Mascot Branding
Sep 5th, 2007 by Vikram Rajan
It happened to me again: I was commenting on somebody else’s blog, and I got inspired to elaborate on my point here. (You can read my comments, featured on other people’s blogs, on the lower right hand side of this page, later.)
Branding is all about pulling prospects to you (or your product) with an emotional connection… We’re moved by great brands; great brands are movements. The Culting of Brands is a great book on this subject.
Corporate Brands force this emotional connection: After all, it take mighty marketing mavens to have us fall in love with what is really a multi-national, multi-billion-dollar, conglomerate. But we do.
Personal Brands, on the other hands, have natural emotional connections. We are a naturally inspired, moved, and are attracted to other people. As we start focusing on what makes our character and charisma distinctive, we immediately differentiate our competency. As we focus on a community to which we can relate, we naturally develop personal brand appeal.
A happy medium between corporate branding (what I call a “forced emotional connection”) and personal branding (aah, “natural emotional connection”) is Mascot Branding. For those of us who don’t want to really capitalize on ourselves, or make our business dependent on our reputation (a vulnerable position as Martha and Imus both felt), we can leverage the personal brand appeal of a MASCOT.
We can think of many other famous companies who use mascots to personify their own service, or their “evil” competitor, a lousy or great customer: In fact, we can vote on them and see the winner parade at NY’s Advertising Week “Favorite Icon”.
Marketing a mascot is just like marketing any other personal brand. We can build a whole world around our mascots even, as the Caveman’s Crib is doing: It’s an experience worthy of its distraction — learn a few “immersive experience” marketing lessons from playing around on the Caveman’s Crib website.
If you don’t want to leverage your reputation, or want to embellish your own personal brand… consider the route of the Mascot. For example, Adam Schwam, founder of Sandwire - a computer technology services company, regularly uses mascots in his marketing and advertising. I interviewed him last summer for a book that I’m writing. Since then we’ve grown a cool relationship; we’re working on writing a “marketing technology” column together and more. (In fact, his illustrator, Michael Mastermaker is the one who drew me for the cover of my Audio-Books.)
I’ll be visiting a new client this afternoon. I know he wants to sell his business after a few years, so he may not want to develop and leverage his own personal brand. Let’s see if he can think outside-the-box of what’s traditional for his industry. By creating a legendary mascot, he would immediately set his company and his “commoditized” service apart. When he’s ready, he can also very easily sell the rights to the business & its mascot - an income-producing asset.
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I do believe that’s the hardest question on personal branding I run into - how do I separate my brand from the company when “I am the company” or “people know I’m the company”. Every transition consultant you speak to will tell you to “begin with the end in mind” and have an exit strategy. So, if you know you’re exiting why would you leave some of your personal self behind? Business books such as Michael Gerber’s eMyth tout that a business is an profitable enterprise that works with out you. And, yet, many of the business owners, I work with, make their business work because THEY are the business.
Great post on Mascots - which I’ve seen some clients use in transitioning their business persona to something that could go with the business. Still, a tough transition yet, you’re right Vik, I’ve seen it work!
Great post - lots of food for thought!
As a branding and activation specialist I was highly engaged by your article. It’s disturbing though when Mascots that we all grew up with are being targeted by the government and society as “unhealthy”. With all the new stringent child marketing guidelines, mascots that we know and love are now on the chopping block (ie-Tony the Tiger, the Keebler elves, etc). It makes every marketer wonder–with all the money that has been spent to create and define brands by using these mascots–is it worth it to create and develop a mascot when the government can create regulations that say you must rethink your marketing strategy because your mascots are selling too much of your product and your product is not healthy enough for America’s youth??? Just my two cents, which you can read more about on my alternative marketing blog www.AlternativeMarketing101Blog.com.
My name is Brittany Mosley and I am doing a project on creating a mascot for Mountain Dew. I need a professional who has experience in creating anthropomorphic characters or mascots. I was also wondering where your college’s mascot was created. I need to interview someone to help me create my character or mascot. I would truely appreciate if you could contact me back as soon as possible.
I have read the article with great interest since our company is selling tailer made mascots to Europe, mainly to Scandinavia and over the last few years there has been a change in the customers. At first we sold to sportsclubs etc (Team Parks) but over the last few years the sale of commercial mascots or as you put it branded mascots has increased. Due to the climate in Europe the major part of the mascots is used indoors, like in shoppeing malls etc. and the marketing instrument the mascots play has become a darling. We spent many hours now discussing the issue : Branding with our clients and I find your comments about emotional branding very interesting. Thank you. I shall register and follow all the news, a very useful input to me.