Professor Tim Calkins is a well-informed spectator of the wild kingdom of advertising. Having watched a herd of Clydesdale horses, an office full of chimpanzees, and a jackass clean up against the competition on one of the biggest days of television viewing, the product marketing guru at Northwestern University’s prestigious Kellogg School of Management has this observation to share about the power of animal magnetism: “The old saw in advertising is that you can never go wrong with babies and animals. They are universally liked and broadly appealing. Using animal imagery is usually a pretty safe bet. If executed well, it has the potential to deliver messages you’re trying to get across in a more meaningful way.”

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Market research has shown that an animal mascot can elevate a brand’s identity. Consider the meteoric rise in name recognition for the once-obscure insurance provider Aflac. When President George W. Bush was introduced to Aflac chairman and CEO Dan Amos, the leader of the free world smiled, winked and said, “Quack.” The company’s true white knight, it turns out, is a duck.

According to Calkins, animals help companies engage a target audience, tell stories, and convey ideas that may not be as easy to get across using human actors. Think of Geico’s gecko, Coca-Cola’s polar bears, the Energizer bunny, the Gateway computer cow and Charlie the Tuna. The green gecko has been so effective at building goodwill for Geico’s products that parent company Berkshire Hathaway reportedly upped its advertising budget by 20 percent in 2007.

Veteran advertising executive Mike Gold, a Londoner, spent 25 years with firms like Saatchi & Saatchi building global recognition for major brands. He says it has been demonstrated through numerous campaigns that animals can transmit a sense of integrity, warmth and texture that goes beyond what verbal communication can achieve.

When selecting the right animal symbol, experts say, there are no set rules, except the obvious: Any critter that would scare a kid or fail to command a laugh is probably not a good idea.

But animal ads can also backfire if they are mishandled or make viewers feel the cuddly subjects were exploited or manipulated in an undignified way. While CareerBuilder’s use of chimps proved to be a riotous sensation in ads that aired during the 2005 Super Bowl, accusations from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that primates often are mistreated during commercial filming caused the online job search company to put the kibosh on further ads with the animals.

The good news is that digital animation has rendered the use of real animals unnecessary and made promotional spots less expensive. Is it worth the potential risk? Ask Aflac. Today, thanks to its duck, the insurer enjoys 90 percent brand recognition. Who could quack about that?

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