Abstract
With the advent of the digital space, mascots have come to present a more lucrative investment for brands, due to their approachable and pleasing demeanour, as well as their controllability. Mascots have long been associated with magic and good luck, and in an environment oversaturated with brands and advertising competing for attention, a friendly face beckoning customers out of the din surrounding traditional media, can foster a long and meaningful relationship between brand and public. Importantly, this is not as simple as creating a pleasant face and releasing it into the public sphere, generating a dramatic increase in revenue in the process – instead, it requires a nuanced understanding of both brand and customer, before establishing a middle ground in which the character resides, organically bridging the gap between both parties. In the digital space, good mascots must be captivating in their own right, and ought to invite interest in the brand, without making customers feel “advertised to”. Two successful examples of mascots will be analyzed to determine which attributes would assist with the purpose of recreating just such a phenomenon, specifically to represent the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA). In addition, mascots that have not performed as successfully will also be studied, in order to determine the inherent flaws in their design or execution, and facilitate the creation of a checklist of situations and/or actions to avoid. A study into the use of social media by brands and customers will assist in understanding how mascots can perform on these platforms, with the purposes of engaging incoming students with how to better orient themselves as they navigate UJ’s academic systems, while also comforting, informing and entertaining existing or returning students. In addition, the mascot would need to be able to perform as a branding and marketing tool for FADA.
Keywords: Character Design, Digital Branding, Digital Mascots, Digital Media, Identity.