Mascots ? The Killer Promotional Concept

Mascots are the unique dolls or puppets that help identify a sports team or a company. These carry the unique property of "Stickiness". Your great customer support and product quality sticks only so long. You got to remind folks often that you are there alive and well waiting for the next business transaction. The cheapest and effective way is creating and promoting a mascot for your company. Television Ads could have this mascot as the central theme or as an add-on. These typically tend to stick to the audience than your product or company name. This is both good and bad; a good mascot tends to make the customers take ownership of the mascot. Meaning they like to display and talk about it to others, a copycat cheap mascot brings in the wrath of the customer. So make a good Mascot for your company or team.

The tough part is the initial concept creation, a concept that will make the Mascot a hit rather than a road-kill. There are professionals who can help you with this. Your advertisement company may have a few experts in-house as well. So the next time you sit in the promotional discussion board, bring this topic to the forum. You will be amazed how much your colleagues, agents, employees and customers like being associated with some good Mascot. This is a powerful branding strategy, have you seen the GEICO ads or the Disney shops. They associate themselves with powerful characters which serve as mascots for their companies. They are the killer ad concepts.

People who are new to the branding field don't understand the entire Mascot concept. They just choose one animal and then paint them in a different color and claim a job done. Some of them even don't take the time to check if it is registered by another company or not. More so often it fails than it succeeds as they have not grabbed the concept and they are just trying to create something that is "Cool". Mascots should mean something as I said earlier people tend to associate your team or company with that Mascot. A Bull mascot for stock companies rock, if it was some new person they would have designed a red ostrich which would completely mean differently. This needs a lot of brainstorming and research in which animal or character fits your company's long term branding strategy.

Once an initial concept is done and approved then next part is identifying the best manufacturing company who can produce these mascots at preset sizes in bulk or on demand for you. You can look at the resource list at end of article for some help. The company you choose should have the right resources to do good customization for you. Don't settle for imitation puppets with a different logo on top. This typically doesn't go well. Uniqueness in style, color, texture, font, quality and the overall appearance matters. Well of course budget is the king and you can try to squeeze in the best qualities inside your tight budget. Once you have these worked out you are all set to give them off for free to your brand ambassadors ? your existing customers. These keep reminding them of your company. Don't miss the free repeat sales.

You can find more resources for mascots in puppetuniverse.com. Author does freelancing for many companies and can be reached in the no fee free freelance website freelancefree.com.

---

Trade Journals in Franchising

As many people know Industry Trade Journals in America have... Read More

Living Your Brand on the Web - Part 2

Now that everyone has conformed to Living Your Brand on... Read More

Brand Your Name!

Have you ever thought about branding your name? Does the... Read More

Setting the Right Price

One of the ways people get to know you is... Read More

Build Customer Loyalty by Promoting Your Customers

Do you want to attract new customers while building greater... Read More

Creating Powerful Names for Products, Services, and Your Business

The name of your business is important--it's one of the... Read More

Entrepreneur Speaks on Brand Extension in the Franchise Cleaning Business

On question I have been asked over and over again... Read More

Brand Identity Company ? Brand Identity Guru

Hiring a brand identity company is very important. In every... Read More

Choosing the Right Color Palette

Color is a highly personal experience ? everyone has favorite... Read More

You Bored Me at Hello - Top Three Strategies for Networking Your Brand

"You had me at hello," those famous words from the... Read More

Hiring the Right Graphic Designer for Your Small Business

Every small business needs it, but not many have it.... Read More

Putting You and Your Company in Position to Own Your Market

Americans have always liked their coffee hot. But then Starbucks... Read More

Good Logos Make Great Sales Tools

Every day, the average person is exposed to millions of... Read More

Corporate Logo Design ? 6 Keys to Success

A corporate logo design should be highly instrumental in building... Read More

Branding Your Products Is Important

I was chatting with a couple of friends, all of... Read More

Branding Your Radio or TV Campaign With A Musical Identity (aka Audo Logo, aka Jingle)

You don't think twice about a business card and letterhead... Read More

The Face of Your Business, Part I

When we initially started our businesses, we had to decide... Read More

Your Small Business Name -- Important?

You bet a name is important. Many small business owners... Read More

Living Your Brand on the Web - Part 1

OK, so you took the plunge and purchased your internet... Read More

Are You Brand Worthy? Are You Brand Worthy?

Branding is a one hot topic, although it is wildly... Read More

Brand Identity - Corporate Identity and Brand Value

Companies work hard building the strength of their brands -... Read More

Branding 101: Why Its Critical to Business Success and How to Do It Right

What's Your Brand?A brand is a product/company personality that helps... Read More

Importance of Business Branding

Branding is very important to a business, whether it is... Read More

No Logo? Launching A Business Without a Logo Can Sabotage You

Initial lack of customers and cash flow often causes a... Read More

Corporate Internet Branding ? Branding Your Business Online

Let me tell you a story about Pete and a... Read More

Branded Email: Email Branding is the Next Generation of Email

All You Need is Branded Email Or Always Branded Email... Read More

Logo Files: Versions Of Your Logo That You Should Own

Your logo is the most important graphic element in which... Read More

Branding Fiasco -- Better Be Who You Say You Are!

Our experience as customers offers great instruction into the concept... Read More

Brand to Sell Well

Branding is an application of appropriate marketing techniques in the... Read More

Naming Names... How to Name your Business

Sometimes the best inspiration comes from hearing about the deconstruction... Read More

Self-Marketing: The I Focus

Ever had one of those conversations where you wondered what... Read More

Branding Advertising Agency

Branding used to be a fancy business word, but it... Read More

The Top 10 Strategies for the Positioning of Success

Many businesses of today are often driven to compete striclty... Read More