Ronald McDonald, of McDonald's fast-food restaurant fame, has been named Australia's favourite brand mascot of all time, ahead of Compare the Market's meerkat trio and Mortein's Louie the Fly, according to creative effectiveness company Cubery.
The survey of more than 1,000 Australians asked respondents to spontaneously recall their favourite brand mascot.
Compare the Market's Aleksandr, Sergei and Oleg took second place, with Louie the Fly third.
The top ten also includes Tony the Tiger and Smith's Chips' Gobbledok.
Wil Logan, senior consultant at Cubery, said mascots are powerful because they put a face to what would otherwise be faceless brands.
"Done right and this makes brands infinitely more personable, helping build both emotional warmth and instant recognition,” he said.
“With these two crucial ingredients in place, advertisers are afforded the creative freedom to focus on their craft while safe in the knowledge that the brand won't fall by the wayside.”
Logan said animal mascots were particularly effective in categories that struggled to generate emotional engagement.
"The meerkats, alongside the Dodo bird and HBF's quokkas further down the list, are perfect examples of how animal mascots can simultaneously drive emotional connection and brand distinctiveness, particularly within more functionally led categories," he said.
The research noted that Louie the Fly demonstrated mascots did not always need to be likeable to be effective.
The antagonist role worked by personifying the problem, leaving the brand to play the role of heroic saviour.
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