The Smiley Company launches exclusive digital designs on Ready Games’ Icon app

Epik, a specialist in bridging the gap between real-world brands and digital ecosystems, has connected Ready Games, the leading distributed web3 gaming ecosystem on mobile, and Smiley Company, the lifestyle brand and original creator of the iconic smiling emoticon now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

In honour of Smiley’s half-century, the brands have launched a bespoke virtual fashion line of SmileyWorld branded merchandise for Ready Games’ app, ‘ICON Avatar Fashion Universe’. In the app, players can now choose up to 21 unique SmileyWorld pieces to add to their avatars’ virtual fashion closets. 

“Ready’s innovative NFT technology provides brands and creators with the opportunity to elevate fashion collections in the digital space,” says Christina Macedo, COO of Ready Games.” Our vision is for players to be able to express themselves through clothing and in-game accessories. Smiley’s iconic symbol of universal happiness is the perfect fit for our first animated and textured NFT fashion collection. The whole collection feels fresh, playful, and wonderfully iridescent – truly brilliant!”

“Launching a collection of SmileyWorld virtual fashions with Ready Games is an exciting leap into the metaverse for The Smiley Company,” says Lori Heiss-Tiplady SVP of Digital at The Smiley Company. “The ICON app is the perfect launching pad for digital fashions from our lifestyle brand born in the digital universe and built on self-expression. The animated patterns and avatars made possible by Ready’s ground-breaking technology will allow users to express their moods in a bold new way with SmileyWorld.”

 

Azerion partners with SmileyWorld for digital game content

Digital entertainment and media platform Azerion has announced a long term partnership with The Smiley Company to create an array of digital entertainment content to gamify their brands, including SmileyWorld and SW by SmileyWorld, and engage with fans through Azerion’s vast distribution network.

“The original Smiley has been part of our day-to-day life for 50 years now. We use Smileys to communicate care and love with friends, family and colleagues. They are the way to go beyond language barriers and generations in these modern times. SmileyWorld has a profound history and is a lifestyle brand that connects people,” says Erol Erturk, EVP Games and Strategic Partnerships at Azerion.

Through the partnership, Azerion has the global rights to develop digital content utilising the SmileyWorld and SW by SmileyWorld trademarks, and will cover the full cycle from production and distribution to monetisation. Starting with a handful of HTML5 games, including SmileyWorld branded match-3 and Mahjong, Azerion will create a series of cross-platform branded games and digital entertainment experiences that will then be released across their distribution network of more than 2,000 gaming portals, telcos and mobile stores.

“With over 16,000 game titles under our belt, we are excited about this opportunity to work with Smiley to further expand our footprint in bringing games to life to our core audience groups, allowing deeper engagement with fans of SmileyWorld while increasing reach for advertisers,” Erturk comments.

“As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Smiley bringing happiness and positivity to millions of people across the world, we are thrilled to be partnering with Azerion to bring the SmileyWorld and SW by SmileyWorld brands to life in the digital universe,” says Lori Heiss-Tiplady, SVP Digital at The Smiley Company. “Pairing Azerion’s expertise and knowledge in digital gaming with Smiley’s creativity and positive brand values creates a winning proposition to create engaging and entertaining content.

“SmileyWorld and SW by SmileyWorld are lifestyle brands with deep roots in fashion and also emotional intelligence, enabling self-expression and the sharing of positivity. Working with Azerion to apply this to gaming will allow people to spread happiness and express themselves in a whole new way.”

Marks & Spencer launches collaboration with SmileyWorld

Marks & Spencer has collaborated with SmileyWorld to create an exclusive capsule collection of clothing, footwear and accessories for kids, launching in store and online from 10 February.

Designed to celebrate positivity, the unisex pieces feature fun, uplifting slogans, with bright eye catching colours, and include nostalgic tie dye clothing and accessories.

An M&S spokesperson said: “With SmileyWorld being a proven evergreen trend in the kidswear arena, the collaborative collection offers unique prints with SmileyWorld icons. With popping tones and fun shapes, this collection is all about embracing uniqueness and not being afraid to be playful with style.”

The SmileyWorld collection will be available exclusively at M&S Online at www.marksandspencer.com and in-store from 10 February.

Prices range from £10-£20.

SmileyWorld and Tsingtao partner for limited edition beer collaboration

The Smiley Company has partnered with China’s number-one beer brand Tsingtao for an exclusive collaboration. The limited-edition range of beer will be sold across mainland China.

The pairing of SmileyWorld – known for happiness, positivity and self-expression – with trend-driven brand Tsingtao creates the perfect platform to engage with young adults through a campaign centred around creating a “Happy Planet”, full of happy people.

Launched at the beginning of November, the collaboration will feature music-related designs on millions of Tsingtao ‘Pure Draft’ cans and bottles. With eight fun SmileyWorld icons decorating the cans, including bespoke icons created especially for the campaign, Tsingtao and SmileyWorld will encourage people to express their attitude through the Smileys.

A limited edition bottle has also been created, with a design intended to bring people together: when placed together, two bottles create a complete Smiley, showcasing the power of friendship and sharing.

Supported by a 360-degree marketing campaign including TVC, online and social media, content will be created for WeChat, Weibo, Little Red Book and TikTok. Tsingtao’s brand ambassador Hua Chenyu, a musician with 40 million followers on Weibo and over 7 million on Tik Tok, will also promote the partnership through online and social media.

Nicolas Loufrani, SmileyWorld CEO says: “Tsingtao is the most iconic beer brand in China, one perfectly matched to SmileyWorld in terms of appeal to trend-driven consumers. The Smiley Studio has created a new set of bespoke designs which will appeal to Chinese consumers and co-created a fantastic activation with our friends at Tsingtao.This proves once again the talent of the team at the Smiley Studio and our ability to work with the most professional brands and agencies in the world.”

A Tsingtao Beer spokesperson commented: “Our Pure Draft beer and SmileyWorld collaborated to reimagine our current packaging with a fresh SmileyWorld design. The new can and bottle designs are trendy, fun and creative. By creating these impactful and appealing trend-driven products, we have created a link between beer and the lifestyle industry. We believe that the collaboration between our two brands will bring consumers more fresh and novel experiences.”