The Indian government’s #MakeInIndia campaign, aimed at promoting India as “a great place for foreign direct investment to transform the country into a global manufacturing hub,” has become the first non-U.S. brand to launch its own Twitter emoji, the social network said Tuesday.
This follows a visit by India’s minister of commerce and industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, to Twitter’s global headquarters in San Francisco, where she met Twitter’s newly confirmed chief executive, Jack Dorsey.
Twitter said the two discussed “the importance of India as a strategic growth market, and how Twitter’s platform can be used to promote the country’s brand to the rest of the world.”
Twitter is still struggling to gain wider adoption in India — one report from January said that Twitter accounts for just 17 percent of social network users in the country.
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But it’s a highly important market for the company, expected to surpass the U.S. to become the world’s second-largest mobile market by 2017. Meanwhile, approximately 80 percent of Twitter’s monthly active users are now on mobile.
In a statement, Shailesh Rao, Twitter’s vice president of Asia Pacific, Latin America, and emerging markets, said:
The “Make in India” programme is both visionary and wide-reaching and it will provide long-term benefits in the years ahead as more manufacturing investments will transform the economy and create millions of jobs for the Indian workforce. As we are a platform for the world’s leaders to interact and communicate with each other every day, we are honoured to be a trusted partner for the Indian government to reach decision-makers worldwide and to contribute to the economic renaissance of India.
In related titbits, Twitter on Tuesday replaced stars with hearts for favoriting Vines and tweets, and at the end of last month rolled out the ability for all users to tweet a poll.
Ladies and gentlemen, Twitter launches the Emoji version of India's favourite lion from their global head quarters #MakeInIndia
— Make in India (@makeinindia) November 4, 2015
#MakeInIndia is first non US based brand to get @Twitter emoji promoting India as a global manufacturing hub @jack pic.twitter.com/GHA28whCRC
— X India (@XCorpIndia) November 4, 2015
Welcome to @Twitter HQ in San Francisco @nsitharaman, @amitabhk87 and @makeinindia! pic.twitter.com/z15Tj7GA8R
— X India (@XCorpIndia) November 3, 2015
Building a strong nation. Watch a short video on India's #construction sector. #MakeInIndiahttps://t.co/5Ydo8a6fW4
— Make in India (@makeinindia) August 22, 2015
Watch a short video on India's #automobiles sector. Fasten your seat belts! #MakeInIndiahttps://t.co/ukr1AnT7gZ
— Make in India (@makeinindia) August 22, 2015
Big Auto – India is No.1 in motorcycle, No.2 in two-wheeler & No.5 in commercial vehicle production #MakeInIndia pic.twitter.com/Mg6OBSJ94e
— Make in India (@makeinindia) September 11, 2015
#MakeInIndia's success @hannover_messe: India signed 2 MoU with Germany & 1 each with Bulgaria, Switzerland & Russia. pic.twitter.com/j3lWOocAsI
— Make in India (@makeinindia) April 23, 2015
Projections place India as the world’s 3rd largest investment destination through 2015-2017 #MakeInIndia pic.twitter.com/i08SYH98qW
— Make in India (@makeinindia) September 11, 2015
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