With a just over a week until the launch of the much anticipated Kenzo X H&M line, the brands have created a mobile emoji keyboard with branded stickers in order to start generating buzz.
Called Emotikenzo, the mobile integration is designed to build awareness of the collaboration through a custom messaging functionality with a full emoji keyboard and stickers that incorporate elements from the new line. The keyboard is separated into four sections — including letter stickers, “Emotikenzos,” patterns and cartoonized images of the collection, all accessible from the main keyboard as part of a new iOS 10 feature that allows brands to more seamlessly embed into chat capabilities.
Fashion brands like Coach have already leveraged the updated operating sysetem as a way to attract consumers, recently ditching its app in favor of an iMessage integration. The effort builds upon the May launch of the Coachmoji keyboard, while adding an interactive component that enables users to create mood boards using stickers from the collection.
Retailers have started taking cues from brands like Burger King and Disney who were early adapters to the branded sticker movement. However, according to a study by mobile marketing company Appboy, while 43 percent of consumers age 25-44 expressed interest in branded emojis, only 39 percent of the same group reported ever using them, Luxury Daily noted.
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Regardless, H&M and Kenzo hope to use the integration to connect with consumers in new ways, following the success of previous collaborations with Balmain and Alexander Wang. “Being able to speak to an even wider audience and reach people that may not know what Kenzo is, is really exciting,” Kenzo creative director Humberto Leon said in the app introduction.
Paris-based Kenzo is known for its vibrant colors and whimsical imagery, which the app describes as “a kaleidoscopic jungle with a global beat.” H&M and Kenzo enlisted the help of several fashion icons and notable celebrities including photographer Jean-Paul Goude, Iman and Chance the Rapper to serve as brand ambassadors for the launch, and last week they held a fashion show to debut the looks. The line officially launches online and in 250 global stores beginning November 3.
