For those of you that know me personally, you know that I love high-fives (#highfive for you @twitter folks). So it is no surprise that I would work that into a story title someday. Well, we have been fed and fed well by the internet meme in the past month or so …. #highfive. There was the girl that quit via the dry erase board, a HOPA if I’ve ever seen one. Then there was the Yosemite double rainbow man. And well, he just loves him a rainbow, a double rainbow at that.
Let’s take a step back and think about what a meme can mean to the PR of a company. We’ve all heard the old adage, ‘all press is good press‘. But I’m here to give you another saying you can take to the bank: ‘all meme press is amazing press’. By definition an internet meme is a concept that spreads swiftly via the internet. More or less — a written or visual “no way” that becomes the most liked, re-tweeted, digg’d, buzzed thing on the internet. Furthermore, internet memes have a lasting effect, especially the visual ones. YouTube isn’t going anywhere, and think of how many of us add to favorites the ones we love, and go back to view them over and over even months, years past the original meme status.
The proof is in the pudding:
- Lolcats and Icanhazcheeseburger.com
- RickRoll
- Susan Boyle
- Obama Girl
- lonelygirl15
It is my belief that the internet meme is something that any business would be silly not to try. If you need more arguements, how about the Old Spice man phenomenon? That internet meme is actually a preface to a change in the way big brands are going to engage with consumers. The cost, time spent, and risk are all pennies on the dollar compared to traditional advertising and marketing. However, the long tail results of the internet meme could be seen for years.
PR and marketing are two vitally important facets of any business, small or large. It would behoove any business, especially startups or smaller businesses, to attempt an internet meme or two even if on a local social networking level. The power of the internet meme goes far beyond any metric monitoring tools. It is one thing that can draw anyone into extended views and empower them to have a desire to share. The ability to tie in product and add to the comedic value is prevalent. Imagine if Skittles were to make the above mentioned Yosemite double rainbow man and make him into a commercial. The video plays out for some 15 seconds, then goes to a black screen with these words: ‘Taste the rainbow, he did.’
“Are you suggesting we are going to start to see product placement in internet meme’s Ryan?” I wouldn’t bet against it.