Research - Business Growth: Building an Empire with Your Brand Mascot

source : https://www.business2community.com/branding/business-growth-building-empire-brand-mascot-01213792



In other words… we want to put human characteristics on non-human items, in order to feel a connection to them. Deep Stuff. The study also goes on to state that brand mascots serve as a bridge between “producers” and “consumers”, giving the customers a sense of trust and friendliness toward the corporations. Tony the Tiger, Aunt Jemima, the Pillsbury Doughboy and Betty Crocker give friendly faces to faceless corporations.

As his modest company began to grow, so did Obici’s belief in advertising. While other processors thought national advertising was a waste of money, he believed that name and brand recognition would be critical for his business. He did something drastic, and held a contest with a $5 prize for the best mascot design. Long story short – Mr. Peanut was born in 1917. And because Obici was so marketing savvy, he not only created a brand mascot, but also created coloring books, advertising posters, and appeared in multiple newspapers to further his reach.

And his brand mascot paid off! Thanks to Mr. Peanut, the company grew from $1 million to $7 million in 5 years! And we’re talking back in 1917, where $7 million was a lot of money.

Fast forward to today and Mr. Peanut has become an iconic brand mascot, even boasting over 600,000 followers on his personal Facebook page and tweeting away over on his Twitter account. 

Enter the Social Media Age. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Google Plus. The popularity of social media in the marketing realm has provided a huge channel for brand mascots to come alive.  Social media has made icons and mascots a much more interactive component of a brand’s story. With Facebook boasting over 845 million users worldwide, and Twitter over 500 million users, social media networks present a large population for consumer interaction. This gives brand mascots the ability to “communicate” to consumers through their respective social networking sites.

Carol Phillips,  president of consulting group Brand Amplitude, says this about brand mascots and social media:

“Mascots are “the gift that keeps on giving”. They never get in trouble with the law. They don’t up their fees. You can use them for a long, long time. Today, social media is giving marketers a whole new playground to test and nurture mascots. I think the web is going to [bring] a heyday for creating new characters and stories,”