Creating Whiskers and Introducing Him to the Market

 Coming up with the name “Whiskers” for our sealion mascot was not easy but in the end, it seemed so obvious.  There were many suggestions, some very creative, all describing a character, personality, and positive attitude.   “Whiskers” stood out with all the necessary requirements, and finally received the nod from the team, perhaps aided by the fact that the sea lion has some very prominent whiskers on his face.

Sitting together with the designers, we began by developing a story about Whiskers, how he would represent the park, contribute to marketing, and public relations, be received by the local and global market, blend into the community, and above all, create the excitement that is Ocean Park.  This was a fun project.  The story would guide the design and the final product would be the mascot that we envisaged throughout the story to help promote the park.   As we reviewed the story repeatedly, adjusting along the way, the more we all were encouraged and without question, the excitement grew with each review.  Once the story was final, the design team began…….

Like most designs, it started with a blank screen (in the past, it used to be a pencil and a blank sheet of paper).  There were of course many sketches along the way but with each sketch, more of his character surfaced and soon Whiskers came to life.  As the sketches progressed, his smile got wider, his wave was more pronounced, his eyes brightened, and he became more and more adorable.   Our confidence level grew stronger with each day that Whiskers would charm the audience and represent with vigor all the fun and excitement of Ocean Park.  The fine-tuning continued, and we found ourselves getting more excited each day for his debut and introduction.

In the meantime, the development of a new logo for Ocean Park incorporating Whiskers was also underway.   Our earlier situation analysis indicated clearly that the market considered the Park old and tired and in need of becoming new and fresh.   Whiskers and the new logo would lead the charge.

More to come on introducing Whiskers to Hong Kong.