Wikipedia

 

Do your marketing campaigns need a little something extra? Do they need to be made a bit more exciting, characteristic, memorable? The answer is probably “yes” - after all, this is what all companies strive for in their campaigns! But have you ever considered making a company mascot? Such a character could really help your business if you do things right.

Make sure it’s suitable

Not every company should have a silly mascot, you know. If your company specializes in selling insurance to widows, for example, or sells child-sized caskets, then this probably isn’t the right business move for you. This being said, you can make a mascot work for loads of different types of businesses. In fact, it’s the “less exciting” types of businesses (insurance, etc) that are usually the ones who employ mascots - it helps spice up what could have been an otherwise dry ad campaign!

The design

You can either hire a company to design a mascot for you, or you can get in-house artists and marketers to have a go. It’s certainly possible to design a mascot without expensive, professional assistance. But you don’t want to go into this with a character that looks unprofessional, so be very careful how you go about this. Simple, complex, it doesn’t matter - it needs to be likable and memorable.

 

Wikipedia

 

Consider different media

So what exactly is this mascot going to be appearing on? You’re obviously going to want to put it on your business website. But perhaps you should also be considering audio-visual options. Adverts on television and YouTube could certainly help bring your character to life. Of course, you’d then have to look into animation, which can bring its own unique headaches. You’ll also have to work out whether or not you want the character to speak - which means you have to decide on what sort of voice it should have. It’s more demanding than it sounds, but if you get it right, this can be the best way to get your mascot out there.

 

Making it tangible

Bringing your corporate mascot into the realm of the real is often seen as the ultimate dream for this sort of endeavor. After all, it usually shows that there’s demand for a physical version of your mascot! There are a few ways you could go about this. The easiest way to do it is to put your mascot on a t-shirt that can be ordered from your site or even given away. If you have any stuffed doll ideas, you can get a company to help with that, too.

 

Flickr

 

The right amount of annoying?

The Aflac duck. The Pillsbury Doughboy. The meerkats from those UK insurance comparison ads. You may like them, but they’re objectively, undeniably annoying. But is the fact that they’re a bit annoying actually a benefit? It’s true that being a little bit annoying certainly leaves an impression, making you easier to remember. And, at the end of the day, that’s precisely what you’re looking for. As long as the character isn’t so annoying that people reach turn their TV or computer off in disgust, it could actually work to your benefit.

Comment