PS&L Blog

Creating and defining a new mascot can be messy business.   Everyone has a strong opinion.

The Mr. Drano mascot is not such a bad idea even without a paid sponsorship. Everyone loves how effective Drano works on clogged drains, especially on those nasty clumps of hair. The alumni have clogged drains, as does the school president and on occasion the faculty and current students. So it’s a done deal, everyone who wants Mr. Drano as a new mascot, say “I”.

Pardon my pun but there’s a clog in the process. Turns out, the community at large really uses and prefers Liquid Plummer by a wide margin. What to do? My motto: when in doubt, utilize some smart research, all your communication skills and of course dazzling creativity.

For PS&L it’s a given that our in-house illustrator Nick DeNucci will design a wide variety of spectacular looks for both Mr. Drano and Mr. Liquid Plummer. Nick will explore different styles, color pallets and configurations; a little something for everyone’s taste.

Next is to identify the stakeholders in the new image. The list is fairly long and pretty much includes representation from all groups: Alumni, current students, faculty, administration, community leaders and design professionals. It is critical to communicate to these groups your interest in their opinion. It’s the buy-in, making all these groups part of your team. Dave Black and our research team will set up focus groups to garner feedback from each constituent. The interpretation of this research includes both a statistical evaluation as well as a judgment of the temperament of all comments. Together this paints a fair portrait of the majority opinion. We then share these conclusions to validate the effort all participants have put forth. In this manner all understand how the decision was achieved, and see it was fair, equitable and not just rammed down their throats. You utilize your marketing skills at every turn.

All is good. However it turns out both Mr. Drano and Mr. Liquid Plummer deeply offended the members of the National Association of Plumbers and RotoRooter operators. They have a killer legal department, so we’re gonna start from scratch.