Emoji Craze? What’s The Best Solution?
I came across a great review via Bridget Carey of CNET, regarding a weekly review she did on emojis (see full video below). In the video segment, Bridget discusses the popularity of emojis, and a few new apps that have recently launched, that have jumped the emoji bandwagon. She also discusses the Unicode Consortium – An organization that maintains the standards of text and software, that take considerations of the next official emojis to be added to keyboards. During her review, she goes over a wide variety of new apps that are available for users who want more emojis. The list includes:
- Randemojinator.co – A website that takes the normal emojis and adds a little bit of spice by generating a random emoji that’s a mixture of the ones currently available
- Star Wars App – A newly released Star Wars app by Disney that as 52 new Star Wars themed emojis, as well as a whole lot of GIFs for users to share (Oh, the app itself is 100+MB YIKES)
- McDonald’s France Releases ‘Emoji Themed’ Advertisement – An advertisement by McDonald’s that has human bodies with Emoji heads. (dot, dot, dot)
Bridget Carey’s Emoji Review Video
http://www.cnet.com/videos/share/id/vWZXZnnryLqtsN5vOm4abydIOcDvuQ8E/
Ok, so here’s why I wrote this post. Bridget touches on the topic of “trying to find the ‘right’ emoji for the perfect use” – this is something I feel has been done so well over in Asia. In case you are unaware, Asia was the kick starter in emoji (emoticon) use. However, the trend over there now is that stickers are the equivalent to emojis. Mobile messaging giants, such as LINE, WeChat, and KakaoTalk – have all incorporated Stickers (static images) or Emoticons (animated stickers – can be also categorized as GIFs). All three of these services are free apps, and include not just messaging, but unlimited video calling, group messaging, and more – all free of charge as long as you have either cellular data or wi-fi connectivity. The way stickers are incorporated into everyday conservations is a common norm for users in Asia. The way the stickers are integrated into situations dealing with emotions such as: anger, sadness, joy, and others – makes them a powerful tool for advertisers. There are a lot of skeptics and critics here in the U.S that think stickers are a little too “Asian” or “cute” and that the styles wouldn’t resonate with users here. However, I think as emojis and mobile communication continues to evolve, users’ preferences and tastes will as well. Take a look at LINE in action from their US YouTube page below:
The importance of content, quality of the content, and expression are crucial for communication. Users want content that is relevant. That is why we created STKR.us. We’ve been in the content business for quite some time. We’ve blended the best of both worlds, Asia and the West – to ensure that we create a platform/ecosystem where users can find the content they need. That is why we work with our artists daily, to make sure their artwork is received well by end users, and end users can feel a connection to our stickers for their everyday conversations.
I may be wrong, but I foresee stickers and emoticons (animated stickers) making a huge splash soon.
WInk – via http://stkr.us
geeky_yang 