Mascots can be a powerful ambassador for your brand and an important revenue generator for the company. We DON’T design costumes. We design professional mascots that work hard to build brands.

The details give our mascots real personality. Fire Engine has created mascot brands for Kitchener / Grand River Transit, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Coffee Time Donuts and IDA Drug Stores, to name a few.

A mascot can not only help you build your brand, but help people LOVE your brand:

1. Mascots allow you to build new promotions
You can build new promotions with your mascot on a single or repeat basis. Promotions might include a frequent customer giveaway or an information package to targeted customer groups.

2. Merchandise
Create merchandise of your mascot character that can be sold to generate significant revenue. Plush Dolls, T-shirts, key chains, etc. can all be developed around your character and represent another product in your retail merchandise offerings. The right merchandise will keep your name in front of your target clients.

3. Appearances
Your character can attend corporate, media, community or charitable events etc. In time, you could create celebrity status with your character.

4. Entertainment Experience
A great mascot can add to the entertainment experience for your potential and existing clients ... Attracting customers in a particular area, greeting guests as they arrive to sample your product or service; posing for photographs with important dignitaries etc.

5. Visibility / PR
A mascot can give your company high visibility in the community. Employees aren't always available for public appearances, and your mascot may be more easily recognized. In time, your mascot will become synonymous with your brand.
Several factors contribute to making a mascot not only “good” but “great”.
First, it must have a visual appeal for its primary audience. Generally speaking, this means it be cute and cuddly, and bare an obvious relation to the organization that owns it.

Second, it must be constructed of sturdy, durable materials that will stand up well to wear.

Thirdly, it must be highly functional in a wide variety of performing environments. This means it must be well ventilated, allow for a good range of vision and permit unencumbered body movements and most importantly, your mascot must have personality.

In every great mascot design, we build in the "Hug-ability Factor" - making sure that adults and children alike can connect to your business in a comfortable and memorable way.

Extending beyond the mascot's development, the Fire Engine team of experts can show your staff how to bring the mascot to life through animated mascot training sessions. In addition, we can design and produce a supporting mascot marketing program that may include a mascot logo for wearable merchandise, colouring books, posters, giveaways, in-store signage and more!

The final key to a successful mascot program is the commitment of the organization managing the program. By commitment, we mean the willingness to provide the program with all the moral and material support it needs to run effectively.

In terms of moral support, an organization needs to regard the program as an integral part of its overall marketing, public relations and entertainment package.
To that end it must seriously consider the promotional ideas and managerial concerns of the mascot program’s staff. As for material support, it is essential that the organization give the mascot program sufficient financial, logistic and administrative resources to do the job well.

Andrew Csafordi is a leading Creative Director, Graphic Designer, Mascot Designer and a Partner in the Fire Engine Inc. design studio in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For more information about Andrew Csafordi, Fire Engine Inc. or our Mascot Design services, e-mail: Info@fireengineinc.com.

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By Andrew Csafordi, Partner, Fire Engine Inc.
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