Brand character in B2B-communications
Where to embed the character so that it works, not just gathers dust in the brand book
The main mistake is to consider the character an ornament for social networks and landing pages. In B2B, the sales cycle is long, decisions are made by several people, and the character must appear at every step of this journey, not just where it is convenient to draw it.
In sales decks and commercial proposals
The character can open a presentation (slide greeting), mark transitions between blocks, or comment on complex charts — as a translator from the language of numbers to the language of meaning. This is especially useful when the product is technically complex: the character reduces tension for non-technical buyers without oversimplifying the core.
In email newsletters and trigger emails
The character is appropriate in onboarding emails, service downtime notifications, digests — everywhere where formality needs to be reduced without losing trust. Datapay, a fintech company, built an entire TikTok channel with the panda Bob Sheetner on this principle and achieved 49 000 views in a week — a platform record for their segment.
In internal communications
This is the area that almost no one discusses, yet it solves the problem of brand burnout from within. The character in the company chat, in the welcome email to new employees, in the templates for internal meetings — turns the mascot into a common language of the team, rather than a marketing asset that others learn about from advertising.
In product training and client onboarding
In interfaces, tutorials, and support chatbots, the character reduces user anxiety during the first interaction with a complex product. It is precisely here that the mascot brings the greatest benefit in SaaS: it guides the client through setup, comments on errors, and explains features — exactly where a dry interface would cause frustration.
Why leadership fears 'cringe' and how to overcome resistance
The fear of CEOs and CFOs usually isn't about aesthetics — it's about reputational risk: 'what if clients think we're not a serious company?' This fear is resolved not through debate, but through data. Mascot campaigns generate, on average, 27% more new customers, 30% higher profitability, and 25% better brand recall. Salesforce doubled their key brand and financial metrics after implementing Astro — this is not a story about a cheerful robot, but a story about revenue growth.
The second argument is the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute study: characters suffer the least from 'mental competition' among all brand visual assets and have the greatest potential to become truly unique — more so than color or sound. In simple terms, a competitor can steal the blue color from your logo, but cannot steal your character with its story. Leadership should show actual data, not mockups — these figures are more convincing than any creative pitch.
Character for 'serious' industries: finance, insurance, cybersecurity
Error No. 1 — starting with a cute drawing. The correct approach: first, the brand platform and archetype, then the character's backstory, and only then the visual solution. 'Alpha-Kapital' would have created the bull Gavryusha not as a fun picture, but as a researched image that embodies reliability, confidence, and responsibility — traits that are literally required of a brand in the investment industry. The character corresponds to the conservatism of the niche, rather than arguing with it.
In financial services, there is another reason for creating a character — regulatory restrictions. The character Greg in the British bank Monzo speaks about life, work, and stress, but not about specific products — this allows the bank to communicate informally while staying within financial regulation. The character here functions as a workaround for a topic that is risky to address directly.
For cybersecurity and insurance, the logic is the same: the character should not be joking where the client is afraid (data leak, insurance case) — he should be a calm guide through the anxious topic, not a source of fun for the sake of fun.
Different industries B2B — different character roles
The mascot function differs significantly depending on what the company sells and what its decision-making cycle is.
| Industry | Character's role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| SaaS | Interface guide, reduces onboarding anxiety | Salesforce Astro |
| Fintech | Translator of complex financial terms into simple language, content distribution tool | Bob Sheetner (Datarails), Greg (Monzo) |
| Industry / manufacturing | Symbol of reliability and stability, used in offline locations — at booths, packaging, merchandise | Industry mascots at B2B-exhibitions |
| IT services / consulting | Face of expertise, often used in educational content and internal communications | SberKot (3D) |
SberKot in 3D-format increased user engagement with advertising content by three times, brand loyalty by one and a half times, and sales by two times. This shows that even a bank with millions of clients can afford a character if it is working on a specific task, not merely for image purposes.
Which metrics grow and how to measure them
- Brand recall — brand recognition without prompts, measured through pre/post-launch surveys.
- Ad attribution — percentage of respondents who correctly identified the brand from the advertising material; the character closes the gap, due to which 57% of customers confuse brands.
- Engagement with content — views, time on page, reactions; SberKot's growth by 3 times.
- Conversion to new customers — on average +27% in campaigns with mascots.
- Campaign profitability — on average +30%, calculated by comparing customer acquisition cost before and after implementing the character.
You should measure not once, but through a control group: part of the campaigns feature the character, part do not, so the difference in figures is fair, not attributed to overall market growth.
What is a brand character and how to create it properly
A brand character is not an illustration, but a cognitive label that strengthens the brand's existing market position. It does not replace strategy and does not save a weak product — it makes a strong position noticeable and memorable. Therefore, development starts not with a designer, but with a strategist.
- Define the brand platform: values, archetype, brand voice tone.
- Write the character's backstory — who he is, where he comes from, what his character is like, and what he will never do.
- Only after that proceed to the visual solution, checking it for recognizability even in a 16×16 pixel icon — if the character is not readable in such a miniature, the design will have to be revised.
- Implement the character across all touchpoints simultaneously: packaging, website, social media, email, merch, internal documents.
The final point is about internal alignment, which is usually forgotten. Employees should perceive the character not as a foreign marketing asset, but as part of corporate culture: the character usage guidelines should not only be in marketing, but also in sales, support, and HR departments. If a sales manager does not know that the character exists and how to insert it into a presentation, all the designers' work turns into a pretty picture without business impact.
In sales decks and commercial proposals
The character can open a presentation (slide greeting), mark transitions between blocks, or comment on complex charts — as a translator from the language of numbers to the language of meaning. This is especially useful when the product is technically complex: the character reduces tension for non-technical buyers without oversimplifying the core.
In email newsletters and trigger emails
The character is appropriate in onboarding emails, service downtime notifications, digests — everywhere where formality needs to be reduced without losing trust. Datapay, a fintech company, built an entire TikTok channel with the panda Bob Sheetner on this principle and achieved 49 000 views in a week — a platform record for their segment.
In internal communications
This is the area that almost no one discusses, yet it solves the problem of brand burnout from within. The character in the company chat, in the welcome email to new employees, in the templates for internal meetings — turns the mascot into a common language of the team, rather than a marketing asset that others learn about from advertising.
In product training and client onboarding
In interfaces, tutorials, and support chatbots, the character reduces user anxiety during the first interaction with a complex product. It is precisely here that the mascot brings the greatest benefit in SaaS: it guides the client through setup, comments on errors, and explains features — exactly where a dry interface would cause frustration.
Why leadership fears 'cringe' and how to overcome resistance
The fear of CEOs and CFOs usually isn't about aesthetics — it's about reputational risk: 'what if clients think we're not a serious company?' This fear is resolved not through debate, but through data. Mascot campaigns generate, on average, 27% more new customers, 30% higher profitability, and 25% better brand recall. Salesforce doubled their key brand and financial metrics after implementing Astro — this is not a story about a cheerful robot, but a story about revenue growth.
The second argument is the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute study: characters suffer the least from 'mental competition' among all brand visual assets and have the greatest potential to become truly unique — more so than color or sound. In simple terms, a competitor can steal the blue color from your logo, but cannot steal your character with its story. Leadership should show actual data, not mockups — these figures are more convincing than any creative pitch.
Character for 'serious' industries: finance, insurance, cybersecurity
Error No. 1 — starting with a cute drawing. The correct approach: first, the brand platform and archetype, then the character's backstory, and only then the visual solution. 'Alpha-Kapital' would have created the bull Gavryusha not as a fun picture, but as a researched image that embodies reliability, confidence, and responsibility — traits that are literally required of a brand in the investment industry. The character corresponds to the conservatism of the niche, rather than arguing with it.
In financial services, there is another reason for creating a character — regulatory restrictions. The character Greg in the British bank Monzo speaks about life, work, and stress, but not about specific products — this allows the bank to communicate informally while staying within financial regulation. The character here functions as a workaround for a topic that is risky to address directly.
For cybersecurity and insurance, the logic is the same: the character should not be joking where the client is afraid (data leak, insurance case) — he should be a calm guide through the anxious topic, not a source of fun for the sake of fun.
Different industries B2B — different character roles
The mascot function differs significantly depending on what the company sells and what its decision-making cycle is.
| Industry | Character's role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| SaaS | Interface guide, reduces onboarding anxiety | Salesforce Astro |
| Fintech | Translator of complex financial terms into simple language, content distribution tool | Bob Sheetner (Datarails), Greg (Monzo) |
| Industry / manufacturing | Symbol of reliability and stability, used in offline locations — at booths, packaging, merchandise | Industry mascots at B2B-exhibitions |
| IT services / consulting | Face of expertise, often used in educational content and internal communications | SberKot (3D) |
SberKot in 3D-format increased user engagement with advertising content by three times, brand loyalty by one and a half times, and sales by two times. This shows that even a bank with millions of clients can afford a character if it is working on a specific task, not merely for image purposes.
Which metrics grow and how to measure them
- Brand recall — brand recognition without prompts, measured through pre/post-launch surveys.
- Ad attribution — percentage of respondents who correctly identified the brand from the advertising material; the character closes the gap, due to which 57% of customers confuse brands.
- Engagement with content — views, time on page, reactions; SberKot's growth by 3 times.
- Conversion to new customers — on average +27% in campaigns with mascots.
- Campaign profitability — on average +30%, calculated by comparing customer acquisition cost before and after implementing the character.
You should measure not once, but through a control group: part of the campaigns feature the character, part do not, so the difference in figures is fair, not attributed to overall market growth.
What is a brand character and how to create it properly
A brand character is not an illustration, but a cognitive label that strengthens the brand's existing market position. It does not replace strategy and does not save a weak product — it makes a strong position noticeable and memorable. Therefore, development starts not with a designer, but with a strategist.
- Define the brand platform: values, archetype, brand voice tone.
- Write the character's backstory — who he is, where he comes from, what his character is like, and what he will never do.
- Only after that proceed to the visual solution, checking it for recognizability even in a 16×16 pixel icon — if the character is not readable in such a miniature, the design will have to be revised.
- Implement the character across all touchpoints simultaneously: packaging, website, social media, email, merch, internal documents.
The final point is about internal alignment, which is usually forgotten. Employees should perceive the character not as a foreign marketing asset, but as part of corporate culture: the character usage guidelines should not only be in marketing, but also in sales, support, and HR departments. If a sales manager does not know that the character exists and how to insert it into a presentation, all the designers' work turns into a pretty picture without business impact.
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