Jeff Pedigo Presents: (r)evolutionary marketing: Marketing Meets the Science of the Meme

A Quick Meme Primer

2010-05-19T12:39:00Z

Found a cute website called The Daily Meme that has a short primer on memes:

http://thedailymeme.com/what-is-a-meme/

It's ADDY Season

2010-01-19T13:56:00Z

The American Advertising Federation's ADDY Awards is the largest tiered advertising awards program in the world. I'm gratified that two AAF Chapters here in the South have invited me back to help judge their entries. I'll be hitting Pensacola, Florida, the weekend of January 22 and then it's up to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the weekend of January 29. Thanks for the invitations, fellas. I'm looking forward to celebrating the best advertising your markets have to offer. And ridiculing the rest. (Just kidding. Sort of.)

Heavily Used Words Evolve More Slowly

2009-11-30T02:54:00Z

Man! Here's an excellent article from the New York Times about a compelling study on the evolution of words (from the journal Nature).

Another take on the study can be found here, and another good article on the evolution of words appears here. All great food for thought and excellent information I can reference in my presentation. Need a presenter? Gimme a shout!

Cheers,

Jeff

Shotgun Presentation! Birmingham, Alabama

2009-10-17T02:04:00Z

Thanks to AAF Birmingham for having me speak today! They had a late cancellation, and I was able to fill in.

I appreciate the hospitality and interest, guys! If you happen to see this post, please feel free to leave a comment!

Jeff

Back from the Beach—Thanks Pensacola!

2009-09-29T19:57:00Z

Many thanks to the folks in Pensacola for some first rate hospitality.

Special shoutouts:

...to (AAFP President) Joe Vinson for a great meal the night before the luncheon.
...to Ross Orenstein and Mona Amodeo at Music as Message for a great after-lunch meeting.
...to fellow GodwinGroup alum Gail Spruill at ID Group for just being Gail!
...and to Jay Massey, President and CEO of Coco Design, who was so enamored with the idea of "memetic engineering"—the idea that marketing and advertising are the creation and dissemination of memes—that he made it one his company's service offerings! It's down at the very bottom, but hey...gotta start somewhere!

Thanks Guys! I had a great time and hope to see you all again soon.

Susan Blackmore on memes and a possible new replicator.

2009-08-05T07:26:00Z

Meme theorist Susan Blackmore has a great article up at New Scientist about memetics and the possibility of a similar replicator that spreads not brain-to-brain but machine-to-machine. Basically...well, it's probably better if you just click the link and let her explain it. She also has a great talk on the subject up at TED (lots of great stuff there; check it out).

Oh! Oh! And I found an illuminating Q & A with her from WIRED last year.

BOOKED! September 24th in Sunny Pensacola, Florida!

2009-08-05T07:17:00Z

Just got word that's I'll be regailing the Pensacola Bay Area Advertising Federation with memetic madness next month. Also planning on hooking up with my friends at Music as Message and idgroup. (Hi guys! See you soon!)

Thanks Mobile!

2009-07-17T16:39:00Z

I had a great time in Mobile yesterday chatting up memes and memetics. Thanks so much for the attention and hospitality guys. And thanks especially to those who approached me afterward with thoughts and book recommendations. Many of them sounded right up my alley. (Special shout out to Tim at Blue Frog Design for blogging about the presentation already!) Tentatively, I'll be returning to Mobile in September to speak at the first ever AAF Mobile Bay Student Conference. Looking forward to it!

Jeff

BOOKED! July 16 — Mobile, Alabama

2009-06-25T19:31:00Z

When I was in elementary school, there was a comic book series called The Marvel Universe. It was basically an encyclopedia of all the super heroes published by Marvel Comics. Each entry listed the secret identity, powers and base of operations of each hero and bad guy. Early in the series I noticed that most of the heroes lived in New York City and most of bad guys lived in Mobile. (I recognized the city because my uncle lived there back then.)

"Now why..." I thought. "Why do all these bad guys live in Mobile?"

"Why Mobile?" It bothered my for years. WHY!?!?!?

I figured it out much later in life than I should have. Those bad guys didn't have a base of operations. They just moved around a lot.

Anyway, I'll see you all in Mobile — the city — soon.

P.S. In my defense, the word mobile was capitalized in those comics.

Jeff Pedigo and GodwinGroup Evolve

2009-03-25T19:15:00Z

Announcement time!

After nearly 16 years of building successful marketing programs together, GodwinGroup and I have decided to part ways for the time being. I wish my friends and former co-workers luck amid this constantly brave new world of emerging media, changing norms and increasingly fickle and empowered audiences. As for me, I'll be concentrating on helping small businesses establish their brands and market themselves effectively in the same world.

By and large, change is good. And I'm looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead. Perhaps one day, my path may once more cross Godwin's. Until then, let the most adapted to this brave new world survive—and continue to evolve as marketers.

The best part is...this development gives me more time to devote to developing The Science of the Meme as a program, a potential book and most important, a thought-provoking mental exercise that just may be the key to truly successful marketing in the near future.

Read more about The Science of the Meme here.

The Essence of Memetics from a Favorite Song

2008-07-17T15:35:00Z

I've been on a Sting kick lately, so I transferred all my old Police CDs to iTunes. When I listened to their classic De Do Do Do De Da Da Da today, it struck me that I had no idea what the heck the song meant. I guess I always assumed it was supposed to be nonsensical, but having been a fan of Sting for a long while now, I began to suspect otherwise.

If you actually read the lyrics, the song is about the power of words in spite of their simplicity. Can you think of four symbols that, when arranged in a certain order, convey an idea so powerful that it forms the basis for your closest, most treasured relationships with people? Try L-O-V-E.

Think about it: four symbols that by themselves represent nothing more than basic sounds we can create with our mouths, but when you arrange them in this particular order they describe the basis for nearly all close human relationships. They form the basis for entire religions. This is an example of the power of memes. Here's a quote from De Do Do Do De Da Da Da that sums it up pretty well:

    Poets, priests and poiticians
    Have words to thank for their positions
    Words that scream for your submission
    And no one's jamming their transmission

The idea behind memetics is that ideas, or memes, form human cultures by "jumping" from person to person in a manner similar to how biological viruses jump from person to person via infection. They "scream for your submission, and no one's jamming their transmission." But that doesn't mean there's no interference. For advertisers, there's plenty. That's why I think the science of Memetics could help us all communicate more effectively with our audiences.

I love thinking and talking about this stuff, so give me a shout. I'd love to map out the whole concept of memes for your advertising or marketing club. Click the links on this page to learn more. Meanwhile, give that old song a listen. In addition to describing memes, it's a pretty catchy meme in and of itself.

Thanks, Mississippi Bankers!

2008-04-22T19:09:00Z

I enjoyed a fun-filled lunch talk with the Mississippi Bankers Association on Thursday, April 17. Thanks so much to Kristen Kern for the invitation. Everyone seemed to enjoy what I had to say, and they laughed at my jokes (well, the funny ones at least). So it was a satisfying experience all around.

Thanks again!

Jeff

BOOKED! MS Bankers Association, Thursday, April 17

2008-03-05T04:26:00Z

I'll be speaking at the Mississippi Bankers Association's Marketing & Communications Conference in mid-April. It's being held at the venerable Old Capitol Inn, right up the street, a beautifully restored facility that I think was a YWCA in the fifties. I'm looking forward to injecting the presentation with some category-specific (i.e. banking) info for the first time. Thanks to Kristen Kern for the invitation!

Talkin' in Tallahassee

2008-02-18T04:06:00Z

Well, I never found time to post about being booked for Tallahassee on February 15th.

Although it's close enough to drive, the Tally Club was gracious enough to fly me in so I

wouldn't be exhausted getting back to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for the local ADDY awards.

I got to visit some business contacts, stay with an old friend and talk memes with the local members.

So it was a good trip all around. Thanks Tally Folks for being such a pleasant group, and for serving

some great food. Post some comments if you get a chance.

Thanks again,

Jeff

Roger Ebert gives memes some love...

2008-02-02T02:55:00Z

Roger Ebert name-dropped memes in his February 1 Answer Man column. Here's how it played out...

Q. I'm curious about the viral marketing campaigns for many big-budget movies (such as "Cloverfield" as well as the "Batman Begins" sequel "The Dark Knight"). "The Dark Knight" uses Web sites that include puzzles in order to unlock stills or pictures from the movie. One allowed people to enter their e-mail addresses to get a coordinate. With the coordinate, they could enter it at the Web site and remove a pixel from a vandalized picture of Aaron Eckhart (as Harvey Dent from the film).

As more people did this, more pixels were removed, and at the end, the first photo of Heath Ledger as the Joker was revealed underneath. Besides this, there have been scavenger hunts that would ultimately end in more photos being released and lead to Web sites revolving around the movies' events and mythology. Do you believe that more studios will use this tactic to market their product?

Jeremy Flores, UCLA, Los Angeles

A. "Viral marketing" refers to a strategy that tries to involve a movie's target audience in talking up a movie among their friends. They tell others about the Web sites, the audience grows, word-of-mouth spreads, and the campaign rolls under its own momentum. It is essentially a practical application of Richard Dawkins' theory of "memes," which are to ideas as genes are to heredity. He argues that certain ideas, beliefs, songs, images and superstitions spread from mind to mind and, like genes, the hardiest survive.

Rogert Ebert

So there you go. I thought at first that Ebert had misspelled "heartiest," but a quick search revealed that he used a perfectly legal alternate spelling. I found that interesting for no reason in particular.

Jeff

P.S. Happy Groundhog Day tomorrow. Speaking of Ebert, celebrate by watching the movie again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008-01-12T00:32:00Z

Happy indeed. I'm proud to report that my employer, GodwinGroup, has seen fit to promote me from lowly Senior Writer/Producer to the esteemed position of Associate Creative Director. What does this mean for my presentation schedule? Not much. It just means I'll have less time to turn this thing into a book.

Yes, I've decided to put my nose to the grindstone and turn (r)evolutionary marketing: Marketing Meets the Science of the Meme into book form. Of course, it means a dramatic expansion of the material and thus a lot more research, but I think there's a market for it. The presentation continues to be well received, and the many questions and compliments I receive after each one have made it clear to me that it should be a book.

Hopefully, putting my intentions out here on the Web like this will serve as an incentive to put my money where my mouth is and write the thing. If you run across this post, your suggestions and encouragement are welcome and appreciated. Meanwhile, have a happy 2008. I'll be reading, taking notes and hopefully giving the presentation on a regular basis.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

Thanks Acadiana and Baton Rouge!

2007-11-04T04:02:00Z

I had a great time on my trip to Lafayette and Baton Rouge, Lousiana!

The Acadiana Advertising Federation hosted a laid back 7:00 pm meeting in the midst of Rhythms on the River, a nice little outdoor music festival held most every Thursday throughout October and November at the local City Club. It was nice to hear the faint blues of Louisiana Red seep through the walls as I blinded the group with the Science of the Meme.

The next day, the Advertising Federation of Greater Baton Rouge hosted a traditional lunch meeting at Juban's restaurant, nationally recognized for some of the finest Creole cuisine ever created. Again, great experience!

Both groups served me some delicious Tilapia, asked some interesting questions and took part in some truly interesting discussion after each talk. I found both groups to be truly engaged – and engaging as well.

Thanks so much, everyone, for your hospitality, attention and interest. I hope hearing about the Science of the Meme will help you think about communication in new and different ways that will make you all more successful in your future endeavors.

Thanks again!

Jeff

P.S. Feel free to leave a comment, positive or negative – or rate my performance with the AMA using the link in the sidebar. Thx - JP

Thanks Southern Mississippi!

2007-10-16T00:41:00Z

Shout out to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Advertising Federation. Thanks for having me and I hope you enjoyed hearing about the Science of the Meme. Whether you did or not, post a comment or rate my performance with the American Marketing Association. Special thanks to Tracy Williams at William Carey University, who came up for a great chat after the presentation and is taking the "Meme meme" back to her students. She also emailed me with a great idea: meme-inspired T-shirts. Hmmm...might have to come up with something there. Stay tuned. Thanks, Tracy!

SHOTGUN BOOKING! October 11 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

2007-10-08T21:02:00Z

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Advertising Federation has invited me to share (r)evolutionary marketing with them later this week. I'm no stranger to the Gulf Coast, as the company I work for, GodwinGroup, has an office down there. So, I'm excited about sharing this topic with some familiar faces.

DOUBLE-BOOKED!! November 2nd in Lafayette, Louisiana; November 3rd in Baton Rouge

2007-10-01T15:01:00Z

Two days, two presentations! I'll be speaking at dinner with the Acadiana Advertising Federation in Lafayette, then at lunch the next day with the Advertising Federation of Greater Baton Rouge. I'm looking forward to my first double-whammy of (r)evolutionary marketing. Thanks for the invitation, guys!