THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

They help LINE make a point

They help LINE make a point

Three enterprising sticker creators triumph in the fine art of self-expression.

    The social media are constantly proving the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. In this day and age when online chat messages replace the spoken word, a single sticker can really say a lot.
    Line Co (Thailand), provider of the country’s most popular instant-communications application, recently announced the winners of its second Creator Sticker competition.
    The annual contest aims to inspire clever folks to contrive their own stickers – and maybe make a career out of it.
“Dream Job” was the competition’s theme this year. Since October, Line Thailand amassed several hundred sticker-characters from these independent creators and then chose the best three based on technique, execution and the ability to amuse.
“Line was launched in Thailand in 2014 and as of now there are more than 33 million users, and we saw a 25-per-cent growth in Line sticker business from last year,” says Kanop Supamanop, head of content business and marketing at the firm’s office on Sathorn Road.
“The Line sticker is our star feature, the main attraction for people to start using the application. The Creator Sticker market in Thailand currently offers 360,000 sticker sets for sale, and Thais designed 10 per cent of those.
    “The competition encourages people to use their creativity and make their own stickers,” Kanop explains. “A lot of people make quite a lot of money doing this, and some have even quit their regular jobs so they can create stickers full-time. It can be a fun hobby or a promising career for anyone with good ideas.”
    Line has three types of stickers. Sponsored stickers are given away for free by retailers and service providers if you become their “friend” via Line. The ones you have to buy are the “official” stickers created by Line and those designed by individuals in creators market which is open to anyone.
Kanop says Thailand has more than 100,000 creators registered, adding 400 to 500 new sticker sets to the Line sticker shop every week. Last year saw 14 million creators sticker downloads, and it’s estimated that all Line users have at least three sets in their accounts.
“Stickers are fun,” Kanop points out. “Words and phrases like ‘Thank you’, ‘I love you’ and ‘Hello’ can take on different meanings depending on the sticker characters used to express them.
    “Stickers are routinely used to start and finish conversations, and they say things that sometimes you can’t put into words. That’s why so many people like using them. And they’re very affordable at Bt30 per set and just Bt60 to Bt150 for animated stickers.”
    Stressing that the art of creating new stickers can be a nice little money-maker for creative folks and possibly even lead to a lucrative career, Kanop cites Line’s huge and ever-increasing volume of users, simple marketplace system and user-friendly features.
    No one should be shy about trying because really anyone can create a sticker. You can use photographs, computer graphics or draw images by hand. You need to register a Creator account with Line and then you can submit your work. Line staff assess it and within days you’ll probably find your handiwork “on the shelf” in the Line shop. You name the selling price for the sticker set and half the revenue comes back to you.
    Sutat “Thunk” Thamrongsombat, 31, is an architect who also bills himself as a “3D visualiser” and got involved in creating stickers for fun. “I like stickers and I wanted to create my own for other people to use. So I invented Ape Man, this beefed-up guy who became quite popular. And for the competition this year I created Hot and Spicy Guy, who is a hot chef with lots of muscle.”
Among the other winners this year, 27-year-old Satapond “Fresh” Wiwattarangkul scored with a character named Air Junma, and 23-year-old Tamontorn “Mork” Amorntirasan won with a cute bear called Mimork.
    The three were flown to Line headquarters in Japan to learn from the experts how to become even more successful in the sticker trade. They also got to visit the Usamaru cafes, which are real-life brick-and-mortar “spin-offs” from Japan’s most popular Line sticker characters.
    “We hope to expand our stickers into tangible products here too,” says Kanop. “It’s a way of adding more value to the products and helps ensure the creators sustained careers. Since Thailand has the most Line users in the world after Japan, there really is a lot of potential here.”

 

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