According to Google Trends, the word ‘meme’ is searched more frequently than ‘Jesus’ as of 2018. With the way a meme image, video or audio can spread across the internet like wildfire, it’s no wonder that brands are looking for a slice of the pie – after all, engagement and UGC (user-generated content) are the holy grail for us marketers.
Whilst some brands have embraced this change to segue into digital culture, others are a little irked when months of social campaign planning can be upstaged by a spinning cat. Whilst the use of memes in brand campaigns has become a roaring success, there’s also a number that have flopped or backfired when not planned properly.
But when did meme marketing become so prominent? Should you be jumping on the trend? Is it truly a successful strategy? And if you do take the plunge, how can you make sure your memes don’t miss the mark? Let’s talk about it.
What is a meme marketing strategy?
In short, meme marketing is the practice of creating and sharing internet memes with the aim to promote a brand, product or idea across social media. It originates from the Greek word ‘minema’, meaning ‘imitated’ – much like the way that viral meme trends are often reimagined and reshared by their audience.
In his book The Selfish Game, British biologist Richard Dawkins brought the term into modern language, where he refers to a meme as ‘a behaviour or idea that spreads between people within a culture’. The internet took this and ran with it, giving catchy images, videos and sounds the name we know today.
The power of meme remix culture
The meme format seems to have surged in popularity over the last few years with the Gen Z and Millennial desire to consume authentic, human content when it comes to marketing. Users have evolved to gravitate towards material that isn’t too polished and taps into their modern-day collective experiences.
TikTok was a catalyst for this mindset after it blew up in 2019. As the platform grew, it developed more of a candid vibe than its predecessors: less filtered, more casual and raw. This gave content creators the opportunity to produce funny, off-the-cuff videos, images and audio slices that felt relatable without trying too hard (minus the high production value).
Along with this format came remix culture. This often started with a hashtag trend, meme template, or audio clip that users would spin in their own style. This formed a sort of ripple effect in which users who parodied a meme concept in their content could piggyback on engagement and discussion from the original trend.
On the flip side, the creator of the original meme template could organically expand their reach with thousands of user-generated videos without lifting a finger.
Both sides of the coin have an appeal when it comes to meme marketing. Jumping on a meme bandwagon can help you gel with users in their natural habitat and gain engagement and UGC with the ‘work smarter, not harder’ approach.
Starting your own trend, while albeit a lot more challenging, is an extremely powerful way to spread messages far and wide – like a digital word-of-mouth megaphone. Both come with their own pros and cons, and both are heavily reliant on nailing the right place and right time to succeed.
The good, the bad and the ugly
We’ve established that timing can draw the thin line between whether brands will fly or flop with meme marketing – so let’s talk about what happens when you get it right, and when you get it wrong.
The good
If you’re able to hit the mark, there’s a lot to gain from meme marketing. It has the potential to increase engagement and boost UGC, making them a low-cost, high-impact technique. A perfectly timed meme post can also spread very quickly.
Some brands can engage with trending memes to stay culturally relevant and develop a more human, relatable persona that makes your social engagements more memorable. They can nurture a two-way dialogue between user and brand to leave traditional one-way advertising behind.
Take Netflix – the meme veterans of ‘X’. Their meme posts are timely, relevant, and refreshing, and they maintain a unique and consistent brand voice that’s honest, raw, and efficiently leans into their audience’s humour. Simple but well thought out, Netflix shows how a good brand meme post is done.
Ryanair demonstrates the benefit of connecting with a younger demographic in a tactful way on socials. Their Tiktoks are full of witty, irreverent memes that tap into Gen Z humour in just the right way while staying true and relevant to their brand image. Ryanair is generally cheaper than other airlines, so it makes sense to work on engaging with young travellers through social platforms. As a result, they’ve reaped the benefits of meme marketing with a whopping 2.5 million followers, many of whom interact, like and share their content.
The bad
Memes aren’t built for all brands, and their audiences will quickly make this judgement. If you don’t have the right tone of voice for memes or don’t get the gist, there’s a chance you’ll leave your audience feeling more confused than amused, which may harm your brand reputation.
As I’ve mentioned, Millennial and Gen Z users tend to turn away from the slightest whiff of advertising, so if you’re trying too hard to be funny or relevant, they’ll likely catch on and steer clear. If your brand is straying too far from the beaten track, you run the risk of being labelled as ‘cringe’ or alienating your audience completely.
Back in 2018, McDonald’s ran before they could walk and suffered the consequences. They posted a ‘Say no more, fam’ meme – which is usually used to poke fun at stranger barber haircuts. The meme was also pushing three years old at the time. This wasn’t well received, and users weren’t afraid to voice this. McDonalds had skewed the original meaning in an attempt to make it work for them. To many, this came across as lazy and stale, and it generated quite the negative response.
Moral of the story: don’t try to fit a square peg into a round hole.
The ugly
I’m sure we can all remember a time when a company’s attempt at a meme has dismally flopped. And that’s part of the point – sometimes, it can be very hard for brands to wipe the slate clean once they’ve tainted their name with a meme PR disaster.
You need to be aware of the context and significance behind any memes you look to endorse with your brand. Some can appear tone-deaf or offensive to some audiences, which means you should clue yourself up and steer clear of anything that crosses the line from cliche to prejudice or overly sensitive.
One of the biggest threats of meme marketing is that you have very limited control over the connotations and conversations around it. With the volatility of the internet, some meme meanings can completely shift over time, and you’ll have no control if your original message gets lost in the noise.
Digiorno Pizza did everything you *shouldn’t* do back in 2014. When the #WhyIStayed hashtag emerged on Twitter for domestic abuse survivors to share their stories, Digiorno blundered with an extremely crass tweet. It goes to show the consequences of no research on what’s trending, and how badly it can go wrong. Meme marketing may be a great way to delve into everyday culture, but brands need to tread extremely carefully when it comes to the sensitive situations that arise around it.
The key takeaways:
Be consistent: Make sure your memes feel natural and fit into the brand’s tone. Don’t stray too far from your typical persona to ensure things don’t feel forced and inconsistent with what you stand for.
Know your audience: Cater to your audience’s interests and don’t try the ‘one size fits all’ approach. You’re better off successfully targeting a niche than dropping the ball for everyone with something too generic or impersonal. Consider that most memes may fly over an older demographic’s head completely, too.
Keep your finger on the pulse: Memes evolve quickly. Be aware of what’s on trend and what’s gone stale to ensure you can get the right timing and context. Be aware of memes and their background associations to avoid insensitive humour.
Stay true to your brand: Don’t force your brand into a space it doesn’t belong. Meme marketing doesn’t work for every company – if your brand image is more on the demure side, this might not be the strategy for you.
Nu Image’s view
At Nu Image, we like to pioneer new territory and stay curious about upcoming trends. Is meme marketing here to stay? Who knows. But we think there’s nothing wrong with trying out this new marketing format, so long as you approach with caution, do your research and know this strategy will connect with your audience in the right way.
It may be a unique strategy, but part of our job is to adapt to the changes in our fast-paced industry, and it’s certainly not the strangest thing we’ve seen. When it’s done right, meme marketing can be a game-changer and attain the cultural relevance needed to better engage with their consumers.
However, moderation is key, and it’s important not to lose your brand identity or messaging in the midst of imitating something else. Go by the motto that meme marketing has less to do with advertising and more to do with connecting with users in a relevant space and building a personable, unique brand voice to stand out from others.
With how quickly everything moves on the internet, building a social presence for your brand can be intimidating. At Nu Image, we offer a range of bespoke social retainer and consultancy packages. Have a chat with our social team today by calling 01603 859007 to assess whether meme culture is something you should be dipping your toes into.
Social Media Management