ambassadors of a company or their product/services. They are sometimes part of a company’s logo (KFC) or are created separately to be utilised for marketing purposes (ICICI Life Insurance Mascot Chintamani) or the product itself is incarnated to express its qualities (Appy Fizz Bottle).
Mascots can be a cost effective method to advertise your product/service as they can be used in community events, exhibitions, print media and online platforms for more than one campaign with different stories. This helps keeping the customers/potential leads engaged with the brand through their mascots keeping a long lasting memory of it.
We know, with digital marketing era exploding and the marketing space saturating, the way to stand out is ideation of creative concepts and attractive visualisations. Mascots help brands in creating top-of-mind awareness. Through mascots, brands convey their story. They make it livelier, appealing and connect well with the audience.
HOW SHOULD YOUR BRAND MASCOT BE LIKE?
When getting a mascot made for your brand, one shouldn’t make it in a rush. Any figure, attractive to kids or having made using colour psychology just would not justify it for your company’s product/service or the goal it intends to position in the minds of its targeted market.
WELL-DEFINED PERSONALITY
The essence of a mascot lies in the personality of the role/animal/object you choose to represent your brand. For example, Burger King has The Sneak King as its mascot, illustrating that its customers would be treated as Kings. The crown also served the purpose of telling the customers about its standard of food served.
MASCOT AS PER YOUR NICHE
The character you choose should be relatable to the audience you want to connect with. For example, Coco, the monkey from Kellogg’s Chocos was smartly chosen to represent Chocos as monkeys are known to evoke connotations of energy, entertainment and friendliness amongst the kids. It showcases children that eat Chocos could be as energetic as Coco.
COMPATIBILITY
The essential part of any character being utilised is its efficiency remaining intact across all mediums. It often happens that a mascot is attractive enough for the print but lacks the vibrancy when on digital arena such as for animations. The brand best known for its wider reach along with it being compatible on social media, televisions and newspapers is undoubtedly, Vodafone Zoozoos; the egg shaped and balloon like bodies that made a huge hype during IPL 2009. (Their cuteness was an add-on contributing to its mass likeability)
NOTABLE BRANDS WITH FAMOUS MASCOTS
MARIO
The Nintendo Mario is a wonderful example of a Mascot emerging from the limitations of digital world and is yet an iconic representation of the world of Super Mario. Video games today are incomplete without having Mario! Isn’t it?
What made it to shine?
The simplicity of the figure made Mario a hit. Today’s advertisements are filled with characters that are perfect physically and mentally (of course, companies pay money to build fantasies to lure). But Mario, being a stout figure with a plump nose, long moustache and a round belly is one of the most liked video games of the world. It is far from the stereotypical characteristics of a superhero with pecks and abs. Yet even after 3 decades of its debut, it got out of the Nintendo ecosystem and is a part of iOS, followed with a rise in its share prices.
MICKEY MOUSE
The classical mouse, debuted in 1928, is still a part of every child’s TV routine in 2020. It is even hard to think Disney and Mickey Mouse as different. The mascot has been so terrific that it has been used as a merchandise to brand Disneyland Theme Parks around the world.
The simple, friendly mouse with its quirky features won a million hearts. A cartoon that always shared a moral and spread the knowledge of things he did. Mickey has appeared in several shows, cartoons and movies since its inception. The mouse is so recognised that a majority of the world population, adults and kids can identify the brand solely with its silhouette 3 circled-face.
THE AMUL GIRL
Discussing about mascots, the most controversial one can never be forgotten to be mentioned. The young Indian girl with blue hair and a short pony, dressed in polka dot known for its witty one liner and puns on current affairs. Adding her takes on everything unfolding around since 1966, she is yet fresh, active and one of the most known mascots in India.
BOOMER MAN
The mascot was made in coordination with the colour of the bubble gum. The property of the man was sketched to be as a bubble gum that swells like no other. The comic of the mascot was popular amongst the kids in the last decade, known for its pro stunt characteristics. The mascot delivered brand value for over years and helped the company grab a market share of 40% in India. (Of course its famous tagline Boom Boom Boomer being supplementary to its success)
McDONALD JOKER
Ronald McDonald, a smiling and warm clown outside every food chain outlet of McDonald’s is yet another famous figure amongst kids. It is a mascot created to target the right niche. It has been enticing children since decades. The bright yellow jumpsuit contributing to the joyous nature of the clown in terms of colour psychology was cleverly chosen instead of the usual red clown dress.
BUT IS A MASCOT ESSENTIAL FOR EVERY BRAND’s SUCCESS?
No doubt, mascots represent a brand to associate a company effectively with audience’s emotions, yet there are other ways to connect with the audience depending on the focused market and brand relevance.
INDUSTRY WISE
There are specific industries where the usage of mascot would rather not be appreciated. The users of cosmetics and fitness supplement companies would rather watch real models getting into shape/becoming fair/acne free (Of course scripted) because as a justification, customers would look for real insights.
Digital marketing firms rather use mascot, the best one’s in fact showcasing their company culture. Since, there is an enormous competition in this segment; these agencies are required to be creative with such tools!
The financial industry is known to be a sober one, hence, we can’t really think of having mascots. But if you are aware about The Geico Gecko, it has been successful for its simple design with thoughtful communication over social media.
Corresponding to the nature of financial industry is the Health industry. With the seriousness of its occupation, hospitals employ adorable and cute mascots.
A COMPARISON OF DETERGENT BRANDS
NIRMA
“Washing Powder Nirma, Washing Powder Nirma,
Doodh si Safedi, Nirma se aayi”, to the tune of which dances a tiny girl. It is known to be one of those brands that bought washing powder in the Indian households, making detergents affordable. Apart from the jingle, it is the infamous girl that represents the successful brand Nirma. The girl known to be the identity of this brand was developed from the real life incident of the founder Karsanbhai Patel whose daughter had died in a car accident. The company had grabbed a large market share beating MNCs like HUL.
TIDE
A brand that shined without a mascot! “Kyu? Chowk Gaye?”
It is its tagline that attracted a lot of mothers. Its affordable pricing, marketing strategy that showed washing clothes as a fun activity and its improvement over its product features were enough for the brand to hit the markets without a mascot.
IN A NUTSHELL
Majorly, mascots have been used to entice the customers (kids) or to provide information regarding the product, its usage and its benefits. The latter is a wonderful scenario to execute mascots in the open market of the contemporary scenario where any store is accessible from any part of the world.
The usage of mascots isn’t necessary by every brand of any scale of operation or even within a specific industry. A well planned marketing strategy can always help lift a brand’s image. Mascots can be used by brands by understanding the customer’s emotional connect with the product/service being offered.
Hence, while engaging a mascot a company should make sure that it is not merely used as an advertising tool but as a communicator of brand culture, service and quality.
REFERENCES
2. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/lessons-mario-create-successful-brand-characters/1409298
3. https://visualcontent.space/mascots-are-not-for-every-business/
