SACRAMENTO BUSINESS JOURNAL - Summer Springs into action at Sunrise Mall

Some brands have mascots that have become synonymous with the company – think the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Jolly Green Giant, and Aflac the duck.  For car insurers, there’s also the Geico gecko and for Esurance, until recently, the pink-haired spy Erin Esurance, a mascot now retired.

Now Sunrise Mall will have a mascot too, at least for its Facebook page and some other marketing efforts.  The Citrus Heights mall is giving life to Summer Sunrise, a 30-something mother of two who lives between Sunrise Mall and another nearby mall (think Roseville), but prefers Sunrise Mall for its deals.

Summer Sunrise is the alter ego of mall marketing director Vickie Sherman, who not coincidentally, shares the same profile.  Summer though, looks a little retro, in keeping with the mall’s existing advertising campaign.  Sherman will promote the mall and engage consumers on Facebook from Summer’s perspective.

Summer debuted this week.  Summer has “sisters” at two other Steadfast Company malls: Emma Everett, Everett (Washington) Mall’s blond mascot who launched a couple months ago, and Sammi Yuba-Sutter, Yuba Sutter Mall’s character, who launched this week – in time for the August 21 casting call for “America’s Next Top Model” at the mall’s Forever 21 store.