Branding Objective
Our company was struggling with a way to stand out in a creative way at shows and events. We had a lot of basic swag in purple and green colors, but nothing personable or memorable.
Solution
Develop a mascot, the KOSMO owl, to continue to build out our company’s brand identity. I worked with an in-house graphic designer to create our owl. We settled on the blue color because we wanted our owl to stand out against our bright green and purple primary brand colors. I then worked with a partner printing company to create branded stickers and the company Custom Sock Club to create KOSMO-branded socks to hand out at events.
In addition, to get buy-in from our Komprise employees around the new mascot, I hosted a company-wide naming project for the owl. Employees from across the US, UK, and India submitted unanimous suggestions for the name. In a final, heated vote, the name KOSMO – Komprise Or Seriously Miss Out – was selected as the winner for our owl.
Sample swag and trade show set-ups
Result
Employees, prospects, and customers all loved the new owl – stickers would fly off the show floor! The KOSMO owl increased our brand equity by providing a memorable, fun, and engaging touchpoint for interaction with our brand (and a catchy new slogan – Be Wise, Komprise!).
In addition, this exercise created the perfect opportunity for me to revisit our trade show presence (booth image, collateral, giveaways, and total show experience)! I streamlined and organized the entire exhibiting process to maximize engagement and efficiency while minimizing trade show-related costs.