Don't Rush to Judge Liberty Biberty. The Data Says Wait

Like most mascots, Liberty Mutual's new brand character might take years to catch on

Liberty Mutual recently introduced a bright, fuzzy yellow brand character, “Liberty Biberty,” created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, to its roster. Biberty is a riff on the celebrated 2019 ad featuring an actor struggling to pronounce the brand name. Its return reflects a strong strategic choice by the brand to revisit a concept that resonated with audiences years ago. The new character is meant to complement existing mascots like LiMu Emu & Doug, rather than replace them. However, some fans have taken to Liberty Mutual’s channels asking them to bring back LiMu Emu full-time, while other marketing voices have also shared their opinions on the new character.

Liberty Mutual developed Biberty with creative agency Bandits & Friends as part of a broader character-led strategy, with plans to roll out the character across TV, streaming, social and creator collaborations. That’s a real investment, and it’s exactly why Bibert’s initial performance is worth examining closely. How a brand introduces a mascot and its level of commitment and patience matter as much as the debut ad itself.

Our research shows that brand characters drive high attention. That said, they need time to wear in, build familiarity and develop audience fondness. As Orlando Wood notes in his books Lemon and Look out, mascots need years, not months, to stick. Further System1 research, The Creative Dividend, looked at 56 brands, putting a number on it: long-term brand growth (Star Rating) holds roughly flat for a fluent device’s first three years in market (2.4 to 2.7 Stars), then jumps to 3.6 Stars once it passes the three-to-four-year mark. The longer a character runs, the more embedded it becomes in culture and the stronger it performs.

Early, data-backed results

System1’s testing found that Liberty Biberty’s debut performed well with above average results on Spike and Fluency, indicating strong short-term sales potential and strong brand recognition. For context: Spike predicts short-term sales activity, based on how intensely people respond to an ad and how quickly they connect it to the correct brand. Fluency measures how easily people recognize the brand within the ad itself. A strong showing on both means Liberty Biberty is doing exactly what a new character should do out of the gate: getting noticed and getting attributed to Liberty Mutual.

The Star Rating, which predicts long-term market share growth by measuring emotional response, is only slightly above average, since audiences don’t yet have an emotional relationship with Liberty Biberty as a character. Right now, it is still borrowing warmth from a 2019 joke rather than earning its own.

To see how other brand characters have evolved with wear in, let’s look at three examples:

Tootsie Roll’s Owl: Decades in the making

Tootsie Roll’s owl, featured in their ads since 1970, recently starred in a new ad, “The Fruit Ones.” We immediately recognize the owl, the Tootsie Roll brand and the familiar storyline. It performed exceptionally well across key effectiveness measures. Mr. Owl himself isn’t static either. Tootsie Roll refreshed the original “How Many Licks?” spot itself in 2025, updating the animation and sound design while keeping the character, the storyline and the joke intact. That’s the model: evolve the execution, keep the character consistent.

Consistency is key. Long-term campaigns using a fluent device are a third more likely to report very large business effects on market share and profit gain than those without one, with a smaller but still meaningful lift in market share gain. 

It will be interesting to see how Liberty Mutual maintains LiMu Emu & Doug, while building up its new character.

Pop-Tarts Agents of Crazy Good: Legacy brand, young characters

There’s a case for adding new brand characters to the roster, like reaching new audiences or leaning into product extensions.

In 2023, Pop-Tarts introduced its Agents of Crazy Good—Frosted Strawberry, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Hot Fudge Sundae and a squad of Bites—as part of a new creative direction to lean into snacking.

The characters themselves are new but lean on 2000s brand nostalgia. 

In Liberty Mutual’s case, the “Biberty” joke has been building cultural equity since 2019, and the character marks the brand’s first new mascot launch in eight years. But Liberty Biberty itself still needs time to become a distinct brand identity.

M&M’s Purple Spokescandy

Mars welcomed the Purple spokescandy in 2022, its first addition to its roster of mascots in more than a decade, designed to represent acceptance and inclusivity. It was a bumpy rollout. Backlash over the redesigned characters led Mars to take a pause from their spokescandies through most of 2023, particularly around the Super Bowl.

This shows that even branding giants like Mars have faced scrutiny toward new characters, but with time, the fondness can grow. 

The Verdict: Mascots need time to mature

The payoff comes from repetition, not the initial idea.

Brands often judge new characters on their first-year performance and abandon it after only 12-18 months. This is before the compounding magic starts to kick in. Ad performance improves as fluent devices age.

For marketers watching Liberty Biberty’s launch, the real test isn’t whether the debut ad landed. It’s whether the brand has the patience to let the character earn its own familiarity rather than judging it against mascots with greater equity.

In the case of Liberty Biberty, I’ll be keeping an eye on how the character is used alongside the brand’s roster and how it performs over the next few years.

Related: Meet Liberty Mutual’s New Mellow Yellow Mascot

Related: Tootsie Roll’s Mr. Owl Returns, With a Chameleon Pal in Tow

Related: The New Purple M&M Wants Everyone to Feel Like They Belong

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