Memes are becoming an increasingly popular marketing tool for companies. Memes are images or videos with a humorous nature, which are often copied and spread quickly on the Internet. It’s easier to define it by showing a couple of memes below:
So what is it about these images that make them such a great marketing tool? The answer is very simple! Being able to identify with a meme means you’re “in” on the joke, and who wants to be left out on a popular joke? The “like”, “share”, and “retweet” button on Twitter and Facebook are very useful buttons to show your friends you understand the joke and it gives them a sense of belonging. Knowing this, companies are starting to use memes to make their followers share updates about the company and ultimately increasing the companies reach. If businesses are using memes successfully, they will also succeed in making their customers feel like they have a special connection with their company.
It’s important for a company to choose the right picture that will be used for the meme. It can be beneficial to use a picture of a product the company sells or something else related to the company.
A popular example of a company using memes in one of their advertising campaigns to increase its popularity is Virgin Media. The original photo of the kid was posted on Flickr by his mother, who simply uploaded a photo of her 11 month old son holding sand on the beach. The image soon became viral, and is now often used with captions that reflect success or frustration. Virgin Media added the caption “Tim just realised his parents get HD channels at no extra cost”, portraying success.
There are many other examples of companies that use memes in some of their advertisements. I personally think it’s a great way to increase the amount of followers and supporters of a company. What do you guys think?
Sources:
http://engelads.com/how-memes-have-become-social-media-marketing-tools/
Marketing: Creating Memes That Help Your Online Marketing Efforts
I hope Virgin Media asked the parents for permission to use the picture of their child. It’s risky to know your private pics can show up anywhere.
Nice blog!! Memes are new for me, I am getting old.
I agree with Marleen: never heard of memes before, but I love most of them. Remembering seeing this Tim guy billboard close to an airport (Schiphol?). Great blog!
I am from the last century, ha ha, and have no clue about the so called memes. But it IS fun to see and to read them. As long as it is really funny and not too serious.
I could n’t even find the word in my English dictionary! But I do appreciate some of them.
The word meme is new to me. Be careful with privacy!
Interesting post! Meme’s are something very innovative and different for company’s to incorporate. They are easy to create and also very relatable to the target audience. Many youngsters specially are familiar with them and meme’s also have viral capabilities leading to increased brand awareness.
Although, it could also cause negative effects on a company if a wrong meme is incorporated. There are many memes posted nowadays on a daily basis, hence a company’s meme should not just be another meme in the “market” . Company’s also need to be careful in the type of material they are using for their meme to prevent any copyrights issue.
I didn’t know that companies are using memes nowadays! But I do think that they are great marketing tools. However, they need to be careful with the pictures they choose because people can interpret them in different ways. Overall, clever idea and great blog post!