When jokes mean serious business: Why meme marketing is gaining popularity in D2C space
Memes are enjoying more popularity because of its inherent nature of being topical. This creates multiple opportunities for the brand to ride on and get viral, say experts
Being able to laugh at yourselves or using humor to say it all is the finest trait to nurture, but it can help people connect with us more – and it’s the same for brands and consumers.
And so, no surprise that meme marketing is one of the latest trends among direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands who seek to connect with audiences, especially millennials, in a casual but interesting way on every topical issue; be it a high pitch India-Pakistan cricket match or dazzling new year eve or hype around iPhone launch. Remember memes on the Zomato Blinkit merger, which took over social media early this year. The merger happened in 2020, but it went viral only after their campaign led to a massive storm of memes by hundreds of brands:
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Swiggy is not far behind its rival. The home-grown food delivery brand’s hilarious take on other popular brands is worth following.
solving important questions ?#AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/OICXjABqw2
— Swiggy (@Swiggy) September 12, 2023
Now, top brands across the sectors like Google India, Amazon Prime Video, JioCinema, Durex, Dabur and Pepperfry are winning the internet audience through sustained meme campaigns mainly on Instagram and Twitter.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cx2tJljLZkp/?igshid=MWZjMTM2ODFkZg==
For instance, over the last 2-3 years, Dabur’s overall investment on Social has shown a steady increase. Memes coupled with other content formats on social commands have a significant share and are growing at over 15% YOY, Rajiv Dubey, Media Head, Dabur India Ltd, tells e4m.
Hajmola, a popular digestive tablet brand from Dabur, is known for its creative and humorous use of memes in its marketing and advertising campaigns. Similarly, its Real brand and Amla hair oil have also used memes to connect with consumers on current events and social issues.
Dubey noted, “Memes have helped us communicate with consumers and expand our reach by making us more relatable, more engaging, increased engagement and website traffic. They also help us to reach a wider audience. This helps us to build brand awareness.”
Meme makers in demand
According to social media site Instagram, at least one million posts mentioning "meme" were shared every day in 2020.
Brands have surely taken a note. They are increasingly hiring meme makers or partnering with meme making agencies to quickly churn out hilarious memes to cash in on every occasion, industry experts say.
Creative agencies are also feeling pressure to churn out hilarious memes spontaneously, sometimes every morning. Their pitch with the brand invariably has a special space for social media strategy these days.
Amit Wadhwa, CEO, dentsu Creative India, says, “Times have changed, our audience has changed and so has the way we communicate with them. It’s common knowledge that TV and print isn’t the best and end of all things and digital has taken a strong leading role. In reality, digital itself is a complex medium which requires different ways that we need to approach it. Right from the configuration of the creative teams, which also include video editors and creative tech teams besides copy and art now, to teams venturing into newer approaches like memes, I think it is a fantastic way of accentuating a brand idea. Interesting times, I say :).”
While some creative agencies are hiring meme makers in their digital team, some are roping in creative people with a funny bone.
“Agencies are looking out for people not traditionally specified as content writers but they are budding stand-up artists or simple folks who are good with wordplay,” says Nimesh Shah, Founder and CEO of Windchimes Communications.
D2C brands usually spend 90% of their marketing budget on digital. Within digital, the social media spend, including memes, is upwards of 70% nowadays, says Shah.
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Topicality
For decades, scores of Indian and foreign brands have tried spoofing ads to make inroads among potential customers. Sometimes they ask consumers not to buy the product or skip the brand name altogether or poke fun at the concept of advertising itself.
Amul, for instance, has been winning millions of hearts for years with its topical memes. In the age of digital, the reach and frequency of such spoofs have gone million-fold.
According to a BBC article, Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist, coined the term "meme" in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, likening discrete bits of human culture that propagate between people to genes. He suggested that memes were melodies, ideas, catchphrases or bits of information that leap from brain to brain through imitation, expediting their transmission.
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“Memes are definitely enjoying more popularity as a communication mode these days. It’s primarily because of its inherent nature of being topical. This creates multiple opportunities for the brand to ride on and get viral. Brands showcase their product features and USPs wrapped in the humour wrapper of memes,” Shah noted.
Aalap Desai, an independent creative professional, echoes the sentiments and believes that humour will always be in style. “Humour is such a positive emotion that whenever someone makes you smile, the memory stays with you. With memes, this has become serious business. Brands have realised the power of short-form humour and are asking more of it because people never have or, in my opinion, never will, mind sharing a joke. Even if it's branded.”
The smartest brands, those that generate buzz, laughter, and engagement, harness the unparalleled power of humor and memes, because memes aren't just about content; they are the heart of the new age consumer, says Advit Sahdev, a marketing expert.
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Sahdev adds, “For Millennials and Gen Z, the digital natives who grew up with the ability to scroll, like and share, memes are more than just a hobby; it's a language. And the brands that speak this language, infusing humor and wit into their campaigns, are the brands that not only attract attention; they win hearts.”
Are memes effective?
Usually the most viral, most loved memes are memes that are about things that are very recent in public memory and appeal to a large number of people.
According to a study by The NYU Dispatch, traditional marketing graphics have 5% engagement while memes can yield 60% organic engagement with ten times higher reach.
Memes also have a serious side. They have the capacity to transcend cultures and become powerful tools for self-expression, connection, social influence and even political subversion, communication experts say.
However, the shelf-life is much shorter i.e. 24 hours as compared to an insight-driven communication campaign. As a result, memes don’t lead to strong brand association and recall. This prompts brands to churn out more memes and in turn, further fuel the use of memes, Shah pointed out.
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Not everyone is convinced about the influence and power of memes. Some brands are still averse to the idea of meme marketing.
“When you hire a meme page in a media plan, they are given a brief, and they come up with their way of comms. But it is always a joke. Obviously. That's why clients are mostly divided on this front. Some believe that it becomes shareable and appreciated because it's funny, while some believe that it is counterproductive and self-deprecating if they are used. It's an acquired taste,” Desai noted.
