Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 5.
If a brand doesn’t participate in an emoji-themed hashtag game, what’s the point of being on Twitter?
During the midst of the New York Stock Exchange meltdown, a hashtag took over Twitter called #NewMeaningsForEmojis, where people (and brands) jokingly redefined what the little picture symbols actually meant.
Topsy, a social media analytics firm, measured 3,500 tweets affixed with the hashtag, with seemingly most of them coming from brands. The likely reason being that it’s easy for the social media manager to tweet something witty and non-controversial from their phone without the needs of including elaborate art (see: #LoveWins).
Victoria’s Secret, a clothing company that never misses an opportunity to add an emoji to its tweets, had the most popular tweet with 1,000 favorites.
— Victoria’s Secret (@VictoriasSecret) July 8, 2015
It was all downhill from there. From Charmin to Domino’s, brands tried to relate emoji to their own brand. Let’s take a look:
= Why would you order pizza and not invite me?! #NewMeaningsForEmojis — Domino’s Pizza (@dominos) July 8, 2015
= delivery guy #NewMeaningsForEmojis
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) July 8, 2015
#NewMeaningsForEmojis pic.twitter.com/7PNmAN8Eek
— Nissan (@NissanUSA) July 8, 2015
#NewMeaningsForEmojis — White Castle (@WhiteCastle) July 8, 2015
Burning love for Yankee Candle #NewMeaningsForEmojis
— Yankee Candle Co (@TheYankeeCandle) July 8, 2015
= #emojiscience = @BillNye doing #emojiscience #NewMeaningsForEmojis https://t.co/RuomrpBex4 — General Electric (@generalelectric) July 8, 2015
#NewMeaningsForEmojis Watch me whip whip Now watch me nae nae
— Four Loko (@fourloko) July 8, 2015
= All those feelings you have for Perrier. #NewMeaningsForEmojis
— Perrier (@Perrier) July 8, 2015
= Hangry. #NewMeaningsForEmojis
— FreshDirect (@FreshDirect) July 8, 2015
= How to use #car2go to have an awesome night out on the town. #NewMeaningsForEmojis
— car2go Brooklyn (@car2goBklyn) July 8, 2015
More in Marketing
Blended teams: From stopgap to strategic advantage
Blended team members aren’t cheap labor — they’re precision specialists delivering high-impact results.
In Graphic Detail: Inside the growing rift between AI efficiency and audience trust
What follows are five charts that ground where the debate stands as the year winds down.
The chance to win the holiday marketing season has already come and gone, per Traackr’s holiday report
The influencer marketing platform tracked the top brands according to VIT, Traackr’s proprietary metric for visibility, impact and trust.