German Trades Launch a Campaign to Win an Official 'Macher' Emoji
TL;DR: Germany's skilled-crafts sector, via agency Carl Nann, has launched a public campaign to win a new 'Macher' (Maker) emoji from the Unicode Consortium — putting two designs to a public social-media vote.
What the trades are doing
The German Handwerk (skilled crafts) sector, working with agency Carl Nann, has kicked off a campaign to lobby the Unicode Consortium for a new emoji celebrating pride in working with your hands. Two candidate designs — 'Macher-Stolz' and 'Power-Hände' — are being put to a public vote on social media.
It is a pointed play in a symbolic system that already holds more than 3,600 emojis, none of which quite capture the pride of the trades. The ask is small; the storytelling opportunity is large.
Marketing Minute's read: a participatory mechanic beats a poster
This is an image campaign for skilled trades disguised as an emoji petition — and that disguise is the clever bit. Instead of telling young people the trades are proud and modern, it invites them to vote, share and argue, turning an employer-branding message into a social-media event they co-create.
The genius of anchoring it to an emoji is universality. Everyone uses emojis, everyone has an opinion on them, and the ask is low-effort and shareable. It gives a traditionally hard-to-market sector a reason to trend, which is worth far more than a recruitment ad no one chooses to spread.
What marketers should learn
Employer branding usually struggles because it talks at an audience rather than involving them. Carl Nann's approach flips that: the campaign only works if people participate, so participation is designed into the mechanic from the start.
The transferable lesson is to find a small, symbolic, low-friction action your audience can take that also carries your message. A vote, a petition, a naming contest — the act of taking part is what generates the reach, and the cause travels along with it.
Quick FAQ
What is the 'Macher' emoji campaign?
A campaign by Germany's skilled-crafts sector, created with agency Carl Nann, lobbying the Unicode Consortium for a new emoji celebrating pride in the trades, with two designs put to a public social-media vote.
Why an emoji?
Emojis are universal, shareable and low-effort to engage with. Anchoring an employer-branding message to an emoji vote turns it into a participatory social event rather than a one-way recruitment ad.
What can marketers take from it?
Design participation into the mechanic: find a small, symbolic, low-friction action your audience can take that also carries your message, so the act of taking part generates the reach.
It's an employer-branding message disguised as an emoji petition — and the disguise is the point. Instead of telling young people the trades are proud and modern, it invites them to vote and share. Participation is the reach. Anchor a cause to something universal and low-effort, and it travels. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
The takeaway: employer branding works when participation is designed into the mechanic — give people a small, shareable action that carries your message, and the act of taking part becomes the reach.
What low-friction action could your audience take that would both engage them and carry your message?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Horizont, turi2.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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