Emojis have become ubiquitous in digital communications, but their use in marketing campaigns hasn’t always been successful. Canvas8 spoke to Dr. Sara Kim, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, to learn how people interpret and react to brands that use these symbols.

Dictionary.com has added definitions for emojis, complete with examples of usage, highlighting just how much technology has changed our relationship to language. But as emojis get the okay for official use, people are closely scrutinising the ways that brands harness them.

Emojis may be everywhere in digital communications, but next to stickers, they’re starting to look dull and dated. Brands and celebrities, including Kim Kardashian West, are cashing in on the craze with their own sticker apps, simultaneously embedding themselves in people’s mobile lives.

Emojis may be ambiguous to some people, but in the eyes of the Chinese government, they speak loud and clear. In the wake of a political dissident’s death, it has banned the use of the candle symbol, highlighting the power of these graphics in political communication.