Created by Goeun Lee & Jixing Xie.
Some products we use and buy have their own characters to attract the attention of customers and have specific brand identities. There is a perfect example that is Kellogg's. Kellogg's products are very useful in our daily life and everywhere you can see their products such as in Walmart, Metro, Loblaws and any other supermarkets.
W.K. Kellogg started his company in 1909 and quickly found success selling Corn Flakes and other cereals, promoting them as a “healthy alternative to bacon and eggs.” But it wasn’t until Kellogg met Leo Burnett that things really took off – because Burnett was famous for using a very unique Attention Hack:Animated Characters. Which is why Burnett told Kellogg to do something wild. Instead of marketing the cereal on TV or Radio alone – let the box itself do the marketing.
Here are the before and after shots:
While on the surface it looks like the animated characters only add some random entertainment value, there are some psychological reasons animated characters work so incredibly well to build a business and brand. In Kellogg’s case it was a move that earned the company billions of dollars.
1. THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION – Animated Characters
Our brains work by associating one thing to another. For example, when you take a shower and feel relaxed your brain associates taking a shower with feeling relaxed. Well, what if the only thing you knew about Corn Flakes was how they were made as the Ultimate Bland Food for people avoiding feeling passionate (which was the original intention). Then you’d associate “Corn Flakes” with “Bland”. Meaning, that if you want to avoid feeling ‘bland’ you’ll avoid ‘Corn Flakes’. No Billion Dollars there!
All of the characters on these cereals were intentionally created for your brain to have several automatic and positive associations with the cereal.
The Bee in Honey Nut Cheerios was used so that you associate joy, sweetness, and fresh honey with the cereal. Tony the Tiger (invented by Leo Burnett in 1952) was used so that you associate the power and confidence of a Tiger in a friendly way by eating the cereal. So when you eat it, you’ll be powerful, strong, and confident like a Tiger. Here is one great example where you now associate all things victorious, strong, and confident with Frosted Flakes. Meet Tony the Tiger as the next NBA superstar:
2. THE POWER OF ANIMATION - Animated Characters
Notice the difference between animated characters and literal characters. And you will understand why this is a multi-billion dollar industry. So far you have seen the level of thinking and Attention Hacking Mastery gone into these cereals and their boxes. But the main experience, that we did not realize until now, is that every single one of their characters are animated. You will understand why with a blink of your eye.
Why Animated Characters Launched The Biggest Success Story Of The Modern Food Industry
The BBC said that cereals were, “The biggest success story of the modern food industry…moving this food from novelty to necessity…transforming cheap food commodities into hugely profitable brands…the foods that make billions”. The BBC also reported that 94% of the UK has a box of cereal in their pantry – while a century ago that number was a big fat zero.
Kellogg had have creating characters, taking boring foods to levels of entertainment and adventure. Using Animation to turn wild animals into friends. Kellogg’s ended up selling more cereal than all their rivals put together. As of 2013 they’re still the #1 leader in their market, earning billions every single year.
Questions:
1. Do you think it is necessary to have brands' specific animated characters?
2. Do you think the products that have animated characters attract or affect customers to buy more than other products that do not have characters?
3. Do you agree that brand characters really change image of companies?
Reference used:
The brands whether have their own animated characters depend on their corporate image. If the company as Kellogg's, which focus on cereal and breakfast, also means that, it core customers are children. For this case, lovely animated characters will help the products attracts people. On the contrary, if the company like Tuxedos, it can't use any animate characters in case that people consider their suite only for children. Therefore, when companies think about to have their specific animated characters, they must take into account their core customers and corporate image.
ReplyDelete2. I think products that have animated characters attract children because it’s fun and colourful, which will affect their parents to buy the products. For example, cereal boxes like Honey Nut Cheerios have used the animated bee character for generations that people of all ages will recognize, which affects customers to remember their childhood when eating the cereal. Products that have animated characters definitely attracts customers to recognize their brand a lot easier. Unlike other products that do not have characters, it does not affect customers because it does not catch a customer’s eye.
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