At the beginning of this year, blue “P” emojis were everywhere.
Not only did the craze promote Gunna’s “Pushin P” single, it also helped hisDS4Ever album achieve a No. 1Billboard spot over The Weeknd. Brands like Nike and IHOP also tapped into the phenomenon, letting the world know how P they were (or how eager they were to appear cool to young consumers).
Gunna put pop culture in a chokehold and outsold a global pop superstar off the power of a strong album and a well-timed meme phenomenon. HisBillboard triumph shows the true power of meme marketing in 2022.
Making memes was once a fun way for fans to make light of artists and cultural trends, but it’s turned into a focal point of marketing rollouts for almost every rapper and pop star. Virality is a chief component of success for modern stars like Lil Nas X, Megan Thee Stallion, Saweetie, and Drake. If an artist is trying to go platinum, a good viral campaign will help.
Just five years ago, the meme game was mainly a fan exploit, and people mashed up clips of cartoons with hit songs for fun. But as meme-maker John Walaszek pointed out in 2019, “Any time something is successful organically, someone somewhere is going to want to figure out how to monetize it.” That’s exactly what’s happened over the past few years, as labels have taken meme-boosting into their own hands with internal marketing departments, as well as partnerships with social media users and agencies.
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