“So that’s the whole process of building a brand, right? And I say there are no boring brands; there are only tired brand managers.” – Lucas Watson
Nowadays, it is considered common for celebrities to represent a certain brand, product, and service. It means that the celebrity will act as the face of the company, the product and the service that are given. The name of the celebrity is used to attract their fans to consume the same thing as the celebrity does, it is often understood that the people do not buy the product because they need them but because it is used by the celebrity or idol that their like.
In international market, it is commonly found that an celebrity has their own perfume brand, their own cosmetic brand, and sports wear. However, what makes this interesting is the fact that the companies that serve the product and the service do not belong to the celebrity. It is more like the company only use the name of the celebrity / idol to identify themselves as the products.
Remember the last case of a famous sports wear with its extraordinary advertising, although many people condemn and mock the approach that is chosen by company but still the brand of the sport wear undisturbed as some of the consumers prefer the brand because their idol is part of the brand ambassador.
Related: Influencer Branding, How To Pick The Right Influencer For Your Brand?
But paying an idol and as brand ambassador is expensive and not all company may afford that, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t have your own image and identity when you don’t have a person to represent your company. You can try an approach which is used by most of Japanese companies, creating their own mascot which is less expensive than celebrity endorsement.
The failure risk of using a mascot is also lessen that using celebrity endorsement, as their personal life might destroy the company names whenever they have fatal scandals. A lot of Japanese company use mascots to promote their company, product and services, it is not only to make the consumers familiar with the product but also to entertain the consumer who use their product and services.
Mascots are proved to make brand and company identity more familiar among the average people, because they seem approachable. The mascot that you use as the brand ambassador of your company can also be used as the logo of each of your product and services with a small modification.
Related: 3 Tips on How to Plan Successful Branding Strategies
If you consider to make a brand identity of your startup business, then choosing the right logo and mascot is your priority.
