Secret Agent Mascot illustration for B2B website brand

Secret Agent Mascot illustration for financial service website branding

Require branding that helps me differentiate myself from the competition.
I believe a mascot can do it and a friendly relaxed, fun website can help achieve this:
A number of insurance and crypto companies in the UK have done this. See examples
https://www.comparethemarket.com/ - Ukrainian meerkats
https://www.gocompare.com/ - Italian looking opera singer
https://www.directline.com/ - telephone
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/ - no mascot but strongly about people
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ - they use the owner
https://www.quotegoat.com/ - goat
https://www.coingecko.com/ - gecko
https://defillama.com/ - llama
https://app.alpacafinance.org - alpaca

Spy/Secret Agent Mascot
Originally, I was looking what appeared like a super smooth James bond character that was very much integrated in the logo. My thoughts now are very different. I need a fun secret agent mascot that is separate to the main logo (like comparethemarket.com, and directline.com, coingecko.com, defillama.com, alpacafinance.org especially).
As I still want the spy / secret agent effect, you can simply put a trench coat and a spy hat on anything. This this can be like a tan brown or black. My preference may be brown but I’m not sure
https://www.google.com/search?q=spy+Hat&tbm=isch&hl=en-GB&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB882GB882&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirobqW9eL1AhVLHMAKHWfrCfEQ3VZ6BAgBEBw&biw=1423&bih=781

https://www.google.com/search?q=brown+trench+coat+and+hat+spy&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiho7Wa9eL1AhXSwQIHHcd9DdUQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=brown+trench+coat+and+hat+spy&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoHCCMQ7wMQJzoECAAQQzoFCAAQgAQ6CAgAEIAEELEDOgcIABCxAxBDOgsIABCABBCxAxCDAToECAAQGFDfCFjkmgFg4Z0BaAdwAHgAgAGfAYgBoReSAQQzNi4xmAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=cXf7YeGmFdKDi-gPx_u1qA0&bih=781&biw=1423&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB882GB882&hl=en-GB

Also the mascot character must be friendly and welcoming, possibly even slightly goofy, but not intimidating. My initial thoughts tell me that an animal based character may be the best direction to go. Should it be a pet animal or one that is only found naturally in the UK or anywhere in the world? Should it be multi-coloured or brightly coloured animal or one that is white or black and white for the James bond tuxedo effect
My preferred route:
· Cartoon/Vector image of an animal spy / secret agent – not sure which animal, dog, fox, brown bear, moose, eagle, parrot, beaver, dolphin (might require a water splash theme dotted across the site), frog, lizard (possibly a gecko but may be over-used), lion, tiger, penguin, panda bear
Brand Story
I would like my story to be a little different to say comparethemarket. Our mascot will represent or be a proxy for the website and our customer service team So customers will view it as the friendly mascot that is delivering the service. I will eventually have the mascot next to the logo at the top but also in the smaller sub-images across the site like defillama.com and compare the market
I think the mascot should be used next to the website Logo, but not be part of the logo. It is convention that the mascot sits in a circle or oval shape to the left of the logo.
Mascot sub-images
3 or 4 different angles may be required for the sub-images:
1. One smiling facing us
2. One pointing with his finger at us like James Bond
3. One looking to the side suspiciously but in a humourous way
4. One with his arms in the air celebrating
5. Perhaps one with a magnifying glass
6. Perhaps one getting away with secret documents under his arm
7. I’m open to other ideas
The character should have the potential to be turned into a moving cartoon movie in the future. So the character must be unique enough for

Future proof
Please also consider the fact that may use the mascot in future YouTube or image-based advertising. So, the character should be unique and suitable to be turned into a character with motion in the future
Branding dos and don’ts / Limitations
I want to see banners with normal people / and rest of website interspersed with mascot images, with mascot also next to logo at top of page
Since the mascot will be either a colourful or black and white cartoon or vector, the website branding and positioning needs to be a little more fun