Developing an Animated Character to Represent Your Brand

Animated characters have proven to be an excellent method of humanising a brand in the eyes of your customer demographic. There are a number of reasons why animated characters are able to do this, but the primary one is that they tap into the viewer’s emotions more than is the case with any other character.

Nostalgia is very powerful, and animated characters are not only fun to watch but also remind the viewer of their childhood watching innumerable cartoon characters on television.

Animated characters are a great way to entertain people and put them at ease while getting across the message of the services or product your company provides, and a strong and memorable character can become instantly identifiable with your brand.

Making a brand ambassador

Many brands choose to hire well known celebrities for the purpose of promotion, but this can be expensive and only last a short time. Brand characters on the other hand have proven to be a valuable alternative, not least because they do not come with exorbitant wages and complicated contracts. There is also no danger of a brand character having a messy personal life that can negatively impact the public perception of your brand.

The use of animated characters as a brand ambassador is not necessarily new, but the arrival of social media has offered businesses new methods to engage with these customers via these characters.

Why animation?

Some brands can be resistant to the idea of being represented by an animated character as they fear not being taken seriously. However the reality is that traditional corporate speak is very boring even for people within the same industry, and animated characters are just a better way of holding people’s attention and interest for a much longer period of time.

Rather than harming a “serious” brand’s reputation, a carefully developed animated character that targets the appropriate audience demographic will instead likely result in a number of ongoing benefits.

Recognisability

65 percent of visual information is remembered by people up to as long as three days after they have seen something, in comparison to just 10 percent of text-based information. This means that the use of an animated character will have the audience remembering your brand’s marketing activities much more than would otherwise be the case.

Versatility

Animated characters can also be incredibly versatile. An animated character can appear in everything from company presentations to blog articles, explainer videos and advertising. 

Any marketing activity can benefit and have its effect boosted by the presence of an animated character. Any kind of content can also be made a lot more shareable simply because of the presence of an animated character.

Who uses animated characters?

Many brands in a number of different industries have already developed animated characters to represent them. The sectors most likely to make use of them tend to be ones such as food, insurance and utilities.

In recent years much success has been caused by animated characters such as Gio Compario for Go Compare and Aleksandr Orlov, the meerkat character used by Compare the Market. Brands from a number of other sectors may well see the appeal of trying to connect with their customers in such a manner, while eschewing the use of celebrities for this purpose.

The bottom line is that developing an animated character to represent your brand will ultimately be a boost to your entire business. 

Here at Zaini Media, we offer a cost-effective solution to help you develop an animated character that will enhance your company’s connection to its customers and its overall brand recognition.

Contact us today!