My opinion on Monday night during the chat event was that
yes, they’re funny, but not necessarily appropriate for serious opinions.
According to Michelle Stinson Ross, the host, there was certainly an air of
doubt that memes and content of that sort on Tumblr would lead to a more
serious connection. It seems that the public following the political campaign
online certainly likes to
laugh along, but on Election Day, “honey badger don’t care.”
So why are people focused on online
content, come to be known as memes?
The truth is similar to anything that takes a company’s message viral, the
images become famous virtually overnight, and seem to fizzle out almost as
quickly. But, this cultural element in the digital age does ensure one thing in
public relations, you will get noticed.
Companies such as Old Spice are getting it right with their
content. The “Old Spice
Guy” continues to capture consumers online and on TV with his over the top
masculinity, and virility increases sales for the company. They captured the
audience’s sense of humor to make content that is relevant and will keep those
engaging. If used correctly, memes can create a following
but also drive mentions and social clout, maybe even press mentions.
• Random
• immediately recognizable
• Stupidly funny
The power behind
these cultural phenomena however, is to increase the amount of interactivity
between your followers and your company. Recently, I have been experimenting
with messaging for a Facebook campaign. What I found out was that things happen
randomly, in the true essence of memes. I created buttons for an event on
campus that was focused on Geek culture. Students could pick from bow ties,
robots, or silly cats and wear the button around to promote the “Geek Week”
events at UNT. You might be thinking “Cats? How will we promote with cats?”
Realize one thing about our student body, they live online, where cats come
from (Best Cat
Memes) One of our students did us the ultimate favor and posted this photo
on her Instagram page. Ten minutes later, I had a phone call asking about the
event, over forty new Facebook likes, and a cheezburger (I bought one; it was
lunch time). What is great about memes and the digital culture of today is that
any small insignificant thing that you put out there has the potential to go
viral. We wanted a cute button for students to be proud of, and what turned out
was a small glimpse of what memes do today. As a PR professional however, you
must be aware to not force interactivity, just let it happen. Tough to do, but
that is the power of memes- the randomness and humor may or may not work. So
let your audience know you’re listening, and you can laugh with them. Have fun
with memes this week!
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