In the competitive world of blogging, establishing a distinct brand identity is crucial for standing out and attracting a loyal audience. While elements like logos, color palettes, and writing style all contribute to your blog‘s brand, one often overlooked tactic is the use of a memorable mascot.
Mascots, also known as brand characters or spokes-characters, serve as ambassadors for your blog. Whether it‘s the Geico Gecko, Kool-Aid Man, or Mr. Clean, mascots have long been used by companies to personify their brands and form emotional connections with customers. In recent years, this strategy has gained popularity among bloggers and online businesses looking to differentiate themselves.
Why Mascots Work for Blog Branding
There are several key reasons why mascots are so effective for branding a blog:
1. Mascots are memorable and recognizable.
The human brain is wired to remember and respond to faces. By giving your blog a "face" in the form of a unique character, you make your brand instantly more memorable. Even if your visuals vary in style or color, a mascot provides consistency and makes your content recognizable at a glance.
2. Mascots personify your brand.
Is your blog‘s personality quirky, authoritative, playful, mysterious? Mascots allow you to express your brand‘s personality traits in a tangible way. Through your character‘s appearance, expressions, and actions, you can convey the unique voice and style of your blog.
3. Mascots forge an emotional connection.
People relate to characters and mascots forge a personal, emotional bond between your audience and your brand. Mascots feel like a familiar friend that make your blog more approachable, engaging, and trustworthy. Audiences are more likely to form a long-term relationship with your content.
Developing Your Blog‘s Mascot
The creative process of designing a mascot is an important one, as this character will become a key ambassador for your blog. Here are the steps to develop your own unique mascot:
Step 1: Brainstorm your mascot concept.
Start by reflecting on your blog‘s niche, personality, and the qualities you want to express. What type of character best represents your brand? Some blogs have an obvious mascot choice (a tech blog using a robot, for example), while others may have more flexibility.
Consider your mascot‘s species (human, animal, mythical creature, inanimate object) and key attributes (young/old, male/female, serious/goofy). Outline a few different character concepts to explore.
Step 2: Sketch out your ideas.
Work with an illustrator (or sketch on your own) to bring your mascot concepts to life. The sketching phase is important to explore different poses, expressions, clothing, and accessories to hone your character‘s personality.
The Blogging Wizard mascot, for example, went through many revisions in the sketch phase to arrive at the friendly young dragon Falkor. Experiment until you find the right balance of unique, memorable, and "on brand."
Step 3: Create the final mascot design.
Once you have a winning sketch, it‘s time to create the digitized, full-color mascot design. If you haven‘t already established a brand color palette, this is a good time to do so – your mascot should reflect your brand‘s key colors.
Refine the details to make your mascot distinct – elements like Falkor‘s glasses, wand, and garb featuring the Blogging Wizard logo tie him strongly to the brand. The final design should be clean, intentional, and recognizable even at small sizes.
Step 4: Develop a range of poses and expressions.
A mascot is most effective when it can be used dynamically – with varying poses, actions, and emotions to match different contexts. Work with your illustrator to develop a set of mascot poses and expressions:
- Basic poses (waving, pointing, holding objects)
- Emotional expressions (happy, sad, surprised, confused)
- Action poses related to your blog topics (a finance blog mascot holding money, a fitness blog mascot lifting weights)
By building out a library of mascot variations, you equip yourself to integrate your mascot into any blog graphic, article, or social media post.
Integrating Your Mascot Into Your Blog Brand
Once you have your mascot designed, it‘s time to put it to work! Some key areas to showcase your mascot include:
Brand visuals
Feature your mascot on your blog‘s main logo or at least have your mascot interact with your logo. Use your mascot liberally in header images, featured post graphics, sidebar visuals, etc.
Blog posts
Incorporate your mascot into the images for your blog posts, like infographics explaining the topic or images showing your mascot‘s reaction to the content. Let your mascot visually interact with the information.
Lead magnets
Applying your character to lead magnet designs, like ebook or checklist covers, makes them instantly recognizable as your brand‘s content and more exciting to claim.
Special campaigns
Develop custom poses and graphics with your mascot for special promotions, product launches, contests, or seasonal events to create buzz.
404 pages and confirmation messages
Put your mascot to work on your 404 error page, newsletter signup confirmation, and other automated messages to make them more fun and memorable.
Social media
Social media posts featuring your mascot will stand out in the feed. Develop special poses of your mascot for major holidays, current events, or viral memes to keep your brand timely and engaging.
Best Practices for Blog Mascots
When featuring your mascot, keep these best practices in mind:
Avoid overuse.
Your mascot should enhance your content, not overtake it. Use your mascot purposefully and avoid plastering it on every single graphic.
Make interactions positive.
Showcase your mascot in positive, friendly, helpful interactions – not when the user may be frustrated (like error messages).
Add subtle branding.
Incorporate your blog name, logo, or brand colors subtly into your mascot‘s designs to reinforce the brand connection.
Keep a consistent voice.
Let your mascot‘s personality shine through in the visuals. Keep your mascot‘s "voice" and behavior consistent with your overall brand voice.
Use a mascot style guide.
Develop a simple style guide for your mascot to keep its usage consistent across designers and platforms. Outline approved colors, poses, expressions, no-gos, etc.
Mascot Inspiration from Top Brands
Many companies have leveraged mascots with great success. Popular examples include:
- MailChimp‘s silly yet helpful chimp Freddie, who high-fives you when you send an email campaign
- Aflac‘s clever duck who quacks the company name, making it both memorable and fun
- Duolingo‘s encouraging owl Duo who does a celebration dance when you complete a language lesson
- Wendy‘s sassy yet sweet mascot who frequently engages in humorous Twitter exchanges
Notice how these mascots are prominently featured across the brands‘ websites, ads, social media, and even physical products. The characters become synonymous with the brands and the qualities they want to convey – helpfulness, cleverness, motivation, relatability.
Measuring Mascot Effectiveness
Some key metrics to gauge your mascot‘s branding impact:
- Direct feedback: Do readers comment positively about your mascot? Do they share graphics featuring your character?
- Visual engagement: Do visuals with your mascot get more likes, comments, shares vs. visuals without it?
- Brand lift: Does your mascot increase brand awareness and recall? You could do a reader survey asking them to describe your brand and see if they mention your mascot.
- Indirect ROI: Does your mascot help improve overall blog KPIs like traffic, time on page, bounce rate, email signups, etc.?
Wrapping Up
Mascots are a powerful way to personify your blog, convey its unique personality, and build a memorable brand. When you develop a distinct mascot and apply it consistently across your blog, email, and social media, you create a familiar face that forges an instant connection with your audience.
Remember, an effective mascot should be unique, recognizable, expressive, and closely tied to your overall brand. Take the time to brainstorm a creative concept, collaborate with an illustrator to bring it to life, and build out a range of visual assets to integrate your mascot across your blog.
By following mascot best practices and looking to successful examples for inspiration, you can harness the power of mascots to make your blog stand out and build a loyal brand following.
Does your blog have a mascot? If not, what type of character would best represent your brand? The possibilities are endless – have fun exploring mascot ideas that capture your blog‘s personality and help you connect with your audience!
Need help designing a unique mascot for your blog or business? Let‘s discuss your project and bring your character to life! Contact me at [designer‘s email] to get started.
