No, it has nothing to do with Domino’s chief executive Don Meij, but instead a stack of Australian-inspired emojis with the hope they will be added to the next official emoji keyboard update due in 2017.
When I first saw Virgin Mobile’s press release about “eMEjis”, I originally thought this wasn’t just a new publicity stunt from Virgin Mobile, but yet another publicity stunt from Dominos Pizza and its master of media coverage, Meij.
After all, with Domino’s already using pizza emojis in its SMS ordering system, the idea of yet more pizza-inspired emojis dubbed ‘eMeijis’ in honour of Meij hardly seemed far fetched.
Indeed, when Domino’s PR and marketing team reads this, who knows – they may well be inspired to out-stunt Virgin Mobile and pop out a few emoji keyboard suggestions of their own, presumably inspired by the various types of Pizza on Domino’s menu, not all of which are circular. Update: I did let Domino's know about this article, and I was cheerfully pointed to the new Domino's iOS 10 iMessage stickers that you can see here.
{loadposition alex08}
In any case, now that we have firmly established that eMEjis are not in any way connected to the as-yet non-existent eMEIJis, what exactly is it that Virgin Mobile has launched with Dave Hughes?
It turned out to be a more "Aussie" emoji keyboard, and following hundreds of submissions, the best 20 eMEji suggestions have been published by Virgin Mobile at its Facebook, as you can see at the embedded link below.
Virgin Mobile tell us that "Australians love filling their text messages with winky faces, hand gestures and food, but have also admitted they feel there’s a void in the official emoji keyboard on their phones that needs to be filled".
The stat that has been proffered is one that sees "almost half" of the nation, which is 44% of surveyed respondents, are "crying out for an emoji keyboard that’s, well, more Aussie".
Blessed with some of Richard Branson’s nous for publicity, Virgin Mobile thus says it is "planning to petition to turn up the current range with the launch of ‘eMEji’ – emojis that actually represent the way modern Aussies communicate which have been requested by Aussies, to provide a more awesome mobile experience"’
We are also told that "51% of Aussies are also requesting a say on what emojis are included on their mobile phone keyboards".
So, the media release continues, "whether it’s meat sweats, hangry or even Tony Abbott in his budgie smugglers, with the help of social commentator Dave Hughes, Virgin Mobile hit the streets and social media to ask the nation what words, phrases and emotions they felt needed to be turned into an everyday emoji".
Hughes said: “In our fast paced world we haven't got time to write out everything we need to tell people, so that’s why emojis were invented. But emojis haven't kept pace with the amount of things we need to say!
“So the emoji list needs a refresh, an update, an upgrade actually. We need emojis that speak for you and me. There isn't even one for fish and chips! We need eMEjis!”
Next to comment is Dr Enza Tudini, senior lecturer in Applied Linguistics at University of South Australia, who said: “As human beings, words are not enough. In face-to-face interaction we combine intonation, body language and facial expressions to communicate. That’s why emojis have become so important in digital communication because they naturally allow people to mirror physical expression to convey the emotion held within their dialogue.
“Additionally, many people have more creative mindsets and communicate better through visuals instead of words - this is where emoji icons differ from facial or body expression and texts, and why they are used so widely. Specifically, emojis add a playful, humorous dimension to the written word which makes digital communication unique and contributes to its popularity.”
We are then told that, "with 40% of the nation admitting emoji express how they feel better than words, Aussies have responded to the call in waves and put forward their eMEji suggestions".
As you can see at the embedded Facebook post above, Virgin Mobile and Dave Hughes have picked the best suggestions and turned them into ‘red hot eMEjis,’ with the hope they will then be taken up in the next official emoji keyboard update set for release in 2017.
The 20 best eMEjis were:
- Aboriginal Flag
- BBQ
- Binge watching
- Budgie Smugglers
- Digital Overload
- Espresso Martini
- Hangry
- Hey there champ
- Hungover
- Joy Of Missing Out
- Marriage Equality
- Meat Pie
- Meat Sweats
- Meditating
- Nonplussed Face (Dave Hughes suggestion)
- Sanger
- Sorry Not Sorry
- Thong
- Ute
- YOLO
David Scribner, chief executive of Virgin Mobile Australia, said: “We’re famous for doing things a little differently at Virgin Mobile, and for good reason – our customers. Emojis have changed mobile communication indefinitely for them and as the research shows, Australians want a greater say on what emojis make it into their mobile phone keyboards.
“So we’ve given the power back to the people by bringing to life their emoji requests and petitioning for them to be included in the next emoji keyboard update – because that’s just a little bit more Virgin Mobile.”
Additional statistics from the research conducted by Virgin Mobile also found:
- 50% of Aussies use emojis to inject some fun and spice up an otherwise dull message;
- 24% of Aussies are calling for a shake up to the current selection;
- 66% of emoji users don’t have a personal favourite;
- 32% of Aussies love emojis / think they are great;
- 17% of Aussies say emojis have changed the way they communicate; and
- 51% of Aussies want a say on what emojis are included on their phone’s keyboard and to be able to put forward new emojis to be added.
All the stats above have come from the survey of more than 1000 respondents conducted by Pureprofile on behalf of Virgin Mobile on 12 September.