I am dearly passionate about mascots, not because I get to design cool characters, but also because of how versatile they are in the branding and marketing atmosphere. And I find it fascinating how it can change the dynamic of businesses.
We all know the international sensational celebrity mascots such as the pink Duracell Bunny, the Michelin man or Loui the fly from Mortein, but have you heard about South African mascots?
I'm not surprised that many South African brands don't adopt mascots into their branding, purely because of a lack of education and feeling resistant to being a bit more creative. South Africa is known for adopting international branding and marketing trends much later in time, it is no wonder that mascots haven't really made a mark here either. And to top it of, there are not many folks like myself that offers and is well educated on the topic of these wonderful characters. Because of that, there aren't many that pushes mascots in our market which is also causing a lack of education too.
For this blog series, I will not be speaking of my clients that have already implemented their mascots. Rather I will be going around and exploring parts of SA, to connect with brands that have included mascots. If you know any businesses that does have mascots, please share with me on hello@ezra-art.com so I may cover their story.
A company located in Brakpan, check out their website HERE for more info. They are a family owned business that has run since 1937. That is quite the accomplishment.
Because of the nature of their industry, construction is typically a very saturated market and often lies with boring branding, if I'm being blunt right now. Even though I have met a few owners that are more creative and 'different' than the industry they are in, which I tend to find amusing.
Because of the nature of the industry Baksteen Mel is in, it is understandable that they had to fight quite the battle against their competitors. And the other day, for the first time, I saw this character, this mascot painted big and boldly on their wall as I was driving by. And that made me curious.
The biggest questions I get asked in my line of work regarding mascots is: "Will it be worth the investment" & "Will it be beneficial for my company." I naturally say YES and YES because I know it works. But that doesn't always convince everyone. Trust is fragile lately amongst people.
Instead of my word, we will be hearing from Baksteen Mel, whether they have benefited from owning a mascot or not.
Here is the short interview held with one of the staff.
Thank you for indulging me in allowing me to ask a few questions. When have you launched your mascot?
"We launched him about 4 months ago, give or take."
And what led you to getting a mascot?
"We needed more engagement, and giving out flyers at the robot didn't do anything anymore. So we needed to make a shift."
That is understandable. I can relate with having to make changes such as that myself. And have you found, by implementing the mascot as a benefit?
"Oh, definitely. It has become a benefit. We have gotten way more requests and feet into the shop than we previously have. Which is good for us, that means more business. "
That's fantastic. I love hearing that mascots become a success story for businesses. Would you say, that it was worth the investment?
"Yes it was a good investment. It wasn't cheap to do. I mean, spending R20k in one go to get the design for the mascot, the wall mural and getting some other things sorted out, isn't easy. But if you compare it to the flyers we'd usually print out and have that be given out at the robots, that would cost about R5k per day. In the long term, it's saving us money and is way more effective in getting potential clients too."
Wow. Yes, that is a huge difference and a money safer indeed. One last question. How have you utilized your mascot?
" Oh, well everywhere really. On our business cards, wrapping on the trucks, our website. We even have him on our invoices. "
That is awesome. It is clearly used really well. Well, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.
Not only has the mascot allowed them to stand out from everyone else around them in the vicinity, but the mascot allowed them to gain more interest and potential clients, and not forgetting the moneys that is being saved. So, is it worth the investment for South African brand? I'll leave you to answer that question.
If you are finally serious about getting your brand to stand out and start converting more engagement, then email hello@ezra-art.com or Whatsapp me on +27 71 865 2249 to get started.
| Some popular brands that have successfully incorporated their brand mascots |
The Duracell Bunny is an anthropomorphic pink rabbit powered by Duracell batteries and trademarked for use in all parts of the world except Turkey, The United States and Canada. Advertisements, which may feature one Duracell Bunny, or several, usually feature the bunnies competing in some way; for example, in a game of football, a drumming competition or a race. In advertisements, the Duracell Bunny is either a standard battery-powered toy, a stop-motion puppet, or a CGI-animated character.
Before the Energizer Bunny, there was in fact the Duracell Bunny. Duracell created the bunny in 1973. The Duracell Bunny even featured pink bunnies drumming and claimed to be the longest-lasting battery. https://youtu.be/43VhRKJX_sk
Due to some trademarking issues between Energizer & Duracell, Duracell is not allowed to use their Bunny in the US & Canada, but can use it everywhere else. Although Duracell is a giant in the US, owning 40% of the battery industry. They don’t really need it. But because it was so popular with the first run, and Energizer swooping in to pick up where they left of, they made a brand loss.
But, the bunny mascot made wonders for Duracell, it became their go to way of promoting their batteries globally, which allowed them immense visibility and engagement, being loved
by children and adults alike. Duracell made such an impact, I give you this scenario. When you walk into a shop, which batteries do, you usually take for the more ‘long lasting’ effect, you most likely choose Duracell.
Where do they use it?
Duracell is a big company, so they don’t really need a social presence, but the social presence they do have, is with the community and not as much with the Bunny. However they love their animations, and are one of the most effective ways to create video content in todays marketing shift. You can find heaps of animated videos promoting their product using the Pink Bunny, as well as their mascot walking around and promoting. It's also been used on their packages for years.
Now I love talking about Readme.io and their mascot. This is probably the mascot I love the most, and the story of how Owlbert came to be, is so interesting. Readme has definitely not been around as long as Duracell have. But, man, have they found a way to unintentionally push their brand to greater heights with their mascot.
Where do they use it?
Readme, uses their mascot primarily on their website in various amazing ways https://readme.com/, and that is because of how they are structured. See, they require developers to sign up on their website to get access to the techy stuff devs needs. Yes, they could push on their social media. But that isn’t really needed. Rather using things like google ads & SEO is a better fit for them. And that is how they made their online structure work.
I’ll shut up and give you this link to read through. This has been written by Readme, themselves, talking about their own personal experiences. https://blog.readme.com/why-every-startup-needs-a-mascot/
Let’s take a moment and forget everyone else that has a mascot. We can’t talk about mascots, without giving a BIG mention about M&M.
They have become trendsetters in the 21st century, having pushed their mascots beyond your social media posts or animated videos. Rather they have become one of the top guys that has been using transmedia storytelling to its limits.
Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies.
Where do they use it?
M&M dominates the game industry. Yes, game industry. They create their own set of limited games where their customers can go and play the game using
the mascots. Being one of the top brands, creating complete interactivity and engagement using their Mascots.
Besides creating these games, they have also created a dedicated website page for their mascots, making them official team members of M&M. https://www.mms.com/en-us/explore/mms-characters
But let’s not forget the fact that they have also used their mascots to be the only representatives on their social media. https://www.instagram.com/mmschocolate/
At this point I hope you have seen the benefits mascot’s holds, as well as the UNLIMITED ways of utilizing mascots.
Each package is built with absolute necessary items to kick-start your mascot journey. I am using my very own guides based on market research on how to use mascots, I provide in the packages. You will be provided with everything you need to start out.
If you want to consider looking at getting a mascot, check out my packages. https://www.ezra-art.com/brand-mascot
Also, don’t forget, you will get a monthly mail as my trusty client… on reminders and new ways of using your mascot.
