How do I keep my brand spicy? April - 2018
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A talk I delivered at Silicon Beached Conference in April 2018 covering meme culture and the lifecycle of memes online. I also cover some of the academic research around meme culture and messages being amplified online.
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How do I keep my brand spicy? April - 2018
- 1. @bertaroo | @virtualumbrella How do I keep my brand spicy? Using memes online April 2018
- 2. @bertaroo | @virtualumbrella We’re at a stage where any communication can be a meme. A image macro, gif, a video, a phrase. The key is that the “idea spreads from brain to brain” – Dawkins, 1976. Memes are more than just funny pictures online, they’ve become a reflection of modern cultures that evolve at a rapid pace. People don’t just sit around making funny things, it’s through media that we outline the values, nature and outlook of the group where we post them. Memes are closer to spontaneous humour than prepared humour.
- 4. @bertaroo | @virtualumbrella 2008 – Image Macros and catchphrases 2018 – Abstractions of references
- 10. @bertaroo | @virtualumbrella Edgy memes Nope. Not showing them.
- 19. @bertaroo | @virtualumbrella r/dankmemes Meme compilations Twitter subcultures Redditors Living memes Twitter r/all Facebook groups 9GAG LAD Bible Almost any page owned by Social Chain Instagram Buzzfeed Mail Online Ad Agencies Corporate Social Your parents Spicy Doritos Cool Original Mainstream Dead Creator Curators Amplifier Marketing Normies Machines News
- 21. @bertaroo | @virtualumbrella Get ahead of the machines Judge memes critically Reiterate, don’t repost
- 22. @bertaroo | @virtualumbrella MEME REVIEW
- 25. @bertaroo | @virtualumbrella BONUS MEME?
Editor's Notes
- I'm going to be talking about how you keep your brand spicy. How do you use memes to stay current and relevant online without falling into the trap of thinking that you're relevant and you're actually just eliciting groans and disapproval from your online community?
- So we're at a stage now where any communication online can be a meme. It can be an image macro, a gif, a video, or even a phrase. The key idea behind the meme is something that was first brought into that product video. The key the main idea is that a meme is an idea that spreads from brain to brain. This is something Richard Dawkins brought up in his book, The Selfish Something in 1976, the idea that this is something that can be passed on and spreads and it can grow and it can evolve. Memes are more than just funny pictures online now. They've become a reflection of modern cultures that evolve a current rapid pace. It's probably worth noting here that sometimes people say that means a part of an online culture, and I think that person is completely wrong. I think there is no online offline culture. It's all just culture. And memes are an integral part of that. There are many internets, there are many faces of the Internet, and there are many cultures that inhabit that, each with different attitudes and different outlooks towards life in general. But people don't just sit around making funnies on the Internet. It's through this media that we outline our values, nature, and the outlook of the groups in which we post them. And finally, memes are closer to spontaneous humor that's prepared fictional humor. So in this way, the way that spontaneous humor is used in social groups and within friendships to share experiences and enhance times together, this is what the same way that means currently work online. It's more of a in the moment rather than a Adam Sandler kind of fictional prepared piece in advance.
- So this is potentially the first meme that we can find. You might have seen this on Twitter. This is from a publication called The Wisconsin Octopus. And it came out in 1921. They did some research and people were saying, oh, this isn't a meme, because a meme has to be an idea that's been spread. It can't just be one funny image, which they got a fair point. But the BBC did some research and they found that those images that followed the same format post posted in the Wisconsin Octopus in 1919 and 1920 as well, which that suggests that perhaps this was an idea that starting to evolve and be passed through, in which case by that thinking means almost 100 years old, despite the term not being invented until the seventies.
- But if we're talking about modern day means things evolved in the last ten years. Back in 2008, everything was done with image macros and catchphrases. You have things like LOLcats, for example, and nowadays we're reaching a point where as the literacy for and the understanding of funny pictures and text becomes more widespread, this is now just the thing that people do. It's not a specific skill as our creative base widens. We're seeing a much faster divergence from what we call a traditional meme. We certainly see these abstractions we're starting to see references piled on top of references, and you end up with something like that hideous cat.
- How do we stop you being distracted? It's the thing about the evolution of memes and staying current. How do we stop you from being the distracted boyfriend in this picture? How do we stop you from posting memes that are no longer current?
- You’ll need to keep your archive of memes prepared at all times if you’re trying to stay current. How do you go through your memes? How do you categorize them? How can you understand the different types and the different relevancy that each meme has? So I'm going to spend a couple of minutes today talking about some different categories of names that are out there. This isn't an exhaustive list. I could be here all day talking about different types.
- This should give you a kind of idea of the different genres or subcultures of names that are out there today. So starting off with my personal favourites nihilist memes. These are names that resound with my generation and specific, since according to research from this year, we are the saddest generation ever, we're the most unhappy. And these nihilistic names, words and negative outlook on life, it gives you and that gives you a space to kind of outlet these thoughts in a humorous way so you can kind of make light of what is otherwise a negative and fairly relatable situation. So the futility frog or this poor cactus bit like me is damaged but adorable.
- So moving on to the binary opposite now, moving on to your positive memes. So these are memes that are designed to bring happiness, bring a little smile on your face, something you can send to your friends whenever you need it. So our friend Drake here talking about how you need to surround yourself with friends who support you and encourage your goals. These two lovely Labradors, please talk to me and my son again.
- Now we reach dank memes. Don't talk to me or my son ever again. These are means that are a little bit more abstract. They're a little bit more out there. Dank is slang for the good stuff. So these are just the means that are particularly weird. Particularly funny. You find a lot of times these memes start to push towards the kind of anti PC movement as well. So you see a lot of dank memes that are making fun of situations and like public movements and things like that as well. What we’re seeing is quite a fine line between dank memes and edgy memes.
- So these are the memes which are literally designed to either make light of a sad situation or a conflict and do this in a way that makes them seem seem edgy. I'm not showing you any because I know how easy it is to ruin a career by having someone on a stage or putting a picture of someone on the Internet, a compromising situation behind them. So if you want to see some edgy memes is just get on your phones and Google it.
- You means right now in multi-layered memes, this is my personal favorite. This is your multi-layered memes. So these are memes that are have more than one layer. You stuck another reference underneath and then sometimes you stick another reference underneath this this is taking was already a fairly niche concept, making it more niche. So whilst you only have a very limited viewership, you might get the joke within the meme. It means that you're part of your little cool kids club and everyone in that kind of gets that together. You tend to get quite good response or engagement on these kind of memes because people are like, Oh my God, I get it, I get it, I understand it, but that's a funny one. We’ll do a quick session of meme deconstruction, but I'm sure most of you understand it right here. So you got your La La land, which is obviously a big a big cultural phenomenon of last year. We've taken on this and we've mixed it with the nostalgic references of the Teletubbies. You’ve got Teletubbies, La La Land, and then finally, a tiny little hint of Poland.
- Now moving on to our final say, our final category in this section… Dead memes this is arguably the most interesting for me because a don't mean is one that isn't funny anymore These are overused or old memes that constitute a collective groan and often anger rather than a smile or laughter. Unlike an old joke format such as “A guy walks into a bar”, you can’t be proud or have an arsenal of dead memes in your pocket. Unlike the rarity of hearing a knock-knock joke nowadays, the sheer volume of memes being created means you’ll tire of it much faster. As our culture demands being on the internet all day, you’re peppered by memes and you’ll face mental and visual exhaustion much faster than any other format. A lot of online spaces function like public spaces, you don’t choose to the view the content but you’re sat there scrolling, you’re subjected to it. As a meme format becomes common, as it becomes a symbol of the internet cool kids club. We see memes face the same resistance as prepared humour. It no longer fits with our attitudes.
- So the life cycle of these is a lot faster. So now you're thinking is it is it too late for me to do an American Chopper
- ? I that was that was funny last week and yeah you stupid lame idiot this means that two weeks old this isn't 2013 anymore means die now but can means have a second life.
- Well, you saw earlier the distracted boyfriend is certainly reaching a second life. There, but sometimes they spread too fast. Are you struggling to keep up with them alongside their responsibilities, such as holding down your job, being yourself and maintaining positive relationships?
- So take a look at these life cycles. So this is a this is the life cycle of memes from a book with the same name is written by three academics and the whole thing moves counterclockwise. And this essentially talks about the way that you're taking a message and then you codify it, and then it turns into a meme supporting that message, and then you get the memes, the other contrary. And then this goes all the way around. And at any point during this, the meme can, as they say, they call it a mutation, but your meme adapts and could start putting on a different message or something. A counter message, or it can be something completely different. It has the same like image macro behind it in a different is there might be a different message, but with a relevant format. For example, something something punchline. If that's what you'll meme was based on, they might have a different a different thing, a different punchline, but it would still be relevant if you're not from the academic world, especially.
- This is the kind of model that’s more for agencies and things like that. So this is a chart which, I kind of made, but the fact that I stole it from the Internet and then reiterated it before putting it back out there and claiming that I own it. With this model, we're moving from left to right styling by the means, beginning with your creators. So you’ve got Redditors posting things to small online communities, you've got your living means. So people like the old man Harold, Filthy Frank, Ainsley Harriot. And finally you've got Twitter. People posting original content straight to Twitter. This is by no means a spicy it's this is one of the most hot topics from here you move on to your subreddits. They have places like R/dankmemes and r/memeeconomy. Meme economy is quite interesting because they treat meme culture the same way as you treat finance and stocks So it's like, “BUY, SELL, BUY” So should I invest in this for the future? Meme compilations on YouTube? This is a great way if you want to just be up to date with what what's coming up or what is currently what's currently hot is seeing the meme compilations online and finally Twitter subcultures. So probably the most relevant example of this is the way that the black Twitter subculture on Twitter, that's really by phrasing the way that the black Twitter subgroup essentially blew up and popularized the big shaq. I mean, that was huge last summer. That was essentially popularized through them taking it, reworking it before they even reached the wild wilder groups from there, moving on to our amplifiers. So these are like a Reddit front page, arguably the front page of the Internet. Your dedicated Facebook groups, such as are the nihilist meme page or the Thank You means can't now still beings page and finally content aggregators such as Mindgeek. This is where your meme starts to become less hot and I couldn't find a good time for this, so I just went with three times. Cool original. It's not hot but it's still quite warm. After this you're moving on to your main machines. So meme machines and news are kind of like interchangeable stage. But these are pages online such as Lad Bible and almost any page owned by social change. So I'm not saying this in a negative light. This is a case of they take these meme they see online and they use them to popularize their pages and to gain extra reach so that when it comes to bringing in branded content from agency partners or from clients just from straight brands, they've got a much larger reach they can monetize from. In your news section, we have BuzzFeed and mail online and people like Ellen. This is when you know the means or the content in general is hate. Your mainstream audience is people always joke that once your once your name's on Ellen it's basically dead. It's not cool anymore. And I'm sure some of you, if any of you in the room, you've read it, you've probably seen something on Reddit, thought it was really funny. And then about three or four days later, you've seen on BuzzFeed, I mean, like, oh, I was that before. It was cool. From here, we're moving on to places like ad agencies and corporate social site. This is where the means now in the mainstream people. Agencies might feel a bit safer to use it, whether using the brand account or corporate social media where it's signed off and approved and they might feel a bit happier about using it if means on if like be posting early means and things like that isn't already part of their social. And then finally runs the final stage. What the people on the internet call the normies or the normal people? This is people like your parents by this point you means are normally considered. That means so they've reached the end of their lifecycle once. Once everyone knows about them, they're not cool anymore. Right. And finally, if any of you are in here from the tech world, this is probably the most understandable diagram for you people in here.
- In here, you see the the origins you see its insane popularity as it grows. Then you hit your trough of staleness, as we're calling it, when you are when you get places like Ellen and when it starts to reach your parents where it's not quite funny anymore. And then slowly some certain means die off here just they're on. Sometimes you see a they means come back again for more, such as the distracted boyfriend that I showed you earlier where they start to reach that plateau where they're quite useful. You can use them for pretty much any situation. They're at that table and they find a second life. And sometimes these in the third life. So these are my tips for you if you're trying to keep your brand spicy, if you want to stay ahead of the meme curve, you don't want to be one of the essential companies or you don't want to be one of those social media that's posting stuff that isn't fun anymore.
- If you see something on Lad Bible, it's probably too late. You want to get on places like Reddit. Stay tuned in with subcultures on Twitter and whatever the album was that I said judge memes critically. Just because something is funny and there's a big popularity around it doesn't mean it's necessarily relevant for you to post it. And in some cases, it might even be it might even be online for here. It might even negatively affect your brand and things such as in January, the Ugandan knuckles mean it was everywhere. Like everyone's story on Facebook. But arguably at the core of that was as a fairly problematic and kind of racist message behind it. And finally, reiterate, don't just repost. You can just repost the main, but there's no creativity in that. If you want to have if you want to post stuff that's relevant to you and you want to have people actually resound with it and find it like quite funny and relevant for them, then make sure you reiterate it. If you're using brand comms and do it in a way that brings your brand into that, be self aware, like make jokes about your own brand within the means.
- If you need to go, say now we're going to move on to my final section. This is just a lighthearted way I hope to finish off our day. We're going to end with an episode of Main Review. So here we go. I'm going to highlight one of the top means from last week. I'm sure you've all seen this going around and we're going to talk about it a little bit.
- The Zuck, so our friends, our lovely, lovely friend in our lives, whether we like it or not. Mark Zuckerberg was obviously testifying in front of Congress last week and his fairly mechanic robotic actions and the way he was responding brought this meme back to life. The jokes about Zuck being a robot, being an alien, the fact that he's not humanistic in his responses in the way he acts online, said More of the more of your data that he gathers, the more he understands the humor and joking around data from Star Trek or this one here.
- Basically just talking about him and his overlords and how he must enjoy bread to be human. Then finally, probably the the most you not even unique, just the nicest the cleanest one of all. That's just quite funny. He's not a robot. You swear to God he's not a robot. Please, please. Doesn't want to be a robot. I would find the section on point just to bullet.
- Go. All right, so there we go. The way do we have time left? Is that time for a bonus meme? Do we have time for bonus meme?
- Here we go. This is what I found. I got this yesterday from R/Dankmemes. So this is. This is still spicy this year. Are we going to see this online either towards the end of this week or next week based on places like Twitter and on Facebook? Or you might not it might just die out. But that's what we're here to find out. And this is that it would do this. This is Andre's who would do this for the environment, humanity. Oh, it's cold outside. Who would do this? Who would be so heartless as to destroy the environment or particularly relevant into in today's in today's discussion, especially with young people talking about baby boomers and their effect on race inequality, and why would why would the millennials do this? And then this one, which is going to be just made about two weeks when when it reaches the end of its life cycle, the normies killing this meme. Who killed this meme? And finally, who did kill this meme? There's only one answer to that one. Ellen killed it.
- Okay. There you go. Thank you very much. Don’t let your dreams be memes.