IMPACT OF MEMES ON ONLINE BRAND PROMOTION

Abstract

This work aims at understanding the effects that memes have on brand awareness and involvement, with emphasis on engagement, recall and the evoked emotions. The study employs both quantitative and qualitative data; social media campaign engagement data and focus group discussions as well as interviews. The study shows that meme promotion is a more effective campaign type than typical advertising methods, which garner higher interaction rates and higher recall value. Memes help to build better emotional bonds with audiences, especially with young, digital natives as brands feel more approachable and REAL. However, the study indicates that there are so many risks of launching humor into an organization that include; The risks of being culturally sensitive and the probable risk of jeopardizing professionalism all in the name of humor. This paper demonstrates the use of memes as useful in fashion and entertainment industries while at the same time has informed that it should be used cautiously and in industries such as finance and healthcare.