Whether it was an accident or pure marketing genius, the Internet has officially broken this week – again – over Drake’s new music video, Hotline Bling.
Users have been appropriating the clip to create their own content by overlaying music, creating memes or adding in features such as a tennis racket, a lightsaber, and even pepperoni pizza.
When it comes down to it, Canadian rapper Drake is a brand, and instances such as these prove the raw power the Internet and social media have over brands and businesses. A few years ago it seemed that there was no calculated formula to creating viral content and often what was popular seemed entirely random. Drake’s music video, however, was obviously produced and choreographed for the strategic intention of sparking user-generated content; an approach that is being referred to as meme-bait.
It is apparent that marketers are beginning to experiment and take risks online, evaluating the meme-ability of content. Views and likes are becoming less valuable than the conversations surrounding content. The question now is; how will this change the future of online advertising?
For now though, I will leave you with the best gifs and memes from Drake’s Hotline Bling:
https://vine.co/v/eV7MrBpzMLz
https://vine.co/v/eVq3L3FJhha
Yooooo all these Drake memes are getting out of hand 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/zfUR6NR5P9
— RaveChasers (@RaveChasers) October 22, 2015
