THE EMOJI’S STRANGE POWER

Pictures can say more than a thousand words – taking the emoji® brand into the skies!

Airlines are often looking for brands and partnerships that appeal to young and old alike, to keep up with the latest on trend fashions and to expand their reach into the marketplace after their passengers have left their care. Finding brands that can bridge the gap between young travellers and older, more seasoned clients is a challenge that amenities suppliers face every year, however, Skysupply GmbH has hit the nail right on the techbased head.

Digital emojis are everywhere. In fact more than 10 billion are used daily across the globe.

We all use them as a shorthand way to convey what we are thinking, feeling or doing by text, email or on social media platforms.

The emoji® brand is present in over 130 countries and the emoji company is amongst the Top 150 Global Licensors. Its partners contain world class corporations such as Sony Pictures Animation (The Emoji Movie), Ferrero, Unilever, Danone, Kellogg´s or Nestle just to name a few and the emoji company generates an annual retail revenue of more than 800 Million US$ with its licensed products.

Skysupply secured the exclusive rights to include the universal emoji® lifestyle brand in their onboard offerings, and this sees the beginning of a very exciting partnership – which has wide ranging uses in the amenities market. Both skysupply and the emoji company are committed to using the partnership to create a new range of kids kits, onboard amenities and activity programmes aimed at teenage and adult passengers.

By capturing the emoji® brand the possibilities for its uses onboard seem endless, not just within the kits, but in food service, or tech offerings, including games and inflight entertainment systems.

With the emoji companies support airlines can obtain personalised emoji® brand icons that appeal to their particular passengers, or that reflect the areas of the world they travel to.

This personalisation aspect means that passengers and airlines can include emoji® brand icons in their own messaging, thus expanding the airline’s marketing reach amongst their passengers, and their nearest, probably likeminded, friends.

The emoji® brand already works with hundreds of license partners globally and operates its own apparel stores in China.

It is clear that the cultural impact of the emoji® brand is not stopping any time soon, and truly transcend age groups and genders – making it a perfect partner in the travel industry.

Named by combining the Japanese words for picture (e-) and character (moji), emoji’s are used thousands of times every second globally.

It also means that there are no limits when it comes to incorporating emoji® brand icons into onboard messaging. The branding opportunities can be loud and playful in kid’s kits and amenities, or more subdued or fashion led in those aimed at adult passengers.

Within the amenities market there has long been a desire to create items that can be used after the journey is over, or have a collectible aspect. This partnership with the emoji® brand offers a clear opportunity to create amenities that can be collected as a ‘set’, each featuring different, corresponding images from the emoji® brand library.

As an internationally recognised brand any amenity that they include instantly has value added to the item, and should increase the desire to take the kit off the plane – once again increasing the marketing reach for both airline, and the emoji® brand.

What also cannot be ignored is the capability to include the content in any entertainment, or gaming system either on board, or in smartphone apps. As Amenities has discussed before, the growth of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality apps and games are starting to take hold on the amenities market, and the emoji® brand seems to fit neatly into this sector. Airlines also would be able to use content developed for them to their brand, tying together the physical onboard amenities with their entertainment offerings.

Overall, this is a brand partnership that ticks a lot of boxes that airlines have found difficult in the past. It is a brand that has appeal across age groups, and could answer some of the problems that airlines face when creating amenities for the 13–18 age group, as well as being able to incorporate a little bit of ‘fun’ into the adult amenity market. It will be exciting to see how this develops, and how airlines use this opportunity to rethink the amenities they offer – adding a splash of colour into a marketplace that is so often monochrome. Just like the emoji® motto says: spreading emotions around the world!