Marketing has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years, shifting from meticulously planned campaigns to agile, real-time responses to cultural moments. This evolution, driven by the relentless pace of the internet and social media, has placed “velocity” at the forefront of effective marketing strategies. Perhaps the most compelling manifestation of this shift is the rise of meme marketing – a fast-paced, culturally relevant approach that is not just a fleeting trend, but a fundamental aspect of modern brand engagement. The significance of this transformation can be traced back to a pivotal moment a decade ago: the “10 minutes” that arguably launched the speed marketing revolution and highlighted the power of memes before they were even fully recognized as such in marketing lexicon.
This pivotal moment occurred on February 3, 2013, at 8:48 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time. It was a seemingly small event, yet it triggered a seismic shift in the marketing and advertising landscape. Countless articles have since analyzed this moment, recognizing its role in reshaping careers, birthing new companies, and establishing innovative economic models within the industry. It was an instance of marketing magic, a near-miraculous execution that revolved around something as simple and universally appealing as cookies – specifically, Oreos.
The Moment Marketing Changed Forever
Traditionally, launching an advertising or marketing campaign was a protracted affair. It involved brainstorming ideas, pitching proposals to clients, securing budgets, exploring creative directions, finalizing designs, obtaining legal clearances, purchasing media space, and finally, executing the campaign. This entire process could easily span several months.
However, this established paradigm was irrevocably altered on a single Sunday evening in 2013.
It was Super Bowl Sunday in the United States, an event globally recognized for its cultural significance and massive viewership.
As the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers battled on the field, brands were primed to showcase their most impactful commercials. Yet, no one could have predicted the unexpected twist: a sudden power outage plunged the New Orleans Superdome into darkness. In this unforeseen moment of collective pause, a beloved brand seized an unprecedented opportunity – Oreo cookies.
360i, the agency behind this now-iconic marketing maneuver, acted with remarkable speed and ingenuity. Amidst the blackout, they conceived and deployed a remarkably simple yet brilliant ad within minutes. Against a stark black background, a single Oreo cookie was featured, accompanied by the tagline, “You can still dunk in the dark.”
The reaction was immediate and profound. During a Super Bowl party, the commercial aired and sparked audible gasps and murmurs of astonishment. “How did they do that?” was the question echoing in the room, encapsulating the novelty and speed of the campaign.
This ad defied conventional advertising norms. Its brilliance lay not only in its visual simplicity but, more crucially, in its astonishing speed of execution. This was not a meticulously pre-planned campaign; it was marketing operating at the speed of culture. The ad resonated far beyond television broadcasts, rapidly becoming a social media phenomenon and Oreo’s most tweeted content ever. It served as a powerful, real-world demonstration of the potential of real-time marketing.
Sara Hoffstetter, then president of 360i, recounted in a brief interview how the ad was conceived and ready to launch in an astonishing five minutes, underscoring the groundbreaking agility of the campaign. This unprecedented speed and cultural relevance marked a turning point in marketing history, demonstrating the potent impact of meme-like, rapid-response content.
Oreo Shifted the Marketing World
The “Dunk in the Dark” ad was profoundly impactful for two key reasons that redefined marketing priorities.
Firstly, it exemplified real-time relevance at its peak. The ad didn’t just acknowledge the power outage; it embraced it, turning a negative event into a positive brand moment. It underscored that speed, agility, and immediate relevance were becoming the cornerstones of modern marketing, superseding the traditional reliance on lengthy annual plans and massive, slow-moving campaigns. While this approach might seem commonplace today, it was revolutionary at the time, establishing a new benchmark for marketing responsiveness.
Secondly, it tapped into a shared cultural experience. The Super Bowl transcends being merely a game; it is a cultural phenomenon uniting diverse groups of people. By directly addressing the power outage, Oreo became integrated into the ongoing narrative of the event, sparking conversations across social media platforms and amongst football fans alike. It wasn’t simply an advertisement; it became a shared moment of communal enjoyment and connection, demonstrating the unifying power of culturally relevant content.
Oreo successfully transformed an unforeseen power outage into a moment of branding brilliance, effectively pioneering a new approach to marketing.
And with this single tweet and image, something fundamentally new was born in the marketing world.
A New Marketing Day Was Born
The “Dunk in the Dark” commercial acted as a catalyst for significant change within the marketing industry. It heralded the arrival of a new era in advertising – one where brands could no longer rely solely on traditional, extended campaign timelines. It inspired marketers to cultivate a mindset of agility, to embrace the spontaneous nature of the digital age, and to engage with their audiences in real-time. In the wake of Oreo’s success, numerous agencies emerged, many claiming their ability to deliver “Oreo-style advertising,” highlighting the industry’s rapid recognition of this new marketing paradigm.
While social media had already established itself as a significant marketing channel, the Oreo moment capitalized on the real-time capabilities of these platforms, pushing the entire industry towards prioritizing speed and leveraging cultural moments. This shift marked the mainstream emergence of what we now recognize as meme marketing, even if it wasn’t explicitly labeled as such at the time.
Meme Marketing in the Mainstream
The emphasis on speed rapidly permeated nearly every facet of brand strategy.
By 2019, Pepsi publicly declared a significant shift in marketing philosophy, stating that the traditional concept of “brand” was being replaced by “culture” as the central focus of their marketing efforts.
Pepsi’s revised approach signaled a departure from large-scale, long-term campaigns, favoring instead the creation of “cultural sparks” – moments of relevance within the ever-evolving cultural landscape. This strategic pivot emphasized real-time engagement and cultural responsiveness, with speed becoming paramount.
This perspective has since been widely adopted by numerous major brands, particularly those targeting younger demographics. The need to be culturally relevant and react in real-time is now a defining characteristic of contemporary marketing.
Consider Ikea’s successful capitalization on a viral photo of US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, which rapidly transformed into a widespread meme. Ikea had a mere single day to seize the moment, connect with the meme’s popularity, and create relevant content. Their swift response demonstrated the necessity for brands to operate at meme speed.
The Meme-Driven World
Recent insights from a Gen Z conference underscored the accelerating importance of meme marketing. Listening to young people discuss their aspirations, values, and expectations for businesses revealed a recurring theme: Only now matters. Relevance is defined by “today,” or even just a few hours.
Platforms like TikTok exemplify this real-time imperative. Achieving popularity on TikTok hinges on capturing the meme of the day, demanding exceptional agility and speed. The traditional marketing timeline of pitching ideas to agencies and waiting weeks for campaign development is obsolete in this environment. By the time a request is drafted, the cultural moment has likely passed.
Gen Z, despite their age, wields significant influence over culture, music, fashion, and increasingly, business. We are now in a marketing landscape characterized by a 24-hour relevance cycle, where brands must react and engage within a day to remain part of the cultural conversation.
Several companies have not only recognized this shift but have thrived in the meme-driven world, demonstrating best practices in meme marketing. Here are five examples of companies that excel in meme marketing:
Slim Jim
Slim Jim’s Instagram account is renowned for its consistently humorous memes and witty, often savage, commentary on trending meme pages. Their approach to meme marketing is distinctive, embracing a bold and irreverent brand personality.
McDonald’s
While traditionally known for its television advertising, McDonald’s has successfully ventured into meme marketing. They experienced a stroke of luck when their Grimace Shake unexpectedly became the subject of a viral meme trend. However, their ability to capitalize on this trend and engage authentically with the meme community highlighted their meme marketing prowess.
Netflix
Netflix has cultivated a strong reputation for creating engaging content, and they extend this strength to their meme marketing efforts. They regularly publish memes, typically two to three times per week, that resonate with their audience while subtly promoting their current shows and movies. This strategy effectively leverages memes for both brand engagement and content promotion.
Moon Pie
Moon Pie, a Southern snack cake with a unique cultural identity, consistently demonstrates a sharp and timely approach to social media engagement. Their social media account is known for being highly responsive and adept at leveraging trending conversations, exemplified by their memorable and witty “roast” style interactions.
These companies exemplify how to effectively use memes to engage with audiences and maintain relevance in the dynamic digital sphere. By staying attuned to cultural trends and producing relatable content, they have successfully expanded their social media presence and fostered increased audience engagement.
Implications for You and the Future of Meme Marketing
The shift towards meme marketing is not a temporary fad; it represents a fundamental and likely permanent change in the marketing landscape. Meme marketing is not only here to stay but is poised to become even more central to brand strategy.
For those in traditional marketing roles, the speed and spontaneity of meme marketing can be daunting. If you find yourself thinking, “We’re not equipped for this,” you are not alone. The rise of meme marketing has significant implications for how businesses approach marketing, necessitating adjustments across various operational areas.
1. Legal Approval
In traditional marketing, legal approval is a critical, often time-consuming step in any campaign launch.
However, in the context of meme marketing, speed is paramount. Sarah Wilson from Duolingo, a brand celebrated for its meme-savvy social media presence, highlighted in a Marketing Companion podcast episode the necessity for rapid legal processes. At Duolingo, legal approvals for social media content are expedited to within two hours, and often as quickly as 45 minutes, from idea conception to final clearance. This alignment between brand agility and legal processes is crucial in today’s fast-paced marketing environment.
Wilson emphasized that efficient systems and processes, while often considered unglamorous, are essential for brands to effectively participate in cultural conversations. Without the ability to execute at speed, a brand’s message risks becoming irrelevant and lost in the rapid flow of online culture.
2. Leadership
The language, tone, and pace of platforms like TikTok and the broader meme marketing landscape can feel unfamiliar, even to seasoned marketing professionals. While experience remains valuable, leading meme marketing initiatives might necessitate a different approach.
Sarah Wilson offered insightful perspective on leadership in this evolving landscape:
“A significant portion of the marketing future will unfold within communities of young people. Culture is being shaped there, movements are initiated there, and brand communities are organically forming in unexpected corners of the internet. It may be time for organizations to flatten hierarchies and entrust market research and meme strategy to their youngest employees. They possess an innate understanding of these digital spaces and how to navigate them effectively.” This suggests that effective meme marketing leadership involves empowering younger voices within an organization, recognizing their cultural fluency and digital native insights.
3. Measurement
Measuring the success of meme marketing campaigns presents a significant challenge. In a world driven by daily reactions to cultural memes, the traditional metrics and planning cycles become less relevant. The emphasis shifts to immediate engagement and cultural resonance, often leaving little time for extensive analysis or pre-planning.
This challenge is reminiscent of a quote from the book Marketing Rebellion:
This quote encapsulates the inherent tension between data-driven marketing and the spontaneous nature of meme culture. While data and measurement remain crucial in marketing, the speed and real-time nature of meme marketing often necessitate a different approach. Brands must adapt to a world where cultural relevance and immediate impact may outweigh traditional, quantifiable metrics. The question becomes: Can your company culture embrace this inherent ambiguity and prioritize cultural participation over rigid measurement frameworks?
Ultimately, in the age of meme marketing, businesses may have little choice but to adapt. The cultural landscape is moving at an unprecedented pace, and remaining relevant requires embracing speed, agility, and a willingness to engage in real-time conversations, even if traditional measurement models struggle to keep up.
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