It has been a difficult year for everybody. Organizations and communities have both had to make significant changes to their day-to-day lives. Social distancing and proper hygiene are now embedded into our everyday life.
As a result, your mascot marketing campaign has probably been impacted.
Though you may be considering putting your mascot costume away and putting a hold on your mascot marketing strategies, as we covered in our blog ‘How Organizations Have Recently Used Mascots to Spread Cheer’, that does not have to be the case.
Your mascot is an important aspect of your community. A well-thought-out mascot marketing campaign can lift your community’s mood, bring people joy, and get your audience engaged and talking.
Now is not the time to put your mascot costume on the backburner. Your organization could be using its unique mascot character to give your community a boost. To use your custom mascot costume during COVID-19, however, you’ll need to keep some important things in mind to ensure your audience, and performer is safe.
To help you safely use your mascot costume, ARIS Mascots has listed some tips here:
#1- Only use one performer in a mascot costume
Mascot performances can be intense. If your mascot performer is required to perform choreographed sequences and physically demanding moves, then there’s a good chance that your organization may alternate between two mascot performers during one event.
While this is a good idea in normal circumstances, it’s probably not a good idea right now. Stick to one mascot performer for each costume and each event, for the time being, to ensure your performer’s health is protected.
#2 - Spend time focusing on your social media program
A large number of organizations get so consumed in their mascot’s live performances that they forget just how beneficial a mascot character is for their digital marketing programme. With events scaled back or even on hold, for now, try taking some time to really focus on improving how you use your mascot to enhance your brand’s online presence.
Are you looking for new ideas that will give your mascot’s social media content a boost? Check out our blog, ‘Ideas to Increase Your Mascot’s Social Media Engagement’, for some innovative methods that you can use.
#3 - Make sure you properly clean your mascot costume
Taking the time to properly clean and care for your mascot costume will ensure that your organization can increase the longevity of the costume, and increase your return on investment. Not only that, but cleaning your mascot costume is crucial to keep your audience and mascot performer safe during COVID-19.
To keep your mascot costume clean, follow the advice in our blog ‘How to Clean Your Organization’s Mascot From Head to Toe’, and also add some additional disinfection procedures. Disinfect the areas of the costume that come into direct contact with your performer’s skin by lightly rubbing the area with a disinfectant wipe.
#4 - Adjust the tone of your mascot if needed
The current situation is an unusual time for everyone, and people are understandably feeling more sensitive than normal. You need to make sure that your mascot marketing program doesn’t offend anyone, and that might mean you have to adjust the tone of your mascot slightly.
For example, if you have a sports mascot whose personality is typically competitive you may want to adjust the tone of their personality to be more upbeat, empathetic, hopeful and positive instead. This will help you build stronger connections with your audience, no matter how they are feeling.
Looking for more mascot advice during COVID-19? Contact ARIS Mascots today. Our team would love to answer any questions that you may have.
Get one of this inflatable teddy bear suit for your entertainments
