Emojis are on the Rise for Brand Marketing
On July 17th, the world gave a big thumbs up to World Emoji Day. People around the globe celebrated the emoji on all social media, as these beloved little icons found themselves trending on sites like Facebook and Twitter. To appreciate the rise of the emoji, it’s important to understand their rise, and how brands and marketers are taking advantage of this craze.
The rise of the emoji can really be traced to the rise of the smartphone. As more and more people enter adulthood without ever having known a world without smartphones, it’s no surprise the language and style of these devices has entered mainstream media. Much as the ancient Egyptians communicated through hieroglyphics, today’s modern teens communicate through a series of icons. It’s just that these icons do not appear on any famous pyramids, and will most likely not be studied by historians of the future.
This does not mean these icons are any less powerful. With attention spans shrinking, and avenues of communication growing, brands are fighting harder than ever to attract eyeballs in an authentic way. Enter the emoji. PR Week released reports showing four in five 18-65 year olds use emojis on a daily basis. In addition, 72% of 18-25 year olds claim emojis are far more effective in expressing emotion as compared to the written word.
Clearly emojis are resonating, and with an audience that far exceeds just millennials.
Emoji Campaigns Showing Success
Whereas emojis may have once been taboo in professional communications and publications, they are now becoming commonplace. In October 2014, the White House released an Infographic about the millennial generation that incorporated emojis into the copy. According to the White House, this is the way of the future. “This is where they are, where they’re going.”
World Wildlife Foundation & PETA
The White House isn’t the only high-profile entity to employ emojis to spread a message. The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and PETA have both created emoji-based marketing campaigns to convey their messages. PETA’s “Cruelty Beyond Words” was a clever ploy that combined the essence of what an emoji is (an icon, not a word), and their message. The 40-second commercial used emojis and simple text to communicate with their desired audience.
The WWF emoji-based campaign took advantage of both hashtags and emojis. Displaying 17 emojis of endangered animals, the organization asking readers to retweet the icons with #Endangered. This fundraising effort was simple and straightforward, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. It allowed the audience to communicate in a natural way, something most brands struggle with.
Emoji Art
The use of emojis can go far beyond just a simple icon. Several prominent brands have turned emojis into works of art to capture their audience’s attention.
Both McDonald’s and Bud Light created messages solely through the use of emojis. For McDonald’s, emojis were used to create pictures of their most prominent offerings, a subtle nod to the consumer that McDonald’s is a part of your world.
Bud Light took to Twitter to celebrate the 4th of July in a unique way. The emoji flag they created for the occasion received well over 100,000 favorites and retweets. Clearly this was a messaging style that resonated with the audience.
The New Yorker, about as far from Bud Light as you can get, also got into the emoji action. Their mosaic cover created by emojis was widely praised throughout the literary and design community.
In spite of the seemingly wide array of audiences, each of these brands were able to prove the power of the emoji in their own unique way.
 |
 |
 |
Brand Developed Emojis
When the standard emoji keyboard isn’t enough, create your own. This is the philosophy embraced by companies such as Burger King, IKEA, and NBC Entertainment. To enhance user engagement and keep people talking about their brands, each company developed a downloadable keyboard for iPhones and Androids. The Ikea keyboard of household items has shown great success with thousands of downloads. Burger King’s promotional keyboard unveiling was timed with the comeback of the popular chicken fries meal. Saturday Night Live has had forty seasons of memorable television. Creators decided to preserve these famous sketches with an actual icon keyboard. Brand keyboards have proven to be a success with high download numbers and new generated buzz about the companies.
 |
 |
 |