Will it continue to grow or fizzle out in a few months in India? Are large brands getting on board for this medium? Here's a look at latest trends in meme marketing.
An average millennial looks at 20-30 memes every day, and with the millennials ruling the generation, meme culture is undeniably a way of life today. It is an indefinitely imitated concept. Since their arrival on the world wide web, memes have brought relatable content, from humorous images to videos that go viral in a blink of an eye. As a result, memes have a presence that is in demand, and they can be relayed, reused, and overused many times before you grow tired of using them at all.
The internet of memes has caught the eye of digital marketers. To pursue the interests of their customers, they are now creating social media campaigns focusing on meme interactions with the potential of an underlying economic benefit. Meme marketing is one of the economical and most accessible methods of marketing. One can create a whole range of memes and simultaneously increase their chances of a return on investment. On average, by using memes, a marketer gets ten times more reach with 60% organic engagement.
Brands are now leveraging memes to create a digital identity using the peculiar social phenomena of subtle humour but with a more personalized touch. They associate their brands with the most viral memes and create visual aspects that their customer can relate to and further share. For example, Zomato and Swiggy are known for curating the most innovative campaigns by triggering human sentiments and amplifying the ‘been there, done that!’ factor.
Indian market with the highest youth percentage( 34.33% ) in the world opens the doors to many mediums to increase their brand visibility. With a diverse culture and heritage intertwined with pop culture references, memes are a raging trend in India. It has become a new way of communication, ranging from video and image posts to stickers, emojis, and even GIFs.
However, juggling between the struggle to keep memes strictly under the company community guidelines, brands are now modifying memes and diverting their subject to something that is more centred around their brand image. Humour is a tricky business, and brands need to make sure it doesn’t offend or alienate their customers in any way. The existence of such challenges subsides with the numerous benefits memes have in store for us. Meme impressions have increased from 19.8M in August 2019 to 24.9M in July 2020, a 26% peak and ultimately 28M during April 2020. Lockdown compelled users to increase their screen time, hoping that escapism and memes seem to have perfectly morphed themselves as a serving aid.
This old-school style of satire of meme sharing is now a significant catalyst in the world of digital marketing. The bottom line is that memes can help your brand achieve the upper hand in creating brand awareness, exposure and also strengthen your customer engagement. Memes are a fast and easy way for consumers to respond to your brand and business as a whole. From a fad to a new age phenomenon, implementing meme marketing into the digital marketing aspect of your business is the only logical step.
(Sahil Chopra is the Founder & CEO of iCubesWire, a digital marketing solutions company. Views expressed in this article are personal and may not necessarily reflect those of Outlook Magazine.)