MANILA, Philippines - Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Asia, a division of Viacom Inc., has announced the launch of SpongeBob SquarePants animated emoticon stickers on Weixin and WeChat globally.
Users can download the sticker set on the Apple iOS and Android platforms on a paid basis. Over the next 12 months, Viacom will work closely with Weixin and WeChat to roll out additional emoticon stickers featuring beloved Nickelodeon characters, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Emoticons are “metacommunicative†pictorial representations of a facial or physical expression in the absence of body language. They express usually, by means of punctuation marks, a person’s feelings or mood.
In recent years, communication through social media has played a significant part in accelerating the popularity of emoticons.
Riding on the demand, WeChat, the fastest growing mobile social application for smartphones developed by Tencent, has been selling users virtual goods like gaming avatars, online stickers and other icons.
“Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the world’s most iconic characters and is beloved by fans everywhere, so we are very excited that with this collaboration, fans on WeChat and Weixin can access SpongeBob SquarePants’ fun animated emoticons to express themselves,†said VIMN Asia executive vice president and managing director Indra Suharjono.
“Particularly, in our case, we know that a SpongeBob expression speaks louder than a thousand words. Social networking and messaging apps continue to grow in popularity and are certainly ideal platforms to provide our fans with an enhanced experience with our brands,†added Suharjono.