Don't laugh! Those silly little characters can mean big business. Consider the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Jolly Green Giant, the M&Ms characters, the Aflac duck and the Geico Gecko. This character is especially useful for communicating about products, services and issues regarding quality control, inspection, clues, spying and mysteries. Companies that might use him include home inspectors, investigators, officers, police, detectives, quality control personnel and auditors.
In fact, a cartoon brand mascot is the single most powerful marketing tool many companies can deploy. Most people, when starting a business, or introducing a new product brand, center their efforts around the logo, trying to build a brand around a simple graphic symbol. Maybe they prop it up with a snazzy slogan, but it's still a static symbol. It doesn't make eye contact (very important) and it can't talk and explain and educate anyone about anything. It doesn't wink and smile, giggle or dance, or do anything to be endearing. It doesn't create any "warm-and-fuzzies" and therefore, doesn't build relationships that translate into brand loyalty. Despite being viewed as the cornerstone for most brands, the effectiveness of logos still pales in comparison to a well-crafted cartoon brand mascot.
So why don't more companies use brand mascots? Quite simply it's been overlooked in traditional marketing circles. Name one college that teaches a class in developing brand mascots, let alone one that grants a degree in it. How many ad agencies do you know that specializes in it? It's just fallen through the cracks, and no one has focused on it as a specialty... until now.
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