by Eric Swayne
Some marketers have a real problem with social networks. They almost seem offended when an audience takes their commercials, or ideas, and begin to pass them around without permission. They think it’s unfair that their 30-second professionally-produced spot that just aired on America’s most watched morning show was ripped off by some person named DrPepperLvr156 and is now being passed around “unauthorized” channels, remixed and mashed-up with blatent disregard for the pure brand message or intended target audience.
Other marketers have become totally enamored by the power of network effects, and have become obsessed with becoming YouTube stars. Many have tried (and many have failed) to be cool enough as a company to be accepted on their own merits by the very audience they market to. These marketers build and blast microsites on what seems like a weekly basis, constantly pursuing the next bright, shiny object to attract the masses. And for their trouble, they receive vague metrics like hits, clickthroughs, or a “brand impression index.”
Yet others try to cheat at the “game” of consumer conversation by inserting seemingly “natural” or “amateur” ideas into this ecosystem. Their goal is to trick unwitting consumers into passing on an idea that has a hidden trap door: a dotted-line connection back to a brand or a purchase. After all, if a low-budget viral idea gets millions of views, the ROI is motivation enough - even if the purchase-to-conversion rate is microscopic. They task their agencies for great ideas that will be passed on almost involuntarily, with the same uncontrollable network effects, but these gifts from the Community come fewer and further between.
Marketers today must realize that we need to take a crucial step back to understand how these new communities of consumers share and select ideas. We need to unpack what we once thought was an easily tapped phenomenon with a scientific approach to get past the symptoms and define the core of the Idea Virus – its true DNA.
Viruses (of any sort) are built with one goal in mind: to reproduce. Every marketing campaign designed to “go viral” has to do the same things as your favorite illness AND turn an ROI – connecting those people reached to a purchase. It’s not impossible, but it’s not near as accidental anymore. In fact, great work in this space isn’t just Viral Marketing. It’s Meme Marketing.
Memes are the ideas, symbols or practices that naturally spread throughout a culture. These thoughts are the things that just seem to “catch on” – whether it’s coffee houses, doing “The Wave” at a sports event, or tightrolling your jeans back in the ‘80s. And in fact, the concept of measuring these “units of thought” is nothing new, as the term “meme” was created in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene. The new opportunity marketers have now is to apply this study of memes (or, memetics) to how they create messages for their clients, and how they introduce these to consumers.
Great memes connect with an audience, and connect them with each other. If the new currency of social media is recognition, your concept – metaphorically – needs to be money. Something that members of this Community you’re targeting will want to pass around, because it elevates their own status within that Community. When one member can unearth or create something that others within the Community want to copy, they’ve expanded their influence. If that idea belongs to your Client, then you’ve successfully meshed their brand with that Community.
Great memes are absorbed by a community. It’s not just about being the loudest car commercial on TV, or the most offensive idea imagined. These things can grab attention, but they’re ignored just as quickly. Great memes are noticeable, memorable, AND actionable. A great meme invites customers to do something that solves their problems, connects them to others, or lets them express themselves.
The LIVESTRONG campaign has grown to be much more than just a yellow wristband, and it’s because this idea became an entire paradigm adopted by a community. More than just fighting cancer, this meme has become a rallying point for communities to dare to take any action to get healthy or improve their lives.
Great memes are easy to reproduce. YouTube isn’t the #1 source of streaming media because they’re technologically advanced. In fact, many other sites use a more advanced codec or provide more features. Their fulcrum is in that little box of code labeled “embed.” I can take a video clip and replicate the entire viewing experience on my blog or Facebook or MySpace. And in doing so, I’ve validated that meme, because the people watching it on my blog know ME. If they want to pass on the meme in the same way, all they have to do is copy-paste.
When “The Simpsons Movie” needed a web site, it would have been easy to do the usual things you see for a movie: trailers, wallpaper downloads, games. But through the Simpsons Avatar creator, fans were able to connect with the movie and spread their excitement through a personal, custom-built version of themselves. Fans could use these avatars in social networks, online profiles or on their desktop – and every time they did, more fans were drawn to this experience.
