Unleashing the Power of Custom Anime Figures for Brand Promotion

It comes without saying that the popularity of anime and its comic strip counterpart, manga, has grown considerably over the years. Thus, anime merchandise such as custom anime figures become a must-have for otakus. Otaku refers to a person having an intense or obsessive interest, especially in the fields of anime and manga.

Anime originated in Japan. But its popularity crossed even in every part of the world. During our visit to France, we saw a lot of anime merchandise that definitely hooked shoppers’ interest, including us.

 

Most anime shows come in episodes and series; thus, it makes people even more hooked on their stories. Along with the increasing number of newly released anime programs and mangas is the growing fanbase. Having easy access to the internet also help expand the number of people watching anime shows.

 

Why Should You Leverage Custom Anime Figures?

Though a little bit pricey, it’s surprising that many people are still spending money on custom anime figurines. There must be something about them that makes people invest in them. Thus, the demand for custom figurines gives businesses, like yours, great reasons to include them in your brand promotion. But how and why should you leverage custom anime figurines?

1. Perfect for Co-Branding

Brand collaboration has long been used for marketing. It helps build buzz around brands and reach new potential customers. Collaboration with well-known anime brands or producers can help your company create a broader audience.

For instance, if you are a brand that promotes custom products to kids, you may consider collaborating with popular anime companies. You may ask them to give you the rights to reproduce their custom anime figures to use for promotion. You’ll be able to use their branded merchandise through the process or practice called merchandise licensing.

As anime also appeals to the younger generation, using licensed anime products can give you an edge in the competition.

Here’s an example of an excellent brand collaboration we have featured before. Lynx partnered with Marvel to promote its body wash product. Customers received a free Marvel figurine for every purchase of its Lynx body wash.

 

2. Make Ideal GWP Ideas

Custom anime figures are also an ideal gift with purchase idea. It would definitely click on anyone, especially to anime fans out there. It will urge them to purchase the primary product being promoted to get themselves the free item. In addition, receiving this promotional gift makes them feel that they get the most out of their money.

Here’s an excellent example from Saveurs de Cocagne, a French brand offering customised figurines for its on-pack merchandise. Aside from personalised figures, you can switch to anime characters as an alternative.

 

3. Cool Redemption Merchandise

Figurines can also be utilised as redemption merchandise for your marketing. Choose a redemption item that will appeal to people everyone. Roughly 40%-60% watches anime worldwide. This number only proves why adding custom anime figures to your redemption promotion ideas is a great decision to consider.

You can take this redemption promotion from Carrefour as a good example. By collecting the stickers, customers had the chance to get any Disney figurine for free!

 

4. Great Collectors’ Items

Though expensive, toy and anime collectors don’t hesitate to spend on branded and limited edition anime merchandise. The popularity of collecting custom figures started long years before. And year by year, the number of collectors increases. Thus, as a brand, you should not also doubt investing in them. You can guarantee that you can sell these items immediately.

One of the reasons mini figurines attracts so much interest is their size. They consume less space and are easy to store or display. Their unique real-life features make them even more attractive to collectors.

 

5. Can be customised according to needs.

The good thing about anime figures is that they are very customisable. You can create your own design that you need for your business promotion. Doing so can help you leverage your brand recognition and publicity as well.

For example, you can modify the original outfit of a famous anime character with something that would represent your brand. You can use your signature colours or logo in doing this, or you can also create your own anime figures.

Take a look at these examples from the China Airlines we’ve seen before, where they design their own Captain and Cabin Crew figurines.

 

Aside from these custom anime figures, customised anime mugs and mangas are available. Moreover, Marvel’s promotional licensed merchandise is being promoted and sold in the store we’ve visited.

 

Ever wonder how custom figurines are made? Here’s a blog to help you understand the whole process. 

 

Wrapping it All Together,

The history of anime dates back to the 80s. From then on, it continued to expand and increase its fanbase not just in Japan but all across the globe. However, anime advertising is not limited only to custom figures. More and more businesses adapt anime to their promotion. Using anime characters for video games, product designs, and print and TV promotion, to name a few.

Having said that, there’s no reason for your brand to jump to the trend and use them for your next marketing campaign.

 

How Can We Help?

If you plan to gear up your promotion this 2022 using custom branded figurines, our team at the ODM Group is here to help. Our product designers from Mindsparks can help you create your preferred figurine designs.

Aside from custom branded figurines, we also manufactured various marketing materials such as custom snow globes, branded office merchandise, seasonal promotional products, redemption gifts. ! Check out our website to see more of our products and services offered. At ODM, we will help you bring your ideas to life!

 

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