Disease-Information Site 'Medicil' Holds a Naming Contest for Its Tarsier MascotA · FULL TRANSLATION
- Disease-info site Medicil holds a mascot naming contest
- The mascot is a tarsier character
- Uses naming interaction to close the distance with users
- Softens the image of medical information with a mascot
A disease-information site running a naming contest for its mascot looks like a cute little activity, but behind it is a fix for a hard problem in medical content delivery: health information is often cold and anxiety-inducing, while a mascot and naming interaction is a low-cost way to soften that distance and make serious content approachable.
Commercially and in communication terms, naming is classic participatory marketing—it costs almost nothing yet turns users from "passive readers" into "co-creators." Once people help name it, their emotional bond with and recall of the brand rise. For a medical-info platform, trust and approachability are exactly the assets that retain users and lift return visits.
For Taiwan's health and public-information communication, a plain reminder: however professional the content, if the audience won't approach it, the effect is discounted—and a tarsier that gets a name can sometimes keep people around better than a rigorous health article.
Interscience Inc. announced that its disease-information site "Medicil" is holding a naming contest for its mascot character, publicly soliciting names for this tarsier character from users.
Medical and disease-related information often gives a cold, anxiety-inducing impression. Medicil aims to use a cute mascot and naming interaction to soften the image of medical information, close the distance between the site and users, and make health information more approachable.
As a form of participatory marketing, naming turns users from passive readers into co-creators of content, raising emotional connection with and recall of the brand. For a medical-information platform, trust and approachability are precisely the key assets that retain users.