Primark launches emoji keyboard to boost brand awareness around Christmas

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 16, 2016

Value fashion and homewares retailer Primark has launched a free emoji keyboard offering Christmas icons as part of its seasonal marketing.

The Primark Keyboard is available globally for Apple’s iOS and Android devices and creates a new keyboard on a phone or tablet that consumers can use to insert Primark icons into any iMessage/MMS or Facebook message.

Such keyboards have become an easy way for people to share icons, gifs and stickers in their favourite messaging apps and the retailer’s social media manager Anna Rickards told Fashion Network that such initiatives are a key way to promote the brand during major shopping seasons. Rickards said the keyboard is currently trending as number two in the App Store.

“On the back of last year’s heavily shared Mystic Mother Christmas GIFs we realised there's a huge amount of conversation surrounding Christmas, but limited visual means to support this” said Rickards.

“Our emoji keyboard is a playful homage to the festive season which gives the nod to everything Primark, from our established Christmas jumper selection to a festive unicorn. This format allows customers to use our content natively, putting Primark at the heart of their Christmas messaging.”

Once the Primark Keyboard is downloaded, the user has access to numerous Primark icons, ranging from a gift-filled brown carrier bag to sparkling animated gifs including Christmas trees and party dresses.

Christian Brucculeri, CEO of makesnaps.com, which created the keyboard for the retailer, said the launch sees Primark taking its first steps into “consistently being in the consumer conversation on messaging apps like iMessage, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. We’ve shown that consumers sharing of brand emojis, stickers and other related content drives an increase in awareness, brand favourability and purchase intent.”