Brand Factory rides on memes to drive change in its positioning

The discount retail outlet for fashion brands, Brand Factory, has captured millennials’ attention with its witty, humour and well-timed memes content conceptualised and executed by IdeateLabs.

Originally positioned as a ‘365 days on discount’ retail store, the brand’s communication was earlier centred around various offers and brand promotions, which has now evolved to ‘Best Brands. Smart Prices.’ with the aim to be perceived as a smart place to shop for brands.

To drive this change, while the brand launched the #DontGetFooled campaign in mainline media, the communication was driven through meme marketing on digital.

The key to marketing to millennials is to understand the primary reason they are on social media — to stay connected, to be amused and to share a laugh or two. Memes have become a rage and has often found its way from Facebook to WhatsApp messages. They have seamlessly become part of daily youth conversations. Brand Factory threw on the saddle and joined these conversations by creating their own memes based on current events, trending TV shows, movies, news, web series, popular videos and more.

Roch D’Souza

“Going by our brand DNA of being smart, our content strategy on social media has always been to be topical and quirky and be relevant to our TG, and memes have proven to be one of the most effective routes. We don’t operate as a typical brand that like to play it safe, and thus we have given our digital agency the freedom to be as creative and take risks if necessary to engage millennials. A piece of content is successful when it’s shared without being offered freebies. Memes have been just that for us. The organic engagement rates are phenomenal and it’s a great way to ensure top-of-mind recall without spending big bucks,” said Roch D’Souza, Chief Marketing Officer, Brand Factory.

Memes aren’t restricted to just generic content. When it comes to Indian festivals and widely celebrated ‘days’ like the New Year and Valentine’s Day, among others, Brand Factory choses to greet its audience through memes instead of traditional greetings.

All the big promos that were previously transactional in communication also adopted the meme theme. Besides, offline campaigns are no longer adaptations on digital. Every TVC was bolstered on digital platforms with a series of memes and interactive content.

Porus Jose

“With memes, the key is timing. You’re not only trying to capitalise on short-lived trends, but you need do it before the other brands. That makes ‘meme making’ a 24/7 creative exercise. And it’s always either a big hit or a lost opportunity,” said Porus Jose, Creative Head, IdeateLabs.