Brands rely on being able to evoke increasingly complex, precise and unique emotional reactions from their consumers. One particularly successful way to do this has always, of course, been to create a brand character to evoke the right reaction; and many of our most popular projects do just that.
But what makes seemingly undemonstrative and inhuman objects into the brand characters we know and love?
What visual artistry, techniques and tricks help a character redefine an entire category, contemporise an aging brand or shift warehouses of toilet paper? What tweak of an eyebrow, what Pantone number, what play of a shadow makes the difference between a friendly brand and a fiery one; a grown-up or a childish one; or any other one of infinite possibilities?
We’ve been creating characters for brands for years, so these questions are ones that we’re constantly exploring and playing with. They’re fascinating, and they’re fun, and people are constantly asking us about the characters we create.
So we thought: how can we lift the lid on making brand characters emotional?
What’s the best, blankest and – because why not? – trickiest way to explore and demonstrate this?
Enter Milo. Made from complex compounds of synthetic materials, our robot has no innate emotional capacity or expression. But who says robots don’t have feelings? What makes a robot loveable? Pitiable? Natural? Untrustworthy? Part of the family?
Cue our challenge: to send Milo on a series of emotional adventures across the multitudinal channels of today: animations and majestic print portraits; iPhones and projection mapping; Augmented Reality and real-life merchandise. Maybe some tribal art. For Milo, it may be a cliche, but it’s going to be a rollercoaster.
Our first image of Milo, above, sees him making a romantic entrance. We’ll be sharing more about what makes Milo moving over the coming days and weeks, so watch this space…
