Who should be your brand’s rightful spokesperson?
Brand
Can you recall the good old days when the famous brand mascot of your favourite ice cream got you craving for a dessert, the Zoo Zoos got your humming the brand’s jingle, or you just randomly started singing the Nirma washing powder song? We cannot help but feel nostalgic when we come across these treasures. Sadly, with the advent of influencer marketing, the prominence of especially the brand mascots is on a decline—even brands with thriving mascot resort to marketing their products through influencers.
Social influencers are increasingly becoming celebrities, and corporations have begun to create greater exclusivity. Brand mascots are no longer used in every TV commercial as they used to be. Like the King (Burger King), they have gone out of favour in the digital sphere as marketers increasingly turn to social influencers on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. This trend makes every brand wonder what way they should move towards it.
Mascots are great fun! They make you laugh, they work hard to entertain you, and they go beyond traditional marketing techniques. Commercial mascots are a terrific way to differentiate your company, and consumers adore them. In fact, for some of us, they even become a symbol of some cherished times.
1. Mascots are memorable, which aids in recognition of your brand. An enthusiastic and appealing mascot is precisely what you need to generate sales or promote awareness.
2. Mascots are entertaining and reflect the personality of your brand. This helps your fans and consumers realise what you represent, leading to deeper relationships.
3. It’s difficult not to smile when you see a mascot. With their lively personality and opportunity for photo ops with fans, it’s difficult to ignore them. As a result, people are more inclined to approach you and your mascot and listen to what you have to say.
4. Getting celebrities to represent your brand provides similar benefits to a mascot. The issue is that such spokespeople can lose favour and sometimes act in ways that harm your brand, even though they no longer represent it. You can direct their story with a mascot without worrying about them getting into a bad scenario during off hours.
According to a Tomoson survey, businesses earn $6.50 for every $1 invested in influencer marketing. And this year, more than half (59%) of the 125 firms polled plan to boost their influencer marketing expenses. As per the same survey, Influencer marketing was named the fastest-growing online consumer acquisition channel, outperforming organic search, sponsored search, and email marketing. Affiliate marketing fared the worst in this area, with only 5% of companies citing it as their fastest-growing channel.
The advantages are apparent, such as a higher ROI than other forms of digital advertising that lack the same human connection with customers. Marketers understand that these connections lead directly to brand engagement, so 40% focus solely on it! Unsurprisingly, marketers use influencer marketing to create leads and increase sales.
The trend indicates that more brands will create closer relationships with consumers through social influencers rather than mascot marketing because the former are genuine individuals who are content creation professionals with a large following. Moreover, it takes a lot of work to create and popularise a mascot.
Every small step in the right direction will allow your brand to grow-
1. Your marketing budget is one of the factors that is going to influence the decision.
2. Know your audience, their likes and dislikes. Choose the option that resonates the most with them.
3. If your customers are seniors, they might use social media less. Therefore, an influencer will not be the best way to go forward. If you focus on products for children, a mascot can become an extremely attractive and beneficial investment.
4. Some firms are doing well with social influencers, developing a year-long relationship with those people so that they genuinely become brand evangelists. However, most social influencers simply care about the paycheck to post something on social media.
5. If you choose an influencer, take the time to locate the most qualified representation for each press-based media opportunity, and pay attention to any other interactions – through social, blog comments, and other channels – that reflect your brand.
6. If a firm or agency has the necessary resources, it should generate content in-house rather than outsource it to influencers who might uniquely perceive the brand.
7. An influencer may choose to promote a competing brand which is not the case with a mascot. You can control its image and what it projects. So, make a choice depending upon what degree of control you wish to have upon your marketing tools.
A decision as such could decide the future of a brand. At Granth, we help you make these important decisions with the help of evidence-backed numbers, trends and market research so that we hit the target every single time.
Entrepreneur | Ambitious Writer | Helping businesses meet their branding and advertising needs through a content-driven approach