A Study on the Communication Mechanism of Brand Homophonic Marketing from the Perspective of Meme Theory — Taking the Yili “Year of the Horse Seeks Ma Yili” Event as an Example

Abstract

In digital marketing, homophonic advertising keeps going viral because it is easy to copy, easy to remember, and easy to share. During the 2026 Spring Festival, Yili's “Year of the Horse Seeks Ma Yili” campaign showed us a complete story: a netizen's casual idea turned into a brand campaign, which then exploded across the internet. This makes it a compelling case for understanding homophonic marketing. Using meme theory, this paper looks closely at how this particular meme was born and how it spread. The analysis shows that this is a phenotype meme, one that plays with the sound similarity between “Ma Yili” and the Chinese word for “missing you” to create layers of meaning. Its power comes partly from a clever pun, but also from the emotions it stirred at three different points in the story. The meme traveled along a clear path: a user created it, the brand caught it and amplified it bigger, it went viral on social media, and all that attention eventually flowed back to the brand. Most interestingly, the brand was not the one telling the story first. Instead, Yili listened, joined in, and helped spread a story that its customers started. This shows a real shift from old-school marketing to genuine co-creation.