Boredom Kills Creative is a Brand Design Studio, designing CPG & Hospitality brands that get products on shelves & butts on seats.
Clients include: Zab's Hot Sauce, Churn Butter, Leisure Hydration & Prime Pizza.
Words by Alex Adam, Founder & Creative Director at BKC
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In the world of overnight tik tok successes, celebrity & creator brands, and a generally oversaturated market, it's no surprise that consumers prefer to buy from a person (one with a face) rather than faceless corporations.
It's no surprise that celebrity endorsements can boost consumer confidence in a brand by up to 85%! (source). But let's face it, nabbing a celebrity or influencer can be crazy expensive and not always in line with a founder's strategic long-term & personal goals. Equally, not every business owner wants to put their face all over their product - especially those looking for an eventual exit as part of their business plan.
Enter the mascot, these bad boys (and girls, and baseballs, and dogs, and rats, and cups etc) help to forge that emotional connection with customers, increasing profits by up to 41% when compared with their mascotless counterparts (source).
In the past, mascots were often presented as either classic cartoon characters or anthropomorphised objects (Kool-Aid guy being a straight up jug of Kool-Aid, and baseball mascots having baseballs for heads). But in recent years, mascots have transformed into something way more subtle and nuanced. They're the visual signallers of brands, representing the type of person you want to attract, the tribe you want to align with & even the price tag you want to command. In short, they represent style, culture & brand values.
Some examples to think about; Chamberlain Coffee, Graza Oil, Zab's Hot Sauce & Leisure Hydration. These mascots aren't just the owners dog (love you Zab), or a can with a face on; they're a clear indicator of if that product is for you as the customer. They embody what the brand does and how it does it.
Taking Graza's loose, artsy, modernist mascot as a case study – it conveys creativity & thinking outside the box, and is no doubt partially responsible for its feature as the base oil in the last 100 cooking tik toks you saw whilst trying to get out of bed this morning. And Leisure's "Leisure Creature" Mascot? Each flavor gets a different mascot, with a different set of creative skills. It's telling you in no uncertain terms - we fuck with creativity and finding your flow state, we're the drink that helps you do that. When faced with Gatorade, shouting at me to be less of a piece of shit & break a world record vs Leisure softly suggesting I should be creative & embrace individuality - who am I taking along for the ride when I grab my guitar after work?
That's of course not to say that Gatorade sucks, or doesn't have a place in the market - if I wanted to jump over a moving car or fight my neighbour's dog one on one I'd for sure be drinking a 6 pack of Gatorade first.
We store mascots in the same part of our brains as facial recognition, meaning it literally gets stored next to your friends faces. That makes finding a brand on the shelf feel like seeing an old friend after forever – instant recognition, and a strong emotional response to that product.
These captivating characters are not just cute faces; they're brand ambassadors, forging real connections with customers. They boost brand recognition, evoke warm and fuzzy emotions, and create communities. By embracing mascots in your branding strategy, you can inject an extra dose of magic into your brand that goes way beyond the shelf.
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