Because emojis have gotten to be a language of their own...
Many things in the digital world, are vastly different to that of 10 years ago, and one of the surprizing forerunners in this world of digital chance are often overlooked, even though they are often scattered through every sentence. And what are these gamechangers? Emojis. Yes, that’s right, these tiny icons have done far more for clarity in communication, and even marketing than basically any other development within either communication or marketing.
Let’s take a quick look back…
The beginning was way back in 1999, when a worker with Japanese mobile company NTT DoCoMo, Shigetaka Kurita released a set of 176 pixelated images for the company’s i-mode messaging system. Essentially the greatest handicap with a plain text message is that the reader cannot understand the meta message, the tone, or even the real meaning of the text without some kind of reference. And so emojis were born in a (highly successful) attempt to bridge the gap between the spoken work, and text-based formats. I could´, for example, send a message to my boss, telling him that as today was a boring day, I might decide to wake up the IT department by turning off the company server, however, without that all too familiar winking face at the end of the sentence, such a statement could be interpreted as a direct threat to my company’s security.
Kurita’s emoji’s were basically unknown throughout the rest of the world for a few years, until the early 200’s, and especially after the launch of the iPhone in 2007. And in 2010, the Unicode corporation, who encode characters for text in systems, then standardized emojis. This was the dawn of emojis throughout the world, and when they took up permanent residence in nearly every digital text-based communication, especially on social media.
Emoji’s have become a digital shorthand, able to express not only all of our emotions, but can be used to replace most if not all words and items in a given sentence and not only that, they can be easily used as a form of marketing within a written conversation.
Let me share a quick little story. I recently started working at a new company that uses a team chat system. I thought it’d be fun to toss a unicorn emoji at the end of my messages or as a reply to comments. One day, my boss asked, “Hey, what’s up with the unicorn?” I couldn’t resist replying with a wink emoji, saying, “Well, I’m unique, full of energy, part of a wonderful herd, and once you see my results, you’ll know I’m magical.” Just like that, I’d kind of crafted my own “brand” within the team.
To my surprise, others jumped in too. Now we have a whole menagerie of emojis, including a sheep (which one person uses to show he’s part of the team) and even a bear! It’s wild how everyone started to express themselves, and providing emotions, and even what amounts to a brand logo for self-promotion within our daily communications. Additionally, in the competitive world of marketing, a few well planned emojis can enhance their own personal brand, which speaks in such a manner that no words can adequately convey. We can stand out in a crowd, using merely a small symbol which can uniquely identify ourselves, or characters and our strengths. Additionally, when used conservatively, emojis can add a further level of uniqueness and character to emails, bios, and email signatures, signifying someone who is modern, approachable and in touch with our current communication trends.
Even the big names in marketing have jumped on the emoji bandwagon. Big names such as Coca-Cola, Domino’s, and Taco Bell have included them in their marketing campaigns to capture modern trends and connect more efficiently with their target audiences. In 1995, Domino’s even launched a marketing campaign called “tweet to order” where the customer only had to tweet a pizza emoji in order to win a prize!
And of course that’s not the end of the emoji story. Most brands have discovered that emoji are a low-cost method to reach new audiences, show a modern image, and increase customer engagement. Additionally, the emoji-based industries have merchandised what one was just 176 small images into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Emoji are now found on anything from stickers to cushions, wallpaper to car accessories.
The undeniable fact, is that emoji are here to stay, and with the advent of VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (augmented reality) systems, we are likely to also see interactive emoji and holographic characters which we can interact with to receive and communicate feelings, intentions and even our own characters and identities.
In short, by using them thoughtfully, emoji’s can be a useful tool, to communicate, to connect, to express, and to show our uniqueness. Those little pictures can be much more powerful than you may at first realize…
