Lately, every new Internet meme seems to attract a stampede of brands eager to get in on the action. Memevertising is joining more and more marketing plans as the latest “get viral quick” scheme.
Internet memes by definition tap the popular psyche. This creates an opportunity for brands to have a voice in cultural conversations. Yet as more brands gatecrash the party, often late and without bringing much that’s interesting or new, the results can fall flat.
YouTube’s Kevin Mathers described the opportunity in a recent Marketing Week article: “Marketers are interested in engaging with their audience and part of that is tapping into themes that resonate with them, whether that’s being associated with the content they watch individually or taking advantage of a global meme. Brands that took part in the Harlem Shake meme were able to expose a broader audience to their brand.”
Yet many brands aren’t doing much with the opportunities. Pepsi and Lynx (Axe) awkwardly jumped on this Harlem Shake meme bandwagon, creating virtually identical videos of their products dancing the Harlem Shake.
A lot of memevertising feels like this: half-hearted attempts to piggy back on what everyone else is talking about. Marketers can do a lot better than dancing cans and bottles (or nuts).
Marketers need to consider if, when, and how to wade in. Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. Not every meme is a fit for every brand. There’s also a limited time window on Internet memes, and many brands miss the boat. Most of all, I think that brands should bring something new to the meme. It’s not enough to stamp “brand X was here” on a meme the same as every other brand. The real opportunity is to creatively add something new and unique to the conversation.
As brands continue to piggyback on Internet memes, the ones that resonate are the ones that can be timely, authentic, and, above all, creative.
(Marketoonist Monday: I’m giving away a signed print of this week’s cartoon. Just share an insightful comment to this week’s post. I’ll pick one comment at 5:00 PST on Monday. Thanks!)
Angela says
April 14, 2013 at 11:34 pmI completely agree. A lot of brands feel like they have to jump in on Internet meme’s just like they did when they felt they had to do ‘something’ with social media for their brand. A lot of times people are still concerned more with pushing out content and being there than actually listening and engaging their fans.
I think that sometimes certain Internet hypes become so big that when you try to jump in as a brand you become one of the many. You become ordinary instead of extraordinary.
Van55415 says
April 15, 2013 at 5:40 amThese memeadvertising ideas focus so much on the current cultural phase and can end up alientaing many of thier consumers. These companies forget about all thier consumers who maybe are not up on what the Harlem Shake or Gangman is…. these “nonhip users” tend to look at these ads and wonder where did my brand go? and may consider leaving brand because it’s not who I am. The “hip users” shake their head at these companies and wonder why is my brand doing this…… Great point on how these companies jump in with no message
Michael says
April 15, 2013 at 5:54 amI think there is only case where brands should get involved in pop culture being made, it is when the product is the subject of a Meme (like Icing for Smirnoff)
The answer should just play along and let people use your product in the way that they like
For a relevant example, see how Mentos and Coke let the DietCoke+Mentos go viral by saying “We don’t ge it, but it seems cool. Have fun guys … Take care”
Bill Carlson says
April 15, 2013 at 6:19 amThis is of course not a new syndrome — it’s just the most current version of advertising (and movies, TV shows, music, fashion and many other things) of all sorts where something is working and others jump on the bandwagon. And those coming later to the concept may or may not add something new (consider the “sight unseen” spin of The Voice versus American Idol) but regardless, it eventually dilutes the value to all.
As you point out, nothing remains unique for long. No harm in attempting to take advantage of the zeitgeist but do it because it makes sense, not just because others are doing it and you feel nervous about being the exception.
And to some extent, it’s more about timing than creativity. Used to be we could pause to watch the first person in, see how something is received, decide from there. Today we must move more quickly, immediately considering and deciding whether or not to jump on a bandwagon since it’s moving quickly. A good idea at the right time might be more important than a great idea that’s too late.
To do this we must have a strong sense of our brand, confident in what makes sense and what does not relative to our long-term strategy. The whole pistachios concept is clever overall (I think) and leveraging gangnam style dancing as one element is a win since it fits the premise rather than trying to be the premise (and it can be easily dropped out of the rotation once its “fad window” has closed). However, not so sure the more timeless Jaguar or Johnny Walker brands would benefit from that or in general trying to leverage fads…
Alexandra says
April 15, 2013 at 7:10 amMemevertising. I like it.
I think what brands need to understand before producing memevertising is that the phenomenon is not about them. People are not going to tune into Pepsico to watch the harlem shake for the first time, so brands need to make it more about the shake than the product itself.
By all means, get involved, join in the fun. However they need to stop using it as a product placement ploy and make consumers think you are doing it simply because you can! The washing machine example of this is perfect… even I tuned in to watch the washing machine ‘harlem sake’…however if Hotpoint had put it out there, I doubt it would have had the same response.
As a young(ish) consumer, I would like to think I see through product placement. They need to trick us into loving it.
Ori Pomerantz says
April 15, 2013 at 7:10 amAgain, Capitalistic Humility, the virtue of selling(1) what people want to buy rather than what you want to sell. People want to see clever takes on a meme. They don’t want to see yet another rehash of it. The problem is that creativity is very hard to schedule and run through a committee.
One solution is what video games like Minecraft do. They don’t advertise. Instead, they have fans who advertise for them (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p55jwAwwzw, and see all the linked videos that also talk about Minecraft). But for that you have to have a really cool product (or service) that people want to be creative about.
If you have a boring brand, I don’t think it can be made interesting through advertising, not when people are already saturated. It is a product development issue.
(1) In advertising you’re “selling” entertainment in return for attention to the brand, but the principle is the same as when selling for money.
Jennifer Christ says
April 15, 2013 at 8:22 amTiming is everything! Certain brands can profit BIG from a meme. But as you’ve identified, there is a LIMITED time window. Consumers get over the same old thing very quickly! Us marketers need to realize, as you’ve so insightfully identified, that a “half-hearted”, cheap meme can actually do damage to our brand! But if you hit it while it’s hot, and it’s a unique & customized version that will relate well with your target market, it is like hitting the jackpot! Thanks for another great read! I’m fairly new to your blog but I am loving it!
Larry Burns says
April 15, 2013 at 9:59 amSo, here we have another ‘perfect’ example of one definition of humor that lingers in my brain; went something like – “Humor is truth the moment before you realize it”.
Is there an actual right answer to this one? In comments so far there are words of true wisdom:
* don’t jump in blindly – not all memes are good for your brand
* You are likely to be “too late” anyway
* Don’t forget all your users who are not as hip as ad agency and brand folks
* If you can have FUN with it and it fits have at it
* If you are going to ‘pile on’ – be smart and try to stand out
* Do ask WHY you are interested and if the answer is only “its so hot right now” likely not the best choice ….
* etc ….
My take is one I continue to harp on – what a brand is, as your customers understand it and tell you and others, should be a major component of input to your marketing notions these days in particular. Yes, marketing can operate seeking to ‘update’ perceptions or ‘re-position’ etc. But, the essence of a brand (with a any lifespan of consequence)truly is something that lives in the minds of the people you are speaking to.
All things ‘new’ and ‘sweeping the nation’ are not worthy of time and creative effort for most brands. The old adage of what you choose to NOT do is sometimes more difficult and ultimately useful than what you actually do. Might an opportunity be missed? Might a really creative and fun ‘catch a wave’ moment be dismissed – unfortunately that is true, yet it seems there may be more potential for missteps than success in chasing the ephemeral.
Here’s a simple idea – go ahead and play with these memes, in fact go crazy, play, create and “ideate”. Stick these notions in an online thread someplace along the lines of “If we were to do something like this is might be something like _______” then if your users, brand advocates, et.al. like it they will do the work. If not they will groan and tease you. (Yes, not for every brand – of course!).
Truly great marketing can leverage all sorts of culturally literate notions, memes, ideas and creativity. However, “unless you’re the lead dog on the sled team – the view does not change much” – the caution being obvious – following is not the ideal place to be.
Personally, I liked the Pistachio execution – following in the long line of the campaign … some folks get it some do not and that’s OK – given the context (and the media buy itself). But, what do I know right? After all – I can not readily explain why it really IS somehow harder recently to walk past the Pistachio display in the local grocery without picking up a bag …. funny how that works isn’t it?
Tom – keep making us look in our ever present mirrors … and thanks for your ongoing commentary – it is always fun to read.
Larry Burns @JLarryBurns, http://www.eclecticallysampling.com
Mariana says
April 15, 2013 at 11:29 amFunny – I was just addressing a team on social media and someone asked me if ANY business could pull off a Harlem Shake and not look trite… My answer was that yes, with great creativity and great timing it could happen. I think SeaWorld San Antonio is a good example – they were very fast to jump on the meme, and they took advantage of the craziness implied by the dance to show the cool stuff that their animals do on their shows (let’s not get here into the debate whether exploiting animals for business is fun or not). They also created a bit of a human touch showing that their employees are quirky and seem to bring creative ideas to their job, a good thing on a business that is selling the fact that they will entertain you. Even if you did not know what the HS was, you could like that video, in my opinion, and it does not take away from the brand experience – it would be surreal, but it does not make the viewer feel they are completely lost in the joke or that the brand they love just “lost it.”
Patrick says
April 20, 2013 at 9:36 amI’m mostly in agreement here, but I think you’ve missed the mark on Wonderful Pistachio. If you look at their ad campaign on YouTube, they’re ALL memes or parodies – http://www.youtube.com/user/wonderfulpistachios/videos?view=0 Honey Badger, Keyboard Cat, Snoop Dog. When they came out with Gangham Style, I laughed a bit and thought that it was perfectly consistent with what I’ve come to expect from that brand.
If the brand is just doing it as a one-time thing, as in the Pepsi cans, then yes, the marketers are probably trying too hard to be cool. But if they’ve got a meme theme going, then it can work just fine.
tomfishburne says
April 21, 2013 at 10:30 pmHi all,
Thanks for all of your great perspective here. I also appreciate all of the support for the Wonderful Pistachios Gangnam ad, Patrick and Larry. I’m not that familiar with that brand and hadn’t realized that parodies was such a part of their identity. This week’s print goes to Angela. I really like the insight that brands are “still concerned more with pushing out content and being there than actually listening and engaging their fans” Many thanks!
-Tom