Get “A Costumed” to Success

When it comes to increasing your brand’s awareness, acceptance and retention, you might think that you’ve tried everything. Or that you’ve taken the advice from more experts than you can count. But have you ever considered creating a brand mascot? A colorful, energetic, fun and lively character that represents your brand to the world at large can be an asset whose value far exceeds its cost.

A brand mascot can derive from a myriad of sources – it can be a human character, an animal, an otherwise inanimate object, your product, your logo, your founder. Any of these, when brought to life and given a personality, can become the one thing about your brand that resonates with audiences up and down the spectrum and gives your company a unique opportunity to stand out from its competition.

The most successful and enduring brand mascots are the ones whose companies have allowed them to work their magic over an extended period of time. Whether it’s Mr. Peanut, the Geico Gecko, the Pillsbury Dough Boy or Mr. Clean, they have all permeated the social consciousness and made their brands and their products relatable and memorable. And a mascot, or costumed character, doesn’t exist exclusively in the broadcast universe. Your brand ambassador can make a big impact at marketing and sales events, trade shows, internal meetings, community events…basically anywhere there’s a big crowd that can be see, remember, interact with and be won over by your eternally charming spokesmascot.

Perhaps the best part of having a brand mascot – in addition to the impact it can have on your sales figures – is the fact that, once it’s created and introduced to the public, it costs very little to maintain. It doesn’t get in trouble with the police, it doesn’t ask for a raise, it just keeps going and going and going for you – just like the Energizer bunny (yes, another brand mascot that we all know and love). So if you have never given a thought to creating a fuzzy, shiny, colorful, playful, responsible and truly memorable character to represent your brand or product…perhaps now is the time to think about it. Because it would truly be a shame if your competition decided to do it first, and their character became the first image in people’s minds when they thought about your market.