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MOBILE PHONE EMOJIS - NOT JUST FUN,

BUT A WAY OF MAKING MONEY TOO

Emojis gifts and social media stickers are now an indispensable part of our daily lives and crucial to the way we communicate. But where do they actually come from and why do people bother to make them? Well, it turns out they can be a good way of making money for their creators, as Ying Junyi reports.

The emojis and mobile stickers that we like are constantly changing - people get tired of the old ones, and look for ways to pick up on the latest buzzwords. That means the designers need to upgrade their work from time to time - even Tencent last week came up with six new ones for its official emoji set. Another favorite set, Zhushasha, has been downloaded over 50 million times, and its designer Lalala says she has to keep a close ear out for new buzzwords that users will like. Coming up with a new emoji is not a quick or a casual matter, however.

Lalala, Independent Designer

We are often inspired by popular buzzwords when designing stickers, but we have to select the phrases we are going to use carefully. Many of them will only be popular for a short time, while designing a sticker set can take a long time. We usually launch three to four sets a year.

But once a sticker series like Zhu Shasha receives high public recognition, it can become a brand in itself, allowing the designer to make some serious money from it.

Lalala, Independent Designer

We make money mainly from donations from sticker users, from sales of derivatives and partnerships with other brands. We mainly focus on selling derivatives as it's a more stable income source.

Big brands can take advantage of the popularity of stickers by partnering with famous designers, and some even launch their own sets. Both Pepsi and Starbucks have introduced their own sticker sets on WeChat, and experts say that's an excellent way for brands to stay in touch with their consumers.

Jason Yu, Managing Director// Kantar Worldpanel

Today, consumers are a bit tired of the direct hardcore marketing message, so I think those soft marketing vehicles are really effective sometimes to make consumers love the brand. We do see those stickers or emojis are very popular ways to engage those customers and it really shows that those brands care about those consumers and would like to talk in their language.

As of the end of last year, WeChat had nearly 1.2 billion monthly active users. That's big potential exposure for a brand, so the big advertisers are likely to stick with it.