Marketing the Meme
| September 6, 2004, 12:13 pmWhat do Google, the Macarena, Hotmail and Affiliate networks have in common?
They all are or have been virulent memes or idea viruses, that have moved through society without advertising.
Mr Meme
Nearly thirty years ago evolutionary theorist Richard Dawkins proposed that ideas and information moved through society in much the same way as viruses, self replicating and evolving.
Mr Idea Virus
It's a fascinating idea that has subsequently been taken in a number of directions by different people and forms the basis of Seth Godin's book Unleashing the Ideavirus where Godin investigates the mechanisms around Memes and applies them to marketing.
Kind of like turbo charged word of mouth, the speed and reach of the internet is used to its best advantage - as a tool for communicating and sharing ideas.
Given that the value of anything eg brands, money, stock etc. exists primarily within the minds of the public, the engineering of memes could well become a key marketing issue.
Further Reading:
Seth Godin - Unleashing the Ideavirus
Fast Company - Memes
Memes.org
