CBX Strategist: Meme-Inspired Branding Takes an Artful Touch
--Online subcultures mercilessly punish inauthentic marketing, but brands can win them over with wit and creativity, advises CBX's Jaime Klein Daley in Marketing Dive column.
NEW YORK, March 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketers who copycat memes to virtue-signal online subcultures risk backlash and worse, advises Jaime Klein Daley, VP of Strategy at CBX, in an opinion piece for Marketing Dive.
It's possible however to create innovative and purposeful brands by embracing the kinds of juxtapositions—funny, surprising or cute—that drive the popularity of cresting memes, Daley writes in the Feb. 25 column ("Dodging the pitfalls of meme-inspired branding").
Head of strategy for the New York-based brand strategy and design agency, Daley has more than 20 years of experience in branding, design, advertising and digital marketing. Among the brands she's helped are the likes of McCormick Spice Company, Sephora, Petco and Tommy Hilfiger, to name a few.
Calculated approaches to meme-inspired branding, she notes, tend to ring hollow. "Flowing with the changing sensibilities of younger audiences necessitates a shift of the pendulum back toward art and aesthetics and away from 'data-driven' approaches focused on quantifying exactly what 'they' think," Daley writes. "With an intuitive and aesthetic understanding of online subcultures, you can create anchors for the brand that leave room to grow and change."
Incorporating elements of meme culture into brand strategies requires an honest accounting of the challenges and risks—and it isn't always easy. To illustrate, Daley recounts her own efforts to keep pace with her 10-year-old son, who dressed up as the reverse card from the game Uno one Halloween. "I had to decode the semiotics at knowyourmeme.com," Daley writes. "The 'Uno reverse' meme is basically a punchy comeback with the rearranged letters "NO U!'")
In this ocean of fast-changing content, maintaining digital literacy can be a Sisyphean task. Fortunately, brands and agencies need not frantically track and regurgitate the latest memes. Instead, Daley advises, they should consider playing with meme culture and bringing their own creativity into the mix. Toward that end, she cites an online meme-generator campaign by Beats by Dre. "Because such open systems can be co-opted and customized by consumers, there's a sense of ownership."
The branding veteran also gives high marks to Slim Jim, which managed to create its own distinctive online subculture. "Like so much in memeland, the approach is heavily ironic and cryptic," Daley writes. "Slim Jim's Instagram account has about 630,000 followers, with enthusiastic commentary on Reddit and elsewhere."
She concludes by noting that brands with very different audiences can leverage meme culture by staying flexible and focusing on underlying sensibilities rather than specific tropes. This may require spending more time in the online and offline worlds frequented by these audiences. "If you get confused, don't worry," Daley writes. "It's OK to take a peek at knowyourmeme.com."
The full column is available at https://www.marketingdive.com/news/dodging-the-pitfalls-of-meme-inspired-branding/572841/
About CBX
CBX is an independent agency specializing in brand strategy and design services, including branding, innovation, packaging and retail design. Founded in 2003, the company currently employs nearly 100 creative and support staff at its New York City headquarters and Minneapolis office. Its client list includes Mondelez, Kroger, Keurig Dr Pepper, General Mills, Hain Celestial, and Merck.
NOTE TO MEDIA: Jaime Klein Daley, VP of strategy at CBX, is available as a resource for articles related to marketing, branding and design. Please see media contacts at end of release.
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SOURCE CBX
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