Some marketing trends never go out of style. In one form or another, they always have a place for brands and organizations. Others are more transient—they come and go with the time, sometimes in style but at other times, passe and stale.
That’s where mascots land when it comes to strategic marketing weaponry. Right now, mascots are in vogue. New ones are appearing almost daily, especially popular for softening the often sullied images owned by tech giants. As I write this, both Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) and OpenAI (ChatGPT) are duking it out with cute, cuddly mascots that would make a 2 year-old smile.
In the world of radio, mascots have long played an integral marketing role for a number of stations (most of them very successful). There was the Buzzard, the animated symbol of WMMS, as well as Tree B. Frog who repped WEBN. And let’s not forget perhaps the most famous mascot of them all, KGB’s San Diego Chicken.
In the early days of Classic Rock back in the mid-’80s, station owner Jay Hoker developed “The Fox,” which ended up in Kansas City, Cincinnati, Charlotte, and myriad other markets. For KCFX, “Foxzilla” (pictured below) became one of the early inflatables of that era, giving The Fox excellent visibility at events all over the metro. And as the station was in its early building phase, the mascot became more well-known than any of the air personalities.
The other beauty of these mascots was their multi-generational appeal. They helped connect new Classic Rock stations to their communities, as well as delighting the local children. Whether the inflatable or an intern was wearing the costume, mascots became a photo op long before everyone carried around a smartphone with a built-in camera.
Recently, Phill Rees, creative director at FutureBrand, wrote a blog post titled, “Mascots are back, but not as you know them.” He details a brief history of mascots, including the long running (150 years)—Quaker Oats Man. Back then, those old mascots, like Kelloggs’ Tony the Tiger were essentially one-dimensional, displayed on products to help sell them.
Today however, Rees says they’re everywhere—in social feeds, in culture, and as part of conversations that happen between consumers apart from the brand. To that point, a well-chosen, wisely used mascot can become the center of memes created by fans. Rees’ point is that “recognition alone doesn’t hold the weight it once did.” Brands—and radio stations are included—should expect more juice from a mascot.
Spontaneous appearances on Reddit, for example, aren’t always positive. But they raise brand awareness, making mascots part of a conversation.
Sometimes, the older (and blander) the mascot, the better. Like the Quaker Oats Man, the The Laughing Cow, the eponymous cheese brand, has been around a long time (a century!) and consequently, becomes easy to ignore.
This happens to be my wife’s favorite brand of cheese, and I couldn’t help but notice a couple of their “cheese circles” in her basket from her most recent Costco run. It’s easy to take long-in-the-tooth mascots for granted. But a clever creative team can pull off some amazing stunts. All it takes is creativity and a sense of fun.
Right now, there are versions of the Laughing Cow packaging that frankly aren’t very happy. In fact, the friendly bovine looks morose. And the label has been changed to “Not Laughing Cow.”
Do these relabeled versions of the usually-friendly cow grab attention? As fast as you can utter, “Say ‘cheese!’”
The detailed story was first published in Know Your Meme. Written by Phillip Hamilton, it partially explains why the brand’s parent, Babybel, decided to roll the dice on an unorthodox virtual marketing campaign that’s working. The social web is full of posts like the one below:
@thelaughingcowusWe finally know why she stopped laughing. Let’s come together and make her laugh again.♬ original sound – The Not Laughing Cow
Until then, we’ll leave it up to the “cow community” to make sense of this cow caper.
So, all of this is well and good for legacy mascots that need a refresh. But today, mascots are making an unlikely comeback in the marketing world. And who do they have to thank?
AI.
In case you haven’t noticed, there is a veritable “mascot mob” happening around this increasingly controversial technology. The overlords of machine learning (the earlier name for this technology) have been hanging with President Trump, trying to put their spin on their proprietary software because it is scaring the crap out of the general public.
The White House’s solution is to rebrand the technology as “SI” and start calling it “super intelligence,” but it may be a little late in the game to win over an American populace that doesn’t trust politicians or technocrats to do the right thing.
That’s why a number of leaders in the AI race are doing their best to tone down negative images that have been festering since ChatGPT made its debut in November 2022.
And the methodology a number of them are utilizing is cute mascots that cleverly shroud the technology. We first witnessed this tactic at CES more than a decade ago. That’s when excited
inventors started rolling out robot companions for children whose parents were too busy to spend meaningful time with them. They were branded with colloquial names like “Buddy” with faces right out of a Pixar film.
This is the playbook of today’s AI tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg or Sam Altman. In the case of the former, it’s a heavy lift for an AI mascot to counteract the negativity Facebook’s big boss has generated over the past few years. I haven’t seen Zuck’s “Q score,” but he’s managed to turn off a whole lot of people for a host of reasons.
Meta is adopting this model for its AI critter named “Muse.” A review by The Verge’s” Victoria Song brackets Meta’s intent with this AI agent. Here’s the title:
“It’s sinister that Meta’s Muse AI mascot is so cute”
In spite of Song’s cynicism for this technology “end around” by Meta, she openly admits their plan to sneak their version of AI into a billion or so lives is pretty darn effective. And while she can be tough on new products, Song admits while Muse’s AI output may be underwhelming, “I am horribly vulnerable when faced with extreme cuteness.”
The Muse AI agent is going to be a big part of Meta’s tech tool kit: it will show up on all of the company’s smart glasses, as well as be present on a new wearable called Charm. As Song reminds us, “there is immense power in cuteness.”
So much so that OpenAI is going down this same pathway with their agent known as “Dots.” Yes, they’re right up there on the “Cute-ometer.” Promising that its AI product can “do nearly anything,” the interface is similar to what Meta is offering with Muse. Dots can also be connected to Microsoft Teams and Slack. A text interface is apparently on the way so Dots will be able to message its users, too.
You can read more about Dots’ capabilities in this helpful article from The Verge’s Emma Roth.
For radio station brands, you might have a way to resurrect a forgotten mascot (not to worry—your fans will remember). Think about the tactics both Laughing Cow and Quaker Oats are using.
If your station doesn’t have one, consider the possibilities for 2027. We always talk about brand differentiation, and mascots can be a relatively easy and effective way to make this happen.
It never hurts to be cute.
President & Founder at Jacobs Media
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched – a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created – a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the “connected car” and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media’s commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
