EMOJI POETRY
How emoji spread the word for words

The situation

We have an unhealthy obsession with emoji. More so, 70% of 17 to 25-year olds say they prefer using emoji to express emotion rather than text. Boek.be and the Centre for Poetry are Belgian organizations that promote everything that has to do with words. But reaching young people is difficult. Certainly when talking poetry.

The idea

On January 26th, national Poetry Day, we used the popularity of emoji to spread the word about words. Together with famous poets, writers and musicians we created #Emojipoetry. We translated emoji into something truly emotional: a poem.

All poems where collected on a facebookpage and in our Poetry Bot on Messenger. You simply had to send him an emoji. He answered with a poem for you to use. This way we fought emoji on their own territory: smartphones.

The outcome

The campaign was launched through PR, a video ad and our own network. Reaching out to the media, but also libraries and schools. This way it got in every major newspaper. Online and offline. And we got featured on a radiostation for youngsters. This resulted in 140.000 unique visitors of which 46% was between the ages of 17 and 25. We made poetry accessible to a younger audience. And showed once and for all, that the best way to express emotions is with a poem.