Brand mascots can be an effective marketing tool if they are built into the story of your brand. Slapping a whale, bunny or robot onto your brand won’t increase your marketshare or awareness overnight. Mascots naturally create brand triggers in the marketplace. For example, every time I see a white duck, I think Aflac (often I catch myself saying A…FLAC).
Start by determining how the mascot will make it easier to connect and engage with your target audience. How does it change your brand perception and personality in the marketplace? Most importantly, why is this a good business decision? Since this will be another employee on the “About Us” page, it’s extremely important that all existing employees embrace and welcome the new teammate. Lastly, before selecting a mascot, do your homework. There are hundreds out there already. What’s your favorite tech mascot?
1. Loggly – Cloud Log Management Software
Mascot Name: Hoover J Beaver
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2009
History: Most popular cloud-based log management service with over a trillion events logged.
2. Mailchimp – Email Marketing Software
Mascot Name: Freddie
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2001
History: How Freddie grew up and became more powerful!
3. Moz – Inbound Marketing Software
Mascot Name: Roger
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2010
History: The evolution of Roger
4. Reddit – Online Social Networking & News
Mascot Name: Snoo
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2005
History: The domain name Snoo (What’s new) was already taken.
5. Hipmunk – Flight and Hotel Search
Mascot Name: Hipmunk Chipmunk
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2010
History: It was Goldstein’s girlfriend’s idea to name the company after a cute animal
6. Hootsuite – Social Media Management
Mascot Name: Owly
Citizenship: Canadian, eh?
Born: 2009
History: The project was initially called BrightKit, owned by Involve Media. Think he likes poutine?
Owly — a mascot and a product. Image source.
7. Breadpig – Sidekick-For-Hire
Mascot Name: nameless
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2008
History: The Reddit founders purchased Breadpig.com before Reddit.com
8. Twitter – Social Networking & Microblogging
Mascot Name: Larry
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2008
History: More commonly known as “Larry the Bird” after NBA legend, Larry Bird.
9. Snapchat – Photo Messaging App
Mascot Name: Ghostface Chillah
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2011
History: The original name was called Picaboo.
10. Android – Mobile Operating System
Mascot Name: Bugdroid
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2007
History: Android was purchased by Google in 2005.
11. Tencent QQ – Instant Messaging Software
Mascot Name: nameless
Citizenship: Chinese
Born: 1998
History: Online and mobile gaming to search, software development, e-commerce and instant messaging
12. Zynga – Social Gaming Company
Mascot Name: Zinga (not a typo)
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2007
History: The company was named in honor of Mark Pincus’ (CEO) old American bulldog
13. Evernote – Notetaking Software
Mascot Name: nameless
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2008
History: Why an elephant? Possibly because elephants never forget. See all the different variations of the elephant.
14. Xiaomi – Chinese Electronic Company
Mascot Name: Mi Bunny
Citizenship: Chinese
Born: 2010
History: Widely known for “borrowing” designs from Apple’s playbook.
15. Bitly – Link Shortening Service
Mascot Name: Chauncey McPufferson
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2008
History: Meet Chauncey’s extended family!
16. Github – Code Management Resource
Mascot Name: Octocat
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2008
History: Has over 3.4 million users, making it the largest code host in the world.
17. Swarm – Friend Discovery App
Mascot Name: nameless
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2014
History: The fastest way to keep up and meet up with friends (owned by foursquare).
18. TaskRabbit – Marketplace for Outsourcing Small Tasks
Mascot Name: Hazel
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2008
History: Neighbors helping neighbors complete tasks. #Ikeafurniture
19. Timehop – Time Capsule App
Mascot Name: Abe (timeosaur)
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2011
History: Abe inherits his name from Abraham Lincoln.
20. TripAdvisor – Online Travel Website
Mascot Name: Ollie
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2000
History: You often see Ollie interacting with user at events and resolving customer support tickets.
21. Ookbee – e-book Store
Mascot Name: RoBear
Citizenship: Thai
Born: 2010
History: The name is derived from a reverse play on “e-book.”
22. LiveJournal – Social Networking Service
Mascot Name: Frank
Citizenship: Russian
Born: 1999
History: “Frank the goat” what else needs to be said?
23. Hirehive – Marketplace for Filmmakers
Mascot Name: nameless
Citizenship: Australia
Born: 2014
History: The company is currently in Beta.
24. Docker – Open-source platform
Mascot Name: Moby Dock
Citizenship: United States
Born: 2013
History: In January 2014, Docker raised $15M in series B funding round led by Greylock Partners
Adam Lang is the founder and editor of Rewind & Capture. He is passionate about creative marketing, design and brand etymology.