Evolution of Memetic Marketing or memejacking strategy in New Media
Evolution of Memetic Marketing or memejacking strategy in New Media
Table of Content
Acknowledgement
Table of content
Chapter One : Introduction to the Research Study and
Research Methodology
1.1
Introduction
1.2
Literature Review
1.3 Research Objectives
1.4
Research Hypothesis
1.5
Research Methodology
1.6
Delimitation
Chapter Two : Evolution and Strategy of meme
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Creative meme and Meme as Culture
public sphere
2.3 Meme in Development Communication and
Meme Lifecycle Model
2.4 Meme/Memetic /Memejacking Strategy in
media
Chapter Three : Marketing
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Marketing
and Social media
3.3 Audience
engagement in E- Marketing
Chapter Four : New Media
4.1
Introduction
4.2
Internet and Brand Websites
4.3
New media Marketing and Tools
4.4
Social Media Trends
Chapter Five : Data Analysis
5.1
Qualitative Analysis (Case Study, Observational
Method)
Chapter Six : Conclusion
·
Limitation and Suggestion
Chapter
One
Introduction to the Research Study and
Methodology
1.1 Introduction
Did you know that an average person spends nearly 2 hours on social media every day? In the past few years we have witnessed a new trend in content marketing as brands move away from traditional broadcast advertising to leverage a more social, engaging way to connect with consumers. Content marketing is based on the idea of creating, curating and most importantly, publishing and sharing original content. One marketing term that comes up a lot with memes is “memejacking.” In the current shift of technology certain things have changed the way in which communities and individuals come together. The era of Web 2.0, a term used to describe the way in which the internet is no longer a newer concept to the world but more of an entity which has altered the way we live and become an important figure in our lives; has given us many different ways of coming together so be it forums, social networks, videos, even the comment areas on blogs and websites. While this technology has allowed us to come together in ways never before imagined it has also allowed for more fragmentation than possible. The internet has permitted niches to be reached farther than before and even to be created from a few who find similar interest. In using this medium we have all become part of something bigger, a way of sharing our thoughts and beliefs with one another. While still theoretical in some practices the proper terminology for this sharing is meme. Although the term is most often used academically in the study of psychology to define cultural understanding, in this paper the term is used to describe a more modern phenomena which has taken a hold of cyberspace and passes on from one user to another via forums, social networks, and videos. According to Business News Daily, this is when brands use previously created memes in their own marketing strategy. Memes are generally known for their concept. But when we talk about internet meme, it refers to a humorous image or video having a definite style and concept which usually go viral on the internet. Before the days of social media, memes were shared via email, blogs and forums. One of the first memes was the Dancing baby, which was so popular in the 90s, it made a cameo on the TV show Ally McBeal. Another popular early meme was the Hampster dance, a webpage born as the result of a competition between two sisters to generate the most web traffic. There are several types of memes, such as; Rage comics, Image macros, Trending memes, Exploitables, Copypasta.
New memes appear on social media every day. Some are only a flash in the pan and die out before bedtime. Others stick around for several months or even years. Taking a trending meme and applying it to a brand or product can be a fast way to resonate with your audience. On the downside, copying existing memes can appear lazy and unoriginal. And when a brand gets behind the wrong meme, their message could be outdated by the time an ad reaches their customers. Gucci recently launched a series of Instagram ads that reimagined popular memes featuring its watch collection. The campaign included high-end photography and custom illustrations, but was met with a lukewarm reception. Another example is from the group chat application HipChat, which launched a meme-inspired billboard in San Francisco. According to the brand's blog, "The response far exceeded our expectations and continues to pay off today."
However, this strategy is one of the most popular uses of Internet humor for marketing campaigns. There’s actually a good amount of major businesses that rely on memes and other viral content to help drive their social media presence. Some famous Brands used Memetic Marketing or Memejacking are;
· Fenty Beauty
· Disney
· Netflix
· Denny’s Diner
· Barkbox
1.1 Literature Review
•
One time I walked into McDonalds and I could smell Type 2 diabetes floating in
the air and I threw up. #McDStories (via Twitter)
• These #McDStories never get old, kinda like
a box of McDonald’s 10 piece Chicken McNuggets left in the sun for a week (via
the LA Times)
•
–#McDStories I lost 50lbs in 6 months after I quit working and eating at
McDonald’s (via The Daily Mail)
Several traditional media sources, including the Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes and the Telegraph, covered the backlash to the Hash-tag campaign. Tech popular sites, such as the Next Web and Mashable, also covered the failed Hash-tag campaign. Within days of the campaign’s failure, McDonald’s stock was down 3%, knocking almost $3 billion off its market value. Twitter Sentiment, the web site reporting on Twitter trending data, reported that 68% of the tweets with #McDStories Hash-tag were negative. The preceding three cases indicate that multimedia advertising campaigns can be created to increase the probability of an “after-life” for the meme beyond its traditional media life. The idea that an advertising campaign can reproduce itself, albeit in a modifi ed form, is consistent with Companion to the Future of Marketing Memes, memetics and marketing 331 the theory and definition of a meme (Gelb, 1997). Before we can more systematically assess the merits of memes and memetics in marketing communications let us first review some key issues in the science of memetics.
1.3 Research Objective
The Objective of the
research is to study the Evolution and Impact of Memes in Marketing and effect
of Memes on the audience in the new media.
To Understand Meme culture, Meme
trends, Meme Communication and styles in New media. Also to study it’s wide
influence in audience compared to other marketing Strategies. The Role of Meme
in playing Crucial role in Enhancement and engagement of audience for brands
through online marketing. The focus of this study is to find what type of
people not only view memes but also create and share them. Along with finding
what type of demographic exist in meme culture, I also seek to find how they
view meme content in relation to brand preference meaning can a meme truly
alter their view of a brand.
And also if Memejacking Strategy of New Media replace
other Marketing Strategies in upcoming
years.
1.4 Research
Hypothesis
Netizens are widely aware about Memes in New media.
2 Meme marketing effectively influence and shape the values and attitudes of consumers.
Businessman find meme to be more strategic medium of Marketing.
Memes set higher engagement metrics and screen time with users.
1.5 Research Methodology
• Overview : To study on “Evolution of Memetic Marketing or memejacking strategy in New Media”. A questionnaire among people of age (14-45) .
• Hypothesis : The selected
Hypothesis method is Descriptive.
• Research Design : Retrospective
study research design has been studies (i.e, Phenomenon or a situation that has
occurred in the past).
• Sampling : The sampling includes Deliberate sampling/ Purposive sampling method. The sample size is Small sample test (i.e, Less then 30 sample size.
• Type of survey : Qualitative Method of survey.
•
Content
analysis : Selecting the content to analyse, and defining the amount of Qualitative information. After coding analysis the result.
1.6 Delimitation
This study focuses on the creativity of Internet memes used in advertising campaigns. A random selection of memes is analysed. It is argued that the creation of Internet memes involves amusing juxtaposition of phrases and pictures. Advertisers have taken advantage of this Internet phenomenon. They use familiar ideas and background knowledge in order to make new and surprising combinations of Internet memes. Advertisers’ aim is to play creatively with memetic elements. To conclude, being able to skilfully and cleverly alter the original meme and create the humourous effect are the main goals of marketers.
Chapter
Two
Evolution and Strategy of meme
Introduction
A Meme can essentially be described as an idea or habit which is shared between people through imitation. In common language the internet meme has become synonymous with the meme ever since its enormous online popularity (Sharma, 2018). However, there is a difference in modern-day memes, or internet memes, and how they originally where defined.
The concept of a meme was originally coined by Richard Dawkins (1976 cited in Knobel, 2006) in his 1976 book “The Selfish Gene”. Here, Dawkins defines the meme as a biological function of evolution. It is described as a behavior or idea which, because of its popularity and common likability, is shared and imitated within cultures and, in turn, increases the chance of evolutionary survival.
One of the most efficient ways of communicating with customers in marketing is through humor. Furthermore, the most prevalent medium used on the internet, and in social media, for humorous purposes is the internet meme ( Taecharungroj & Nueangjamnong, 2015). Memes are seen as relatable pieces of life, a sort of observational comedy if you will, which are able to resonate to a larger population. This is partly because they are often comedic commentary on relatable societal subjects. The essence of trends is therefore such an important factor to memes (Sharma, 2018).
This is what Van Dijk (2012) referrers to as ”The Law of Trend Amplification” . Further, this resonates with the fact that the hierarchical relationship between consumers and marketers has become more horizontal. However, it does not mean that marketers are completely incapacitated. In fact, it could be seen as a case of the opposite. Social media users sharing trends through memes gives marketing managers a golden chance to join the fun by adapting this medium in their marketing strategy and advertising campaigns (Bruce & Solomon, 2013).
Discussions on the topic “Viral Trends” tend to mainly focus on the extent to which the trend is spread, leaving out important sociocultural aspects as well as human agency (Burgess, 2008; Jenkins et al., 2007; Knobel, 2006). A meme, on the other hand, gives way for a more participatory form of creative user involvement, making it an even more engaging internet phenomenon. This is commonly referred to as “remixing” memes. According to Shifman (2012) there are some common characteristics that make memes more regeneratable. These are; including ordinary people, humor, simplicity and repetitiveness.
The modern marketing environment is currently experiencing a lot of changes due to the social evolution of the internet and new media (Van Dijk, 2012). Ever since the emergence of our current “Web 2.0” era the tables have turned from marketing managers having full creative control of their brand, to consumers having more power to create, and recreate, content online. This is commonly referred to as User Generated Content (UGC) (Christodoulides et al., 2012). It is part of a communication paradigm shifting into a more participatory culture. Among other ways to share content online, such as Instagram Images, Tweets, Blogs and Vlogs etc. one particular type has in the last ten years taken the internet by storm, Memes (Sharma, 2018).
2.2 Creative Meme and Meme as
Culture Public Sphere
Creative
expression of Internet memes involves making unknown combinations of familiar
ideas and actively engaging personal skills as well as knowledge to create new
products, ideas or solutions (Boden, 2010). Each day a great number of Internet
memes is created and distributed between people. Various scholars proposed
different definitions of creativity. Gauntlett claimed that creativity is made
up of three elements, namely, ‘a culture that contains symbolic rules; a person
who brings novelty into the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who who
recognize and validate the innovation’ (2011:10). When it comes to Internet
memes, a person uses an image or a video in an interesting way so that other users
could recognize the World Scientific News 57 (2016) 33-41 -36- creativity
ingrained in the meme. Then, the meme is copied, remixed and spread to
individuals. Ideas which are considered senseless will not spread; only
creative ideas survive. Brink claims that memes are considered creative if they
possess the following properties: ‘novelty, unexpectedness, fertility,
surprise, adequacy or correctness’ (2010:5). Individuals who wish to be
‘recognized within a community of interesting people’ create novel and unusual
memes (Gauntlett 2011:4). It can be said that creativity is not an isolated
individual act. It is motivated by the surrounding world which provides the
creator with ideas and information.
Example 1 : Creative
Meme
Grumpy Cat meme Grumpy Cat is a well-known meme which
presents a photo of a cat with a dissatisfied face, usually with amusing
phrases around, for example ‘If you’re happy and you know it, go to Hell.’ The
meme has become an Internet sensation and won itself many fans. Marketers have
successfully used the Grumpy Cat meme in order to create a buzz and generate a
content that consumers will respond to. For instance, Friskies, one of the cat
food companies, has used the Grumpy Cat meme to promote their brand (Fig. 1).
The meme establishes an emotional connection with the consumer by using humour.
The Grumpy Cat meme has also appeared in the frozen food aisle. The store has
used the cat’s image along with the catchy phrases to appeal to the consumers.
By using this recognizable character the marketers wish to attract consumers’
attention and provoke conversation about the product.
Figure.1 : Friskies used Grumpy Cat Meme
By using the Grumpy Cat image, marketers try to differentiate
their product from the competitors. Rather than trying to create something new,
marketers may take advantage of the Grumpy Cat meme which is already a viral
trend.
Memes that are understood by many affect the public sphere the most. The infamous and now extremely out dated Dress Meme that inspired a nation-wide debate about the correct colour of a dress was so popular that it made it to the White House. This meme had a huge effect on the public sphere, as it interrupted newscasts and sparked public discourse.
All Internet memes, whether they are concrete, transient, or absurd, have some sort of effect on the public sphere. Determining whether or not these effects are minor ripples or transformative tsunamis is up to history, the people, and you. Most memes may only touch the many micro-spheres of the Internet, but they still do something, they still impact someone. Memes are details, they are the minute pieces that make up Internet culture, but they can tell us a lot about cultural trends.
2.3 Meme in Development Communication and Meme Lifecycle Model
“As Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message”
The academic and everyday literacies blogger, Michele Knobel, first studied internet memetics back in 2005. When she first looked at them they were very marginal. In this documentary, she gave a new reflection the way we talk online. "Humans communicate on so many different dimensions. Memes add layers of meaning to a medium that can otherwise be rather flat.” Writing in the Content Standard, Linsey Covino-Deaso notes that current ebbs and flows in the evolution of social media technology seem to reveal a trend towards non-verbal communication in digitally mediated environments. In person, non-verbal cues are those aspects of communication that convey the nuance of human sentiment: a slight raise of an eyebrow or the twitch of a smirk.
In an age of fast-food content, fake news, and sensationalism, it’s easy to understand how we may be craving the return of a little nuance in digital communication. A meme provides a more complex yet concise and flexible expression of verbal and visual sentiment that we can use to communicate in a manner that perhaps more closely resembles the way in which we communicate in person.
Just as symbols that represent more complex ideas are some of the most efficient forms of cultural expression we have, memes condense the richness and nuances of certain sentiments into a single communicative unit. Combine this with a basic psychological drive to create content as a form of expression and identity formation, and plenty of sites that let you do so easily, and you have a potent formula for the proliferation of memes. The way our online conversations have evolved has normalised the use of internet memes.
Victoria Emma who wrote her PHD on them thinks we need to pay more attention to them: 'If millions of people use them to communicate every day, there must be something to them. We can't just dismiss them as internet cats.'
In advertising, one useful approach would be to develop a
memetic model based on a propositional network for predicting meme success in
advertising. We draw on and extend Bjarneskans’ lifecycle model of memes for
this endeavor (Bjarneskans et al., 2005). Our version of the lifecycle model of
memes incorporates six basic stages (see Figure 18.1). These are:
• Transmission: Memetic engineers encode memes in an
information-carrying media such as television commercials, print
advertisements, or YouTube viral videos. Knowledge is expressed.
• Decoding: The host perceives the meme. A message-carrying
medium exposes a host’s brain to a meme. Knowledge is received.
• Infection: The meme takes up residence in the host’s brain
(mental structure). Knowledge is processed.
• Storage: The meme is stored in the host’s brain’s long-term
memory. Knowledge is saved.
• Survival: The meme successfully fi ghts off counter-memes.
Knowledge is retained.
• Retransmission: The meme is retransmitted from the host’s
brain to the brains of other hosts. Knowledge is spread.
2.4 Meme/Memetic /Memejacking Strategy in media
Big and well-known brands like Netflix and Disney are riding on the meme wave, attracting audiences from far and wide. Memes in digital marketing help brands get to the point without beating around the bush, capturing the audience by being funny. Brands that have low audience engagement on their pages can use this marketing style to gain leverage.Relevant memes in digital marketing is like a new language to this generation. According to statistics, memes are the most shared content, taking over 85 percent of the world’s share. We sometimes do not know where the meme came from or what it is all about, we simply share it because it is relatable and found it amusing.
Chapter
Three
Marketing
3.1 Introduction
Marketing is
the process of getting potential clients or customers interested in your
products and services. The key word in this definition is
"process"; marketing involves
researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services.
This
discipline centre on the study of market and consumer behaviours and it
analyse the commercial management of companies in order to attract, acquire and
retain customers (hopefully instilling brand loyalty) by satisfying their wants
and needs.
According to E. J. McCarthy, the 4 Ps of Marketing is a
simple formula for identifying and working with the essential elements of
your marketing strategy.
·
Product. Having a product is key and is, consequently, the root of all
things marketing. In this
sense, a product would be anything that a company could offer consumers
which might satisfy a need. The best thing to do is to decide on your product
or service based both on the needs and motivations of consumers and how the
product would benefit the consumer; not so much on the object’s physical
characteristics or attributes.
·
Place. Strategic merchandising locations can be anything from an online store
(ecommerce) to a channel of physical stores across multiple towns and
countries. The goal of the distribution strategy is to enable potential clients
to have easy access to products/services, as well as offer a good company
experience throughout the purchasing process.
·
Price. Price of the products and services is an extremely important decision in
the marketing strategy;
this factor affects other factors.
·
Promotion. This refers to all the marketing and
communication actions marketers carry out in order to diffuse the benefits and
characteristics of their product or service within the market.
3.2 Marketing and Social media
The main point of
marketing is attracting as many as the audience you can. Attracting people
through social media is not an easy task. Social media is used for
entertainment and fun; thus, if we place the advertising there, people would
just ignore them. Today, no one is interested in the old lame commercials, the
people just scroll past them. The growth of social media has created a
need for platforms to evolve with consumers demands for something new and
entertaining. Over the years there have been many networks that have been slow
to implement changes or unable to adapt their platform to demands of consumers.
Over the years
there have been many social platforms that have successfully developed their
brand to accommodate the needs of consumers, but of course where there are
successes there are failures, and many platforms have failed to stay relevant
in an ever changing climate.
Social media did
not start with Facebook, the idea of social media began in the early 1970’s as
a result of aspects like e-mail, the first e-mail being sent in 1971. With the
first solely social interaction site developing. The importance of
understanding the history of social media marketing is not only the development
of the platforms but how they also offer something unique for the customers and
offer a personal, yet sometimes interruptive form of advertising for
businesses. Knowing how to use social media marketing for your business
properly and acknowledge upcoming platforms as well as out-of-date sites gives
you advantage over others. At the moment Video is a hot trend but images do
still have more engagement on social media, so be sure to use the right method
for your business. There are so many different trends available and with the
platforms continually updating it is more important than ever to make sure that
you are creating content that your audience will see. Your audiences are now
more accessible than ever with the help of these social media sites providing
advertising and specific targeting opportunities.
The majority of the
sites that are still relevant are using Paid Advertising on their platforms,
this is increasingly important as businesses want to be where consumers are,
and if your platform is good enough it will have the people. Using Paid
Advertising on social media allows you to target specific demographics,
choosing the right social media marketing strategy will determine the success
of your campaign. For example, Facebook’s demographic has shifted over the
years and now 73% of 30-49 year old’s are using the social network! If you are
wishing to target this audience, it would be illogical to put money into
advertisements on Instagram for example where the demographic is much younger.
As well as
primarily using social networks to advertise, they will allow you to monitor
audience trends and adapt to them. Social networks also let you to communicate
with your audience directly, by doing this you are making your brand more
personable; breaking down the impression that your accounts are being run by
corporate robots. Overall, social networks allow you to get your name out
there, by interacting with your target demographic this can create a chain
effect in growing your business.
If you are unsure
of whether you are up to date on the social media marketing platforms available
for you business or if you are unsure that you are using them correctly for
your business, get in touch for a no obligation conversation. in 1997, Six
Degrees.
Marketing needs to
be more subtle and entertaining. This is why most of the big companies have
started using memes as a way of advertising. When done correctly,
meme-marketing can help you grow the success rate. As the market consists of a
larger chunk of young minds, it is beneficial to attract them towards the
product and memes will do that task for the brand. Instagram and Twitter are
always flooded with trendy memes.
Meme content help
you advertise the product and be more popular. The strategy has worked well for
many companies. Memes require the least effort but deliver the best content.
Netflix also used memes for Marketing.
Like a hilarious
meme about Starbucks coffee or read a big blog about how they make coffee? This
is where meme-marketing works. People share the hilarious meme on their
personal pages and more people know about the brand now. The audience picks
entertainment over information.
In other words,
people will do the marketing for you (if the meme is entertaining
enough).
Heinz is a perfect
example to understand the strategy. The company used the long old debate about
tomato being a fruit or vegetable. They created an original meme, which made
them reach more audiences. In simpler words, if the meme is viral, your brand
is too. Many other popular brands are using this marketing strategy such as
McDonald’s, Burger King, etc. Not just the food industry, meme have the scope
in many other industries be it beauty products, medicines or even a publishing
firm. The main goal is to promote the brand.
3.3 Audience Engagement in E-Marketing
A hands-on guide that looks beyond tactical
engagement tips to define the six core ways brands can gain more traction
online- Duffy Agency.
Engagement is the
online catalyst that converts prospects to customers, customers to loyal
customers, and loyal customers to vocal brand advocates. A colleague once
described engagement as, “The gravity that holds an audience in orbit around a
brand.” Engagement will usually appear in the top three. And, as challenging as
engagement can be for domestic brands, it becomes even more elusive when trying
to engage across the barriers of culture and language.
Social media engagement helps to strengthen
customer relationships. When customers engage with the posts or message
on social media there’s an opportunity to get to know the customers and build a
relationship. Answering the questions, respond playfully when appropriate, and
go above and beyond to offer excellent customer service. Social media engagement also allows to build
customer loyalty. By helping customers when they’re in need, building
relationship and offering a one of a kind customer experience to increase your
customer loyalty. Also increase in
sales through social media engagement. By being active on social
media and responding to customer posts, customers will feel confident making a
purchase through your store.. One can also grow their sales by recommending
certain products when asked. Audience engagement is also critical because it
allows businesses to achieve the following:
·
Amplify brand
awareness and elevate a company’s profile
·
Build and enhance
customer trust and loyalty
·
Increase website
conversions
·
Stay in touch and
increase social reach
·
Inspire emotion and
increase attention
·
Make the company
more personable
·
Increase sales
·
Grow business
Chapter
Four
New Media
New Media is a broad term in Media Studies
that emerged in the later part of the 20th century to encompass the
amalgamation of traditional media such as film, images, music, spoken and
written word, with the interactive power of computer and communication
technology, computer-enabled consumer devices and most importantly the
Internet. New media communication includes websites, chat room, bulletin board
services. New media is used to describe content made available using different
forms of electronic communication made possible through the use of computer
technology. Generally, the phrase new media describes content available
on-demand through the Internet. This content can be viewed on any device and
provides way for people to interact with the content in real-time with the
inclusion of user comments and making it easy for people to share the content
online and in social with friends and co-workers.
The phrase new media is in relation to "old" media
forms, such as print newspapers and magazines, that are static representations
of text and graphics. New media includes:
• websites and blogs
• streaming audio and video
• chat rooms
• email
• online communities
• social media and sharing platforms
• mobile apps
• Web advertising
• DVD and CD-ROM media
• virtual reality environments
• integration of digital data with the
telephone, such as Internet telephony
4.2 Internet and
Brand Websites
Internet branding (also referred to as Online branding) is a
brand management technique that uses the World Wide Web as a medium for
positioning a brand in the marketplace. Branding in the digital age is
increasingly important with the advancements of the internet. Most businesses
are exploring various online channels, which include search engine, social
media, online press releases, online marketplace, to establish strong
relationships with consumers and to build their brands awareness.
INTERNET : Internet a system architecture that has revolutionized communications and
methods of commerce by allowing various computer networks around the world to
interconnect. Sometimes referred to as a “network of networks,” the Internet
emerged in the United States in the 1970s but did not become visible to the
general public until the early 1990s. By 2020, approximately 4.5 billion people,
or more than half of the world’s population, were estimated to have access to
the Internet.
BRAND A brand is name, term, sign, symbol,
design, or combination of these which is used to identify the goods or services
of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of
competition. Brands have evolved around the world from thousands of centuries.
Branding has gained importance with the evolution of human being. In the
increasingly competitive and complex world all consumers faces many choices
with little time to select (KellerK., Parameswaran M., Jacob I., 2012). So
powerful and easily identifiable brands will be more desired by corporate than
weaker one which are rejected. Moreover consumers are increasingly asking for
recommendations while choosing brands.
India currently has 71 million internet users. Internet today
has reached to various factions all over the world. The nature of sharing &
interaction is hugely influenced today on internet, by the virtue of various
technological evolutions and applications. Internet has been flooded with the
information which is enormous. Because of information overload some argues that
internet would not be a reliable platform for marketing or promotion of
products and services. Maintaining customer commitment sand continuity in
interaction is becoming difficult as majority of consumers are having less time
left for brand engagement (Rowly J., 2004). So online branding will become the
need of hour in near future. In India because of several factors like globalization,
increasing digitization and increasing importance of customer relationships, a
rapid change is happening in industry practices and market structures. Market
data confirms the trend that majority of businesses are striving for bigger online
presence. Social Media Marketing (SMM) in India is currently used very actively
by brands like Tata Docomo, MTV India, Channel V, Clear Trip, Tata Photon, Axe
deodorants, Microsoft, Naukri.com, Shaadi.com and the number is increasing
daily. Continuously over no of years internet is gaining importance as a medium
of viral or word of mouth marketing. The social media can generate negative publicity
for Brands. Recent example of Tata Nano catching fire was largely discussed on
internet, where no efforts have been taken by company to nullify it. The content
still remains on internet unaddressed and might be referred for making decisions
by consumers. Brands that stay away from new media such as Social Media will
become extinct and would lose contract with their customers in future (Lovett
J.,Owyang J., 2010)The discussion here wants to state first the number of
opportunities and challenges in creation of online brands in Indian context. .
In creating online brand show social media plays an important role? Third
objective is to check how consumers respond to the brand communications through
Social Media Networks.
The Coca-Cola Company
has established a global brand blueprint in 200 different countries with unique
identity. In Spain, for example, Coca-Cola wanted to reach out to young adults.
Because the Internet is such a large part of that audience’s lives, the Spanish
team elected to make the Web a key component of the marketing strategy through
an online, interactive game.
Other Famous Online Brands are : Google, Amazon, JustDial, AliBaba.com
4.3 New
Media Marketing and Tools
New
Media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention
through Websites and other Social Media sites. Social Media
marketing programs usually
centre on efforts
to create content
that attracts attention
and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A
corporate message spreads from
user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to
come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or
company itself. Hence, this
form of marketing is
driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it
results in earned media rather
than paid media. Social Media
has become a platform
that is easily accessible to anyone
with internet access.
Increased communication for
organizations fosters brand
awareness and often,
improved customer service. Additionally,
Social Media serves
as a relatively
inexpensive platform for
organizations to implement marketing campaigns.
Social Media network
are applications that allow users to
build personal web sites accessible to other users for exchange
of personal content and
communication (Bowden and Lewis
2009). Social Media according
to Bowden and Lewis
can be characterized
as: online applications,
platforms and media
which aim to
facilitate interactions, collaborations and the sharing of content.
According to Forrester
research study (2011)
by Ernst. J,
David M. and
Cooperstein, Dernoga M, companies (brands) are
gradually shifting their
advertising priorities to align
better with today's buyers. Evans .D. argue that though communication is
the core dimension of Social Media networks, not all platform categories are
equally suitable for all
marketing objectives because
most of the platforms
are not equally well suited for information,
collaboration, and even for cultivating relationships The
purpose of social
networks is primarily for
communication and exchange of
ideas of common interest among peer groups
or communities. However, it is through frequent communication initiated
by the marketer on the interactive social networks (Gummesson, 2002).
When it comes to Social Media marketing tool, Following are some of Social Media marketing tools
·
Company Blog – Company
can interact with
its customers and
potential clients, field
questions, handle customer service
issues, and develop
communications through their
business blog.
·
Social Networks – This marketing solution includes sites like
Facebook and Twitter. You show up, interact with people as you would at a party
or offline social event and once you have built the relationship you can take
that relationship deeper on your business website.
·
Micro blog – A micro blog is a type of blog
where company posts are shorter than a traditional blog. With blog, company can
have posts up to several thousand words, but limited to the number of characters
per post.
·
Social Bookmarking –
Social bookmarking websites
are marketing solutions that allow
one to save, organize, and share
links and other resources with other users.
·
Q&A Websites – This type of marketing solution
includes sites like Quora, Answers.com, and Yahoo! Answers. Participants ask
questions, answer them, and vote on each other’s answers.
·
Video Sharing – YouTube is the largest and most
well known video sharing website. Companies can vote on other videos, share
videos with audience and
market business less expensively than
by using television ads.
·
Professional Social Networks – It’s a niche
social network for busy professionals who
aren’t interested in playing
games or participating in other frivolous
activities. It’s the perfect type of marketing solution for B2B businesses,
freelancers, and other professionals.
·
Podcasting Communities – Podcasting communities are similar
to video and photo sharing sites
except that they
are based around audio
uploads.
·
Presentation Sharing Websites
– As a marketing solution, a
community that allows uploading presentations and sharing them with customers
is a great tool for any business.
4.4 Social Media Trends
Social
networking is becoming an exciting field of study, especially since it has been
under the influence of many different trends. In this paper, the main trends of
social networking will be addressed, including both events from the past,
present, and future, and propositions as to new methods of improving future
social networking.
The trend of social networks started in 2004, with the
emphasis being on both building a social network platform that allowed for a
variety of applications to access it, and renewing content to improve user’s
engagement. Facebook, the leading social network with more than 750 million
users, has changed how social networks are perceived: no longer a web
application that connects users’ profiles within the network, it has become a
platform that can be integrated into web applications, allowing for marketing
via the users social graph. Most of the major social networking sites offer their
platforms for developers, such as Hi5, Orkut, Friendster, Facebook, and
Twitter. Having an open platform has made it possible for the integration of
many different interfaces to social networks. Not only can Facebook and Twitter
be accessed through the web interface, but also they can be ac-cessed through
desktop applications, smart phone applications, and SMS. Sharing photos,
location, and status updates has become much easier, which has encouraged some
smartphone manufacturers to start building phones that have dedicated a Facebook
button on their keyboard for easier access. This is evidence that social
networking has already became a main medium of communication; this can also be
supported by the fact that 50% of 750 million users on Facebook visit the site.
Digital marketers are being lured towards social media advertising due to the
trend in the shopping behaviour of the consumers. Social media surveys reveal
that a big percentage of the consumers spend an average of 37 minutes a day on
popular social media channels like Facebook and Twitter and 10% of the internet
users are spent on social media sites. Imagine the potential market gain that
social media can offer to online marketers. In 2013, about 53% of digital
marketers were already positioning their brand in the social media market and
by 2014 social advertising investment will continue to grow.
Some Social Media
Trends are :
·
Connection
+ Community + Experience
·
Authentic
Influencers
·
Diversify
with TikTok, Reddit & More
·
Get
Creative: Stop Being Boring!
·
Stories
2.0
·
Use
Social Media as a Discovery Engine
·
Youtube
and Video Blogging- Vlogging
Chapter
Five
Data Analysis
5.1
Qualitative Study
Qualitative data
collection is exploratory in nature, it involves in-depth analysis and
research. Qualitative data collection methods are mainly focused on gaining
insights, reasoning, and motivations hence they go deeper in terms of research.
5.1.1 Case Study
Using memes in marketing has become relatively common
nowadays in a lot of marketing strategies. Whether a small local business or a
large corporate conglomerate, effective marketing strategy will work.
There are few Case study of brands using meme as Marketing Strategy
and they are as follows :
GUCCI
Huge brands
like Gucci decide
to take a stab at marketing with memes. But, what makes their memes special is
that they are not some dank memes. Instead, they are being created by renowned
visual artists as part of Gucci’s #TFWGucci campaign on social media platforms.
This campaign of
using memes in marketing was started by Gucci after they have commissioned
Alessandro Michele, who is a famous Italian designer, to curate memes created
by different artists. So far, we have been able to see numerous brilliant
examples of meme use, such as the Tudor painting with the following caption:
“When he buys you flowers instead of a Gucci watch”. Needless to say, the campaign
fell perfectly in line with the release of Gucci’s new collection of luxury
watches.
Another effective
example of the TFW (“that feeling when”) campaign is the creative use of the
“me vs. the guy she says I shouldn’t worry about” meme, which features one of
Gucci’s new watches, shown in the image below. Truth be told, there was a minor
backlash from internet users. However, the numbers tell a different story.
According
to research done by Dash Hudson on Gucci meme
luxury brand Instagram marketing strategy, a platform that
specializes in Instagram analytics, Gucci absolutely crushed it. Their total
reach was 120,089,317, and they have
received 1,986,005 likes for their
Instagram posts. Moreover, it turns out that these memes are Gucci’s best
performing content online yet. There is very little doubt about whether this
campaign was a success or not.
NICKELODEON
One of the
things Nickelodeon does
best is catering to its young audience by using memes. The clever thing about
Nickelodeon’s approach is that they use their own cartoons. They create new
memes and promote their TV schedule in the process. They realize that the
reason for memes popularity is that they describe something a lot of people can
relate to. In this instance, the audience is children. What they can
identify with is everyday stuff.
The meme
above is a great example of how kids feel when they manage to make use of those
scarce moments where there are no adults around and when they can just be
goofy. Another great thing about Nickelodeon memes is that they are
age-appropriate and reflect what their viewers are into at that age.
Nickelodeon
characters are so popular and loved that they have also inspired a ton of
user-generated memes, as is the case with the meme featuring SpongeBob
Squarepants.
Denny’s
Denny’s is
probably among the best examples of how using memes can become an integral part
of creating a brand identity. They are
very aware of the power of social media, and they use to its full extent..
In the image below,
they have utilized the famous “zoom in” meme. At first glance, it shows a
delicious image of Denny’s pancakes. Then, they direct you to take a look at
three different corners of the image in succession. Finally, they reveal the
final hidden message: “Has this distracted you from overwhelming existential
dread”. Although it may seem like a pretty dark meme for a brand of pancakes,
their followers have loved it.
It
was posted on their Twitter account, it has garnered close to 400,000 likes, and as much as 233,316 retweets, which makes it one of
the most popular tweets this brand has ever had. Of course, the whole zoom in
trend has run its course by now, but at the time, it was totally fresh, and
Denny’s jumped on it at the best possible time. Another reason why it was so
successful is that Denny’s had already been a company which is known for using
memes in advertising.
Conclusion
Since Meme marketing has become quite relevant nowadays,
Memes have become the language of Social Media. They are reconstructing the way
in which people communicate through the internet. GIFs or images plastered with
a text are becoming the norm of online communication.
The vast majority of internet users belong to the Millennial
generation. The thing about millennials is that they are quite ad-adverse. I am
a millennial myself and let me tell you, there is nothing more frustrating than
a 10-second ad before your favourite YouTuber’s video. I’m pretty sure my
fellow millennials will feel the same. Gen Zs, the second part of the
millennial generation, are much more ad adverse than the millennials. So we
could say that ads, or for clarity’s sake “highly commercialized” content, is
getting pretty lame and is not engaging the new generation.
6.1 Limitation and Further Scope of the study
Some of research have been done on the Evolution on memetic
or memejacking strategy in new media but in India it has still to go a long
way. And it was the main limitation of this research work that the literature
related to this topic is not available much. However positive side of the story
is that after the role of memes as various marketing campaigns by many well
known brands the research in this subject on different topics have started. In
India and all other developing world of advertisements, meme is like a new
lit-in-the-eyes.
Scope in Memejacking strategy ids quite emerging in the field of marketing in India and hope in coming years the different aspects of the subject will be touched by the researcher.
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