Over the course of half a century, The Smiley Company has influenced various creative industries. Founded by smiley face creator Franklin Loufrani, this forward-looking organisation fiercely protects its intellectual property (as detailed on the Smiley website), having built an international presence across almost 150 countries.
Franklin Loufrani, smiley face owner, joined forces with his son, Nicolas Loufrani, who has helped The Smiley Company to build a unique business model based on creative partnerships with retailers and manufacturers.
The Smiley Company’s business model was referenced by author Isabel Wu in her book The Michaelangelo Project: Making It in the Digital Century Workforce. Wu suggested that The Smiley Company implemented a real-world example of a business theory put forward by Peter Drucker. A prominent Austrian American educator, author, and management consultant, Drucker theorized that corporations could operate with a minimal team of senior management by forging partnerships and outsourcing a major component when bringing products to market.
Today, The Smiley Company’s vast library of designs, concepts, and images is utilized by other companies in the development and manufacturing of products. Franklin and Nicolas Loufrani are business and culture innovators who have pioneered the marketing of happiness and emotional intelligence, as well as making bold strides in the realms of digital marketing, digital communication, fashion marketing through music, and the licensing of lifestyle intellectual property.
An internationally recognized lifestyle consumer products company, The Smiley Company has received various awards for its innovation and creativity and has been featured in numerous books and articles. The organization remains fiercely committed to protecting its brands, consumers, licensees, and retail partners against counterfeit.
The first Smiley Original Logo trademark was registered in France in 1971. Subsequently, Franklin Loufrani registered the trademark in numerous other countries. Today, the Smiley Company holds a vast portfolio of trademarks, including the Smiley name and the Smiley Original Logo.
In 1997, The Smiley Company began creating variations of the Smiley logo under the guidance of Nicolas Loufrani. These variations were intended for use as gif icons and stickers in the virtual world. The Smiley Company was the first organization to systematically translate ASCII emoticons composed of punctuation into graphic Smiley icons, creating a universal language. The Smiley Company was also the first to sort these graphics into various categories – such as emotions, characters, celebrations, sport, food and fruits, weather, and more – to make them easily usable on a technological device.
By 2004, The Smiley Company had developed more than 3,000 icons, and over the years, the company’s art direction and style have evolved. SmileyWorld Ltd, a subsidiary of The Smiley Company, owns copyright registrations for tens of thousands of graphics. Collaborating with its partners, the organization develops and creates somewhere in the region of 15,000 new products each year, orchestrating hundreds of marketing campaigns. SmileyWorld Ltd utilizes copyrighted logos, creative graphics, and registered trademarks designed by the Smiley Studio under the direction of Nicolas Loufrani, its creative director.
The Smiley Company has a legal right to protect its intellectual property and take action against individuals or businesses that infringe on its trademarks or copyrights. Using The Smiley Company’s trademarks, rights or other brand identifiers without consent or in a way that could mislead or confuse consumers could culminate in a trademark infringement.
The first Smiley logo was created by Franklin Loufrani. At the time, he worked as a journalist for France Soir newspaper and was tasked to launch a feel-good campaign to counter a slew of negative headlines reporting civil and pollical upheaval across France. Created as a symbol of hope and positivity, the Smiley logo remains as relevant today as ever, having been adopted by numerous cultural movements over the years and associated with everything from free love to the digital revolution.
