Staying up to date with the latest marketing trends seems like a never-ending task and keeping your marketing strategy up to date is equally as tough. One of the latest marketing channels that has taken over in popularity is TikTok, and it might be time to you factor it into your mascot marketing strategy.
TikTok is a social media platform released in 2016 that serves up seemingly endless, highly curated, bit-sized videos. These short length videos have become very popular as of late, other platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat have all adopted to offering this style of content as well. This shift in shorter video content has caused the marketing world to follow suit. It is harder now than ever before to grab someone’s attention and hold it. One strategy that has been making waves in the TikTok world is the implementation of mascots.
This new landscape of marketing comes with new strategies and tactics. To help you navigate this landscape and get a few ideas, we have compiled some examples of mascots who are TikTok stars.
As we all know, mascots grab attention like no other. They’re weird, cool, and not something you see every day. They stick out amongst giant crowds, they not only draw your attention, they command it. I mean look at these guys:
Imagine you’re scrolling through a newspaper and see one of these jump out at you. That would surely get your attention, at least enough to preview the article. Mascots provide the same lure on TikTok. Seeing a funky character interact with the world is a huge hit amongst audiences. Even doing something simple like the below examples attracts huge viewership:
@mr.....bear Mascot prank funny with Mr.Bear EP.31 #prank #bear #funnybear #mrbear #mascot #funnyprank #brownbear
♬ เสียงต้นฉบับ - Mr.....Bear - Mr.....Bear
@freddythefr0g Waiting for the lifeguard signal like 🐸 #condorsecret #wetwildep #phrog #waterpark #elpasotx #elpaso #texas #fyp #foryourpage #mascot #Summer2020
♬ Dior - Pop Smoke
Nothing too complicated here, just people in mascot costumes being silly. Look at the viewership too, each video boasts large amounts of likes and comments. All this attention was garnered by someone in a mascot costume just being silly.
Now, if you really want to make an impact you can have your mascot do something like this:
If you view this video on YouTube itself, you’ll notice that this performance has 12 Million views, while the mascot’s official YouTube account (@cosmo_cougar) only has 96k subscribers. This video has been on YouTube for about 6 years, that’s comes out to around 2 million views a year.
Impressive for sure, but if we look at the same video on the mascot’s TikTok account…
The original TikTok video has 29.5 million views, with the account boasting 1.5 million followers, and this TikTok has only been up since November of 2019. That’s an average of 7.38 million views per year. That’s over 3x the number of views in less than half the time!
Ultimately, TikTok’s shorter format means more people are being exposed to your brand when compared to other social medias. Given that roughly 50% of TikTok’s audience are under the age of 34, this platform is an ideal way to target the next generation of consumers, workers, and investors. This is an effect way to get your brand’s mascot into the spotlight.
You can read more about TikTok’s Demographics here.
@yahoosports Note to self: get on Cosmo’s level #BYU #Cosmo #mascot #college #football #dance #Utah #UpTheBeat
♬ original sound - Yahoo Sports
We’ve compiled a list of The Top 5 Ways to use Mascots in TikTok. In some way or another, each mascot has displayed an aspect of TikTok that is driving customer and brand interaction. These are in no particular order. So without further ado, let’s get started!
For those of you unfamiliar, social media has led to the rise of what is known as “influencers.” Influencers are basically internet celebrities with large social media followings. Sedona Prince (@sedonerrr) for example, is a Basketball player for the Oregon Ducks with 2.9 million followers on TikTok. Here is a TikTok of her playing P.I.G. with the Oregon Duck’s Mascot:
@sedonerrr Playing PIG with a duck. #athlete #oregon #mascot @theoregonduck
♬ Blue Blood - Heinz Kiessling & Various Artists
This video is cute, simple, and is a fun way to promote the Oregon Duck’s athletics programs. At the end of the day both parties’ benefit from this cross-promotion, which exposes each other’s followers to one another’s accounts. This results in more viewership, exposure, and followers for both parties.
Our next example of Influencer and mascot collaboration comes to use through The Chicago Bull’s Benny the Bull (@bennythebull). In this TikTok, Benny is seen with Addison Rae Easterling (@addisonre).
@bennythebull It’s fine, I didn’t want to be in their TikTok anyway... #renegade @addisonre @doubleag00
♬ original sound - Benny the Bull
Addison has a whopping 86.6 Million followers on TikTok, compared to Benny’s 4.9 Million. This video itself has 8.4 million views, which is one of the most viewed videos Benny has on his account. Clearly, this influencer marketing strategy works.
A “Duet” on TikTok is when you record a video that follows along with another person’s video. Here we have the University of Iowa’s Herky the Hawkeye (@therealherky) dueting with the other mascots in the NCAA’s Big Ten Conference.
@therealherky B1G Football is back!! @goldythegopher @uwbuckybadger @therealsparty @osubrutusbuckeye #collegefootball #bigten
♬ original sound - TheRealHerky
Here is another great example between the Indianapolis Colt’s (@blue) and The Houston Texan’s (@texantoro1). Remember, these two are big time rivals!
@blue #duet with @texanstoro1 BING BONG 😂
♬ original sound - Delly
@duolingo AYE DOMINO 🗣️ #skz #hanjisung #duolingo
♬ aye domino - lana/nav ★
Oddly enough, our other example is also a bird. A very Angry bird. Here we have the main mascot for the mobile game Angry Birds (@angrybirds). All he does is a simple little dance in this video, but look at his viewership!
@angrybirds Who’s ready for the weekend? 😎 #mascot #letsgroove #foryou #viral
♬ Let's Groove - absolutesnacc
Have a product you want to promote? Why not use a mascot? The Seattle Seahawk’s Blitz (@blitztheseahawk) mascot has a fantastic example:
@blitztheseahawk Try find a NFL mascot with better shoe game! You won’t! GO HAWKS! #FYP #NFL #shoegamecheck #NikeCheck #Nike #Mascot #Team3 #Swoosh
♬ original sound - BlitzTheSeahawk
It’s subtle, but notice how they just showcased several Nike products without even mentioning the brand? Every shoe has a giant Nike Swoosh logo on the side of them. Make no mistake about it, this is Joint-Advertising at its finest. Notice the hashtags?
Our next example is a collaboration between Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob and The New Jersey Devil’s NJ Devil (@njdevil00) :
@nickelodeon Getting your Bikini Bottom driver's license isn't really that tough @njdevil00 #spongebob #njdevils #mascot #cheersquad #allstarmoment #sports
♬ patrick type beat by jvst x - Tik Toker
For a little context, Nickelodeon’s TV show, “Spongebob” has several episodes of the show dedicated to its main character trying to get his boating license. He lives in a Pineapple under the sea after all. Having the New Jersey Devil apply for a boating license is a cute little way to get cross promotion.
Blue from the Indianapolis Colts (@blue) has two great examples. One of which is heartwarming, and one of which is hilarious. I’ll let you decide which is which:
@espn Incredible moment for this Colts cheerleader 💙👏 @espnw (via @Colts Cheerleaders) #colts #nfl #cheerleader #wholesome #feels
♬ original sound - ESPN
These are great examples of mascots interacting with people. Both of these fans are going to remember this experience for a lifetime. They will walk away with positive thoughts surrounding the mascot and the brand it represents:
@blue Beat the @jaguars 😂
♬ original sound - user831840572
TikTok is a great way to get your brand’s mascot out infront of a young audience.
If you are interested in getting a mascot project started, please click here or fill out the form below to speak with one of our mascot experts!
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