A lot of it is about timing, Dogecoin wouldn't gain the same traction if it was launched today. As much as I'm against dogecoin and would never invest in it there is a decent size community and its actively traded on a lot of exchanges.
Next is marketing. This is the most powerful tool to pump up a price of a coin and you need wealthy individuals backing your project to pay these massive costs.
True that, it's really hard to create something that is going viral, especially when the competition is huge. Altough i've been doing research recently about cryptocurrencies going hard into sports world by signing huge sponsorship deals. It's a very costful way to promote yourself but it gives you a landmark on something physical, like a sports kit, or a bolid.