If you’ve been thinking about creating a mascot for your company and wondering if it would be beneficial for your organization, you might be surprised. A mascot can be a terrific marketing tool and can really make your brand stand out among others.
The first step you’ll have to take will be to decide what kind of mascot you want. Keep reading to learn some tips that will help you create the best possible mascot costume for your business.
1. Have You Ever Had a Mascot?
This is probably the first thing you’ll have to ask yourself, and if you haven’t a clue, you will need to look into the archives. If there was ever a mascot in the past, you could base your current ideas for design around the old mascot, while updating the look to modernize it. The choice for the mascot back then probably had something to do with the brand identity, so as long as that identity has remained the same, that type of mascot will probably still have some relevance.
2. Who is Your Target Audience?
This is the next step you should take, before you start to even come up with ideas for a custom mascot. You will want to make sure that the type of mascot you choose is appropriate for the target audience you want to attract and entertain. If your mascot is for a sports team, you might want it to look intimidating or sporty. If your audience is kids, you want it to be friendly looking, approachable, and easily recognizable. When you have a mascot that will be relatable to your target audience, they will want to interact with it, which is the number-one goal. That’s why this step is probably the most important decision in the whole process.
3. Look for Inspiration
Inspiration is all around you. Maybe you could choose a provincial symbol or animal, person, or object you think of when you think of your region that you could work into a mascot costume idea. Your mascot costume could also be a tribute, like of the person who created the organization, or someone else the company wants to honour. Some people even have mascots based on departed pets of someone close to the business.
4. What Does the Costume Have to Be Able to Do?
If you don’t have any strict rules about what your character can be, you have a lot more leeway when it comes to deciding what to choose. The next step will be to decide what you want the mascot to be able to do. Will it be used in controlled settings, like a stage, for meet-and-greet type performances? If so, you can have pretty much any design!
However, if you need the character to be able to move through crowds, you might want to think about any elements that might impede smooth movement. This would include long tails, wings, and other big accessories or parts. If your mascot has to be able to move around a lot, like climbing stairs, running, or dance moves, you should avoid costumes where the arms and legs are inside the costume, or are otherwise limited.
5. What Do Other People Think?
Host a meeting and ask everyone to bring an idea to present to the group. This is a good way to brainstorm for ideas you might not have thought of yourself. Compare all the ideas, ask questions, and maybe even consult with a mascot-design company for some ideas. You can also look online at some photo galleries to get more inspiration.
