Chapter 4 Case study
Spokescharacters as memory and learning devices
Dr Kate letheren
Queensland University of Technology
Remembering a spokescharacter could save your life. With so many things to remember in a
day, marketing plays a role in ensuring consumers learn about and retain the important
things, like being sun smart. Sid the Seagull first appeared on Australian TV screens in 1981
and made ‘Slip, Slop, Slap!’ part of the culture.1 Sid helped us to remember because he was
fun and engaging and he sang a snappy jingle. So when the Cancer Council needed to add two
more instructions to the list—‘Seek’ (shade) and ‘Slide’ (on some sunglasses)—it turned to Sid
again2 taking advantage of our fond memories of the cute seagull and his alliterative jingles.
Sid is a spokescharacter—spokescharacters are ‘fictional, animated beings or objects, created
to promote a product, service or idea’.3 But Sid is not the only spokescharacter that
consumers remember—sometimes for decades. Countless other examples exist, including
the M&M® characters, who remind us of M&M® products by literally being walking and
talking versions of the product. Other characters are objects of nostalgia and remind
consumers of the brand and about how they felt about the brand years ago. In the US, market
research company Marketing Evaluations Inc© evaluates consumers’ perceptions of
spokescharacters twice a year to ensure that advertisers use the right spokescharacter—one
that is remembered and liked among their target audience.4
Cutting through the clutter
With so many ads today appearing not only on TV but also on all other media channels,
marketers need to think of creative ways to get the attention of consumers long enough for
them to learn something about the company, product or service. One way to do this is to
employ a spokescharacter. Research shows that spokescharacters are able to aid brand recall
and increase positive brand attitudes.5 Spokescharacters can also facilitate learning when
consumers are not focused, or even when they are too young to learn about marketing in
traditional ways. Consider the example of Toucan SamTM who represents the brand colours
of Froot Loops® through his multi-coloured beak. He brings with him thoughts of Froot Loops®
even if consumers are not really listening.
I remember doing this before: New technology and spokescharacters
New technology is allowing us to interact with spokescharacters as never before. Now we can
play immersive games with our favourite characters, or even become a character ourselves
(an ‘avatar’). We are also entering the era of chatbots, meaning that we can speak with
characters as if they were real people. What this means for learning and memory is that we
have a lot more engagement available, and often it is much more fun than the static messages
or websites we had in the past, so it’s easier to remember. A conversation you have with a
character, or a game you play with them, can be more memorable than seeing an ad on TV.
For instance, the campaign for ‘Reduce Your
Juice’ used animated characters and
gamification to influence learning and
memory. Participants chose their own avatar
and then played games that emulated
electricity efficient behaviours. In line with the
behavioural learning hierarchy (do-feellearn), this engaging game-play brought about
real-world benefits as well, such as $54.82 in
average savings on quarterly electricity bills, a 22.5% improvement in energy habits and
significant improvements in attitudes, bill control and self-efficacy.6
Recognition by association
Spokescharacters are often chosen not only to represent the brand, but also because they
bring certain associations with them. For instance, the Jolly Green Giant (a spokescharacter
for the Green Giant brand of frozen and tinned vegetables) embodies symbols in his clothing
style, colouring and physique as well as references to old myths and legends of giants. Further
to this, the overall symbol he conveys is one of healthy, fresh food.7 In this case, advertisers
are building on existing knowledge in order to encourage consumers to learn about the brand
and to remember it.
Why do people always want to eat the M&M’s® characters?
It might seem a little strange that in almost every M&M’s® ad, consumers are encouraged to
eat M&Ms®—especially when these spokescharacters are usually walking, talking and quite
verbal in their dislike of being eaten. In fact, what’s occurring in these types of ads is
modelling, otherwise known as observational learning. In essence, these commercials cast a
role for the consumer by having humans interact with the characters in the ad,8 and the actors
are showing consumers that M&Ms® are to be eaten—whether they protest or not!
Make me a memory
Like other types of information, spokescharacters also have to move through the three
memory systems if they are going to be remembered for the long term. Upon first
encountering a spokescharacter, the consumer may notice the colour of their costume or the
jingle they sing. This information is part of the sensory memory system. If the consumer takes
an interest, then the spokescharacter memory will move through the attentional gate and
into short-term memory. At this stage the spokescharacter has probably become a ‘chunk’,
bringing together information about the brand, its ads and other associations the character
itself brings. The memory might be retained long enough for a shopping trip, during which
the consumer remembers they want to purchase the brand represented by the
spokescharacter. But how to get into long-term memory? One method is to ensure that the
consumer keeps processing the information they have learned, without advertiser input.
Hence the importance of catchy jingles and clever slogans that remind us of the product—
and why SunSmart wanted Sid to bring the phrase ‘Slip, Slop, Slap!’ into the vocabulary of
everyday Australians.9
Once their place in our memories is secure, spokescharacters may even become objects of
nostalgia, meaning that they exist to remind consumers of an earlier time and its positive
associations,10 which advertisers hope to transfer into nostalgic associations with the brand.
Wanted: Characters that consumers love
Spokescharacters may be called upon to transfer learning and memories to other stimuli
(often brands or products in this case) in a process known as stimulus generalisation. There
are a variety of different stimulus generalisation strategies that can be employed, although
one often seen with spokescharacters is that of licensing, wherein a ‘famous’ character can
be ‘hired’ by another brand that wishes to have its brand associated with what the famous
character symbolises. Characters who are licensed to other brands are known as celebrity
spokescharacters and include the likes of Bart Simpson™, Mickey Mouse© and Snoopy©, to
name a few.11 In one example of licensing at work, Popeye® was used by US company Allens™
to promote its tinned spinach.12 And who better to promote spinach than the cartoon
character responsible for championing the strength-giving vegetable since 1929?
Questions
1. You see a commercial on TV for McDonald’s which features Ronald McDonald. The
same ad plays a few times that week, always with Ronald McDonald and the
McDonald’s products appearing together in the commercial. Is the use of a
spokescharacter in this instance most likely to represent an example of classical
conditioning or instrumental conditioning? Discuss with further examples.
2. Have any of the characters you remember from your own childhood appeared in
advertising as spokescharacters? Discuss whether you think a nostalgic appeal would
be effective for you, and why.
3. You watch an ad on TV that features a person interacting with a chatbot for a large
travel company. You see the person chatting with the bot about their holiday plans
and nodding as the bot makes suggestions. Then the frame changes to the person
enjoying their holiday. Discuss how the advertiser is most likely trying to influence
consumer learning in this scenario.
4. Consider the role of semantic meanings in advertising, and give examples.
5. A consumer purchases a brand of detergent that he remembers seeing in a magazine
with a spokescharacter extolling the virtues of the brand. After using the detergent,
the consumer discovers that it doesn’t clean his clothes. A month later, he sees the ad
again and decides to give the detergent another shot. When it doesn’t work again, the
consumer comes to associate the spokescharacter with dirty clothes and ceases to buy
the brand. What is occurring here?
Notes
1. ‘Slip! Slop! Slap!’ Original SunSmart campaign
<www.sunsmart.com.au/tools/videos/past-tv-campaigns/slip-slop-slap-originalsunsmart-campaign.html> accessed 26 May 2017.
2. SunSmart. ‘Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek & Slide’ Sid Seagull
<www.sunsmart.com.au/tools/videos/current-tv-campaigns/slip-slop-slap-seekslide-sid-seagull.html>.
3. BJ Phillips, ‘Defining trade characters and their role in American popular
culture’, Journal of Popular Culture, 1996, 29(4): 155.
4. QScores. The recognized industry standard for measuring consumer appeal of
personalities, characters, licensed properties, programs and brands’
<www.qscores.com/home/CartoonQ.aspx> accessed 26 May 2017.
5. JA Garretson & S Burton, ‘The role of spokescharacters as advertisement and package
cues in integrated marketing communications’, Journal of Marketing, 2005, 69: 118–
32.
6. <www.reduceyourjuice.com.au> accessed 26 May 2017.
7. Phillips op. cit.
8. JL LeBel & N Cooke, ‘Branded food spokescharacters: consumers’ contributions to the
narrative of commerce’, Journal of Product & Brand Management, 2008, 17(3): 143–
53.
9. ‘Slip! Slop! Slap!’ Original SunSmart campaign, op. cit.
10. JA Garretson & RW Niedrich, ‘Creating character trust and positive brand
attitudes’, Journal of Advertising, 2004, 33(2): 25–36.
11. MF Callcott & PA Alvey, ‘Toons sell … and sometimes they don’t: an advertising
spokes-character typology and exploratory study’, Proceedings of the 1991
Conference of the American Academy of Advertising. Nevada: American Academy of
Advertising, 1991.
12. Allens Inc. Allens Popeye® Spinach <www.facebook.com/Popeye-Spinach-
188753521185706> accessed 26 May 2017.