Hyundai Steel’s mascot representing molten iron introduces the steelmaker’s blast furnace in this undated photo. Courtesy of Hyundai Steel
Hyundai Steel joins trend of character marketing
By Park Jae-hyuk
The trend of creating cute mascots to raise brand awareness has spread to heavy industries that manufacture products intended for business and industrial use.
Hyundai Steel on Monday unveiled a character that embodies molten iron.
The steelmaker designed the mascot after a town hall meeting between its CEO and employees in June, in which the employees proposed the creation of a new character that can represent their company and make its corporate image friendlier.
While improving public communication through stickers, keyrings, mousepads, magnets and blankets featuring the character, Hyundai Steel also plans to use the mascot to encourage its employees’ commitment to the company.
“The new mascot is expected to play a role in promoting Hyundai Steel’s corporate culture and value in the long run,” a Hyundai Steel official said.
Character marketing was once seen as a way for companies to sell their products to the public.
From left are Hero, Bolt and Echo, which represent LS Electric’s three main businesses. Courtesy of LS Electric
Business-to-business companies, however, have joined the race to create adorable mascots that appeal to end users, in order to woo clients in the business-to-consumer sectors.
POSCO’s mascot introduces the steelmaker’s history in a cartoon. Screenshot from POSCO’s Instagram
Earlier this year, LS Electric disclosed three animal characters named Bolt, Echo and Hero, each of which represents the power devices producer’s businesses — power distribution, renewable energy production and automation.
LX International, a Korean trading firm, also created a chameleon character named LEX, while HD Hyundai designed a superhero character named Hi-RO, which holds a shield and wears a shipyard uniform and a helmet.
In the battery industry, both LG Energy Solution and EcoPro have mascots.
POSCO, which triggered this trend after creating a mascot named Poseokho in 2021, has even garnered several awards with the bear character.
Last year, the steelmaker was named the Grand Award Winner in the social media category at the 2022-2023 Mercury Awards hosted by Mercomm, a U.S. agency specializing in evaluating corporate communication activities.
It also received the Golden World Award in 2022 from the International Public Relations Association.
