Meme’s the word

Every day we see countless new memes circulating on the Internet While they were originally crafted for recreational purpose memes are now a legit currency for brands and advertising agencies In fact the Met Gala red carpet had a new addition this year A meme correspondent Saint Hoax an influencer with more than 28 million followers on Instagram was roped in to do the job Using the hashtags ReelMetIcons and MemetheMet Hoax and other memeinfluencers provided live commentary and reels around some of the carpetrsquos iconic looksDictionarycom defines meme as a cultural item in the form of an image video or phrase that is spread via the internet and often altered in a creative or humorous wayAs a digital partner for Ishq FM Schbangrsquos purpose is to push out relatable content to the audienceAccording to Akash Kumwat creative and digital strategist at Social Panga a digital marketing agency India has accepted memes faster than most other countries ldquoThere are many agencies that have openings for a meme creator Itrsquos rare to find this outside Indiardquo he says Whether an idea has the potential to turn into a meme is something most brands have begun to consider shares Dheeraj Sinha CEO and chief strategy officer South Asia of global advertising agency Leo Burnett ldquoYou need to figure if the idea can float on its own and whether it is relatable or shareablerdquo The reason for this is that memes are a great way for brands to get ldquoearned mediardquo The term refers to attention that is organically generated for your brandrsquos contentAkash KumawatWhile memes are being used to sell products or services some agencies are merely putting out ldquorelatablerdquo memes to garner traction on their page Aleena Gandhi founder and CEO of Social Media Dissect an online platform that reviews and showcases social media content says its usage hinges on what the brand wants to achieve ldquoFor instance Instagram promotes content which is more saveable and shareable So if a brand wants to grow organically and get more saves they will focus on putting out more memes but if a brand wants to sell their product a targeted ad would be a better optionrdquo In India agencies often take a global meme template and tweak it ldquoFor instance the famous Drake meme a twopanel template which says Drake does not likeDrake likes was taken and integrated the Irrfan Khan meme the same Drake meme was replace by Irrfan Khanrsquos picturerdquo says KumawatMadhurika Banerjee Dheeraj Sinha and Aleena GandhiSo what makes a good meme There are 3 Cs says Kumawatmdashcreativity conversation and comprehension ldquoIt boils down to how creatively the brand can communicate to its audience and draw their attentionrdquo he says Madhurika Banerjee senior group solutions manager at Schbang a holistic marketing solutions agency thinks the audience should always be at the centre while planning any sort of content strategyPicking the right meme for the brand is critical With both Indian and Western meme templates available choosing a suitable fit can be a challenge ldquoIf your audience is tierone they will relate to international content but if it is tier two or three a Hera Pheri meme for instance would work better than a MET Gala memerdquo explains Gandhi While hopping on the meme bandwagon is well and good it will translate into something larger only if you do it right Choose your trend wisely say experts ldquoWersquove always been told pick your moment But I strongly feel lsquopick your memersquo should be preached in marketingrdquo says KumawatThat said memes should be used sparingly and thoughtfully he adds ldquoMemes should just be one booster for a recall option to get engagement Use one in a creative manner and get back to your original content The focus should always be original contentrdquo