Andrex puppy - that's a brand personality!

Yesterday I posted a note about the Alvedon commercial. The use of a dog and a cute puppy also made me think about Andrex, a brand that has successfully used a puppy for some 30 odd years to build and promote its brand of toilet tissues. Andrex is owned by Kimberly Clark and Kimberly Clark has successfully dominated the UK toilet tissue market for years via the Andrex brand. A huge part of the brand is the Andrex puppy. From what I've heard the Andrex marketing team discovered the power of the puppy by coincidence. Apparently the first time the puppy featured in a commercial was in the 70's - when it was part of a larger family setting. But the marketing team noticed that the use of the puppy generated higher interest and recall amongst consumers. Interesting! And they decided to continue to use the puppy and to give the puppy a larger role promoting Andrex. Today, thirty years or so later the puppy is still going strong as you can see in this recent advert for Andrex Shea Butter toilet tissue.

So, the puppy is probably a very strong force within the Andrex brand proposition today. But from what I can tell and understand from the recent commercials that I've seen the puppy seems to have less of a leading role these days. But will the Andrex brand team ever leave their puppy behind...? Well, I think they will continue to use the puppy as long as the brand and advertising delivers against the set targets. But is there a danger of becoming a bit too predictable? What do you think?
And remember... be kind to your behind...