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Updated: May 13, 2022
Cartoon characters in marketing are often used as tools to attract more people. But HOW and WHY do they make a brand more appealing?
Today we’ll dig deeper into the subject and explain why cartoon characters work in favor of your business. In fact, you will understand where most brands fail and how to overcome these pitfalls. Hint: it has nothing to do with the product quality, nor the pricing.
Ready to learn how to use cartoon characters in marketing to your advantage? Let’s start.
Marketers know that people buy from you only when your product solves their problem. But there are a few essential steps before you get there. Here is how the process goes:
Most brands fail at step one. So, back to getting the attention.
Attention is the most valuable gift your audience can give you. And your worst enemy is… the attention span. This silent killer slowly sabotages your business. Don’t judge your audience, though. This is how the brain of the modern customer works. How long can you hold your own attention? You throw a glimpse at an ad, an email, a website, and if there is nothing there to grasp your attention right away, you hit Back. A familiar scenario, right? We know, we have all been there.
Cartoon characters in marketing are often used to beat the attention span. With so many distractions surrounding the modern customer (smartphones to start with), you need a really strong weapon in your arsenal of marketing tools.
Remember: Your goal is to catch AND hold the audience’s attention!
Simplicity sells! People will buy only if they understand… quickly. Cartoon characters can make even the most complicated product, service, or content snackable. To add to the equation, this process needs to happen within the customer’s attention span. Ouch! The struggle is real, we know.
So, cartoon characters in marketing have the power to make your concept simpler to understand because they visualize the content in a fun, engaging way. Research by 3M Corporation found that the human brain processes visual content 60 000 times faster than plain text. Impressive, isn’t it?
People buy when they understand but first, people need to feel understood.
Cartoon characters are very good at representing people’s lives. They make it extremely easy for the viewer to put themselves in the cartoon character’s shoes, as long as they are experiencing the same problems and issues in real life. This way cartoons connect to people more easily. Even better, cartoon characters are often used to address even sensitive topics without being disturbing. They are very good at presenting the harsh reality in a softer way.
So, when people feel emotionally close to the character, they become open to listening to you. Now, you’ve raised their interest – you have communication!
To add to this,
Almost everyone would feel affection for a cute cartoon character. Here is why.
Firstly, cartoon characters provoke subconscious nostalgia for the carefree childhood years. This fact alone automatically puts the person at ease. It makes them feel they encounter something familiar, something that brings pleasant memories.
Secondly, cartoon characters are a fun and easy way to express emotions. Ever wondered why social media stickers became so popular? People are naturally drawn to anything that’s fun, entertaining, and requires little effort. It’s much easier to express your emotions through a sticker than describe the same meaning in a text. Vice versa, it’s much easier to perceive such emotion through a cartoon representation. This way of communication (visual) is widely used by brands in modern marketing.
Many brands, especially B2B, worry that the presence of a cartoon character standing next to their brand’s name would make people not take them seriously. Well, let’s face it: corporate stuff is boring and rarely holds the attention for as long as we’d like. Whether we are talking about a B2C or a B2B brand, the presence of a carefully chosen cartoon character targeting the right audience would bring an ongoing stream of benefits rather than harm the reputation of a “serious” brand.
According to Brain Rules, people can recall 65% of visual information up to three days later, compared to 10% of the same information presented in plain text. Chances are, people will remember your brand better if you have a cartoon character accompanying your marketing activities.
A cute cartoon spokesman makes you appear down-to-earth and helps you gain people’s trust. This way, the audience perceives your brand as an equal, and the communication is instantly improved. Why not use an actual human? Scroll back a few paragraphs.
Cartoon characters provoke pleasant associations in the majority of people. We can all agree that plain text is harder to read and, usually, doesn’t hold your attention for long. Cartoons, on the other hand, catch the viewer’s interest. Remember: Interested people buy!
From animated explainer videos to company presentations, blog articles(like this one), advertising, etc. Cartoon characters are versatile enough to fit into any marketing activity and boost its effect.
Cartoon characters are so enjoyable that they can make a piece of content more shareable. Since cartoons connect to people more easily, they provoke emotions that people want to express by sharing with others.
All mentioned factors above qualify cartoon characters as strong emotional triggers. And emotion drives action. Let’s sum up how cartoon characters boost your business:
Imagine it was plain text. Would you have come this far? Expecting your answers in the comments below.
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