Key takeaways:
- Understanding the concept of meme and meme culture
- The components and the process of how meme marketing works
- Applications of those concepts are mentioned
- Examples of meme marketing
What is a meme?
Memes are the simplest modes to send across your message in an attractive way! the aspect of a culture or a system of behavior that is passed down from one person to the next through imitation or other non-genetic mechanisms. It can also be defined as a hilarious image, video, piece of writing, or other media that is quickly reproduced and distributed by internet users, frequently with minor alterations. Meme Marketing is the art of turning any brand message into a meme and then disseminating those memes on social media through the Meme Community. Meme culture has been evolving for a very long time and many memes represent various cultures that are delivered with simple visuals.
Meme Marketing has been witnessed as a very effective tool A small square snapshot of a kid in a green and white shirt with a determined look on his face, holding a fist of sand, marked with a single word: SUCCESS, is one of the most famous in meme culture. The “success kid” was born after the meme went viral. The image was so popular that it was eventually licenced for commercial use, and the White House even used it to support immigration reform. Meme culture is a piece of visual content with a witty caption that sends a message. It’s primarily a representation of a cultural reference. However, other visual media such as GIFs and movies are also very popular among meme-lords. Before the invention of Facebook or Twitter, the term “meme” was coined. Meme culture has become a huge aspect of Internet culture as a whole, and while some people may not agree with the content of some memes, they continue to delight people of all ages all over the world. Consumer firms that have established a good marketing plan by speaking the language of millennials have been the first to recognise the potential of memes on social media. Because memes rarely promote products directly and instead focus on a specific feeling, adoption of this type of marketing has grown rapidly. Now, rather than being driven by cunning marketing ploys, successful memes are generally driven by viewers, and this is their inherent advantage. In just a few hours, a successful meme may make any concept, character, product, or brand popular. The nicest thing is that people identify with it because it is viewer-driven. It, like other marketing campaigns, should be built over time. For a more detailed example of meme marketing pls visit our social media page – [https://www.instagram.com/p/CUedhpnIJb-/.]
Richard Dawkins coined the term “selfish gene” to describe how a cultural tendency spreads in his 1976 book “The Selfish Gene.” He didn’t intend to refer to it as a witty digital image, but the sentiment still rings true. Meme culture is usually showing memes nowadays which mainly consists of text superimposed on top of a dominant image. Now that we’ve established what a “meme” is, let’s take a look at some meme marketing statistics to help you comprehend its significance in the business sector.
Memes are a great way to grab your audience’s attention, and if they’re clever enough, they may result in a lot of likes, shares, and overall user engagement. They’re also quite simple to produce. Sites like imgflip, for example, let you upload whatever backdrop image you like or search their collection of photos for the right match. While the popularity of memes among millennials and Gen Z is well known, marketers in any industry can benefit from this medium.
Meme Marketing Statistics worldwide:
On average, a millennial looks at 20 to 30 memes in a single day.
- Among the 3 million social media users, 60% post amusing stuff (Forbes, 2018).
- Nearly 55% of customers between 13 and 35 ages send memes every week, with 30% sending memes daily (YPulse, 2019).
- On social media, 38% of young adults follow meme accounts (YPulse, 2019).
- Memes, on the other hand, receive 60% organic engagement and have 10 times the reach of traditional marketing graphics (The Nyu Dispatch, 2020).
- A meme campaign’s click-through rate (CTR) is 14 per cent greater than email marketing (Forbes council post).
A meme has majorly three ingredients:
- Pop culture reference
- A humorous slant
- Relevancy
Visual data is processed 60,000 times faster than text in our minds. We process visuals even faster and relate to them better if they include anything with a high recall value, such as a scene from the movie The Matrix.
Many memes aren’t merely for laughs. Memes, in my opinion, are instruments that provide a sarcastic reality check of our experiences.
Every joke, as the phrase goes, contains a grain of truth. Some memes are straightforward representations of our realities that are hilariously expressed. Many social media trends and phrases have emerged because of meme culture, including “Netflix and chill,” “Hey girl,” and the Doge meme phrase “much wow. so awesome. “People appreciate memes as they provide a fascinating study of everything from emotional problems to current happenings across the globe, especially those in the Gen Z generation. And, because pop culture is marketing’s relative, the former always has an impact on the latter.
Because memes are fun, easy, and amusing to generate, brands are adopting the meme craze (sometimes referred to as meme marketing) in the marketing industry.
Memes are the language that today’s customers speak and understand, according to forward-thinking firms. They’re also using meme marketing to make their companies appear cool, bold, or even goofy. They dislike being sold to because it makes them feel manipulative and stupid. Customers nowadays expect brands to court them, make them laugh, and offer them presents instead. Customers today prefer companies that are relatable, interesting, and daring. We trust and buy from businesses that interact with us on a personal level, just as we do with friends. We want to have a little fun when interacting with our favorite brands on social media.
That’s why memes are so popular: they make firms appear hip and youthful. And we all want to hang out with the cool kids and party with them.
Some Benefits of Meme Marketing are:
- They can be found almost anywhere – Memes may be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and as well on other social media platforms. Memes have evolved into more than simply a fad in 2019, and they are now the millennials’ and GenZ’s primary source of entertainment.
- They provide the possibility to live like native – Native advertising is projected to revolutionize the advertising sector. Memes, on the other hand, have the power to jump on the bandwagon. Memes offer a distinct style of marketing that is wrapped in humor, allowing companies to blend in seamlessly.
- It’s not a fad; it’s a way of life – Culture is the filter through which we assess everything in our environment. A trend’s designation can’t be used to dismiss it. They’ve adapted to new circumstances. Memes have consistently outperformed brands in terms of utilizing trends in their message. From the World Cup to the elections to the IPL to #JCBkikhudayi, there’s something for everyone. Memes have chosen and developed immediately effective trends. (This is something that agencies strive for.)
- They are inexpensive – Meme Marketing initiatives are cost-effective; they are much less expensive than influencer marketing and provide significantly more traction when it comes to interacting with the audience in their voice.
- A higher return on investment – Influencer marketing and display advertising are currently on the decline.
One of the biggest factors deterring buyers is the aesthetic appearance of influencer posts and the intrusive nature of display adverts.
Memes, on the other hand, are the most widely circulated, trusted (they can’t be bought, and they always tell the truth), and liked type of content. Communication can be given the power of sustenance by memes. As a result, visibility and interaction increase, resulting in a higher return on investment.
6. Creativity – Creative in business, creativity is defined as the ability to think beyond the box, resulting in the novel or creative approaches to a job. Memes are all about it, to be honest.
7. Advertising is as insightful as memes are relatable because they reflect our perceptions and beliefs.
Memes are popular because they can occasionally express information that we can’t. Memes pick up on the simplest details, such as crowds gathered around JCBs on the job, and turn them into a force to be reckoned with, such as elections. Because memes are developed by consumers, they have a much greater understanding of the intended audience.
What things you should avoid completely to enter the meme-sphere, there are a few things we should avoid doing.
- Too many changes to the basic message
Most of the time, brands utilize a well-known theme format and tweak it somewhat. If you’re going to do the same, keep it straightforward. However, don’t alter it to the point where your audience is unable to understand the joke. With so many changes, it’s getting to become confused or misunderstood.
- Choosing a delicate subject
This is something that everyone, not just marketers, should be aware of. Brands must be more careful about what they joke about because the public, as well as their competitors, are watching everything they do. You’ll lose your lucrative audience if you make one incorrect move.
- Not conducting sufficient research
This could be one of the reasons why a stupidly humorous meme can irritate 200k people. DiGiorno Pizza had a similar situation when it issued a Tweet with the hashtag #WhyIStayed. This hashtag was originally used to show sympathy for domestic violence victims.
Why would someone have lunch with their barber? This McDonald’s meme is even more perplexing because there is no punchline.
Examples of meme marketing in India
- Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance
For its term product Edelweiss Tokio Life Zindagi Plus, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance launched a digital campaign called “Thoda Aur Khayaal,” and our social media channels were flooded with posts and memes about it. The goal is to persuade the customer to get insurance and to go above and above for their family.
Because of the immediacy that comes with “memes,” they were chosen as the mode of marketing. With graphics and words, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance’s unique and quirky memes swiftly attracted the attention of younger consumers. The x-factor that helped these memes go viral was the fact that Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance mixed humour with the emotional element exhibited in the memes. As a result, the memes were both impactful and eye-catching.
2. Tinder
Tinder, too, has resorted to meme marketing to advertise its services. Tinder, for example, featured the “adulting can wait” memes, which included some of the most popular and popular memes on the internet. The goal of the meme marketing effort was to get young people’s attention.
3. Kellogg’s
Kellogg’s used the hashtag #PhotoBombWithFills in a series of memes and postings for Valentine’s Day this year as part of its digital promotion. The challenge went viral and sparked a massive online response.
4. Mahindra Blazo X
Mahindra also devised a unique social media marketing plan that would generate more engagement. They came up with a contest using the hashtag #XtraGuaranteed to entice customers.
5. Nescafe
Nestle’s Nescafe cold coffee launched a meme marketing campaign to advertise their product. The memes were humorous and captivating, resulting in a large number of shares. Their brand spokeswoman Disha Patani, for example, was featured in the memes, which received thousands of comments and shares.
6. Big Bazaar
To advertise their e-commerce platform, the retailer adopted a meme-based marketing strategy. The memes were largely inspired by Bollywood films, the Indian Premier League, and other events that would appeal to the younger generations.
7. Brand Factory
Another retailer that used memes to sell its items on social media is Brand Factory. These memes went viral rapidly because they were entertaining. It also aided the corporation in improving its market positioning.
In the end, we can see how meme marketing is effective and how we can capitalize in a comparatively better way than traditional marketing. All we need is the pinch of relatability and creativity merging to ignite the fire of content to get viral all around the globe. Just think about it and then execute!
For an in-depth meme marketing analysis do check out this article – Click Here
Siddharth Agarwal
Content writer
Tanmoy Mukherjee
Graphic designer
Ashish Singh
Editor
I truly appreciate this post.
awesome