Digital natives—millennials and Gen Z—and the popularity of social media continue to influence the cultural conversation and are changing how brands communicate. So it's no surprise the language used by companies to reach consumers is more visual than ever before, with emoji a growing component of marketing efforts. The Oxford University Press even chose an emoticon—the "face with tears of joy" emoji—as the Oxford Dictionaries 2015 word of the year. Here's a look at how events and meetings can incorporate emoji into an experience in a variety of stimulating ways, from audiovisual production to catering.
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New York-based Eleni's Cookies is among the catering providers incorporating emoji into food presentation. Cookies that imitate the widely recognized happy face emoji are obvious crowd pleasers—and they can be customized with corporate messaging.
Event pros can generate buzz leading up to and surrounding an event with custom emoji. New York-based Swyft Media has been creating custom sets since 2012. Acquired by Monotype early last year, the company frequently works with companies and entities to come up with on-message emoji.
Beyond dotting furniture with emoji pillows, organizers can find other ways to add physical representations of the digital icons to the decor. At its Streamy Awards party, Fullscreen hosted a millennial-heavy crowd. In a conceptual twist, Caravents created so-called “emojis in the wild”—accompanied by a well-promoted hashtag of the same phrase—which involved small animal figures placed within the decor throughout the space. The move was meant to encourage guests to share their subtle observations.
At South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, last year, BuzzFeed's BFF Clubhouse offered an emoji fortune-teller. By looking at the most recently selected emoji on guests’ own smartphones, the fortune-teller picked the person’s fortune. The slip of paper, similar to one found in a fortune cookie, included an emoji recommended for guests to use more.
When the Watchmen movie premiered in 2009, emoji were not yet a part of the public consciousness. However, the Los Angeles premiere party’s animated video effects suggested a way to use modern-day emojis: Happy faces lit up two 15-foot circular screens for a larger-than-life audiovisual effect.
