Why Should You as a Business Owner Incorporate Illustrations (And How to Do It)

In a world flooded with content, standing out is no longer optional—it’s essential. As a business owner, you're constantly looking for ways to connect with your audience, communicate your message clearly, and leave a lasting impression. One powerful yet often overlooked tool to achieve all of this? Illustrations.

From custom graphics to character-driven visuals, illustrations bring personality, clarity, and creativity to your brand. In this blog post, we’ll explore why illustrations are more than just eye candy—they’re strategic assets. Plus, we’ll guide you through smart, effective ways to integrate them into your business, whether you’re refreshing your website, building a social media presence, or telling your brand story.

Using illustrations in your business has strong emotional implications that go beyond aesthetics—they can deeply influence how your brand is perceived and how people connect with it. Here’s how:

1. Creates an Instant Emotional Connection

Illustrations can express moods, personalities, and stories in ways that feel warm, relatable, and human. A hand-drawn character or playful visual can make your audience smile, feel seen, or even nostalgic—emotions that build trust and loyalty.

2. Softens Complex or Serious Topics

If your business deals with technical, dry, or sensitive subjects, illustrations can make your message feel more approachable and less intimidating. They help break down barriers and invite people in.

3. Builds Brand Personality

Whether your brand is quirky, professional, bold, or caring, illustrations help visually express that personality. When people feel your brand through visuals, they’re more likely to remember it and feel emotionally invested.

4. Evokes Imagination and Storytelling

Illustrations spark imagination. They allow your audience to enter a visual story—one that reflects their own aspirations, struggles, or goals. That emotional narrative can be much more powerful than stock photos or plain text.

5. Feels Custom and Intentional

Custom illustrations show care and thought. They imply that your brand values creativity and attention to detail, which makes people feel like they’re engaging with something meaningful—not mass-produced.

In short, illustrations tap into human emotion in a way that resonates deeply, helping businesses form authentic, lasting bonds with their audience.

How Do You Use Or Incorporate Illustrations To Your Business?

There are multiple things you can do with the illustration, however it depends on what your needs are and what your budget is. Let's look at a few examples.

1. Website

Illustrations are often used the most commonly on your Website. You can either add multiple unique illustrations across all of your pages, or only choose select pages or sections you want to place emphasis on.

However these are the most common places illustrations are placed:

1. Home Page Banner. The first section you see when entering a website
2. About Us
3. Contact Us Page
4. Different illustrations for different services
5. Newsletter or Signup Form
6. Pages or sections that includes things like instructions or FAQ's

2. Social Media Posts or Ads

It doesn't mean because you invested into an illustration for a specific reason that it can't be reused somewhere else. By using it in your social media posts or ads, it will help build consistency with your digital presence and help drive prospects to your website or direct them to give you direct calls.

3. Honorable Mentions

Illustrations isn't limited to just online, but can be used in many more ways. Let's look at some examples of other options you can look at investing in.

1. Flyers
2. Company Profiles
3. Signage
4. Big Billboards: Imagine seeing that striking design next to the road with a QR code, so many people would feel entice to scan as they drive past
5. Animate your illustrations and use it as video ads or explanation videos

Are you ready to take your business to the next level with beautiful business illustrations, then contact us at Wonderr Studio and we will love to assist you through the process. ezra@wonderrstudio.co.za

In today’s highly competitive market, brands are constantly looking for ways to stand out, connect with their audience, and build long-lasting relationships. One effective strategy that has gained traction worldwide is the use of brand characters. These figures are not just cute or memorable; they are powerful marketing tools that help humanize a brand, create emotional connections, and foster loyalty. Let’s take a closer look at some South African companies that have successfully embraced this approach, the impact on their brands, and why you should consider creating your own.

1. Baksteen Mel: Making Bricks Fun

Baksteen Mel has found success by combining a traditionally “serious” industry—brick manufacturing—with the lighthearted appeal of a character. Their animated brick brings humor and personality to the brand. By personifying an inanimate product, Baksteen Mel has made its message more relatable, especially for younger audiences. This branding approach simplifies their communications and makes their offerings easier to understand. Even in technical industries, a well-crafted figure can inject creativity, making the brand more approachable.

2. Steyn IP: A Mascot that Represents Innovation

Steyn IP , a leading intellectual property firm in South Africa, has embraced branding with a unique character that represents innovation and the safeguarding of ideas. Serving as a symbol of trust and expertise, this character brings a friendly face to the otherwise serious world of IP law. In a field where trust is essential, having a recognizable figure helps humanize the firm and creates a stronger connection with clients, especially when navigating complex legal terrain.

3. Wonderr Studio: Crafting Creativity with Mascots

Wonderr Studio is a creative agency that understands engagement. Their playful, inventive figure reflects the agency’s energy and approach. It captures the essence of what they do—transforming ordinary ideas into extraordinary outcomes. This character becomes an extension of their brand identity, helping clients connect emotionally and remember the business. By adopting this tool, Wonderr Studio stands out and deepens its creative appeal.

4. Proudly South African: A Mascot for National Pride

Proudly South African, a movement promoting local products and businesses, has introduced a new character named Lolo Warona. This figure was carefully chosen to embody South Africa’s rich, diverse culture while promoting local industries. It serves as more than a visual asset—it’s a rallying point for national pride. Through this approach, Proudly South African fosters unity and encourages support for the economy.

5. Kfm 94.5: A Mascot for Radio with Personality

Cape Town’s Kfm 94.5 recently launched a character to represent its vibrant personality. Engaging with audiences not only through visuals but also via sound, movement, and interaction, this figure provides a more immersive experience. This is especially impactful in radio, where engagement is typically limited to audio. By expanding their presence with a playful persona, Kfm 94.5 strengthens its connection with younger listeners and adds energy to its branding.

6. Hippo: A Mascot for Trust and Reliability

Hippo, an online insurance comparison platform, has gained recognition for its lovable and reliable hippo figure. It embodies friendliness and trust—traits that resonate with audiences searching for insurance clarity. By adding this visual identity to their brand, Hippo makes a complicated service feel simple and welcoming. The hippo becomes a symbol of ease and customer care, reinforcing their values.

Why Your Brand Needs a Mascot

If these South African companies have shown us anything, it’s that brand mascots can be incredibly powerful tools for building a strong, memorable identity. Here’s why you should consider creating your own mascot:

1. Humanizing Your Brand: A mascot gives your brand a personality, making it more approachable and relatable. It allows you to connect with your audience on an emotional level.
2. Memorability: People are more likely to remember your brand if it’s represented by a fun and unique mascot. Mascots leave a lasting impression, ensuring that your brand stays top of mind.
3. Increased Engagement: Mascots can enhance customer engagement by giving your brand a voice and presence across different platforms, from social media to live events.
4. Building Brand Loyalty: Mascots help foster trust and loyalty by creating a sense of familiarity and comfort with your audience. Over time, customers will associate the mascot with positive experiences.
5. Easier Communication: Mascots can simplify complex messages, making it easier for your audience to understand your products or services.

Conclusion

As seen from the examples of Baksteen Mel, Steyn IP, Wonderr Studio, Proudly South African, Kfm 94.5, and Hippo, mascots play an important role in building brand recognition, engagement, and emotional connection. Whether you’re in a creative industry or a more traditional one, a mascot can be a fun and effective tool for making your brand more memorable and approachable. So, if you haven’t already, it might be time to consider creating your own brand mascot and let it tell your story in a way words alone can’t. Contact us to get you started on this journey

I am dearly passionate about mascots, not because I get to design cool characters, but also because of how versatile they are in the branding and marketing atmosphere. And I find it fascinating how it can change the dynamic of businesses.

We all know the international sensational celebrity mascots such as the pink Duracell Bunny, the Michelin man or Loui the fly from Mortein, but have you heard about South African mascots?

Why don't we hear a lot about mascots making a mark in South Africa?

I'm not surprised that many South African brands don't adopt mascots into their branding, purely because of a lack of education and feeling resistant to being a bit more creative. South Africa is known for adopting international branding and marketing trends much later in time, it is no wonder that mascots haven't really made a mark here either. And to top it of, there are not many folks like myself that offers and is well educated on the topic of these wonderful characters. Because of that, there aren't many that pushes mascots in our market which is also causing a lack of education too.

What brands do have mascots?

For this blog series, I will not be speaking of my clients that have already implemented their mascots. Rather I will be going around and exploring parts of SA, to connect with brands that have included mascots. If you know any businesses that does have mascots, please share with me on hello@ezra-art.com so I may cover their story.

Meet the mascot of Baksteen Mel

A company located in Brakpan, check out their website HERE for more info. They are a family owned business that has run since 1937. That is quite the accomplishment.
Because of the nature of their industry, construction is typically a very saturated market and often lies with boring branding, if I'm being blunt right now. Even though I have met a few owners that are more creative and 'different' than the industry they are in, which I tend to find amusing.

Instead of my word, we will be hearing from Baksteen Mel, whether they have benefited from owning a mascot or not.

Here is the short interview held with one of the staff.
Thank you for indulging me in allowing me to ask a few questions. When have you launched your mascot?

"We launched him about 4 months ago, give or take."

And what led you to getting a mascot?

"We needed more engagement, and giving out flyers at the robot didn't do anything anymore. So we needed to make a shift."

That is understandable. I can relate with having to make changes such as that myself. And have you found, by implementing the mascot as a benefit?

"Oh, definitely. It has become a benefit. We have gotten way more requests and feet into the shop than we previously have. Which is good for us, that means more business. "

That's fantastic. I love hearing that mascots become a success story for businesses. Would you say, that it was worth the investment?

"Yes it was a good investment. It wasn't cheap to do. I mean, spending R20k in one go to get the design for the mascot, the wall mural and getting some other things sorted out, isn't easy. But if you compare it to the flyers we'd usually print out and have that be given out at the robots, that would cost about R5k per day. In the long term, it's saving us money and is way more effective in getting potential clients too."

Wow. Yes, that is a huge difference and a money safer indeed. One last question. How have you utilized your mascot?

" Oh, well everywhere really. On our business cards, wrapping on the trucks, our website. We even have him on our invoices. "

That is awesome. It is clearly used really well. Well, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

Some popular brands that have successfully incorporated their brand mascots

 

1. Duracell Mascot

The Duracell Bunny is an anthropomorphic pink rabbit powered by Duracell batteries and trademarked for use in all parts of the world except Turkey, The United States and Canada. Advertisements, which may feature one Duracell Bunny, or several, usually feature the bunnies competing in some way; for example, in a game of football, a drumming competition or a race. In advertisements, the Duracell Bunny is either a standard battery-powered toy, a stop-motion puppet, or a CGI-animated character.

Before the Energizer Bunny, there was in fact the Duracell Bunny. Duracell created the bunny in 1973. The Duracell Bunny even featured pink bunnies drumming and claimed to be the longest-lasting battery. https://youtu.be/43VhRKJX_sk

Due to some trademarking issues between Energizer & Duracell, Duracell is not allowed to use their Bunny in the US & Canada, but can use it everywhere else. Although Duracell is a giant in the US, owning 40% of the battery industry. They don’t really need it. But because it was so popular with the first run, and Energizer swooping in to pick up where they left of, they made a brand loss.

But, the bunny mascot made wonders for Duracell, it became their go to way of promoting their batteries globally, which allowed them immense visibility and engagement, being loved

by children and adults alike. Duracell made such an impact, I give you this scenario. When you walk into a shop, which batteries do, you usually take for the more ‘long lasting’ effect, you most likely choose Duracell.

Where do they use it?

Duracell is a big company, so they don’t really need a social presence, but the social presence they do have, is with the community and not as much with the Bunny. However they love their animations, and are one of the most effective ways to create video content in todays marketing shift. You can find heaps of animated videos promoting their product using the Pink Bunny, as well as their mascot walking around and promoting. It's also been used on their packages for years.

• Readme.io

Now I love talking about Readme.io and their mascot. This is probably the mascot I love the most, and the story of how Owlbert came to be, is so interesting. Readme has definitely not been around as long as Duracell have. But, man, have they found a way to unintentionally push their brand to greater heights with their mascot.

Where do they use it?

Readme, uses their mascot primarily on their website in various amazing ways https://readme.com/, and that is because of how they are structured. See, they require developers to sign up on their website to get access to the techy stuff devs needs. Yes, they could push on their social media. But that isn’t really needed. Rather using things like google ads & SEO is a better fit for them. And that is how they made their online structure work.

I’ll shut up and give you this link to read through. This has been written by Readme, themselves, talking about their own personal experiences. https://blog.readme.com/why-every-startup-needs-a-mascot/

• M&M Mascots

Let’s take a moment and forget everyone else that has a mascot. We can’t talk about mascots, without giving a BIG mention about M&M.

They have become trendsetters in the 21^st century, having pushed their mascots beyond your social media posts or animated videos. Rather they have become one of the top guys that has been using transmedia storytelling to its limits.

Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies.

Where do they use it?

M&M dominates the game industry. Yes, game industry. They create their own set of limited games where their customers can go and play the game using

the mascots. Being one of the top brands, creating complete interactivity and engagement using their Mascots.

Besides creating these games, they have also created a dedicated website page for their mascots, making them official team members of M&M. https://www.mms.com/en-us/explore/mms-characters

But let’s not forget the fact that they have also used their mascots to be the only representatives on their social media. https://www.instagram.com/mmschocolate/

GET YOUR OWN BRAND MASCOT AND BECOME MEMOBARLE SUCH AS THIS POPULAR BUSINESSESS.

At this point I hope you have seen the benefits mascot’s holds, as well as the UNLIMITED ways of utilizing mascots.

Each package is built with absolute necessary items to kick-start your mascot journey. I am using my very own guides based on market research on how to use mascots, I provide in the packages. You will be provided with everything you need to start out.

If you want to consider looking at getting a mascot, contact us to find out the various packages available. ezra@wonderrstudio.co.za

Also, don’t forget, you will get a monthly mail as my trusty client… on reminders and new ways of using your mascot.