Growing Importance of Mascot & their Impact on Brand Awareness

Growing Importance of Mascot & their Impact on Brand Awareness

IJCEM International Journal of Computational Engineering & Management, Vol. 17 Issue 6, November 2014

A brand is nothing but simply can be defined as an entity (product, service, place, person, technology, organization) that is offered by a marketer. Brand as an important asset of an organization deserves care, attention & thought of marketers. Generally, companies build a brand through their products, packaging, logos, and advertisements. A strong brand communicates to consumers an image that, hopefully, builds trust and loyalty.

Developing a corporate mascot is a great way to develop a positive brand image, which will drive positive brand connotations and emotional attachment with consumers.

A mascot can give limitless opportunities to drive consumer interest and recognition (Kristopher, 2012). 
Caufield, Kristopher, "Analyzing the effects of brand mascots on social media: Johnson City Power Board case study". Undergraduate Honours Thesis Series.Paper 40, 2012

The design and implementation of the mascot is imperative to its success. “To be visually effective, the vehicles or mascots must be properly designed and satisfying both the viewer’s preferences and perceptions” (Lin, Lin & Ko, 1999).

A mascot can be an illustration of either a real or an imaginary figure, it represent the brand and adds life of it. It issomething between the brand’s logo and a celebrity brandendorser (Manjusa, Segar, 2013).

It givesvisual cues to the brand’s consumers. They are characteristicfigures which can build an identity and help to create and express brand’s personality. They also help target market to identify,remember and understand the brand.

Brand mascots give visual cues tobrand’s consumers. They are characteristic figures which can build an identity and help to create and express brand’spersonality. They also help the target market to identify, remember and understand the brand. “Brand characters are created to promote a brand by establishing brand identity andfavourable brand association...they also help brands come alive with human qualities of emotion, thought and personality”(Weszka, 2011). 

Brand mascots present a friendly image. They are fun to watch and immediately capture a place in consumer’smind which can make a positive connection with your customers.

KELLER MODEL OF BRAND AWARENESS:
Brand awareness consists of brand recognition & brand recall performance:Brand recognition relates to consumer’s ability to confirm priorexposure to the brand when given the brand as a cue (Keller,2006). In other words it requires that consumers can correctly discriminate the brand as having previously seen or heard.
Brand recall relates to consumer’s ability to retrieve the brandfrom memory when given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or a purchase or usage situation as a cue. In other words it requires that consumers correctly generate the brand from memory given a relevant cue.

Mascots also played a critical role in the humanisation of modern corporations & developing an emotional bonding between the brand & people.

According to Lebell & Cooke, 2008, to create relationships between customer & brand, marketers never rely on mereassertion of their products’ benefits; rather, they use elaboratetactics intended to engage consumers’ emotions. One such tactic,used for more than a century now, has been the creation and integration in marketing strategies of branded spokes charactersthat are designed to instil trust and enliven a brand’s personalityand claims.

Mascots are "the gift that keeps on giving," They never get in trouble with the law. They don't up their fees. You can use them for a long, long time." (Carol Phillips)