Mascot Strategy TikTok: In recent years, TikTok has become a dominant force in the social media landscape. With its viral nature and creative content, it has attracted millions of users worldwide. As brands scramble to tap into this vast audience, many have turned to the mascot strategy on TikTok to increase their visibility and engagement. A mascot is a character or symbol that represents a brand or organization. It is a recognizable and often lovable figure that can connect with the audience on a more personal level. By incorporating a mascot into their TikTok content, brands can humanize their image and create a stronger emotional bond with their followers.
Mascot strategy tiktok
NFL studies show that kids choose their favorite team by age six.
Knowing that, the Houston Texans organization created a friendly, adoraBULL blue bull mascot named TORO, who quickly became an imperative aspect of the Texans starting day one in 2002.
The Texans utilize TORO’s character as one that can connect with that younger demographic, showing them what it means to be a Texans fan. With understandaBULL difficulty of reaching that Generation Z fan base, TORO was ready to pounce toward TikTok as soon as it proved to be the home base for kiddos.
TORO, nationally known as your favorite friendly bull, has extended his reach from football throughout the years in becoming a mentor in the kid space, hosting:
- School programs focused on living a healthier lifestyle
- Taking the “bull” out of bullying
- Prioritizing math education
- And so much more!
All of this outreach lends a helping hand to over 30,000 Houston students annually. With the addition of TikTok, TORO was aBULL to add an additional element of relatability to his character: an element of comedy for Gen Z across the world.
Simply recreating trends didn’t appeal to TORO to because remember - TORO can’t physically talk. How does a mascot convey thoughts and build a presence on TikTok without speaking?
Strategy and Execution
Mascots can't talk, change facial expressions or even blink and many of the trends on TikTok involve lip syncing or rely heavily on facial expressions. TikTok would prove to be a difficult platform for any mascot. However, TORO was ready to take on the challenge knowing his audience was there waiting for his content.
TORO’s TikTok account was created on the basis of organic, unique content - created, shot and edited by TORO himself.
We started off by looking for dance challenges, pranks and silly trends that TORO could do and from there, TORO’s TikTok personality began to develop. He would add some elements of football and Texans players to his videos, but the real success came from pure TORO personality shining through these TikTok trends. Questions of: “What will TORO do with this?” or “How can a mascot make this work?” started escalating as fans waited to see what he’d come up with next.
With this pent up excitement, TORO moved up his video quantity from once a week to one video per day. We pushed the limits - learning what works and what doesn’t by trial and error, while also just immersing ourselves in the content with the goal of conveying the most loveaBULL TORO personality possible.
First Real Hit:
TORO’s first real TikTok hit came from a simple idea, sitting in the stands and appearing as though he magically ran down to the field within a few seconds, only to end with a popular TikTok dance.
Community Video with players:
Though a huge aspect of TikTok is to do the next funny thing, TORO still wanted to keep his focus on doing good things for the community. In this TikTok, TORO led a handful of Texans players singing Frozen’s “Let It Go” to a young Texans fan battling an illness at the local children’s hospital.
Gameday Prank:
Jokester TORO came out to play on gameday. This TikTok was particularly interesting in that it did not stem from a trend, but rather a unique prank that TORO came up with on his own. Carrying a tall stack of presents, TORO walked around the sidelines, pretending as though he tripped and almost dropped the presents on passerbys. Little did they know, they were actually all tied together.
Football Tricks:
One afternoon, TORO went out to the field to practice some field goals and (with the magic of TikTok editing) he made every single one - even the ones he accidently kicked backwards and the one he flicked with his finger.
TORO has found his TikTok presence with Gen Z by creating silly content that still aligns with his love for fans, football, community, and of course, the Houston Texans.
Results
With a little over five months of work, the TORO TikTok account gained over 420,000 followers, 5 million likes and became the 4th most followed NFL TikTok account. TORO surpassed his goal of reaching and creating younger fans on TikTok, but beyond the numbers, fan responses and reactions have been the most memoraBULL.
TORO’s TIkTok followers race to be the first comment on TORO’s TikToks, share how they saw TORO at their school - and even ask him to come do a school program for them.
In December, the Texans hosted an event called the Rival Rally, hosting fans across the city to celebrate that the Texans were about to take on the Titans. TORO appeared at the event, shaking hands and posing for photos when a teenage boy ran up to him to let him know he loved TORO’s TikTok account. His mom followed up explaining how her son loves TORO’s TikTok so much, he asked to make the trip from Dallas to Houston just to see his favorite TikToker.
This is just one of many scenarios where the Gen Z fan base has associated TORO with TikTok and created this connection of familiarity, fandome and excitement beyond the football world - but as a character and role model to look up to.
The omnipresent owl: How Duolingo propelled its mascot to the metaverse
"Although our main goal was to build brand love, we could also get a taste of how this move would benefit us in the future. It led to sign-ups that show how impactful the metaverse could be for our sales.”
Author Benjamin BroomfieldDuo, the instantly recognizable mascot for Duolingo, is everywhere. From push notifications to TikTok, the green owl is constantly bugging users to use the app in increasingly creative ways. Now, the owl has flown to the Metaverse.
With a brand that lends itself to game-based, community-oriented platforms, the metaverse was the perfect destination for Duolingo’s tenth birthday, and the brand partnered with Media.Monks to bring it to life. Duolingo has achieved ‘meme’ status in online channels. It took advantage of the brand love it receives in digital communities to make a metaverse offering that embraced Web 3.0 fundamentals. The Duolingo Game Hub received 9M+ visits in just a few weeks and players spent 41 million minutes playing language learning games.
James Kuczynski, Creative Director of Brand and Marketing at Duolingo, shares the three pillars Duolingo put in place to ensure its metaverse launch was impactful:
- Allow its community to co-create Duolingo’s metaverse offering
- Research and listen to how this community already talks about Duolingo
- Measure brand love, metaverse visits, and premium-sign ups to gain a holistic view of performance
By incorporating a mascot into their TikTok content, brands can humanize their image and create a stronger emotional bond with their followers. One of the key advantages of using a mascot strategy on TikTok is the ability to create entertaining and relatable content. Mascots can perform dances, lip-sync to popular songs, or participate in trending challenges, all of which can grab users' attention and generate engagement.
Being truly community-led
Duolingo had not previously targeted the developer community or the young gaming audience. Its metaverse launch allowed it to expand to this new audience base. As a brand that offers a gamified way to learn a language, there are few better platforms to experiment with than one that allowed Duolingo to explore games in a completely new way.
Web3.0 is built on community engagement. Duolingo did not opt to build its offering and push this on to a new audience. Instead, it brought the gaming community into the creative process. It dared to let the developer community on Roblox take the lead.
“We spoke to the developer community on Roblox. We wanted to create a home for that community to discuss what they were doing. From our social listening, we knew they were Discord users. So, we made a channel for them. We invited developers to a seven-day Game Jam and provided them with a free asset pack. Each of the qualified games was showcased on Duolingo’s Roblox Hub alongside its own game “Spanish or Vanish”.
“It was wonderful watching people have these conversations. The community was built on competition and we saw dozens of games which involved hundreds of developers.”
“Once we’d reviewed the submissions, we had 20 games all created by the audience we were trying to target. That is Web3.0 in action. We shared several of the top games across social channels to give the creators the recognition they deserved.”
Duolingo is a brand known for two things. Firstly, for offering language education to millions of users worldwide. Secondly, for its annoying reminders to encourage users to keep practicing their skills. True to form, it didn’t just offer different games in Roblox. It also built a presence in Decentraland that spoke to the latter.
The two-story Duo Owl billboard on Metaverse platform Decentraland
“To showcase that the Duolingo owl really can pop up anywhere, we expanded into another metaverse platform, Decentraland. It built a two-story statue of Duo including various snarky notifications on the edge of Golf Craft, a golf game on Decentraland.”
“It’s the same approach we’ve used on our socials and app-based notifications. Our users are never safe from the reminders.”
As a mission-oriented company, Duolingo wants to make the best education in the world universally available. Bringing the new audience into the creative process forged immediate connections with this group of potential customers.
The use of mascots also allows brands to inject humor, wit, and personality into their videos, making them more memorable and shareable. Furthermore, mascots enable brands to establish a unique identity and differentiate themselves from their competitors. By giving the mascot a distinct personality and voice, brands can create a brand ambassador that users can relate to and look forward to seeing on their TikTok feed. This, in turn, can foster a sense of loyalty and trust, as users associate the brand with positive feelings and experiences. The mascot strategy on TikTok can also be an effective way to showcase products or services in a creative and engaging manner. Mascots can use their charm to highlight features, demonstrate usage, or simply evoke curiosity. This can lead to increased brand awareness, consideration, and ultimately, conversions. However, it is important for brands to approach the mascot strategy on TikTok with careful planning and execution. The mascot should align with the brand values and target audience to ensure authenticity and resonance. Additionally, brands should continuously monitor and analyze engagement metrics to measure the impact and effectiveness of their mascot strategy. In conclusion, the mascot strategy on TikTok can be a powerful tool for brands to connect with their audience, increase visibility, and boost engagement. By incorporating entertaining and relatable mascots into their videos, brands can create a unique identity, showcase products creatively, and foster loyalty among users. TikTok's viral nature and vast user base provide an ideal platform for brands to leverage the mascot strategy and stand out in the competitive social media landscape..
Reviews for "The Evolution of TikTok Mascots: What's Next for This Trend?"
1. Jane - 1 star:
I was so disappointed with Mascot Strategy TikTok. The videos were all over the place and lacked any coherent strategy. It felt like they were just throwing random mascots at the screen without any purpose or direction. I was hoping to learn some valuable tips and tricks, but instead, I was left confused and unimpressed. I definitely would not recommend this TikTok account to anyone looking for helpful mascot strategies.
2. Mike - 2 stars:
While Mascot Strategy TikTok had some potential, it fell flat in execution. The videos were too short to provide any meaningful insights or strategies. I felt like I was only scratching the surface and not really getting any valuable information. Additionally, the quality of the videos was questionable, with poor lighting and audio. Overall, I was left unsatisfied and underwhelmed by the content provided.
3. Sarah - 2 stars:
Mascot Strategy TikTok had an interesting concept, but it failed to deliver. The videos lacked depth and substance, and I couldn't help but feel like they were just repeating the same information over and over again. There was no real innovation or fresh insights into mascot strategies. It felt like a missed opportunity to provide valuable content in an engaging and informative way. Unfortunately, I won't be following this TikTok account any longer.
4. David - 1 star:
I don't understand the hype around Mascot Strategy TikTok. The videos were unoriginal and lacked any real substance. It felt like a desperate attempt to gain followers rather than providing useful information. The strategies suggested were basic and common knowledge. I was hoping for something that would truly help me improve my mascot game, but instead, I was left disappointed and wondering what the fuss was all about. Definitely not worth the time and effort.
5. Emily - 2 stars:
Mascot Strategy TikTok had some interesting ideas, but they were poorly executed. The videos were often rushed and lacked proper explanation or context. It was difficult to follow along and understand the strategies being suggested. Additionally, the presentation of the videos was unprofessional, with distracting graphics and inconsistent editing. Overall, I found it hard to take this TikTok account seriously and would not recommend it to others.