US Advertisers Are Missing Out on the Power of Fictional Characters

60% of the US public say that fictional character James Bond would be more likely to capture their attention in an advertisement than his celebrity counterpart, Daniel Craig  - so why do fictional characters feature overwhelmingly less than celebrities in US advertising?

In a white paper supplement released on 9th July 2023, Born Licensing, a global firm specializing in licensing entertainment IP for use in advertising campaigns, address the underutilization of fictional characters in advertising and how powerful they can be for creating effective brand campaigns. After insightful research from Ipsos based on a UK audience, Born Licensing was overwhelmed with requests to run the same research in the US. The firm decided to conduct a similar study focusing on the US market to see if the results were similar. 

A Case For Characters: How Fictional Characters Are Under-Utilized In Advertising

This white paper supplement, which is available on request via email, will help advertising professionals, creatives and brands better understand the power of utilizing fictional characters in advertising. The paper addresses why we don’t see many campaigns featuring fictional characters in advertising, despite 43% of the US public stating that they ‘most like’ to see fictional characters in advertising, compared to 23% favoring celebrities, 18% favoring musicians and 16% favoring sports stars .

The paper also highlights how using fictional characters, rather than celebrities, musicians and sports stars, in advertising is more likely to capture attention, make viewers remember the advert the next day, make people like a brand, and make the public want to tell friends and family or share on social media.

David Born (founder and CEO) and Amber Cheung (senior licensing executive) from Born Licensing co-authored this white paper supplement and have worked on a range of high-profile advertising campaigns which utilized fictional characters, including Uber's ‘Famous Rides’ Halloween campaign featuring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Party Wagon, SpongeBob SquarePants’ Patty Wagon, and Scooby-Doo’s Mystery Machine, GEICO's campaign featuring Angry birds, and Envestnet's ad campaign featuring Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants. They were also responsible for managing the licensing for UK retailer ASDA’s recent Christmas campaign starring Buddy the Elf from the loved 2003 movie, ‘Elf’, which was named the #1 most effective advertisement in the UK in 2022 by System1. 

Born Licensing conducted extensive research to create the white paper supplement, commissioning Ipsos to help understand the public’s perception of fictional characters in advertising. The original white paper covers three core areas:

● How fictional characters are under-utilized in advertising

● Why fictional characters are under-utilized in advertising

● What needs to change in order to see advertisers utilize fictional characters more.

Each area includes insight into a range of topics, including:

●      How do fictional characters compare to celebrities, musicians, and sports stars?

●      Do fictional characters perform better than celebrities portraying them?

●      Demand vs. reality as it relates to fictional characters, celebrities, sports stars, and

        musicians being utilised in advertising.

●      How do fictional characters stack up against brand characters? 

The results of the research conclusively demonstrate the public appetite for seeing fictional characters in advertising and begins to address the barriers preventing advertising professionals from producing work featuring fictional characters. 

David Born, founder and CEO of Born Licensing, says: “We’ve now conducted this research in the US, the UK and Australian markets and the results are clear. Fictional characters are what the public most like to see in advertising when compared to celebrities, sports stars and musicians. Yet, they only appear in a small fraction of advertisements. The opportunity for advertisers to work with fictional characters is huge. The demand is simply not being met.”

Amber Cheung, senior licensing executive at Born Licensing, says: “Whilst using celebrities in advertising can be extremely effective and creative, it’s something that consumers, particularly in the US, are overly familiar with. What our research most demonstrates is that consumers want to be surprised as well as entertained. Working with fictional famous characters is a huge opportunity for advertisers to cut through the noise, to do something different, to be part of pop culture, and to create advertising content that consumers actively want to engage with and share.”

The white paper is available on request via email here.