Hamburg, DE; London, UK; Toronto, CA – The emoji company GmbH, one of the world’s top-150 licensors, and WildBrain, a global leader in kids’ and family entertainment, have forged a far-reaching content and licensing partnership to launch emojitown®, a brand new digital-first series and consumer products extension of emoji – The Iconic brand. Under the partnership, WildBrain’s leading AVOD network and digital studio, WildBrain Spark, has teamed up with emoji company to co-develop and co-produce emojitown®, a 52×2’ 2D series, which is targeted at teens and young adults.

WildBrain Spark, which holds exclusive global distribution rights to the new series, will premiere emojitown on YouTube with a dedicated channel launching at the end of May, when viewers will be able to enjoy the first four episodes of the fast-paced, language-agnostic show, followed by additional episodes rolling out weekly. Tapping into its expertise in brand management on YouTube, WildBrain Spark and the emoji company have created emojitown® for AVOD audiences and is supporting the series with extensive digital-marketing, paid-media campaigns and dedicated social-media strategies. WildBrain Spark will also exclusively handle branded content opportunities and advertising sales for emojitown® on YouTube.

Additionally, WildBrain’s leading global licensing agency, WildBrain CPLG, will handle worldwide licensing and merchandising rights for emojitown®, building on the agency’s extensive and highly successful program for the emoji® brand across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and other territories. WildBrain CPLG will work with emoji company and licensees to develop emojitown® products across key categories for teens and young adults.

Marco Huesges, Founder and CEO of emoji company, said: “This is a significant development for the emoji® brand, bringing our globally recognizable icons into the digital-content space. With their preeminent reputation on digital platforms, including YouTube, and their deep understanding of licensing and brand amplification, WildBrain Spark and WildBrain CPLG are the ideal collaborators for our push into new content creation and consumer products for the teen and young-adult audience. Together we will take this hugely exciting step in the evolution of emoji®.”

Maarten Weck, EVP & MD of WildBrain CPLG, said: “Building on our strong relationship with the emoji company, this expanded partnership combines the strengths of the much-loved emoji brand with our creative and collaborative capabilities across consumer products licensing, digital-content production, and AVOD management.”

Rachel Taylor, Commercial Director of WildBrain Spark, added: “With its universal appeal, the emoji® brand is ideal for the creation of an animated digital-first content offering, and our creative team has produced a funny, wry and edgy series, underpinned by bespoke data and insights drawn from our premium YouTube network. We’re delighted that the emoji company saw us as the right partner to co-develop and launch this extension of its brand for today’s digital-savvy audience of modern teens.”

Welcome to emojitown®

Welcome to emojitown®, a place not unlike a lot of other modern-day urban “everytowns” – except here (yeah, you guessed it) everyone has an emoji® icon for a head. In emojitown®, we see daily struggles and nightmares ranging from the mundane to the absurd. The perils of dating apps, the instant regret of a DIY haircut, the cringe of a poolside bikini fail and more, are all played out with sharp hilarity in vibrant 2D-animated color.

Meet Jo – a fresh-faced girl in her late teens who, despite trying to “live her best life” with a cheery, optimistic outlook, simply cannot stop encountering the everyday “horrors” of modern life. Throughout it all, Jo is the relatable underdog, as she, along with her emojitown pals, navigate the pitfalls of life.

Joining Jo in emojitown® are Jaya, Jon, Jess, Jay, Julia and Joanie, plus the bizarre duo of Poophead and Unicorn Man. These aren’t just characters you’ll sympathize with – they’re characters you’ll actively see yourself or someone you know in. They represent “real people” – the kind we see and meet every day, reflecting attitudes, style, ethnicity, gender, ability and sexuality as diverse and representative as real life. 

WildBrain

At WildBrain we inspire imaginations to run wild, engaging kids and families everywhere with great content across all media. With approximately 13,000 half-hours of filmed entertainment in our library – one of the world’s most extensive – we are home to such brands as Peanuts, Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Caillou, Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test and Degrassi. At our 75,000-square-foot state-of-the-art animation studio in Vancouver, BC, we produce such fan-favourite series as The Snoopy Show, Snoopy in Space, Chip & Potato, Carmen Sandiego, Go, Dog. Go! and more. Our shows are enjoyed worldwide in more than 150 countries on over 500 streaming platforms and telecasters, and our AVOD business – WildBrain Spark – offers one of the largest networks of kids’ channels on YouTube, garnering billions of views per month from over 150 million subscribers. We also license consumer products and location-based entertainment in every major territory for our own properties as well as for our clients and content partners. Our television group owns and operates four family entertainment channels that are among the most viewed in Canada. WildBrain is headquartered in Canada with offices worldwide and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: WILD). Please visit us at wildbrain.com.

About emoji® – The Iconic Brand

The emoji company is the owner of the registered emoji® trademark in up to 35 classes for goods and services in more than 100 countries around the world. The emoji company’s extensive rights portfolio covers more than 1,000 trademarks and more than 25,000 emoji® brand icons and designs protected under copyright laws and available for legal licensing and merchandising, promotions and marketing activities. Official partners include more than 1,000 world famous global licensees, including Sony Pictures Animation, Ferrero, Puma, Burger King, Zara, Unilever, The Hershey Company, Walmart, Danone, Nikon, Fuji, Nestlé, Lidl, Kellogg’s, Danone, Nikon, Aldi, Pepsico, Miss Sixty, the BBC, C&A, and The French Post, amongst many others. The globally awarded emoji® brand was decorated as the third-most influential brand behind LEGO and Coca-Cola by the industry’s Powerlist. With an annual retail revenue of more than $800 Million USD, the emoji company is in position # 57 of the Top 150 Global Licensors, and the emoji® brand is one of the most influential universal lifestyle brands. For licensing inquiries, please contact us at licensing@emoji.com or visit www.emoji.com.