How to Choose Your Custom Mascot Character Costume ?
Custom mascot character costumes are ageless brand influencers who can turn into real-life living beings if the audience can connect with the personalities or values the mascots inherent. Unlike the spokesperson for your brand, mascots do not age over time and ask for money for their popularity. Yes, you will have to invest in promoting your brand mascot but it will be defiantly the most cost-effective strategy. Thinking why? Well, while you might have to spend $30k – $300k per tweet for celebrity endorsements on Twitter, mascots will cost you only once!
Whether you are a small business or mid to large size corporation, you will need a custom mascot character anyway! However, the most challenging aspect of mascot marketing is the process of creating that personalized and custom mascot character for your business. How do you know whether you need a person, object, or an animal as a mascot brand character? Yes, the process can be a bit troublesome but if you have the right mascot advisor with you then you can surely sit back and relax.
Generally, there are three categories of mascots: human, object, and animal. Of course, we have seen trees, Human body parts, human waste characters, watches, and even the World mascot character, which we will talk about in a separate article. What type of mascot would fit your business starts with exploring the core purpose and objectives that you have as a brand. But before that let me first expand on the types of mascots.
Our Simple Custom Mascot Character Infographic Will Help You Choose a Character
Human Mascot
Human mascot costumes are created on the basis of a human or fictional character, appearance, or style. It can be a real character and even a superhero. When it comes to mascot marketing, they are one of the most popular ones for sure. A study on 1150 mascots exhibits that 21% of all the mascots were based on human character; making it the most widely used category.
The famous American businessman Colonel Sanders who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) would definitely fit under this category. KFC’s mascot is based on Colonel who is a real human. On the other hand, superheroes can also be a part of your brand. The best example would be GSK’s Aquafresh.
The company has a superhero named Captain Aquafresh associated with their brand. The character shares different tips and tricks on how to keep dental hygiene by protecting the mouth from cavities, sensitivity, bad breath, or tartar.
The brand uses this superhero mascot character costumes in order to promote their products. As the custom mascot character has certain personalities associated with it, which are relatable by the end-users, it helps the brand to establish emotional bonding with their customer base.
Image source: Aquafresh
Object Mascot
Object mascots are mainly popular with businesses that specialize in selling one specific type of product or service. At times, this type of mascot might not be appealing in nature but if the mascot can be utilized with a proper branding strategy then it can do wonders.
Recently, Metro Vancouver introduced two new mascots Pee and Poo to spread awareness of what can and can’t be flushed into the toilet. The pair of human-waste-themed characters are easily identifiable by the audience.
Image source: CBC
They are daring and unique characters. So, when I see those mascot characters in the crowd, to some extent I can anticipate what type of message Metro Vancouver is trying to share, without even interacting with their campaign.
Image source: Loonie Times Inc.
Moreover, a company named Dufferin County Waste Services introduced Steward the compost Bin as their official custom mascot character.
The company mainly assists Dufferin County residents to reduce, reuse, and recycle their waste. Their object themed mascot costume is a big green bin which can easily be resonated with a green compost bin in the back yard of your house. So, whenever you would see the mascot performing on the street, a clear understanding would be generated between the company and you as an audience.
Animal Mascot
The last type of mascot category is the animal one and when comes to versatility this type of mascot is the deal-breaker. Animal mascots are fun to play with and most importantly they are more customizable than any other type.
The concept of an animal mascot is related to the theory of anthropomorphism. It basically explains how we as humans attribute certain attitudes to the real or imagined behavior of non-human agents such as insects, cat, reptile, canine, bear, etc. Therefore, when we see or interact with this type of mascot, we tend to feel more connected towards it. Definitely, this psychological aspect has evolved the process of how companies promote their products with the different types of animal mascots out there.
Chester Cheetah by Cheetos surely falls under this category. The character has been there with the brand for decades. Yes, it did go through some transitions but Cheetos never forgets to place it on their packaging. Don’t confuse it with a cheetah because this one is a cat. Now you might be wondering why on the earth a snack brand is associating their product with a cat? Believe it or not, this cool, sly, smooth-voiced cat perfectly represents the feelings when you take a bite of the cheesy Cheetos’ chips.
We have seen Chester Cheetah in a lot of different commercials which has been aired on television, YouTube, and other social media platforms for ages.
As we have been exposed to this character in so many instances, it is hard to forget who this cat is! Another famous animal mascot is Vancouver Canucks’ Fin the Whale. This mascot resonates with a perfect connection with the NHL’s ice hockey team.
This anthropomorphic orca custom mascot was chosen as the brand representative due to Vancouver’s famous coastline whale watching. It exhibits British Columbia’s natural beauty and represents community values. Besides that, when it comes to ice hockey, the shark is regarded as a powerful, fast, and ferocious opponent.
By now, I believe you would have a decent idea about what type of mascot can fit with your business goals. But let me warn you first. If you do not have the right mascot advisor with you then the whole process would never turn out to be effective. So, choose wisely and start planning your mascot marketing strategy today with Loonie Times Custom mascot & Plush!