Marketing & Growth by Cowrywise is a detailed, industry report on experiments and campaigns developed by the team to give industry leaders, marketers, and start-ups insights to help them scale and succeed. We believe in transparency and believe that knowledge of this nature should be accessible to help the industry grow as a whole.
Read this for insights into how we use branding and design to turbocharge growth at Cowrywise.
In this article, we will tell you:
- What inspired the WhatsApp Sticker idea
- The design process and iterations
- Expected outcomes
To other start-ups looking to run or are in the process of running a referral campaign, here are a few insights and nuggets we hope will help you scale and optimize your campaigns. Good luck!
The Vision 👀
Whatsapp Gen Zs!!! And millennials. 😉 This report is dedicated to you!
Life has over time become more fast-paced. This dynamic is reflected in how we eat, work, and communicate. Gone are the days when writing long letters or even long copies was commonplace. The fundamental lifestyle is that we are always on the move. As the millennials say, “No time to waste time”. The internet age, mobile penetration, and the onset of chat culture simply turbocharged this change. Now, it’s normal for young people to text/chat with abbreviations, and slang, as well as stickers and emojis. There’s no time to type long or even complete sentences when they can simply be communicated with a sticker or an emoji.
Bottomline, emojis, and stickers have become an integral part of how we communicate. They add color, emotion, and personality to our conversations.
Some interesting data points.
According to Emojipedia,
- Loudly, crying face, 😭 toppled tears of joy 😂 emoji as Twitter’s top emoji in 2021 (those of you who use 😭 in about every sentence, you know yourselves)
- Over one in five tweets now includes an emoji (21.54%)
- About 5 billion emojis are sent daily on Facebook Messenger
- Women and men communicate differently with emojis, with 83% of female emoji users expressing love with emojis, against 67% of men.
- Women were also more inclined to express happiness and excitement using emojis.
- Surprisingly, emojis are said to improve people’s mental wellbeing. As of early 2022, 70% of Millennials in the U.S. said that emojis helped improve their mental health. As well as approximately 60% of Generation X.
We don’t have any local data. But, we all know how many times we wanted to send a strongly worded message, and used 🫠, or 😑, or 🤐 instead. This dataset is more than enough proof about how widespread emojis and stickers are.
Recognizing this, the goal was simple – infuse our brand into this vibrant aspect of popular culture, and the fabric of everyday conversations. We aimed to develop stickers that were not only visually appealing, but also emotionally engaging, capable of evoking laughter, empathy, and a sense of connection. By integrating our brand into this popular form of communication, the goal is to increase brand awareness, drive social media engagement, and ultimately, foster a deeper connection with our customers.
Backstory 💬
Maintaining top-of-mind awareness is key to us. It is important that customers always remember us for how we made them feel. Design isn’t just about looking good; it’s about making an impact. That’s why our approach is all about designing a user-first experience and creating experiences that they won’t forget in a hurry.
Take our wallpapers, for example. They weren’t just designs; they were conversation starters. Something to make you ‘awwwn’ at your phone. So when you think of how hard life can sometimes get, you remember Cowrywise and the fact we have safely tucked away your rainy day funds. 😉
People loved using them, and it showed us that amazing things can happen when you connect with your audience on an emotional and cultural level. Some of our followers couldn’t hold back their excitement and even tweeted about the wallpapers!
In the first week, we had about 718 people click the link to download the wallpapers for their mobile devices. A few of them had more things to say. This particular tweet really got us excited!
“I love how you guys care about the user experience, and I noticed a hidden logo in all the wallpapers. How clever!”
Yeah. We planted an easter egg in the wallpapers. We’re all about being culturally relevant and creating experiences that people love. Watch out for the desktop version coming soon! 💪
If you don’t have any of our wallpapers yet, click this link to get full access.
The Challenge 🤼
Developing stickers that would capture the essence of Cowrywise AND become a staple in people’s daily conversations wasn’t straightforward to execute. We wanted to create something that was both relatable and memorable. Our Stickers needed to evoke the right emotions, spark conversations, and ultimately increase brand awareness.
The major challenge was being able to design the Stickers in such a way that they had a subtle representation of Cowrywise. It ‘looked’ like Cowrywise, but not so much like ‘Cowrywise’, that people would refrain from using it. We immersed ourselves in the world of emojis and stickers, studying trends, user behavior, and popular platforms. This deep dive into the landscape helped us identify opportunities to create stickers that would stand out and resonate with you, our target audience.
The Design Process – inspiration and ideation 🖌️
To bring the Cowrywise Stickers to life required a dynamic blend of creativity, technical expertise, and strategic thinking. The journey began with extensive research and inspiration gathering. By studying existing sticker packs and analyzing successful marketing campaigns, we were able to identify key trends and potential areas for innovation. We kicked-off with a mood board to visualize the desired aesthetic and tone of the stickers.
Early Prototypes and Design Iterations
The initial prototypes focused on incorporating the Cowrywise brand identity while ensuring the stickers were visually appealing and relatable. We eventually settled on using the shape or outline of the Cowrywise logo to establish the relationship and create some form of synergy and recognition. While the early designs were functional, they lacked the emotional depth and personality we envisioned.
The design process led to multiple iterations and refinements. We experimented with different expressions, colors, and patterns to ensure the stickers were emotionally resonant and visually engaging. The goal was to create stickers that users would instinctively want to use in their conversations.
Once the designs were finalized, we added patterns and textures (an additional, easily recognizable Cowrywise element) to further enhance their visual appeal.
Overcoming Distribution Challenges
One of the most significant hurdles we faced in the development of the stickers was distribution. While WhatsApp was undoubtedly the ideal platform for our target audience, integrating our custom Stickers proved to be a complex challenge.
The traditional method of importing stickers requires users to download and install third-party sticker maker apps. This process was cumbersome and time-consuming, and many users were likely to abandon the effort and drop off before successfully adding the stickers to their WhatsApp library.
To address this issue, we explored various distribution channels and strategies. Slack emerged as a promising alternative, given its widespread use among both individuals and businesses, especially within the tech ecosystem. By sharing the stickers within Slack communities, we could reach a broader audience and encourage organic distribution.
A breakthrough came with the introduction of WhatsApp’s Sticker AI feature. This tool allowed users to create custom stickers directly within the app, eliminating the need for external downloads or installations. By sharing our stickers with users, we encouraged them to experiment with the Sticker AI and create their own variations.
Measurement and performance 📊
To gauge the success of our Sticker campaign, we’ll be focusing on two key metrics:
- Clicks: The number of times people click on the link to download the stickers. This will give us a direct measure of interest and engagement.
- Brand Stickiness: This includes mentions, tweets, and screenshots of netizens using the stickers. It’s a great way to see how ‘sticky’ our stickers are, and to what extent they resonate with our audience and become part of their conversations.
By tracking these metrics, we can get a clear picture of how well our stickers are performing and make data-driven decisions for future campaigns.
Our hypothesis here is that emoji lovers would integrate the Stickers into their daily conversations, which will, in turn, generate more talkability and top of mind for the brand.
How to use the Stickers 📲
Currently, the Stickers are available on two messaging platforms, Slack and WhatsApp. Here’s how you can integrate the Stickers on either after you’ve downloaded the pack.
For Slack
- Login on your laptop
- Open your workspace & click on the emoji icon
- Click on ‘add emoji’
- Upload the emoji
- Pick from your file/gallery
- Add to the emoji pack
- Find emoji in ‘custom’
- Use as you like!
For Whatsapp
- Open your chat
- Click the ‘Create icon’ in the stickers panel
- Select any of the downloaded stickers of your choice
- Load the sticker
- Pick any style of your choice
- Yay! Send it to your friend
Download the Sticker pack for WhatsApp & Slack here
Conclusion ✨
We launched the stickers internally a few days ago. So far, the people of Cowrywise are having a field day – sending DMs and messages with the Wisemojis, as we call the Stickers. Needless to say, they are pretty excited about it. So excited in fact, it’s been the only set of emojis that’s been used in internal conversations for a few days!
And now, we are releasing these Stickers to you!
As we mentioned earlier, emojis have become a powerful tool for communication. We hope that by incorporating the Cowrywise brand into your day-to-day interactions, you’ll find joy, laughter, and freshness the next time you chat with a friend or a loved one!
As we continue to explore new and innovative ways to engage with our customers, we are confident that the Cowrywise stickers will continuously play a crucial role in shaping how customers like you, interact with the brand.
Click here to download the Sticker pack for Slack or WhatsApp!
Happy chatting!
The Cowrywise Campus Ambassador Recruitment is ongoing 🧢
We are recruiting undergrads and fresh graduates into the Cowrywise Ambassador’s Community. The Cowrywise Ambassadors’ program is a national experiential learning program that empowers students to cultivate personal financial management skills, develop career-relevant skills, and build a network of quality connections very early in life. Join thousands of student pioneers championing financial education on their campuses.
Are you a parent, guardian, or sibling? Click the link here to share with your child or sibling
If you are a student, click here to register and join. 💙
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