Tag: Stickers

Brands Getting Into iMessage With Stickers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Today is the official release of Apple’s iOS 10, which brings a plethora of new features to iPhone and iPad users. Among them is the iMessage Store, an addition to Apple’s native messaging app that allows users to download apps, games, and sticker packs to spice up their chat experience. Already, brands such as Burger King, Disney, Toyota, and Betty Boop have created branded stickers available for download in the iMessage Store. Burger King’s stickers, for example, represent different flavors of its chicken fries, whereas Toyota is repurposing its football-themed emojis for iMessage to engage with football fans.

What Brands Need To Do
The arrival of the iMessage Store opens up a new channel for brands to reach smartphone users and for those with well-known IP to natively integrate branded content into texting – arguably the most popular smartphone activity. Although the existing examples are all for branded stickers, the Messenger Store also makes it possible for brands to develop branded mini-games and other apps that enrich the chat experience.

The Lab has extensive experience working with brands to develop campaigns and communications strategies for messaging platforms. The One Direction fan experience we developed for Sony Music on popular messaging app Kik earned a Smarties Award from the Mobile Marketing Association. To learn more about sticker usage and other brand opportunities on messaging apps, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: Digiday

Header image is a promotional image from Apple’s developer site

Twitter Introduces Stickers To Make Photos Searchable

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter announced on Monday that the newest addition to its service will be stickers that users can add to their photos in tweets. Similar to the way stickers work on Snapchat, users on desktop and mobile devices will be able to add an unlimited number of resizable stickers to their photos to add some flair. Twitter is planning to roll out this new feature over the next few weeks, and those stickers will be searchable just like its hashtags.

Twitter stickers

Why Brands Should Care
This addition came on the heels of Twitter allowing marketers to target ads based on emojis that users include in tweets. Since the stickers will be searchable, it seems quite likely that brand marketers will soon be allowed to target by stickers as well. Moreover, this new feature opens the door for branded stickers that marketers can use to drive engagement, similar to Twitter’s branded emoji product. For now, however, the stickers simply offer brands a new way to jazz up their photos on Twitter and make them more discoverable through organic search.

 

Source: AdWeek

Images courtesy of @Twitter

Microsoft Adds Branded Stickers To Skype

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
With the launch of a new feature named Moji, popular video-calling app Skype has added stickers to its chat windows across all platforms. Unlike most stickers in other messaging apps, however, Skype collaborated with Microsoft’s media partners such as Universal Studios, Disney, and BBC to allow users to share short moments from popular movies and TV shows in GIF form.

What Brands Should Do
This new feature is one of the most recent development in the evolution of branded stickers in messaging apps, which offer brands and media owners a new way to make their content available to consumers in conversational contexts, while also enabling fans to share and spread the content. In some cases, content owners also charge an in-app purchase fee for the stickers, which gives them a new revenue stream. As messaging apps continue to diversify their services and revenues, brands should consider making their popular Intellectual property available in sticker form.

The Lab has extensive experience working with brands to develop campaigns and communications strategy for messaging platforms. Last year, the Lab developed a campaign on Kik for Sony Music to promote a new album launch of popular boyband One Direction, which later earned us a Smarties Award from the Mobile Marketing Association. To learn more about sticker usage and brand opportunities on messaging apps in general, you can contact our Engagement Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) and schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: VentureBeat

LINE Launches Emoji Keyboard App To Lure New Users

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch

Earlier today, Japanese messaging app LINE introduced Emoji Keyboard, an iOS app that provides over 3,000 stickers and emoji for users to use in any app of their choice. Emoji and stickers have been generating great revenue for LINE, and it loves to remind users of them with auto-suggestions. To learn more about sticker usage and brand opportunities, check out our POV here.

Interestingly, the app is available worldwide with the exception of its three major markets: Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, which take up over half of its 205 million monthly active users. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that LINE is trying to lure new users into its app ecosystem, independent of its chat service, as it looks to grow its presence in the U.S. and other global markets outside of Asia.