Courage, resilience, imagination and good collaboration. Those are the drivers that made VÄINÖ – the new mascot, take the rink of Kiekko-Espoo!
Tough, brave and determined describes both this character’s personality and the values of Kiekko-Espoo. This hockey-loving champion becoming to being made it possible to unite the values of Mauri Kunnas with those of Kiekko-Espoo. Collaboration led by Marjo Oliva at Napa Agency, Väinö made it to the warm embrace by the hockey fans and became a substantial part of Kiekko-Espoo’s communication.
From Mauri’s pen strokes, now in team colours and twirling around the ice rink, Väinö is carrying the torch for community and brave players! Watch the interview of Mauri Kunnas telling about the creation of Väinö (in Finnish).
On Saturday 10th of October Väinö was interviewed in the company of Mauri Kunnas ja Kiekko-Espoo’s Oscar Visa on the Finnish national television channel’s morning show MTV 3 Huomenta Suomi (watch it in Finnish):
At Napa, we’re truly delighted by this collaboration! Supporting children and supporting their rights and access to reading, sports and wellbeing is something that all parties involved are parading for. Since the start, one of the goals of Kiekko-Espoo has been to unite the entire scene for hockey sports, from Suomi-sarja (Finland’s third highest ice hockey league) to Liiga – the Finnish Elite League! The true strength of this team is the youth development pipeline and the effort they put to make it happen, it certainly noted!
Now Väinö has finally been let onto the ice rink, the fan store opened on the day of the launch and has been busy ever since!
Kiekko-Espoo has a history past four decades, currently 3600 players and the home arena sits 7000 per game. Besides the games, Väinö by Mauri Kunnas, will be present at various sports events across Finland, where he’s cheering on kids and if you’re lucky, you’ll get a hug, too!