6 Ways To Personify Your Brand With Video

In years past, companies used text and visuals to personify their brand voices on social media with human characteristics. Tweets, captions, memes, photography, maybe an influencer or two. But today, brand personification has evolved into short-form, vertical video. Thanks, TikTok. This medium is more time-intensive and vulnerable. Since very few legal precedents are established, there are ongoing tensions with using copyrighted songs, sounds, and filters, on top of ongoing ethical tensions as social media managers become expected to represent brands on camera. But this is showbiz, baby. The anthropomorphic advertising must go on, apparently!

This trend traces back to May of 2019 on TikTok, when Dave Jorgenson launched the now-infamous Washington Post account with himself as the newspaper's persona. A couple months later, Benny The Bull became the first sports mascot to blow up by hopping on trending dances and songs. By December, I had launched Steak-umm's TikTok account as the first CPG brand persona, which was just me wearing a giant box as my head. Then in early 2020, Evelyn Meyer personified Kum & Go as an alleged hacker, and Olivia West capitalized on Dunkin's account with memes as an intern, amidst Charli D'Amelio constantly shouting out their brand.

Beyond these examples, early branded content on TikTok was less personified and more driven by partnerships, campaigns, and generalized content. But all that changed toward the end of 2020 as waves of companies joined the platform. Today, some of the most notorious brands lead with personified characters like Duolingo, Scrub Daddy, Ryanair, and the Empire State Building.

Whether or not TikTok sticks around, video personification is here to stay across platforms like Reels, Shorts, Snapchat, and whatever comes next. So if your brand is ready to take the plunge in 2024, here are 6 ways to make it happen.

1) Mascots

Outside of sports, mascots were considered cringe for decades... until the TikTok revival. Now they're so back (until they become cringe again). Brands from every industry are designing new costumes and dusting off old ones to perform dances, stunts, and skits. While the market is saturated, the trend is still strong. These characters can build brand equity without relying on individual faces, which are subject to change and cancellation. And hey, if a full-size costume isn't in the budget, maybe a figurine is. Or puppet. Or toy. Or craft. Or vending machine. OR you can invest your entire marketing budget into creating a show.

Examples:

NERF / Mug Root Beer / Duolingo / Warheads / Chiitan / Peeps / Kool-Aid / Tootsie Roll / Toys R Us / Old Bay / Shopify / Fruit of the Loom / Liquid Death

2) People and Animals

Got someone with the charisma and willingness to be on camera? Then you're in luck. In-house (or agency) employees (or founders) might be your ticket to Persona City. Things might get weird when those personalities leave, but that's a risk many companies are willing to take. This approach can center content around a specific person or involve multiple characters. Some companies build sets across various locations to create a fictional world, while others film real behind the scenes footage on company property. Some organizations like zoos and rescue shelters even personify animals with voice-overs and captions. More on that later.

Examples:

Flex Seal / Logan’s Candies / Nebraska Humane Society / Milwaukee Library / LinkedIn / NUGGs / Lenovo / Taco Bell / San Diego Zoo / Feastables / AARP

3) Products and Logos

Not every brand can (or should) be personified through mascots or people. In fact, sometimes they're better off playing to their strengths. If a product or logo is distinctive, why overshadow it with a costume? For example, Sour Patch Kids uses a gummy mascot on TikTok that often performs worse than their product content, because the products themselves are already iconic and anthropomorphized. You can always add to an existing product personification—Scrub Daddy also created a mascot for skits. But let your personification with the most brand equity lead.

Examples:

Sour Patch Kids / Oreo / Monkee / Starface / Scrub Daddy

4) Effects and Art

Most brands don't have the luxury of natural product personification, meaning they don't have faces like Scrub Daddy or bodies like Sour Patch Kids. But don't worry, we have technology. With TikTok filters and effects found across other platforms and editing software, you can personify any product. Want to make something human-esque? Just add the eyes and mouth filter. Want to get crafty? Attach some googly eyes or draw on your product. Got a beefy budget? Go full animation. Don't be afraid to get weird with it!

Examples:

Empire State Building / Ryanair / KFC / Gushers / Chips Ahoy / Auntie Anne’s

5) Text and Voice-overs `

Social media trends move at an exponential rate. To keep up, many brands lean into lower-effort styles of content, rather than investing in larger productions. One of the most popular ways to personify in this lane is to add text overlays to your videos or images like a traditional meme format. Another option is to overlay B-roll footage with natural voice-overs, AI-generated voice-overs, or text-to-speech software. It might not seem as exciting as a costume, but folks love this stuff.

Examples:

Big Ass Fans / Trident Gum / Ritz Crackers / Chipotle / Gymshark

6) Partnerships

For the companies not into long-term persona relationships, one-off or short-term partnerships can be ideal. Brands can partner with other brands, movies, or events, but they most commonly do this with influencers and creators. "Influencers" are figures who use their celebrity status like actors, musicians, and gurus to sell products via endorsements and ad placements. "Creators" are figures who use their content like YouTubers or TikTokers to do the same. Social media partnerships are generally a less ownable form of personification, since anyone can partner with anyone else, but they can still create connections, add the value of shared name equity, and reach new audiences.

Examples:

e.l.f. Cosmetics / Chipotle / Crocs / Fortnite / Mall of America / Fenty Beauty