Technology have changed communication in the digital era. Mobile phones are permanent companions in our daily life, and text messages are a natural way to share not only our words, but our emotions too, thanks to emoticons. And now they can help with an even bigger issue: fighting Aids.

T-Mobile, leader in the Telco market in Austria, created a custom designed emoticons, the Lifemoticons, funny emoji’s that celebrated the Lifeball and spread its values; tolerance and diversity with every text message. Even more importantly, every download became an instant donation of 99 cents.

The featured Lifemoticon option was available for Android and IOS, including Facebook and Twitter as alternative keyboards.

To promote the emoji’s on the night of the Lifeball, visitors had the chance to become a Lifemoticon themselves. With our live emoticon illustrator at the event, we turned the most extravagant and fantastical costumes into emoji’s within minutes.

Not only did we get new emoticons on this night but also a lot of new supporters. And the message spread rapidly amongst the country, multiplying the users and donations.

With more than 3600 downloads on the night of the event, the Lifemoticons became the no. 1 trending lifestyle app in the App Store and Google Play Store and was featured and talked about on international and domestic social media and blogs with a value of more than €120, 0000 on earned media.

Celebrities like Jean Paul Gaultier and Elton John endorsed the project and became part of it with their own personalized emoji.

The campaign was a success, we reached 45% of all Austrian population, and gained more than €120,000 on earned media.

But most importantly, the Lifemoticons offered a fun and easy way to do good and help in the fight against Aids.