Celebs ♥ the marketing muscle of their personal emoji apps
When Blac Chyna unveiled her new emoji app — aptly titled “Chymoji” — she wasn’t just keeping up with the Kardashians.
With the app’s debut Tuesday, the entrepreneur and fiancée of TV personality Rob Kardashian joined a bevy of entertainers breaking into the emoji business, including Kim Kardashian, Ariana Grande, Amber Rose, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Future and The Game.
But why are celebrities jumping into this business, one that places their brand in the public’s hands to deploy at will?
Emily Morris, director of cultural insights at the branding company TruthCo., compares the marketing strategy to Drake’s heavily parodied yet lauded Hot
line Bling video.
“Drake knew it was going to be turned into memes, and he released it to fans and let them become shareholders and stakeholders in his image,” she says. “They’re releasing a celebrity brand and giving it to the fans.”
Fans that are, in all likelihood, already using emojis. Roughly 92% of the online population is, according to a 2015 report from emotional intelligence agency Emogi.
Oliver Camilo of Moji Inc., who worked on apps with Fetty Wap and Amber Rose, says it’s a numbers game: Celebrities can and are making a lot of money.
“Within the first 60 or 90 minutes from launch, Amber hit the No. 1 top paid app in the Apple Store. She kind of validated that there is a lot of revenue in this.”
But how do stars manage to turn $2 apps into major profits?
“It helps the artist let users evangelize for them,” Camilo says. “You text your friend an emoji of Rick Ross crying and Rick Ross just got free marketing.”
The apps also foster connections between stars and consumers. As Tyler Schnoebelen, co-founder of the language processing firm Idibon notes, “different celebrities are known for different qualities and there are times where you may want to adopt the stances that are associated with a particular celebrity.”
Take the crying face emoji from Kim Kardashian, which, like Drake’s Hotline Bling, became a meme and is more expressive than typing out the details of a bad day.
“The crying face is amazing,” Jesse Esparza said at the Chymoji launch. She also likes Chyna’s stripper pole, and since downloading the app, has researched the budding star. “I Wikipedia-ed her, I learned all about her life.”
In that way, emoji apps also offer a window into stars’ lives and value systems without the pushback that often accompanies explicit commentary.
Rajiv Menon of TruthCo. adds that emojis allow celebrities to take back control of the dialogue surrounding their brand, especially when they’re continuously updating their apps with event-driven images. “It’s a way of communicating that you’re in on the joke, that you’re taking it in stride and that you’re leading the conversation.”
And stars do need to be a part of the conversation, Camilo says.
“Just like you have an Instagram page or Twitter, now you’re going to need an emoji keyboard. It’s just where we’re at in the culture.”
“Just like you have an Instagram page or Twitter, now you’re going to need an emoji keyboard.” Oliver Camilo of Moji Inc.