Communicating with memes

This is an image from 1919, and we can call it the first meme in history. It is a cartoon published in the satirical magazine Wisconsin Octopus by young students at the University of Iowa. It proposes a very popular format known as ‘Expectation vs. Reality’, very much in vogue in the past decade and still widely known and used. Thehilarity of this content is the basis of its viral spread and when it manages to reach so many people, it becomes an exceptional means of getting one’s brand known. This is why we have started to hear more and more about meme marketing in recent years.

What is meme marketing?

It is a practice that is part of viral marketing, and uses means such as word of mouth and social networks to achieve marketing goals. It enlists the help of users to promote a brand or product by creating news or content that is catchy, engaging and fast-moving. The effectiveness of communication through memes is based on several factors. This content accompanies the user’s life by recounting everyday experiences and transforming the essentials into pure, simple and, above all, broadly shareable comedy. Interacting with the recipient at the right time, based on a vulnerable aspect of their routine without being intrusive, is the key.

This is an example of content based on current trends. In 2014, Seamless, an American food delivery company, created a series of content grouped by the hashtag #oscarnomnoms using puns to relate Oscar-nominated film titles to foods. The humour of a meme is instant. In fact, each format has its own concept for which it is recognised. Showing a grumpy cat, for example, will always make people laugh in itself, but adding a short text that can detach the visual from its original context will create a quick, universal and easily shared humour.

Moreover, according to research by adweek.com, videos perform 12 times better on social media than images. So using memes in video or gif format could prove to be a winning technique to get closer to the user.

One example is Hubspot, which used a video on its Instagram profile to make fun of the difficulty of finding competitor prices. Humour is the key that allows content to spread widely, thus also creating free publicity for the brand. If the content is well-constructed, it is easy to engage a large proportion of users who see it appear, thus having the chance to go viral and remain in their feeds for a long time. The use of memes therefore brings brands and consumers closer together, especially with a young target audience using the same language. It is not only a no-cost strategy, but also quite simple to implement: the only key thing is to be responsive and ride the wave of current trends. It is also important that the content you use allows your audience to mirror it, thus creating an empathy between brand and consumer.

Can meme marketing have negative effects on your brand?

Yes, if not done correctly. It is essential to know your target audience well in order not to risk conveying messages that could lower your brand’s reputation. For example, by using a different language from the one the audience already knows.

Indeed, meme marketing is not always the ideal way to get the message across. One example is the case of the FAFSA (Federal College Financial Aid), which addressed the sensitive issue of destitution with a meme that turned the noses of many, forcing the company to remove the post and issue an official apology. Memes run fast, as does the entire online world. It is therefore essential to keep up with the times so as not to be out of fashion or create outdated content.

With this advertisement Pandora caused controversy because it was considered sexist. This resulted in the advertisement becoming a meme used in a goliardic manner and later taken up by other companies to promote their products. Among the funniest were the campaigns of Ceres and Taffo, two brands that very often (if not exclusively) use memes in their marketing campaigns.

Even Gucci, despite being a luxury brand and communicating with extreme elegance, has used memes in its social networks in the past. Here are some examples:

In conclusion, memes are an extraordinary combination of visual input and contagious humour that result in funny posts that can go viral. Knowing how to use this form of communication, always keeping in mind the language of the brand and its target audience, could prove to be a winning weapon for one’s digital strategy, creating empathy between brand and consumer.