What Brand Mascots Can Do For A Brand

Think back to your childhood and think about the cartoons you had on TV. Now think about those commercials and which ones come to mind?

McDonald's. Chuck E Cheese. Cool toy commercials when the toys are actually played with, the ones where an action figure like batman is breaking through a wall of cardboard barrels to fight the joker action figure (if you were born in the nineties you remember these I bet). And then there are cereal commercials: Trix, Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, Cocoa Puffs, Rice Crispies, Lucky Charms, and the list continues. I remember these commercials cause after seeing them I always wanted those cereals even if my parents did not want to buy them for me. 

What made these commercials (besides the possibility of eating them and getting a sugar high) was the brand mascots that each of these cereals had. You had Tony the Tiger, Lucky the Leprechaun, Trix the Rabbit, and Toucan Sam to name a few. Each one had their own unique background which only served to enthrall me deeper into the commercial.

Brand Mascots:

Today brand mascots still play a part in the big world of brands and advertising. They add to the brands. Some are more interactive like the cereal brand mascots, always having games or problems to be solved by the children that watched them. Some are meant to be more human and emotional so that audiences can connect better. An example of this would be the Geico Gecko and how he wrote a book titled, Your Only Human.

Brand mascots give the brand a face that comes automatically to mind if done right. Brand mascots help in our decision to even consider a brand. If done well they have a good back story and many have great personalities that help them to appeal to audiences. These brand mascots bring brand awareness to the brand as well by creating a connection between them and the brand. A brand mascot can even take a service and give substance to it like Flo for Progressive Insurance.

What My Blog Will Cover:

In this blog I will look at brand mascots and the aspects of certain ones that make them good or bad and some of the history of brand mascots. I will also look at some good ad stories and what makes them good. I encourage you to comment and put in your two cents for each post.

What are some of the commercials and brand mascots that stick in your mind?