3. Feed the meme machine

This Barbie is made for the hellsite

Amongst Barbie’s massive arsenal of marketing tools is the inherent meme-ability of its IP and the simple ways in which they have embraced and encouraged the absorption of the flm into the memeosphere. From memes born from clever copy like She’s everything, he’s just Ken to This Barbie is… selfe generators, Barbie has armed the social media mob with ample inspiration and tools to run riot. Brands shouldn’t be overly-sensitive about how the conversation plays out, or of relinquishing creative control to the masses. They should invite it. Trying to anchor down amidst the maelstrom will only end in tears.

Memeifying your brand is one way to infltrate the feed, another is to craft a product or IP that is in its own right memeworthy. MSCHF, an American art collective built for the internet, did exactly that with their Big Red Boot at the start of 2023. Gracing the feet of everyone from Diplo to Janelle Monae, the Astro-Boy channeling footwear was nearly inescapable, generating endless press and giving birth to a tsunami of memes. Their most recent contribution to internet culture came in the form of the Microscopic LV bag for Pharrell. The reason? ‘Because he loves big hats, we made him an incredibly small bag’

310% spike in online searches for Burberry’s ‘ludicrously capacious bag”

From an incredibly small bag to a ludicrously capacious one…

Tom Wambsgans, Succession’s endlessly quotable one man meme machine, has given more than his fair share to the internet and, it turns out, to Burberry too. His scathing critique of their £2,500 handbag sparked a furry of interest in the bag prompting a 310% spike in online searches. The brand were quick to react to this surge in popularity, swapping out their Regent Street fagship window to hero a lineup of the bags. Reactive, subtle and clued in to culture, it shows how brands can react to meme culture as much as promote it as a means to launching, or relaunching, their products.