Oju launches on Mxit, lets you say ‘I love you’ in an African way

Oju, Africa’s first black emoticons, have launched on mobile instant messaging platform Mxit. The news comes just a couple of months after its introduction to the world.

Its partnership with Mxit is not in isolation and follows on the heels of its June nomination by License Global in the “One to Watch” contest for new creative concepts at the Licencing Expo 2014 in Las Vegas.

Nothing adds emphasis on a text like an emoticon. Insert an emoticon and the text, made up of the same words, assumes a different tone, even a different agenda. Even when a text is clearly communicating something else, somehow, an emoticon becomes the genesis of all the meaning that is deduced from the text message. Conversely, the right emoticon, timely inserted in a chat, can say more than any words can.

Both Mxit and Oju Africa, the creators of Oju emoticons, seem pretty happy with the partnership.

Alpesh Patel, CEO Oju Africa and Group CEO of Mi-Group International Ltd, said, “Our mission as a lifestyle brand is to work with strong local and global partners to enhance their current offerings. We are very proud to be associated with Mxit for our launch into Africa and I am sure the OJU emoticons will be a welcome addition to their current content.”

Ben-Carl Havemann, Marketing and Communications Manager at Mxit, says, “We are excited to be the first mobile social network to bring Oju to our users. As a proudly African brand, we support and celebrate the diverse culture of our users and constantly explore ways in which we can make their chat experience more meaningful.”

Oju, is a Yoruba word, meaning “faces”.