Precisely, a mascot visually represents complete attributes of a brand. Consumers have seen, appreciated and related very actively with brand mascots. One reason also being that mascots are very capable in distinguishing between the competitors by striking an emotional connection with consumers. Mascot is therefore also considered as powerful as the logo. Now, with the social media sector booming, mascots are also on the verge of and are already portraying immense success for brands through this platform.

It goes without saying that with rising competition in the world of marketing and branding there’s a great need for the brand managers to instill in the big idea into their branding. Brands, recently are imbibing the trend of marketing with a sophisticated approach wherein mascots are trying to step in to add a personal touch to the corporate brands too.

These brand imageries or mascots which were known to communicate the most essential echelon of advertising and marketing seemed to have faded in the past few years. They were again brought oi light by a few brands. During those days animation was not active as today and ad men used to play with unrealistic characters trying to stand out in terms of the brand.

Introduction of social media to brands using mascots occurred during the phase when Pillsbury doughboy and Ronald Mc Donald were created.

Brand mascots are usually very creative, colourful, dynamic and appealing making them recognizable and easy to identify with. Once this association wherein consumers could easily relate with the brand is established brand awareness increases.

Gone are the days when products had a few seconds television commercial to generate the character of the brand and mascot. Today the advancement in technology lets the creativity to flow across brands allowing them to play with photorealistic stuff or mascots. Virtual brand mascots are now playing another great role to enhance the characteristics of a brand.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, brands have unlimited space, time and flexibility to create, integrate and evolve with mascots or brand characters. The direct approach attribute along with the sharing capacity that these digital platforms provide render a much wider, louder and fairer space to communicate to its audience.

Nowadays, the frequency with which brands are exploiting the social media platforms to communicate with or through mascots or animated characters is adding a new dimension to their branding strategies. Entrepreneurs and brand managers are now developing more integrated branding communication wherein they are taking efforts to couple the viral online campaigns with television and radio slots etc. this in turn encourages the viewers and audience to engage with the brand and learn online about their much liked mascots.

A question thus arises that what are the benefits of owning a brand mascot, and that also digitally or socially?

Well, this approach gives marketers a chance to endow the brands with an embodied face and voice for their brands. This not only humanizes the brands and its products but brings them closer to their consumers too. The consumer of today loves to interact online, like, comment, tweet or share with a cute mascot or character than with a faceless brand communication.

Industries like insurance have also taken a leap ahead to try their hands on the use of mascots. Use of animated characters is seen creating a significant impact within the social media buzz through their brand mascot. These mascots and animated characters have also started spreading the brand message either through YouTube videos, Twitter, games on Facebook etc.

The appearance and voice of the mascot is equivalent to the voice of the brand.

When its about Social media marketing techniques, the efforts by these brand mascots are a really great way to engage more consumers and grow the business.

Consumers on Facebook also want to dynamically bond with the mascot or animated character than just interacting through the traditional techniques of delivering product or industry news and features. Mascots on social media platforms soft sell the products which is greatly in sync with the psychology of online consumers. Consumers nowadays are less likely to interact with a logo or the PR person on social media.

Mascots are a delight to a brand as branding elements that help to connect allowing the digital marketing methods to emerge with a ‘timeline’ story, a completely new thing. Sustaining a character requires manpower that is dedicated to keep the mascot alive, active and going. Some old mascots and characters like the Amul Girl have already become active on Facebook and tweeting out the brand message across successfully. Vodafone Zoozoos have captured millions of hearts by not only communicating the core brand message but doing it with an element of fun and excitement to which consumers could relate to easily.

The animated characters or mascots are adorable, likeable and fun creating a long lasting impression on people’s minds. Be it naughty Amul Girl or Ronald Mc Donald these mascots or characters perk up the characteristics of a brand on social media if you ‘Like’ or ‘Tweet’.

Amul Girl

Seen in the Polka doted dress, the lovely Amul Girl has initiated the concept to showcase picture of (politics, entertainment, sports, culture) Indian or Global. Creatively showcased, this is a popular brand mascot.

You can also check how consumers are following Amul on Twitter fostering brand recall.

Vodafone Zoozoos

Encouraging more followers on Twitter brought Vodafone a great brand loyalty towards its offers etc.

There are a certain parameters that brand managers and social media strategists should think about like:

· Do these characters and mascots relate to the Target audiences?

· Does it display the brand attributes strongly & effectively on social media?

· Do these characters give a fresh and new angle to your marketing and branding?

· Does it foster brand recall?

Whereas, if we look at celebrity endorsements one cannot avoid the fact that they come with higher costs of brand endorsements. One celebrity endorses many brands causing a clutter factor and poor brand recall. Brands apparently are considered to be the same as the celebrity who endorses it. So, any negative happening on their end would affect the brand personality and the complete brand association might go for a toss.

On the other hand, mascots and animated characters are flexible. They are very unique and do not fade with times. No two animated characters and mascots are alike. Brands just need to add in life-like situations and a tinge of imagination to enjoy a completely different world of their brand/product altogether.

ICICIDirect also went the animated way on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They introduced Mobo & Gyano to educate users about financial planning via Social Media. In this campaign, Mobo & Gyano talk about why people need to do financial planning. Click this to know more on how a brand campaign, ICICIDirect in this case through animated characters and mascots can be fruitful.

Garnier Pure Active had also initiated a ‘Bust blackheads’ campaign with Facebook. It was a great campaign starring blackheads as characters with names and personalities and who live on your face.

This is a great example of how a brand can relate with the consumers psyche for better engagement and identity.

An International brand GEICO- an auto/car insurance brand which has this Gecko, a popular spokeslizard sharing views and advices related to the brand attributes of car insurance.

The Facebook page is popularly called as The GEICO Gecko.

Twitter

On Social Media:

During a launch phase of a product, giving your mascot or character a Facebook page and a twitter is a brilliant idea. Besides posting and tweeting about new product developments, the page could be filled with humour and latest news too.

Encouraging and interesting tone of language will foster interactions. The character or mascot has to be a part of your marketing strategy which has to be simple and precise.

Regular interactions, answering queries along with tracking the suggestions by fans are also very important.

Mascots and animated characters keep the interest levels very high. Social media helps for personal interaction. Platform like Facebook give a face to the brands if they are willing to use mascots. People easily connect and communicate with these elements online.

Mascots on social media promote soft sell.

Presence of mascots consistently across all social media platforms for spreading the brand message throughout render uniformity to the brand attributes.

In case of an economic downfall or financial crisis the goodwill that a mascot had created goes a long way in sustaining the brand.

A huge potential lies in unleashing the mascot or a character as the consumers today also respond more frequently to these non-human characters positively. They have now become receptive to the mascot concept on social media.

When voiced through an element of affection like a mascot, campaigns garner more interaction, passion and brand loyalty; successfully tapping into the consumer psychology. Storylines, personalized updates and profiles that are rendered to these mascots pull in more audiences to the brand page augmenting more interaction between the consumer and the brand. Mascots and characters have a personality of their own that has successfully resonated with the consumers in a positive way. And this goes without saying that the growth that these mascots are adding is more likely to stay in times to come gifting the brands with larger loyalty and recognition levels.

A lot of brands have started setting standards with mascots on social media, going viral, amazing content etc. to make their products interesting. This is helping them generate a great amount of traffic to their social media presence. It’s a great opportunity for other brands to exploit this idea for their brands too.

In a nutshell, mascot can reap amazing benefits for a company on social media because:

• They will personify your product online. Users tend to enjoy operating within a particular network. Hence, an ad campaign attracts more conversations when everything is available on Facebook page of the brand.

• Customer service gets a facelift with an imagery or character interacting with consumers to solve their queries and problems. Mascots with an added element of fun and entertainment make consumers happy in a big way.

• Content being the king on social media, a great content engages, entertains and encourages consumers more to understand the brand/product. Therefore, a good content helps companies to deliver their message through mascots.

• Concluding on a core thought about mascots, brand managers should use the mascots skillfully to communicate the brand message effectively. On the other hand, if it is allowed to drift even a little, it can surpass the core message fostering inappropriate brand associations.

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• With emerging competition, brand managers should now start to shift the paradigm of their minds to Mascots for the brands. This in turn should be implied strongly through social media platforms. More social the mascot takes the brand, higher the benefits, and greater the brand recall. Do you think bring mascots on social media is a brilliant idea? Will mascots on social media propel greater brand associations and loyalty? Do you think the current trend of conveying the message and brand attributes through these characters on social media will render a strong branding? Will the consumers online be able to get the complete brand message through mascots voicing the brands?