If you want to launch an effective advertising campaign, then you need a few very important things. You need to have a good name for your company that is memorable and sticks in people’s minds. You need to have a logo that fits in with the style and attitude of your business. Having a nice, catchy slogan or catchphrase is also a big plus. Now, you also have the potential to add a mascot to your company’s overall identity. While this doesn’t work for every situation, a well-designed mascot can really take an ad campaign to the next level.
There are several factors that go into designing the perfect mascot. The first aspect of any mascot is personality. By having a unique personality, a mascot provides your company with another way to separate itself from its competitors. The mascot’s style and personality should be a reflection of your company’s own, and should speak to the audience that you’re trying to attract.
Along the same lines, a mascot should be a representative of the company’s overall values and goals. These values should be reflected in the way the character looks and carries itself. Furthermore, if the character is more than just part of your logo and has a ‘speaking role’ in your advertising, then the characters voice and actions should reflect the company’s strong points.
Designing a mascot can give a business some real creative flexibility. You want a mascot that is unique enough that it’s going to jump out at people and make them remember. Some of the most successful mascots have been ones that pretty much defy description and are a bit outlandish. You don’t necessarily have to go that route, but a generic talking animal usually isn’t going to interest people very much.
When designing a mascot, you should always design it as if it is going to be part of your company, and your advertising, forever. You want a design that is timeless and has room to grow alongside your company. Don’t be afraid to change and ‘upgrade’ your mascot to keep up with the times ‘ so long as the mascot ultimately stays true to what it originally stood for.
With all that said, it’s important to think globally for your mascot design. We live in a very politically correct world, and many mascots have basically been forced into retirement because some element of their design was deemed offensive. For the most part it is not too difficult to avoid causing offense with your mascot, but just in case, it always pays off to do a little extra research.
Also, again, remember that not every company really needs a mascot. If your company is all about hard-lined professionalism, then a mascot will just seem at odds with what you’re trying to do. For the rest of the business out there, however, mascots are great ways to really take a brand to the next level and have it become a real cultural landmark.
