We created a set of Finland emojis that each communicated a feeling or emotional aspect unique to Finland. The emojis were launched one at a time as the Ministry For Foreign Affairs Of Finland Christmas advent calendar. Using emojis suits Finland particularly well as we are a silent but digitally savvy people. The emojis set included ‘Peacemaker’, featuring Nobel Peace Prize winner President Ahtisaari, and ‘Kalsarikänni’, which roughly translates as ‘getting drunk home alone in your underwear with no intention of going out’. Finland became the first country in the world with its own set of official emojis.

From a design point of view, the challenge was to crystallize a unique and complicated emotion or phenomenon into one small graphic element.

The 30 emojis were launched online one by one as part of the Ministry For Foreign Affairs of Finland country promotion website ThisisFINLAND Christmas advent calendar. Mobile apps for Android (Google Play Store) and iOS (App Store) were also created.

Five emojis were revealed at the launch on 1st December. For the launch, we utilized around 80 embassies, press releases and direct media contacts, supported by social media posts and community management. The next 24 emjois were revealed one at a time on the ThisisFINLAND’s Christmas advent calendar site xmas.finland.fi. On 29th December, a bonus emoji featuring ski jumping legend Matti Nykänen was released.

The emojis were an instant hit from the day they were launched, and achieved the best country branding results ever for Finland.

The emojis were an instant hit, with a Twitter reach of over 3 million on launch day alone. Over 2000 media hits in major digital, TV and print media from outlets such as Time, CNN, BBC and Fox News were generated. The emojis were shared, liked and retweeted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Ministry was interviewed by, for example, BBC World News Radio, several Swedish radio stations and big US radio channels.

A snowball effect was created with Finnish organizations, including several Finnish cities and media, creating emojis on their own or in co-operation with the Ministry. The Finland emojis will feature in reflectors, postcards, high school books and a well known board game.

The return on the small (non-public) investment was huge. All the media attention was positive. According to Ministry, the emojis became the biggest country branding and global PR case for Finland of all time.