Page 144 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

68 DEVELOP YOUR BRAND
PERSONALITY BY
LINKING IT TO A REAL
PERSONALITY

Brands have personalities of their own. It is quite possible
for people to say what kind of person their favorite brand is, and
in many cases people feel closer to brands than they do to
real people.

Linking the brand to a specific human being has a long history.
Kentucky Fried Chicken (or KFC as it is now known) is linked to its
founder, Colonel Sanders. McDonald’s have Ronald McDonald, and
of course many British brands have the Royal Warrant. However,
it is quite feasible, and even desirable, to make an even closer link
with a personality.

The idea

Terry’s Chocolate Orange has been around for over 70 years now. It
is a ball made up of segments of chocolate-coated orange-flavored
filling. The chocolate orange has traditionally been a Christmas
item, with most of the promotion taking place during Advent, and
millions of children being given a chocolate orange on Christmas
Day. Terry’s realized that the product had potential for year-round
sales if it could be promoted better, so the company’s advertising
agency (BMP) began by identifying the brand’s personality. They
found that the chocolate orange is associated with the happy times
at Christmas, with an indulgent playfulness. The celebrity the

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