Topical Guide 589
Mark Dorset
Personages, Fictional: Kap’n Klam
Advertising: Brand Mascots
Where Do You Stop? Chapter 10:
Not only was I a backer, but I was even responsible, I say with pride and what I think you’ll have to admit is a disarming lack of false modesty, for creating—well, let’s say supplying—the Kap’n Klam image. […]
Porky had begun working on the character question well before he even had a restaurant, and I was an eager assistant in the effort. He got it into his head that the way to give the place character was to come up with a character who supposedly owned it. I suggested my great-great-grandfather, Black Jacques Leroy […]. At first Porky called this character—a seafaring version of Black Jacques—Captain White. […] On the sign over the door of Captain White’s and on the menus, napkins, and matchbook covers was a drawing of Black Jacques casually leaning against a piling, holding a beer stein […] and he was the precursor, forebear, or first draft of Kap’n Klam, an old salt now familiar to virtually everyone, since he’s pictured on all the paraphernalia of the Kap’n Klam chain.
From Kimp:
Essentially, a brand mascot is a humanized character that represents, and reinforces, a brand’s personality in its marketing.
Some of the most common mascots are derived from objects, animals, people, and even fictional characters or creatures. These talismans can have a big range of applications such as being used in logos, icons, websites, souvenirs, and even in mobile apps. They can amplify your advertising and offer you new brand engagement and awareness opportunities. […]
Mascots help convey the type of services you offer, without using words. And when you manage to build this rapport with your audience, it shows in the growth of your business. If the mascot gains traction you are left with a valuable brand asset to incorporate in your marketing campaigns.
See also:
Personages, Historical: Busby Berkeley TG 429, W. C. Fields TG 456, Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower TG 546, Miss Rheingold TG 565
Advertising: Types of Appeal TG 373; “The Grass Is Greener,” Exoticism TG 441, TG 442; Appeal to Desire to Enhance One’s Self-Image TG 476, TG 484; Appeal to Sensual Pleasure TG 476; Branding TG 505; Appeal to Naïveté, Wishful Thinking, Good Works, Noble Efforts TG 547
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