Objective

Pingu, a globally beloved claymation character, had strong nostalgic equity but limited relevance among U.S. audiences. Our challenge was to reignite cultural interest in a new market and build an active, loyal fan ecosystem from scratch. The mandate was to place Pingu back into cultural conversation not as a retro artifact, but as a hyper-relevant, modern character with a point of view and a personality fit for today’s chaotic, humor-driven internet. We aimed to differentiate Pingu's official presence from countless fan accounts and create a distinct voice that could thrive across platforms. Our main levers to bring this to life centered around organic content and memes on Instagram and TikTok, as well as driving fan engagement through Pingu GIFs.

Strategy

Strategy

We adopted a character-first model: treat Pingu not as IP, but as a fully dimensional personality. We conducted a deep character audit to define his core motivations, humor style, and emotional range – enabling us to build a tone of voice that was unmistakably his: sassy, expressive, chaotic, but still whimsical at heart. 

Our strategy centered around three audience groups:

• Stans: hyper-online fandom participants creating UGC, edits, and fan culture.
• Tchotchke Enthusiasts: collectors who value aesthetic trinkets and character-driven charm.
• Meme Royalty: chronically online humor communities using Pingu as a comedic vehicle.

To serve these groups, we built distinct but interconnected content ecosystems on each platform:

• TikTok: A portal into Pingu’s brain – absurdity, intrusive thoughts, surreal humor, and chaotic memes crafted to cut through the feed.
• Instagram: “Pingu’s life” – what he’s doing, who he’s with, what he thinks and feels. Relatable memes, funny GIFs, sometimes mundane content that made him feel like the internet’s adorable, unhinged best friend.
• GIPHY GIFs & Stickers – a multitude of Pingu moods designed to capture every moment, experience, and feeling. These allowed users to run with Pingu, spreading his "noot noot" across feeds, group chats, and niche online communities.
• Community Management – as the penguin brand, Pingu inserted himself into every relevant penguin or winter-related moment online. We built a recognizable signature: users began tagging us in any penguin content they saw, anticipating Pingu’s presence and commentary. Even a simple “noot noot” became a cultural signal.

Execution

We moved at the speed of culture, not the pace of a traditional character brand, sharing humor and joy through universal experiences. That meant:

• Superfan Fuel: We gave our most loyal Pingu stans a full spectrum of character expression – sassy Pingu, mischievous Pingu, sweet Pingu, unhinged Pingu. This constant stream of personality-driven content acted as a Pingu content bomb, rewarding the fans who already see him as an icon.
• Hooking New Audiences: For audiences meeting Pingu for the first time, we leaned into universal emotional hooks: best-friend energy, sibling dynamics, chaotic “spazzy” moments, and highly shareable scenarios that made Pingu feel instantly familiar and relatable.
• Format Relevancy: Every piece of content was crafted to feel native to the feed, not branded. We used current meme conventions, trending editing styles, and platform-specific humor so Pingu slotted seamlessly between creator content instead of standing out as a corporate voice.
• Hyper-Specific Relatability: Rather than broad jokes, we tapped into oddly precise emotional beats and micro-moments that define Gen Z humor. These hyper-specific scenarios made Pingu feel in tune with the audience’s everyday lives and created content people compulsively tagged friends in.
• Comment Sections As Content Surfaces: We crafted high-impact replies and utilized Pingu GIFs that drove visibility, reshaping how fans interacted with the character.
   

Our feeds quickly became self-sustaining ecosystems. Users tagged, remixed, used Pingu audios, and created original content around Pingu – organically extending reach without paid support.

Results

All growth was 100% organic, with no paid spend. In just nine months, Pingu evolved from dormant IP to a dominant character personality online. Across Instagram and TikTok combined, we amassed over 1 million followers, generated 253+ million total views, reached 150+ million users, and achieved a blended engagement rate above 19%, dramatically outperforming entertainment-industry benchmarks. On GIPHY, we amassed over 980 million total content views across 214 GIFs and stickers.

Cross-platform social media impact:

• 1.6M total followers 
• 253.7M total views
• 150.4M total reach
• 19.2% average engagement rate

Qualitatively, we amplified Pingu’s signature “noot noot” as a mainstream cultural phenomenon, appearing across social media as a recognizable signal of the character, a shared inside joke among fans, and a vocal stim among the chronically online.

By modernizing Pingu’s personality and building an audience-first, culturally fluent strategy with memes, GIFs, and stickers, we strengthened his already iconic internet presence – opening the door to new North American partnerships and brand collaboration conversations.

Media