It's no secret that emojis are becoming a second language in the digital world, especially on Twitter where you've only got 140 characters to express your many feels. When something becomes popular, it's only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to monetize it, and that's exactly what Twitter just did.
Twitter has introduced a custom emoji that functions as an ad unit, TechCrunch first reported. Coca-Cola is the first company to get its own custom emoji as part of an ad deal or bigger partnership. When Twitter users tweet "#ShareaCoke," an emoji featuring two of those iconic glass Coke bottles clinking will appear in the post.
"Part of our global alignment with Coca-Cola includes access to resources and first to market offerings and in this case, a custom emoji," Twitter's Senior Director of Global Brand Strategy Ross Hoffman told TechCrunch in regards to a question about whether or not Coca-Cola has paid for the emoji.
Twitter will be looking at metrics like "engagement, sentiment, adoption of the hashtag/emoji and total reach" as it explores the possibility of rolling out branded emojis like this in the future after this test run with Coca-Cola, Hoffman also told TechCrunch.
It looks like Coke is hoping to get that engagement and reach going by encouraging Twitter users to tweet "#ShareaCoke" to set a record for the "World's Largest Twitter Cheers." As TechCrunch also points out, it looks like Viners (Twitter acquired Vine in 2012) and other celebrities are already tweeting up a storm hoping to get the word out about the campaign on Twitter.
It's the cheers heard around the world! Tweet with #ShareaCoke to set a record for World’s Largest Twitter "Cheers!” pic.twitter.com/liGFMGofpJ
— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) September 17, 2015
However, this is hardly the first time Twitter has introduced custom emojis. In the past, they have been tied to major events, such as in anticipation of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens in theaters, the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards and this month's New York Fashion Week. Since emojis aren't going away anytime soon, it seems likely that more custom emojis will hit Twitter in the future.
