platform emoji culture
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ing and branding
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nd social m tala e di digi
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section one
emoji culture
emoji talk
emojis have become a new generation language. we now communicate our feelings andthoughts through emojis.
section one looks at how emojis have developed and how we use them as a digital language.
;) :(
:)<3
text smilies have been around for years and could be classed as the very first emojis. these smilies have evolved and have given us the opportunity to portray a wider range of feelings. This enables us to replace large chunks of text with one emoji.
lost in translation
THE ALL-NIGHT IMAGES
emojis are just the next evolution of communicating, sometimes even complex thoughts or emotions, with simple pictures.
worldwide there are nearly two billion smartphone users, according to research from emarketer, and mobile messaging is a rapidly growing reason to own one. as a society, we are spending more and more time on our mobile devices. we are connected to more people and we consume more information than ever before. but this also results in us becoming impatient. voicemail is taking to long and email requires too much effort, text messages are simple, short and typically more direct. they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and emojis are just a perfect example of that. emojis can transcend language barriers, a smiley face is universal. emojis are gaining worldwide acceptance and allowing an entire generation to communicate across borders.
heart emoji named most used word of 2014 buisness insider uk
what the emoji?
are we letting people know we feel blessed or are we excited? this is the prayer emoji right? maybe not. this could in fact be the high-5 emoji! itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s official name is person with folded hands, so it can be whatever you want it to be! emojis hold personal meanings and could mean something different to everyone. Associating your brand with a certain emoji could result in audiences thinking of your brand everything it is used!
the monkeys see no evil hear no evil speak no evil
the monkey emojis have without a doubt become some of the most popular emojis used. they are also an example of emojis having a different meaning. Their real names being, see no evil monkey, hear no evil monkey and speak no evil monkey might not be what first comes to mind. they are regularly used to express Embarrassment, confusion and laughter. This elasticity of meaning is a large part of the appeal and, perhaps, the genius of emoji.
not my cup of tea
youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the dog house
talk to the hand
when pigs can fly
social media
facebooks version of the emoji
emojis have become part of social media. it is rare to see a tweet sent or status posted with out including some form of emoji. with facebook and twitter having their own interpretations of the emoji, we are not spoiled for choice either. a social media platform called emojicate has also launched which allows users to communicate purely through emoji. it enables users to talk to friends all around the world with out the complications of a language barrier. with its taglines being, get emojicating and for when words are just not enough.
emojicate
emojitracker emojitracker tracks real time use of emojis on twitter. the crying with joy emoji has become a permanent fixture at the top spot with over 640,000,000 times used, and that will continue to grow and grow. this is followed by, word of the year 2014, the heart emoji with over 500,000,00. its interesting to see what emojis are being used and whats popular, especially when associating your brand with a certain emoji.
diversity
it has been announced that 300 new emojis will be added to the keyboard with apples ios 8.3 software update. The current set of emojis include an asian man wearing a gua pi mao cap and an indian man wearing a turban, but there are no black people represented. the new update will mean the emojis are available in six new skin tones. the update will also include more relationship and gadget related emojis for example same-sex relationships and familes with two mothers and two fathers. the new gadget emojis will include the iphone 6 and an apple watch which will replace the traditional versions. emojis for 32 more country flags will also be added in the update.
section two
branding & marketing
emoji marketing
section two looks at how emojis can be used as a successful marketing and branding tool. if the rise of emoji teaches us anything, its that we are looking for more effective ways to communicate more information, faster. emoji are becoming engrained in our society and are not likely to go away anytime soon.
bringing emoji to life
paris based advertising agency, rosapark, has created a real-life emoji campaign aimed at warning parents of the dangers of online chatting for their children. the campaign was put together in collaboration with international non profit organisation, innocence en danger. The campaign has gone viral on social media sites. according to jamie standen, creative director at Rosapark, the idea behind the creative idea was to show the disturbing reality that could lie behind the fun emoji in a childs chatbox. the tagline on the adverts questions â&#x20AC;&#x153;whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really chatting online with your child?â&#x20AC;?
emoji science
general electirc launched an emoji campaign to explain the “science” behind emojis. this included a microsite, www.emojiscience.com, and a twitter invitation, the campaign invited participants to send any emoji to their snapchat account to see their “periodic table of emoji”
the emoji science site has tutorials on how to scientifically create your favourite emojis and bring them to life.
oreo emojis
In china, where long working hours can make it difficult for parents to stay connected with their kids, oreo harnessed emojis to facilitate more family bonding. using wechat, chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popular messaging platform, oreo allowed users to create emoji characters that incorporated photos of themselves or their kids as well as celebrities.
users could choose from various templates and actions. users could also project their emojis onto the screens at oreo bus shelters and print out stickers of their creations. the emojis proved a hit with more than 99 million being created over the 11 week campaign and oreo reporting a 50% product growth.
peta ‘cruelty beyond words’
peta have also launched a campaign composed soley of emojis, aptly-named ‘cruelty beyond words’. the emotionalvideo aimed at a tech savvy, younger audience tells the story of the cruelty animals suffer for our vanity, with emojis of handbags and clothes, turning into animals and then finally turning to guns and hammers.
The campaign allowed users to donate by texting the heart emoji. respondents were automatically opted in to receive peta mobile alerts, and were able to retweet the video on twitter and share campaign related posts.
emoji brands
after the success of emojis, its no surprise that brands are creating their own versions of emojis. Karl lagerfeld, creative director of chanel, launched his own version of the emoji app called emotikarl. this allowed users to communicate with emojis inspired by karl himself. the app was used as a promotional toolfor his new fragrance line.
harpers bazaar also launched their own emoji app during fashion week. the emojis included fashion favourites and aimed to help busy fashion week go-ers send texts quickly.
section three
art & design culture
emoji clothing
antipodium resort 2013
section three looks at how emojis are being used in an art and design context, this includes the influence emojis have had on the fashion industry. antipodium collaborated with jamie perlman, creative director of british vogue, on a range of exclusive textiles for their resort 2013 Emoji collection. jamie perlman said the inspiration for the collection came from a late night emoji fuelled text conversation.
shoe maker del toro and designer edie parker created a collection of emoji inspired loafers on sale at moda operandi. with a pair of the exclusive shoes, you don’t even need a keyboard to chat. the collection is appropriately named ‘m’oticons’ and includes matching clutch bags. the shoes have catchy names based on the emojis for example, the shit loafer, queen bee and high maintenance.
emoji-spired
the ‘cartoony’ kitsch nature of emojis has been translated into the fashion world. good case studies for this are karl lagerfeld’s penchant for a kitschy moment at chanel and jeremy scott’s mochinio makeover. both collections were the most talked about of the a/w 2014 season this was down to them embracing witty visuals with recognisable punch. moschino adapted the mcdonalds logo and chanel emblazoned supermarket and household goods with the brands interlocking c’s.
“most instagrammable collections of the a/w 2014 season.”
show studio
“This is the stuff that speaks to today’s social media obsessed fashion crowd. It gives them something quick and easy to post, a shot guaranteed to help the likes pour in without forcing them to dream up some pithy pun or #LOLS caption. Scott provided a golden era for the burger and fries emoji while Lagerfeld even developed his own emoji app. It’s knowing, it creates hype, it’s irreverent, but above all else it’s extremely jolly. And in a fashion world that’s ever increasingly high-pressured, what with the unworkably packed schedules and constant thirst for something ‘new’, who doesn’t want some light relief?”
show studio
music & film
in 2013 katy perry released her new single roar. the lyric video was a text conversation that told the lyrics of the song through emojis. it has been viewed over 80,000,000 times.
after the world wide success of disneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s animated film frozen, they have now released a video which tells the story in emojis. the three minute clip tells the well loved story in adorable emojis and the story unfolds within the text message.
emoji art
moby dick has been given an emoji makeover by fred benenson. Each of the bookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approximately 10,000 sentences has been translated three times by a Amazon Mechanical Turk worker. These results have been voted upon by another set of workers, and the most popular version of each sentence was selected for inclusion in this book.
emoji dick
jesse hill
drunk
in love “Now, everyone I know uses it—just to punctuate a sentence or whatever. People combine the images together to make meaning. It’s funny—I’ve never been asked about how much I’m using Emoji, and now all of a sudden people are a calling me an Emoji artist.” jesse hill
jesse hill re created beyonce’s drunk in love video entirly in emojis. he says he was inspired by the song and his girlfriend, saying they texted using emojis when drunk, and made it to make her smile. he is now being classed as an emoji artist.
cigars on ice “I do try to make art and create things that I’m serious about. But with this—I realize how silly I sound when I say this story—but I was just doing it to make a lady smile.”
jesse hill
section four
how to make this work for your brand
how to make this work for your brand -Understand your audience - what emojis do they want to see? -make your emoji use relatable to your brand. -use emojis to create an impact emoji use in advertising will get people talking. -take advantage of social media
-social media is the best way to connect with your audience and it is instant. introduce emojis to make your content seem more engaging. -be creative with emojis. create marketing and advertising campaigns that include emojis. it is a sure way of getting your audience talking. -own brand emojis are an amazing way of promoting your brand. -Have fun using emojis. emojis are such a creative, fun tool, make sure this comes across when using them.
references
section one
emoji culture the all-night images, buisness insider, emojicate, emoji tracker, forbes
section two
branding & marketing budwiser, rosapark, emoji science, oreo china, peta, emotikarl, harpers bazaar
section three
art & design culture ANTIPODIUM, moda operandi, MOSCHINO, CHANEL, SHOWSTUDIO, KATY PERRY, DISNEY, EMOJI DICK, fred benenson, JESSE HILL
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