Meme Marketing, Moment Marketing & Cultural Marketing: What Actually Works?
Brands had to adapt to changing communication styles. As an influencer marketing agency, brands increasingly rely on creators, viral content, and cultural conversations to remain relevant across social media platforms. Gone are the days when consumers were patient during campaign drags. It is increasingly common to engage consumers using viral memes and cultural references, edgy humor, and even jokes that are popular for only a few hours.
Because of this urgency, brands confuse meme marketing, moment marketing, and cultural marketing. Though closely related, they are not synonymous. Simple definitions of the three can help brands understand the difference between making a viral marketing campaign and communicating with consumers.
Meme Marketing: Excellent for Gaining Attention
Of the three terms, the most clear cut is viral marketing. Because of the nature of meme construction, this is a visual shortcut that allows brands to elucidate their point without a lengthy explanation. Exceptional memes can go viral quickly. While memes can generate impressive reach, sustainable influencer marketing campaigns combine entertainment with authentic creator storytelling to build long-term brand recall.
Moment Marketing: It’s All About Timing and Relevance
Moment marketing focuses on brands’ timing, not the format. It’s about the brand that reacts to the events next, whether that’s a win at the cricket, a holiday, a trending social media phenomena, or a cultural event. While speed is an important part of moment marketing, relevance is more important.
Not every moment calls for brands’ presence. Additionally, not every trending topic is aligned with the brands’ voice or purpose. The brand that does this type of marketing effectively has a reason to participate, and is not making a marketing ploy. The purpose is not to be the first brand to react, but to be the brand that reacts and engages the consumer the most.
Cultural Marketing: The Built in Advantage
Cultural marketing focuses on the consumers instead of trends. It is about the brand that knows how its targets consumers communicate, what is important to them, what communities they are a part of, and what they discuss on the daily.
The culture is more than the latest viral, a brand that knows its audience does not need to insert itself into conversations. It is about the brand that can communicate with audiences. This is the type of marketing that gives brands a true identity instead of the social media presence.
Why Brands Get It Wrong
There are reasons brand marketing can go wrong. Firstly, brands will look for what will give them quick exposure. Memes are one of these tactics, or they will jump on the trending moments along with the pack. This lure of quick returns leads to a lack of meaning and thought in the brand marketing, which is even worse without an understanding of the culture of the people you are marketing towards.
Viral formats for marketing can give you a lot of engagement, but this engagement and fleeting online trends lack brand equity in the eyes of consumers. Without understanding your brand’s voice, even though you created the most successful post of the day, you will gain nothing but a one-time viral post.
What Actually Works
Successful brands will understand this and integrate the three tactics in a balanced way.
Cultural understanding and the brand’s personality are the foundations of successful marketing. Cultural marketing helps draw the brand’s voice into a quality conversation, and Moment marketing allows the brand to showcase relevant posts.
In summary, culture answers the questions of identity for the brand, the moments help the brand find its voice, and memes help the brand find the tactics.
