Infographic: How Consumers Feel About Branded Emojis

In 2015, for the first time ever, the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year wasn’t a word. It was an emoji—specifically, the “face with tears of joy” emoji. You know the one.

As Oxford University Press wrote of the decision, “Emojis are no longer the preserve of texting teens—instead, they have been embraced as a nuanced form of expression, and one which can cross language barriers.”

That’s why brands have been so quick to use emojis in their messaging. They know they have to speak their customers’ language, and that language now includes tiny, expressive pictographs. Take Dove, which created a whole keyboard of emojis for people with curly hair. Or Taco Bell, which launched a Change.org petition to create a taco emoji, and got over 30,000 signatures. Or the many brands on Twitter that have dropped $1 million for a custom, branded emoji on the platform.

The love for emojis isn’t dying down anytime soon, either. According to a new infographic from Emogi, a technology platform that helps brands create emojis, 62 percent of the “emoji elite”—U.S. consumers who add emojis to 15 percent of their messages—want more variety and choices from their keyboard selections. Respondents don’t just want a beer mug, they want specific brands on the mug. In fact, Emogi found that 59 percent of emoji users would likely use a branded beer emoji.

Apparently, the appetites for emojis are only getting stronger, and consumers are looking for brands to curb their hunger. For more information about the impact of emojis in marketing, check out the infographic below.