Using memes in a commercial game. Memes in advertising Internet memes in advertising

The Internet penetrates into our lives more and more every day. Regardless of age, we spend a lot of time on social networks. Having logged into VKontakte in the evening, a news feed immediately opens in front of us, where we can stumble upon a funny picture or a viral quote. Sometimes, somehow without realizing it, you can scroll “deeply” down the feed while looking at the pictures.

A meme is a media virus. A concentrated idea, image or other object of the intangible world, transmitted from person to person via the Internet. A meme, just like a myth, can change within a person’s consciousness and influence the environment and himself.

Why use memes in marketing?

Many Western private and public companies have begun to use memes to attract attention to their products. For example: the administration of the Swedish metro used the Doge meme, well known among young people, to inform about a more favorable fare.

But the British company Virgin Media uses the “successful baby” meme in its advertising campaign. How else can it be more convenient for young people to convey the information that we have more favorable tariffs? In my opinion, they hit the target here.

BurgerKing actively uses Internet memes on the Russian market. I am 100% sure that there are domestic companies that are trying to make their mark using the Internet. But apparently they are too gray and unmemorable, since we cannot remember them.

In any case, this whole game with Internet culture helps to increase sales, attract new customers or keep the audience on the same wavelength with you, which is very important for the brand image.

How to use memes in marketing?

You shouldn’t use memes on people over 40; in 9 out of 10 cases it’s not effective. Let's say your target audience is schoolchildren and students.

Now, it is very important to catch the trend, this is the most insidious audience. It is not recommended to launch a picture after it has been circulating on the Internet for a year and does not arouse interest.

Decide how they should react to this. Everyone's humor is different, there are mother's cynics and nihilists, and there are deeply religious people.

Well, and most importantly, choose the hero of this occasion, the very meme that can harmoniously combine with your idea. Can it convey information or produce the desired effect?

Sincerely, Your Essence!

Time does not stand still. With the development of the Internet, new marketing tools for business development have appeared. Memes or viral messages are a new way to strengthen a brand. What are memes? How to use viral messages in your marketing strategy? What effect can you expect from Internet memes? About this in the article.

Internet memes or viral messages are an integral part of modern cyberspace. They are found everywhere - in social media, on information and entertainment portals, as well as in correspondence between users.

The topics of memes are very diverse and cover all possible areas of life. For sociologists and social psychologists, viral messages are a very interesting phenomenon. The power that lies in Internet memes fascinates marketers.

Internet memes are a modern viral cultural symbol. Most viral messages are presented in the form of pictures or photographs, less often in video format. Their main goal is to publicly ridicule a person’s behavior, action, lifestyle or idea. Some viral messages have deep philosophical meaning.

The world of memes is remarkable because it is a worldwide social phenomenon that behaves like a flu virus, traveling from person to person via social media. They are sparkling, memorable, infectious, and want to be shared. Viral messages can be used for marketing purposes in different ways: branded with a company logo, product or service, supplemented with a satirical slogan or a witty joke.

Company image vs memes

Viral messages have a drawback - one wrong step, poorly chosen picture or expression and the company will become the laughing stock of cyberspace. An Internet meme is a double-edged sword that can either enhance a brand's image or destroy it.

What can you do to prevent malicious viral messages from ruining your reputation? You should be careful, especially when dealing directly with Internet users on social media. Stay calm even if Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media users are being vulgar or aggressive. Treat all comments and feedback about company policies, products or services with respect. Don't react hysterically to criticism. Consumers have the right to share their opinions, even if they go against your beliefs.

How to create an internet meme

In experienced hands, a viral message will be a powerful endorsement for a brand. The problem is that it is extremely difficult to create an Internet meme. You can come up with something catchy and catchy, but in practice the viral message may not take root. Therefore, it is necessary to experiment, test, analyze the interests of the target audience.

Try, create interesting, original, funny and even shocking Internet memes. Use pop culture as a source of inspiration. Internet users love to find hidden connotations and references to famous films, songs, books or paintings.

After creating a potential meme, it's time to spread it. Use portals, social media and entertainment sites for these purposes.

How Russian advertisers and marketers use Internet images

Internet memes are a popular type of social content today. They are often topical or simply funny, and therefore are ideal for spreading virally on the Internet - from user to user. This type of content is well received by the audience, so memes are often used for marketing and advertising purposes. This technique, when a well-known character appears in an advertisement, is called memejacking.

Before giving examples of Russian memes that have gone beyond their borders and penetrated into advertising, you need to define the term itself. Memes are certain situations, phrases, sketches, images that have become widespread and popular in the Internet environment. It is important to note that only information that in one way or another affects a wide range of users, for example, due to its unusualness and fun, can be actively transmitted spontaneously.

A person who understands and uses a meme most likely has his finger on the pulse and is in the information flow. Memes themselves are quite entertaining, and they can also be put to good use in branding and advertising.

Let's goodbye

A little less than a year ago, the phrase “Who are you, goodbye” began to flash on the Internet. The expression became popular thanks to a video from an Azerbaijani wedding that appeared on Youtube in January 2012. The original video would have remained unnoticed if not for the rap artist Timati, who parodied in his video the action taking place in the wedding video. Clip "Goodbye!" was dedicated to the singer Philip Kirkorov, with whom Timati had a conflict at that time.

The phrase became a popular hashtag on Twitter. Opposition-minded users “addressed” it to many Russian political figures, including the president Vladimir Putin.

The meme became so popular that representatives of Timati filed an application to register the trademark #Let's meet. The brand plans to produce youth-style clothing, as well as accessories and shoes. “We will produce clothes in the middle price segment - 2-3 thousand rubles per item,” said the artist’s director Pavel Kuryanov. At the same time, the artist is already releasing his own line called Black Star.

The creators also paid attention to the story of “Let’s see you bye”: a video appeared on the Internet promoting a portal for the provision of public services. The animated video “Arthurchik, goodbye” clearly demonstrates to viewers all the advantages of using the portal.

Another Internet meme in the past year has resulted in a very specific media product. We are talking about the video “Ide” about an emotional fisherman who managed to catch the “fish of his dreams.” The name of the main character in the video is Victor Goncharenko, he is a pensioner and lives in the Vologda region, he used to be a policeman. Holding a freshly caught fish in one hand, he filmed himself with his mobile phone camera with the other.

The video gained wide popularity, not only on the Internet, but also on television. The Channel One correspondent created a whole material about this case, and Viktor Goncharenko himself was invited to appear on the NTV channel to give an interview for the Central Television program. Ide - as Goncharenko was nicknamed - also participated in a TNT video announcing the screening of the film “The Lord of the Rings”, and starred in an advertisement for the “Video Salon” program on the “Peretz” channel.

Among other things, Viktor Goncharenko managed to become a TV presenter. The popular fisherman was invited to work by the Rossiya 2 channel: in addition to sports programs, the culinary show “Ide” appeared on the air. Reboot". The creators define “Ide. Reboot" as a show for real men.

According to the plot, a fisherman meets weekly in culinary battles with chefs from the best establishments in the capital. Against the masterful techniques of professional chefs, Goncharenko uses time-tested recipes from available products. The main goal is simply to make it tasty.

Somewhat later, the program changed its format and name. Instead of “Ide. Reboots” the program “Ide versus food” appeared on the screens. Now Viktor Goncharenko travels around the country and cooks. On the website of the Rossiya 2 TV channel, the show is described as follows: “This time he travels around the country and brings his wildest culinary fantasies to life! His mixer is a KamAZ racing truck, his pancakes are 2 meters in diameter, his meat buuza weighs about 100 kilograms, and his jellied meat can only fit in a real bathtub!”

The fisherman, beloved by the Internet and television public, has already visited such places as Buryatia, Tatarstan, Chelyabinsk, the Far East and the mountains of Dagestan.

Glasses n-n-nada?

Another meme, popularly known as “Glasses n-n-nada?” has gained equally wide popularity. The main character is a Chinese man who sells souvenirs and trinkets in a tourist bus. In particular, he sells toy glasses with slanting “eyes” instead of glasses. Having put on such glasses, the seller looks directly into the camera and asks with a strong accent, “Glasses n-n-nada? And the brushes n-n-nada? The Asian's accent and appearance captivated and captivated Internet users.

The video, shot on a mobile phone camera, appeared on the Internet last year, however, as in the case in “Yazem”, it was not forgotten in the current time, and some creatives used the image of the Chinese for advertising purposes.

Poster announcing a theme party in the city of Ufa

The PR people for the DNS computer goods network went even further. On the blog of the Vladivostok branch of DNS on April 1, 2012, an entry appeared saying that as a promo, the store was releasing a rap version of Tong Te Jun’s song “DNS - halaso!” The song was allegedly sung by “that same Chinese.”

Be a man

The webcomics “Be a Man!”, OKAY, True Story, etc. have become widespread. They are drawings created using a simple technique, most likely in a program like Paint. Such comics greatly simplify communication, since each image symbolizes a certain state, a certain emotion.

Such comics help to quickly, in a concise form, react to something or convey information. Such memes became especially popular among young people.

It cannot be said that this meme evoked a wide response among advertisers and marketers, but as an example, let’s take a video from a video production company.

stoned fox

And finally, quite recently it became known that the famous “Stoned Fox” has found itself in the form of a soft toy, which can now be purchased in one of the online stores in St. Petersburg. The cost of the red “stuffed animal” is 890 rubles.

Let us remind you that the “Stoned Fox” is a stuffed animal made Adele Morse, loyal subject of Great Britain. The girl says that she is interested in taxidermy, but when making the fox she violated the technology, since it was the first time she had the opportunity to make a figure of a large animal. Because of this, “the scarecrow floated.”

Users of the Russian Internet appreciated the fox's gaze directed into emptiness, and soon the figure of the sadly sitting redhead gained wild popularity. The “stoned fox,” as the Internet called him, has become the subject of countless photo collages and has now been commercialized as a stuffed toy.

Photo from the site 28oi.ru

Photo from lenta.ru

How to use memes

“Using a significant informational occasion to promote a product or service is a normal practice in advertising. The cultural and political context is clear and of concern to many. - says Alexander Zagorsky, art director of Depot WPF. - The question is what kind of informational occasion is used, how much it corresponds to the positioning and long-term strategy of the brand. The use of Internet characters and memes suits a very narrow group of brands, and most often these brands are from the low cost segment. After all, the popularity of these characters is based in most cases on a bit of vulgar comedy and primitive humor. In the pursuit of a successful joke and repost, any trash will do; The more ridiculous the better. If your brand is specifically about “trash”, rock and roll and frenzy, why not use it?”

The main disadvantage of such memes, according to Alexander Zagorsky, is that they quickly “fade” - become boring and outdated. “Besides, it’s not a given that using such a low-tech technique in brand communication will attract attention,” he concludes. “Consider the brand telling a joke that everyone already knows.”

There is a phenomenon that is the opposite of memejacking - when it is not advertising that “steals” memes, but, on the contrary, memes appear after effective advertising. This was the case, for example, with the social video “Hell Squirrel”. A video of a crazy animal actually tearing its fur out first appeared on Youtube, and only then did the customers become known - the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development.

“Such things arose long before the advent of the Internet, and quoting some moments from advertising was even before the Internet became widespread,” says Mikhail Dymshits, General Director of the consulting company Dymshits and Partners. - It’s impossible to guess what will become a meme, and whether it will become a meme at all, that’s the problem. It’s also impossible to impose a meme; such things simply cannot be planned.”

“In my practice, there are examples when the intensity of use of certain things began to increase sharply after clients advertised. A positive similar experience is in “Rosgosstrakh”: “What are we worth, who are we waiting for” and “we did everything right.” These things themselves existed before, but after they were included in advertising, their use increased sharply. This was evident from both press monitoring and Internet monitoring,” said Mikhail Dymshits.

Thus, in Russia, memejacking is not yet very actively used by marketers, and if it is used, it is often by low-cost brands, since established brands do not want to sacrifice the accuracy of their message for the sake of a momentarily relevant Internet character.