Advertising characters, those people or animals that symbolize various products, have been with us for a long time. The Quaker Oats Quaker appeared in 1877; Psyche, the White Rock Soda girl, debuted in 1894.

The twentieth century was only four years old when the Campbell's Soup Kids arrived. Betty Crocker was born, full-grown, in the mid 1930s. The pantheon of advertising characters contains far more beings we can recall at one time. Some have been short-lived; others have lasted for ninety years or more.

As advertising became a billion-dollar industry and television entered nearly every American home, the messages of advertising and the varied characters and symbols used to convey those messages multiplied almost beyond comprehension.

Ask McDonalds about Ronald McDonald. Or MetLife about Snoopy? Or Kellogg’s. And zillions of other companies.

We all live in a marketing world.
With the immense clutter and competition out there, how do you get your Brand Story to stand out from the crowd?

What makes your Brand different?
How will you get people to pay attention to it?

Then, establish it? Cement it into their minds?
And get them to choose your product or service over the other guys?

Plus, you’d probably like to do that without going back to the drawing board and reinventing the wheel every single time. Right?

So how do we get your Story noticed?
And, then... make it stick?

Well, here’s what we’ve figured out.

You see, great stories have something in common:
Great characters.

Can you think of your favorite books or movies or shows without them?

Well, the same holds true for some of the greatest advertising and branding ever created.

Can you think of a great Brand without thinking about a great Brand Character?

... Like Aflac without its Duck?

Or GEICO without the gecko?

Or Jack-in-the Box without Jack?

Would Frosted Flakes be as “GRRRRREAT” without Tony the Tiger?

At Marksmanship, we often create original brand characters.
Then, bring them to life -- in videos, websites, ads and commercials...

To give a Brand a unique spin.
A “twist” no one else can copy.
Along with a “personality” all its own.

Why?

BECAUSE

THEY

WORK!

Brand Characters Over the past 25 years, I have found that Brand Characters can give Brand (B2B, B2C, etc.) a unique spin.
A “twist” no one else can copy. Along with an appealing personality.
Like Exxon's Tiger. Or Chevron's Cars.

That’s because an original Brand Character is the fastest, easiest, most proven and affordable way to burnish a brand into the minds of prospects, clients and customers.
Plus, they never call in sick. Or ask for more money. Or go to work for a direct competitor.

Great Brand Characters can last for years.
And work on many levels far beyond those of mere words and images.
Great ambassadors for a Brand, too.

Characters are particularly useful when it comes to selling a commodity. Like car insurance.

What would GEICO be without the gekko?
Or Progressive Insurance be without FLO? -- the woman in the Progressive store.

They create greater visibility, plus…

• Help launch new products and services
• Act as ambassadors
• Throw out the first pitch at baseball games.
• Wave to motorists on the sides of trucks and packaging
• Share coloring books and children's stories
• Sell branded promotional items such as tees, cups, hats, napkins, etc.

Actually create a new profit center for you!
That's because, at the very least, the premium sales can offset marketing investment.

Toward that end, like Exxon's Tiger, we can pick and choose how, when and where it is used.
On promotional items, sales materials, videos… but not, for example on letterhead
(although you might choose to do so).

So, again, in the end, companies use them….
BECAUSE THEY WORK!

Mark Rothenberg has over twenty-five years of marketing, advertising and branding experience. And is an expert at creating original Names for businesses, products and services.

He has also produced countless breakthrough branding campaigns…

• Run two full-service, offline/online advertising agencies
• Conjured up boatloads of memorable Names and Brand Identities (names, logos and slogans)
• Written, cast, directed zillions of ads and commercials
• Penned thousands of slogans
• Composed the music and lyrics for umpteen jingles
• Created and illustrated innumerable mascots and characters
• And received many of the industry's most prestigious awards for creative excellence.

Mark's recent book on branding.. The Brand Story In All Its Glory… is also posted for sale on Amazon.