David Born Pens WARC Best Practice Paper ‘How To License Brand Characters In Advertising’
David Born, owner and director of Born Licensing, has penned a WARC Best Practice paper, ‘How to License Brand Characters in Advertising’
When it comes to advertising, an understanding of what’s worked before and industry best practices are important. It doesn’t mean you can’t try new things, in fact it’s important that creatives break down boundaries in that respect, but marketers who want to excel their careers should come to the table with a certain level of understanding and knowledge about things work.
WARC is an online platform that helps marketers plan, create and deliver more effective marketing by uncovering actionable insights from unbiased evidence and those who are experts in their field. WARC helps clients grow their businesses by using proven approaches to maximise advertising effectiveness.
WARC’s clients include the world’s largest advertising and media agencies, research companies, universities and advertisers.
In David’s WARC Best Practice Paper, How to license brand characters in advertising, he outlines the necessary steps to license a brand character — defined as one that has appeared in a film, TV show, game, book, comic or is simply a popular toy; it is not the brand’s own creation — in any market around the world.
Famous characters have been used in advertising for years and in numerous highly successful campaigns, they have the potential to completely alter a campaign and give it the gravitas it needs to engage an audience.
The licensing of iconic characters can drive emotional engagement with a brand by connecting the character’s well-known story and attributes with the message a brand wants to communicate.
Many brands have taken on the epic task of creating their own brand character that often becomes more well-known than the brand itself. “In such a crowded, competitive market a character can create pure brand salience. The character becomes a shortcut reference to the brand, and can be more interesting than the brand itself” — Peter Deane, Churchill
That said, taking on the creation of your own brand character isn’t right for all brands. For most, using relatable characters that your target audience already resonates with can be hugely effective. A great example is a campaign we worked on for MoneySuperMarket that involved character licensing for Mattel’s Skeletor and He-Man. The iconic ‘80s characters brought their ‘EPIC’ campaign message to life.
YOU CAN READ THE FULL BEST PRACTICE PAPER HERE
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