Semiotics in marketing: what does it mean for your brand

You do not buy products, you buy success, status, lifestyle.
In addition, your purchases are driven by subconscious perceptions and emotions.

Semiotics , the interpretation of signs and symbols, helps to decipher these subconscious elements. Although semiotics is an academic science, it also has practical applications for marketers.
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Semiotics can help:

• Effectively convey the message of the brand to the consumer;
• Report desired values;
• Affect the subconscious decision-making by consumers.

In this article you will learn about the basics of semiotics and its importance for marketing.
And for a lot of examples we will analyze how semiotics can be applied to your brand.

What is semiotics?

Semiotics - the study of signs and symbols. Science explains the meaning through our social and cultural background, showing how we instinctively interpret messages.

Our subconscious interpretations rely on emotions, not information.
Psychologist Daniel Kaneman calls this the predominance of System 1 (emotional) over System 2 (rational) in the human brain:

Although we may think that it is System 2 that helps us make rational decisions, it is not. Emotional (System 1) is the source of our beliefs, and it ponders all the rational choices of System 2 (rational)

Your feelings and impressions are influenced by the world around you, and especially by all non-verbal symbols that your brain interprets, packages, and creates meanings.
This powerful, but invisible communication is exactly what semiotics can help marketers understand.

The role of semiotics in marketing

Marketing is sending the right message to the right person at the right time. Semiotics helps to do this effectively.

Laura Oswald explains :

Semiotic theories and methods can be used to identify trends in popular culture to understand how consumer attitudes and behavior toward brands are shaped. Marketing and advertising programs can best meet the needs of consumers, improving communication with the end user.

Apple is a typical example of a brand that is intertwined with identity.

People do not stand in line for hours just to buy smartphones or laptops;
they queue up to buy status and a certain lifestyle.
Apple sells these traits as much as equipment sells.

To get there, Apple messaging had to go through the filters in the subconscious of their consumers:



How to move from unknown brand to symbol status?
Start with a semiotic analysis.

How to conduct a semiotic analysis

Words, sounds, images, gestures and objects are all signs for interpretation.
Semiotic analysis can interpret each one of them, and then use this information later to convince consumers.

Each sign consists of two parts :

1. Meaningful The form that it takes.
2. Signified. The concept he presents.

Semiotic analysis consists of three stages:

1. Analysis of verbal signals (what you see and hear).
2. Analysis of visual signals (what you see).
3. Analysis of symbolic messages (interpretation of what you see).

Let's take the historical anti-cancer ad:



This is what a semiotic analysis could reveal:



Semiotic analysis deciphers the values ​​(signals) that resonate with your audience. With this knowledge, you can incorporate decoded elements into your brand and your marketing communications.

Semiotic analysis can be part of a checklist when developing a new advertising campaign or publishing main content. You can run the analysis on your own or with your marketing team. Better yet, invite representatives from other departments or, if you have a budget, members of your target audience.

Methods for conducting semiotic analysis

The methods of conducting semiotic analysis are parallel to other forms of qualitative research :

Open questions. Collect as many interpretations as possible using surveys or interviews. Determine the dominant interpretation and see if it matches the value you intend to convey.

Abstract questions. Expand the hidden values ​​behind the characters to see if there are any alternative interpretations that you may have missed.
Your tools here are focus groups or brainstorming with your team.

Sounding questions. Rethink the answer and explain it further.
For example, if we say that squares make a logo look like a structured one, then the person asking the question asks someone to explain the connection between the square and the structure. Use a content matrix or mind maps to uncover more sense of the concept.

Projective techniques. Get an idea of ​​the psychological mood of the audience. For example, if you want to understand whether your brand’s logo is young, ask a focus group to present it as a person. How old is this man? Word links and photo sorting are other options you can use .

There is no exact number of questions that need to be asked to identify all of its relevant components. Start with these three, then develop a chain of sub-questions:

What does the text say? How does the headline attract attention? What does he say about my product / service? Does he sell a product or emotions for him? How is the text associated with the image?

What does the image say? How does it attract attention? How is the image associated with the text?

Who is your target audience? Does the message reflect their age, income, pain points, attitudes, culture? What elements emphasize this?

Here is a semiotic interpretation of Heinz advertising:



After you have determined the meaning of your messages, it's time to correct the mistakes and make sure that you use the same message in all marketing campaigns.

How to apply the results of semiotic analysis

Your brand is a sign. You create it with mission, values ​​and meaning.
Then you encode these elements into the message of your brand, implicitly and explicitly.
But you do not control its interpretation.

As Susan Fournier, professor at Harvard Business School, noted in 1998, “the brand has no objective existence at all: it’s just a collection of ideas that are held in the consumer’s head”

When you succeed in branding, the target audience deciphers the meanings as intended, and the brand takes root in their identity.

Back at Apple, the company has cultivated a culture of knowledge, creativity, and innovation since 1984, when they presented their new Macintosh computer to the world.
They coded the mantra "we are the first and different" in their cult advertizing Super Bowl:


The triangle of semiotic branding provides a process for defining a brand and its interpretation. He has three aspects:

1. Corporate style . Your mission, values, brand history, employees and the product / service itself.
2. Brand communication . Your logo, slogans and content.
3. Ethos brand . Your reputation and how consumers perceive your brand.

Participating in all three of these events will help you bring information about the brand to your audience.

Here is how to apply each component:

1. Include appropriate values ​​in your brand.

Once you have decided, embed the signals of your audience into the brand architecture - symbolic elements such as your logo, brand colors, content, advertisements, cultural symbols, website and the physical environment of your brand.

When choosing a color for a brand, consider the psychological and emotional color associations to convey appropriate values ​​to the consumer.

This Matt Ellis formula can help:



Turning to mature buyers, the company chooses a dark blue and a golden hue to help the target audience identify with the beer.

Or take McDonald's. In this regard, take almost every fast food point.
Almost all of them use red, the most "appetizing" and starving color.



Interestingly, McDonald's is turning green since 2009 because they “want to clarify responsibility for the preservation of natural resources.” Lush greens are trying to convey an eco-friendly image of the brand.



The shape of your logo has a significant meaning. In fact, several studies have called the logo "the most important semiotic intermediary for value in a corporation's verbal and visual marketing strategies."

Circles, for example, convey friendship, unity and warmth. This is exactly what Pepsi's logo offers to consumers: attractive, dynamic and vibrant.

He "smiles" at people with a curved white stripe in a circle.



Squares for power and professionalism - lines offer strength as well as peace of mind. The Mitsubishi Motors logo is an excellent demonstration of the power of semiotics, symbolizing strength, professionalism and quality.



Psychology is also behind the fonts . Font connotations have to balance your brand’s verbal identity — the slogan and the language you use to convey the message in slogans, advertising, brand voice and tone.

The Android slogan "Being together, but not the same," deciphers the power of the community.
It echoes the brand’s mission to be universally accessible and bring together different people. It also emphasizes the unique designs and features of Android phones and subtly challenges Apple’s dominance in the smartphone market.



Or take the Dollar Shave Club slogan. “Shave time. Shave money. It enhances the playful-disrespectful nature of the brand and complements it with its viral commercial.



Finally, think about your brand's behavioral identity - how it interacts with consumers and creates experiences related to their needs and desires.

Niantic changed gaming culture in 2016, when Pokemon Go appeared, and encouraged gamers to interact in the real world, not on the Internet. Tons of research have identified the cultural trends and behavioral norms that made this possible.

In 2020, they plan to launch Pokemon Sleep and “give players a reason to look forward to waking up in the morning.” Your dream will affect the gameplay, turning the physical need into entertainment.



The three above-mentioned identities — visual, verbal and behavioral — make the most effective use of semiotic storytelling and are associated with audiences at different levels.

Adidas includes all three in this ad:



External identity. Adidas shows three bands of patches on the foot of the player. Visualization undermines the idea that the value of Adidas is only status. And it shows that fake products offer a perverse and painful version of the famous bands.

Verbal identity . With the expression “fake hurts real”, Adidas links the pain of a leg injury to the financial pain they experience from counterfeit products.
We cannot sympathize with the fact that a multi-billion dollar company loses part of its income, but we all suffered a leg injury.

Behavioral identity. Adidas positions itself as an athlete's protector, protecting you from counterfeiters who do not provide quality and do not care about your well-being. If Adidas cares about your safety, do you still want to buy counterfeit products?

2. Communicate values ​​through signs, codes, myths and archetypes

Semiotics can help you convey associations, feelings, and perceptions through appropriate signs, codes, myths, and archetypes.

Signs

Charles Sanders Pierce, sometimes called the "father" of semiotics, said: "We think only with signs."

Let's try to decipher this simple advertisement:


It is clear that the apple is the main feature.

In some cultures, it is interpreted as a symbol of temptation and sin.
Here we get a cultural reference to the archetypal history of Adam and Eve.

The creators of this video knew how important it is to appeal to basic instincts . The video conveys the emotional advantage of the product: the ability to seduce.

There are other associations. Apple is associated with health and vitality. New York - "Big Apple" and the desired city. Apple is reflected on the packaging, turning the use of perfumes in a ritual that enhances advertising messages.

Only one apple can create a story full of meaning. The narrative captures the audience, referring to the symbols and archetypes. Most consumers cannot explain why they want to buy perfume.
Semiotics can.

Codes

Culture code, sometimes referred to as “cultural software,” defines how sets of images are combined with our stereotypes.

As Malcolm Evans explains (pioneer in applying semiotics to brand strategy)

An anthropologist from another planet will have to load our global “cultural software” into his head in order to understand the general scene from beer advertising.

The Tide Super Bowl ad demonstrates our super ability to understand codes - it only works because we already know so many scenarios:


Or consider the 2011 ad from Dior.

It uses the classic "luxury" code - heavy baroque architecture, a lot of gold, massive chandeliers, etc.



The main character does not look at us; she is hiding under glasses. Other characters in the video are also suspended, aside.



We hear the sound of heels and see camera flashes. The audience is sitting in the chairs, waiting for the show. The ad promises that the product gives you access to the desired, exclusive club.



The codes differ in the 2017 Dior ad . They are about freedom. Clothing is more primitive, which implies a deeper connection with nature. Charlize Theron is no longer a distant diva. She wants to feel and run. She invites us to her world.



Gold still appears everywhere, but through the natural world - the sun, water, desert. Theron's skin is golden from the rays of the sun. There are no promises of stuffy, exclusive luxury, there is a liberation from this world.

These two ads demonstrate the evolution and flexibility of codes.

The Residual, Dominant, Emergent (RDE) environment shows how codes change over time:

Myths and archetypes

Myths have always been a part of human culture. Common myths create human connections. Often they rely on archetypal characters to tell a story. For decades, the Old Spice played the direct role of the male archetype of the 50s and 60s.



Although these campaigns helped create a brand, they eventually aged it.
By the 2000s, OId Spice became associated with the brand of someone’s father or grandfather, and not the choice of the millennium.

To combat this perception, their “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, launched in 2010, was a satirical, hyperbolic tribute to past advertising:


Yet the archetype was not abandoned - the soap and deodorant still promised to make men attractive and instill confidence in them.

What has changed is how they told the story. They updated it for the modern audience, continuing to strengthen the traditional definitions of masculinity.

3. Create a positive ethos for your brand.

Ethos is “the fundamental character or spirit of culture; the underlying feelings that inform the faith, customs or practices of a group or society. ”

The quality of your product and your attitude to customer service are the main elements of the brand ethos. From the point of view of semiotics, your ethos is successful, when what you claim corresponds to your behavior.

Ethos is why your brand is important and why people need to hear its voice. As Simon Sinek said in his speech at TED , “The goal is not just to sell to people who need what you have; the goal is to sell to people who believe in what you believe. ”

Recently, many companies have focused on two aspects: environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

Nielsen reports that two thirds of global consumers will pay more for sustainable products. Forrester notes that more than half of US customers "not only reject corporate irresponsibility, but also look for brands that actively promote beliefs and values ​​that match their own."

Today, half of consumers of digital equipment take into account the social responsibility of the brand and environmental issues when making a purchase decision. A great example is Harper Wilde :



They sell bras, but they constantly invest in marketing for social responsibility - on their website and with informational materials.

Another example is Death Wish Coffee . They promote sustainability, participate in volunteer activities, and encourage social responsibility.

To build a positive ethos, a belief system must:

• Connect with the core values ​​of your brand.
• Resonate with your target audience.
• Maintain operational changes to achieve your goals.
• Be real (for example, your company is green , not just “ greenwashed ”).

If you stick to a particular ethos, be consistent.
Tell the same story and transmit the same values ​​across all channels.

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I am writing about marketing and web analytics.