Marketing with Memes: A Double-Edged Sword
The word “meme” is rooted in Greek, meaning “that which is imitated.” And imitated they are. Memes are so commonly shared that, according to Google Trends, “memes” are becoming a more popular search term than “Jesus.”
The term was coined by ethologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book called The Selfish Gene. He argued that virality didn’t just apply to infectious diseases, but also in anthropological settings. He defined a meme as any shareable cultural artifact that spreads through a culture like a wildfire.
Today, memes have a specific connotation in our digital environment. What makes memes so special is their way of communicating attitudes, feelings and situations. Because of their popularity, it comes as no surprise that brands want a piece of this pie.
What is the big deal?
Teenagers and millennials spend an average of 250 minutes every day online on their smartphones, scrolling through their social media feed.
“It’s particularly tricky to get Gen Z (16–19 years) to engage because they are highly discriminating and more averse to advertising in general. In the online space, Gen Z is significantly more likely to skip ads, suggesting they have a lower threshold for boredom. They are also more turned off by invasive, interruptive online and mobile formats.”
-Greg Sterling (source)
Apart from this, attention span for online content is very short. Flooding a Facebook timeline with branded graphics of new products does very little for audience engagement and organic promotion. As Dale Carnegie said, “No one likes to be sold.”
So we need online content for very short attention span, is relatable and appealing to young audiences. Umm… How about memes?
Using memes you may not directly sell products but it improves brand image and surely engages potential customers to your social media accounts because memes are easy to consume and entertaining. Also no matter how much you love your favorite coffee brand, you won’t share a post featuring an image of its packet and the company logo and tagline. Instead of that, posting a humorous and witty graphic about a trending topic with a pun related to a brand will generate organic shares!
Meme Trends
Meme trends are similar to other trends in marketing, fashion, movies, etc. There will be a specific meme type which will be quickly adopted by everyone and within a short span (sometimes a few hours) we would see different variations of that meme on all social platforms. This is a meme trend.
Online content creators on OTT platforms and other independent creators can leverage the memes directly and draw audiences towards their latest content. Netflix, AIB, TVF and their likes have mastered this art as they start promoting memes related to their content before release. It is quite efficient as online users share these memes, comment on it and see trailers of the content to satisfy their curiosity.
Lately, meme trends are having a very short lifespan. Trends are outdated within just a couple of days sometimes. Like the Jaruri Hai Kya meme, which was a rage for two days and now people get irritated by it. This is called the Family Guy effect, i.e. any joke when repeated frequently, it doesn’t sound humorous. This makes the job of content-creators difficult as they have to spontaneously generate new ideas and stay relevant.
One can either create a meme-worthy trend or either adapt to the existing trend. The former being difficult to predict, as people across the world can turn literally anything into a meme trend. However, there are a lot of communities of memers across Reddit, Facebook and other platforms where new memes and templates are created which are later distributed across different pages.
Sacred Games
This Netflix Original series which is also India’s first Netflix Original doesn’t need any introduction. Right when it’s first teaser was released on 5th June 2018, the internet was overflowing by memes saying “Kabhi kabhi lagta hai apun hi bhagwan hai” (Sometimes I think I’m God) a dialogue said by Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the teaser.
Content creators like AIB, EIC and other popular Facebook and Instagram pages quickly picked up the trend and everything built the hype for the show. Even after two months of its release, Sacred Games memes haven’t experienced the Family Guy effect, which indicates that we will see these memes for a long time. It’s a fuel to content-oriented brands which run their business on audience engagement on social platforms. But the real takeaway is when non-entertainment brands adapt to meme trends and tell their stories. For example brands like Mother Dairy, Durex and even Twitter handle of Punjab and UP Police gained organic promotion by making memes about Sacred Games.
Quality aside, Sacred Games despite its unconventional themes and controversies, has become a popular show for mainstream audiences and much of its buzz is a result of organic memes constantly finding their way into our phones. Brands unrelated to the show are the true opportunists and that’s how meme circuit works.
Controversies
Memes may sound like a no-cost online publicity but it’s a double-edged sword. As Ben Parker said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” The power of memes has disrupted online marketing. However, it also has to be done responsibly otherwise it can lead to catastrophic consequences.
A huge majority of memes are copyright infringement cases in legal terms. People using pictures/videos of copyrighted material to suit their own purpose however they see fit — is a clear intellectual property crime. Normal people are desensitized towards copyright conflicts when it comes to memes, but many brands have repeatedly voiced over such use of their intellectual property.
IP Rights v Freedom of Speech/Creativity
Not a direct case of memes but it highlights the tightrope on which the meme business is expanding. The landmark judgement in India upholding the right to freedom of speech and expression over disparagement involving IP rights is in the case of Tata Sons Ltd. v Greenpeace International & Anr. Here, the dispute centred around a satirical game, PacMan style, which showed the endangered Olive Ridley Turtle being hunted by the ‘Tata demons’, in the form of animations of their famous trademark. The game had been designed by Greenpeace as an innovative form of protest against Tata’s construction of Dhamra port in an ecologically sensitive area of Orissa. Tata, in turn, claimed that the representation of their famous device mark in such a negative fashion was affecting their considerable reputation built around the trademark and alleged tarnishment and disparagement.
However, Justice Shri Ravinder Bhat of the Delhi High Court, in an unprecedented judgement, held in favor of Greenpeace, causing a stir in trademark owners’ circles.
AIB’s Snapchat Controversy
A year ago, AIB received a defamation lawsuit for making a meme on Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi. They posted a picture of a Modi look-alike person with Snapchat dog-filter with hashtag wanderlust. The post removed immediately in few hours however, the media already caught fire. While many people including comedians supported AIB considering the post just for humor, there were several allegations by users for insulting the PMO. They have been constantly surrounded by lawsuits because of their works. So apart from IP issues, memes also have a problem of “hurting” sentiments.
Europe vs. Memes
Recently, European Union Legislation was drafting a copyright law that would make memes illegal. In an open letter to the President of the European Parliament, some of the world’s most prominent technologists warn that Article 13 of the proposed EU Copyright Directive “takes an unprecedented step towards the transformation of the Internet from an open platform for sharing and innovation, into a tool for the automated surveillance and control of its users.”
However, their Legislation Affairs committee has voted against it and memes are safe for now.
Russia vs. Memes
A country where there are extremely strict censorship laws and freedom of speech is considered as an illusion even for journalists, it’s no surprise that they enacted a law that bans memes. “These ways of using [celebrities’ images] violate the laws governing personal data and harm the honor, dignity and business of public figures,” reads the policy announcement from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media agency/Internet censor.
Bottom Line
Memes are useful for marketing. Use them while they are non-offensive and legal because in a dark and not so distant future, all of this might become a mythological power which humans were incapable of handling.
