When you are thinking of creating a brand, creating a visual image is very important. This can include logo and website design as well as custom design packaging. But what can make a brand really stand out is a mascot. These can help to personify a brand, and, for some, these mascots can become embedded in our memories representing an important part of our lives and culture. Find out more about what makes a lovable mascot. To ensure your brand will endear itself to consumers, consult San Diego branding and design experts, Lien Design.

Here are some ways mascots work to effectively promote your brand:

Personification:

Brand mascots give your brand a human face which allow customers to make a personal connection. They can embody a brand’s selling points and provide a personality humans can connect with. For instance, mascots like Planter’s Mr. Peanut served as the life of the party, providing a tongue in cheek personality that embodied the message of a fun, healthy brand.

Credibility:

A mascot can also increase a brand’s credibility, especially if the mascot comes across as honest and trustworthy. A great example of this is Mr. Clean who literally breathed life into an otherwise uninteresting brand. He does a great job of offering consumers a clean and honest image.

When we look back, it seems there is a number of mascots from our past… Tony the Tiger, the Energizer Bunny…but then they seem to have faded out a bit. Well now, with the advent of social media, mascots are back. The human connection that social media calls for, makes it an added bonus for companies to be able to communicate with consumers in a ‘human’ form. A well crafted character will provide this human connection and can make a brand stand out on social media platforms creating freedom for the brand without having to rely on certain individuals or spokespeople to build its social media presence.

What’s also great about mascots is that, unlike other forms of marketing, they thrive on repetition. People love to see them and, the more they see them, the better. However, keeping this in mind, companies should try to focus on creating a character that will be timeless. If you rely on current trends to create your mascots, they are likely to no longer be relevant once the fad passes.

Mascots can come in many shapes and sizes. For some, they are cute cartoon characters; for others they are fashioned after humans and more realistic. In some cases, they actually are human. The Maytag Man is a good example of this. Whatever path you choose to take, it’s important to keep the essence of your brand in mind and make sure your mascot portrays that.

Mascots have been such a huge part of culture and consumerism, we almost accept them as a part of our lives, something that has always been there, and the products and companies that they represent become embedded in that way as well. That’s why mascots are such an effective marketing tool. If you are looking to use a mascot in your advertising campaign, or are just thinking of ways to endear your company to consumers, consult California’s Lien Design. Their out of the box creativity is sure to set your product apart.