New York-based Swyft Media recently gained national attention for a custom set of emoji it designed in honor of Pope Francis's visit to the United States. Operating since 2012—and acquired by Monotype in February—the company regularly works with brands and agencies to develop custom emoji, stickers, and gifts.
"Our in-house design team of 25 'chat artists' work directly with the brands to ensure that the brand identity is properly 'emojified' without compromising the utility of the emoji, or the integrity of the brand," said Evan Wray, Swyft's co-founder and vice president. In the past year, the company has partnered with brands such as Miller Coors, for which it designed a custom Coors Light emoji geared toward Super Bowl fans. The emoji had upbeat sayings such as Score! and Cheers!
"Custom emoji are a great way to generate excitement and fan engagement for all types of events, including sporting events, concerts and movie premieres," Wray said. "Brands of all sizes have been incorporating emoji and branded stickers into their marketing tactics." The cost for custom emoji keyboards varies depending on the size of a client's campaign and intended audience.
