Hello! Mascot

written by Li Mintranslated by Xu Zhiliang

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Hello! Mascot

written by Li Min
translated by Xu Zhiliang

It is the year of monkey (Bingshen) according to Chinese traditional lunar calendar, thus all sorts of cultural products centered on the image designs of monkey have been favored by people at home and abroad. Likewise, there is also a cute monkey—Hehe (Cooperation and Integration) active in the previous CAEXPOs, which is designated as the mascot of CAEXPO. Not only does Hehe become the cartoon representation of CAEXPO, but also injects originality into publicizing the image of CAEXPO.

Conventions & events have marched into an era of industrialization as the economic society progresses, and all the relevant elements have become important components of C & E industry accordingly, including mascots whose inherent value has been constantly taken seriously besides serving as a cartoon image of publicity and exhibition. Over the past 12 years, CAEXPO as a largescale international convention co-hosted by the 10 ASEAN countries and China has made progress in the improvement of industrial chain and brand infl uences, thus making Hehe’s value more incomparable. Against the background, in terms of the upgrades of brand value of CAEXPO, there are several issues to be resolved, such as how to create the mascot industry to make Hehe an envoy to hand over the friendship between ASEAN and China, not merely a mascot, and how to make it component of the brand culture of CAEXPO.

Hello! Mascot

People are very familiar with mascots, ranging from Olympic Games to World Expos, which usually emerge as positive and lovely images and serve as cartoon representations in various fi elds. In Japan where cartoon culture is significantly developed, for example, provinces and prefectures basically have their own cartoon mascots to promote local resources of culture and tourism, among which it is worth mentioning that the most famous Kumamon Bear—the designated mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, west of Japan—has brought about economic benefits worth around 7.27 billion yuan within two years. Thus, it can be seen that tremendous values may be created by a tiny mascot.

Speaking of the creation of Hehe, it is derived from white-headed langur as the prototype, which is an endangered and rare animal particular to Guangxi, China. White-headed langur got its name for the color of head, and it is praised as “an elf on rocky mountains” due to lovely physical appearances, robust action skills, as well as the history of existence on the earth (over 3 million years). When creating Hehe, the image of white-headed langur was sublimated through concise and flexible techniques of drawing, as well as simple and vivid colors, presenting an image with more smartness, loveliness and hommization designs. Hehe refers to cooperation and integration, reflecting the purpose of CAEXPO—Cooperation and Development. The Chinese character“合”(he) is a homophone of “和”(he) which means peace and kindness, embodying the implication that ASEAN and China are committed to establishing a peaceful and prosperous strategic and cooperative partnership. In this case, Hehe is considered to be a monkey with its specifi c connotation.

Similar to this monkey with soul, a lot of other mascots are endowed with the mission to serve the publicity and marketing of relevant conventions & events. In particular, CAEXPO, as a largescale international exposition to be held regularly has demanding requirements for publicity and promotion before the time fi xed for each exposition: refl ect new concepts each year as well as consolidate the brand influence of CAEXPO by creating permanent signboard recognition. For this reason, Hehe can serve as an effective carrier of CAEXPO’s brand image publicity.

On the one hand, Hehe, with its peculiar image, serves as an unparalleled symbol of the permanent host place of CAEXPO--Guangxi, China; moreover, the image being spread invisibly advertises for Guangxi, China; on the other hand, its cartoon image is conducive to overcoming the barriers of different languages and diversifi ed culture, as well as promoting a closer relationship between participants. Specifically, travelling merchants from countries in the region to participate in CAEXPO may not understand and learn each other’s words and culture, but theycan easily indentify a visualized mascot for CAEXPO. On seeing this monkey, they will make it associated with CAEXPO; besides, their friends and customers may begin to know something about CAEXPO by receiving souvenirs centered on Hehe.

In addition, under the era of picturereading, people are prone to accepting image information, which is more suitable for being specifi c carriers of brand image; meanwhile, the industry derived from the development, production and marketing of mascot products is not only favorable for the extension of CAEXPO’s industrial chain, but also remains a new thinking that creates the mascot industry concerning CAEXPO and expands the brand infl uence.

With respect to the specifi c image design, Hehe can play different roles and possess diversified actions, with much more maneuverability, its cute image is suitable for all ages, characterized by proximity, and it also carries profound cultural implications, which are qualified for developing the market values of mascot. However, at present Hehe has a relatively low frequency-of-occurrence in the brand publicity and promotion of CAEXPO so that there is a lack of enough opportunities for the interaction between participants and it, although it is endowed with good looks. Given this situation, is it possible that Hehe will become a great treasure of CAEXPO in the future? And how can Hehe be developed into a starlet of CAEXPO?

Make Mascots Vivid

It is a popular choice for a host of exhibitors to purchase hobbies as the souvenirs when attending expositions. Therefore, producing and selling the hobbies based on the image of mascot can be regarded as the most fundamental step for value development. For instance, works to reflect national features and themes of CAEXPO will be created by the combined design of bright and colorful national costumes as well as the image of Hehe. Besides, the patterns of manifestation should be diversifi ed.

In September 2015, the launching ceremony of prize-giving postcards themed on “Lucky Postcards towards ASEAN” was held by China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat and China Post (Guangxi Branch) in Nanning, Guangxi, issuing three types of postcards among which there was a single one designed according to the image of Hehe. After CAEXPO last year, the media produced the report: An Invitation of Hehe (Doll) to Review 12th CAEXPO.

Besides postcards and dolls, the hobbies of mascots have already been extended to commemorative coins, key rings, fans, clothes, table wares, etc. Diversified patterns of manifestation not only make the age groups wider, but also realize larger market potential.

Of course, the values of mascots are actually still confined to the visual level if the hobbies are just designed and sold. Fu Feng, founder of Beijing Jihui Culture & Communication Co., Ltd., holds that, without specific characters as well as vivid stories, the mascots are likely to become brand symbols like Logo, which will eventually be the waste of resources. Sun Wukong as one of the characters of Journey to the West has been favored by the public, as his fearlessness and courage is eye-catching, which is the cultural value given by this monkey to the story. Why should this white-headed langur Hehe be fascinated by people? Unsurprisingly, it is necessary to make Hehe a monkey with specifi c story and personality by virtue of relevant contents such as CAEXPO and national legends.

In the era of multi-media, there are much more possibilities that make the stories of mascots vivid by means of integration of trans-boundary and Omnimedia resources. For example, Hai Bao (mascot of Shanghai World Expo 2010)—the leading role the animated film Shao Lin Hai Bao—was made to publicize the Expo, and various hobbies such as novels, cartoon books, audio-visual materials were also developed simultaneously. In these works you can find that Haibao not only has its personalized words and actions, but also has its friends and own experience, thus making the image of Haibao more stereoscopic, lively and appealing.

In addition, people are more prone to entertainment as the rapid development of social media like MicroBlog and WeChat provide them with diversifi ed channels to receive information. Hehe, by virtue of these media, can be used for constructive interaction with people who are concerned about CAEXPO by the humanized language, as well as discussions concerning network topics in combination with the current hotspots timely so as to give publicity to knowledge, activities and highlights relating to CAEXPO. By doing so, the brand publicity of CAEXPO is made to be revitalized in the era of “Internet Plus”.

According to the order of twelve Chinese zodiac signs, Hehe was born in 2004 when it happened to be the year of monkey, and 2016 marks a 12-year cycle. This year your attention needs to be paid to the 13th CAEXPO if you are expecting to see more appearances of Hehe.