Week 7 Blog Post for Media in Japan

Yurukyara Culture in Korea

What are mascots (or in Japanese term, Yurukyara)?

Mascots are referred to as the ‘faces’ that lend a distinct, unique personality which is responsible for differentiating certain socioeconomic groups such as brand, community, society, or even nation from the vast sea of other groups. They are generally created based on people, anthropomorphic animals, or personified objects to represent the groups and resonate with audiences. (Enrico, 2017, para.1)

Primary purpose and effects

Mascots oftentimes become the reflection of a society and also projection of how the members would want themselves to be viewed from the outside world. In other words, they are the symbolic figure to be ageless brand/community/society/national representative that lives through different times and trends with us. Therefore, it is highly responsible to help build and strengthen identity among socio-economic groups. Furthermore, it is said to be psychologically effective in reinforcing the top-of-mind awareness in a way that visual effects and symbolisms, in nature can be impactful and long-lasting compared to text-based materials. (Enrico, 2017, para.2)

The Role of Mascots in Social Media

Carol Phillips, the president of Brand Amplitude in her words, once described mascots as being “the gift that keeps on giving” in a sense that “they never get in trouble with the law. They don’t up their fees. You can use them for a long, long time.” (Enrico, 2017, para.) Compared to celebrity endorsers, it turned out that mascots in social media clearly contribute to higher engagement rate. Self-promotion in marketing is also more natural-looking and appropriate when it is conducted by a mascot not by celebrity or staff.

Throughout the history, mascots have continued to live with us. For example, who has never seen Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger or the M&M’s characters? If we think back, we may have come across these brand mascots at least once in our lifetime either consciously or non-consciously. I would like to introduce a successful example of a Korean mascot that had been effective in its role to represent one city.

Goyang City’s Goyang Goyangi

Like Kumamon of the Kumamoto prefecture, “Goyang Goyangi” is a cat that represents my residential area of Goyang City. The word “Goyang” from Goyang City is pronounced the same as the Korean word, Goyangi which means the animal, cat. This is how Goyangi became the symbolic animal or the mascot of Goyang City. Everywhere around the city, from the municipal office to concert halls, as well as on posters and pamphlets, we see the Goyang Goyangi advertising and providing information in a friendly way that makes the citizens be more willing to actively participate in community events and easily approach when we have difficulties in their daily
lives. 

Our city’s flower festival, which is a famous nation-wide event where people from all parts of the regions visit, staffs would wear the mascot suits of Goyang Goyangi to greet the visitors and especially the children in a more friendly manner in order to provide them with joyful experiences. During this event, they would take pictures together with families and give out small gifts to the children. Goyang Goyangi mascots would also appear in educational programs to create and provide more enthusiastic learning environment for children. Also, on the official websites for Goyang City, information pages and video clips all include the mascot which makes it more interesting for the citizens to search for community news and improve their participation rates towards socio-economic affairs. In this sense, Mascots are effective in a way they; build emotional connection with people, establishing distinct personality during the engagement process of making conversation and social interactions with them.

The following photos represent; i) Goyang Goyangi in an opening ceremony for its official establishment as the mascot of Goyang City with a celebrity and ii) Goyang Goyangi in promotion of a campaign for homeless cats.