Symbolic Meanings of

Brand
“Symbolic meanings are communicated to other people in the
way the kind of person you wish to be seen”

Two Directions

a) Social Symbolism-Construct social world

b) Self Symbolism- Construct self-identity

• Individuals use consumer goods and the consumption process helps

to construct and maintain their social identity, form relationships, and
frame psychological events. i.e. consumer self-disclosure
Ecology of a brand- “how a brand integrates with the wider social andcultural
experiences of the consumer.
Self-concept
• actual selves (or roles) and a variety of possible or ideal selves
• possessions are viewed as major parts of our extended self (Belk, 1988)
• possessions are as much a part of us as our limbs or our ideas

Self-Identity is something that we create through consumption

• An individual is free to create any variety of possible selves
Narrative identity theory
“…in order to make time human and socially shared, we require a narrative
identity for ourselves, that is, we make sense of ourselves and our lives by the
stories we can (or cannot) tell” (Escalas, 2004).
celebrating 100 years of the Coke bottle
What sort of self-image you construct by wearing following
What you will wear for

• confident and successful self

• https://www.manoloblahnik.com/int/women.html

• Dependable and caring self

• https://www.birkenstock.com/us/men/shoes/clogs/

• self-effacing but stylish self

• https://www.tedbaker.com/row/c/womens/accessories/shoes/heels-
and-pumps/375
What does it mean?
• Diesel’s campaign in 2017….‘Make love not walls’
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COXx3YTNW1s

• Volkswagen TV campaign for the Golf in the UK

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSXi7FSZ3SU
Cultural Meanings
“Cultural meanings are transferred to brands”

‘consumer goods….they are goods to

think with, good to speak with’(Fiske,1989)

Semiotic perspective

• System of signs and what they signify

• symbols are typically interpreted in an improvised and non-rational manner that
does not obey the codes of language but operates at the subconscious level
A Semiotic Theory Analysis

• Sign is anything that can be used to stand for something else.

• signifier (a sound or object)

• signified (a concept generated by the signifier)

• The relation is arbitrary and can change over time

Semiotic theory
Barthes’ Mythologies
• How the media contributed to forming the myths of French daily life

For example, the meaning of soap powders and detergents to people in

France
• detergents have no harmful effect on the skin, but they can even
perhaps save miners from silicosis
• detergents became the object of such massive advertising and people
pay attention to keep updated
Psychoanalysis of purifying fluids

Lux, and Persil- between the evil and the cure

• Chlorinated fluid- liquid fire: the product 'kills' the dirt.

• Products based on chlorine and ammonia are without doubt the representatives of
a kind of absolute fire, a savior but a blind one

Omo imagery between dirt and a given product,

• Powders as separating agents: dirt is 'forced out' and no longer Killed, dirt is a
diminutive enemy

• liberate the object from its circumstantial imperfection and drive dirt through the
texture of the object, while keeping public order and not making war
Ethnographic correlatives

Chemical fluid is an extension of the washerwoman's movements when she beats

the clothes

Powders rather replace those of the housewife pressing and rolling the washing
against a sloping board

Persil Whiteness
 bases its prestige on the evidence of a results call into play vanity, social concern
with appearances, by offering for comparing two objects, one of which is whiter
than the other
 reveal the mode of action; in doing so, they involve the consumer in a kind of
direct experience of the substance, make him the accomplice of liberation
rather than the mere beneficiary of a result
Omo
The Deep-cleans in depth because linen is deep

The foamy- signifies luxury

abundant, easy, almost infinite proliferation, substance and active elements

remove dirt, and kill germs, healthy, air, happiness, and powerful essence in a
small original volume.

• Foam sign of a certain spirituality, spirit has the reputation of being able to make
something out of nothing, large effects out of a small volume

• Governs the molecular order of the material without damaging it

 Presenting the wine as an upmarket high-quality product

encodes a hybrid metaphor inasmuch as the

woman’s neckline is fused with a glass of Foxy wine
to show the surface similarity between both objects
in terms of shape
Pagos del Rey wines ad

• The product is promoted by establishing a

relationship of similarity between the wines
and king cards.

• The choice of these cards is meaningful in

that it enhances the product’s high quality
Ad for the El Corte Inglés Club del Gourmet
• Wine as an upmarket high-quality product through
a conceptual similarity between the domain of
wines and the positively valued domains of top
fashion design, sculpture and jewellery,
respectively
• borrow the positive associations of wine: quality,
social prestige

• The link is supported by the text Alta gastronomía

(‘Top gastronomy’), a collocation formed from
altacostura ‘top fashion design’, the source domain.
Louis Roederer champagne

The picture establishes a conceptual similarity

between the champagne and a sculpture

the metaphor is also signaled verbally through the

word oeuvre ‘work of art’ in the verbal tag
Pineau de Charentes wine
Red and white wines are equated with ruby and gold earrings.

metaphor is also verbally rendered, as shown in the caption: Bijoux

d’or et de rubis ‘Gold and ruby jewels’

it is pictorial simile: the source object (the earrings) is depicted

above the target object (two glasses of wine)

Colour is the basis for establishing a perceptual link between the

source and the target objects in terms of a common attribute
Oregon wines
In structural terms, we see a hybrid object that results from the
fusion of a wine bottle with the roots of a vineyard. The
metonymy is based on the production frame, involving a person
(i.e. a wine-grower) making something (i.e. wine) from another
entity (i.e. fruit).

The metonymy places the emphasis on a particular feature of the

fruit from which Oregon wine is made, namely ‘organic’, thus
serving as a promotional strategy.

This product feature is also highlighted by the verbal element: All

Agriculture Was Organic.
• “Our wheels are always turning” ISUZU

It means that ISUZU cars are always improving and the cars are of high quality

“Wash the big city out of hair” Shampoo ad

the big city refers to the dirt, a lot of moving cars, and motors. so we
can take it as the dirt of the big city. It gives us the impression that the
shampoo is practical.
“Tide’s in, dirt’s out”

• Tide is the object, it replaces the constitution of washing powder.

Besides, it uses rhetorical figure-alliteration and can be remembered
easily
World in hand, soul in Cyber( Microsoft)

In this advertisement,“soul”is refers to mind. It also use antithesis and

highlights the importance of cyber.
Lived versus mediated experience

• Lived experience refers to the practical activities and face-to-face

encounters in our everyday lives
• Mediated experience is an outcome of a mass-communication culture
and the consumption of media products and involves the ability to
experience events that are spatially and temporally distant from the
practical context of daily life.
• The dialectical relationship
advertising not only helps in creating, modifying, and transforming
cultural meanings for the consumer but also represents cultural
meanings taken from the consumer’s worldview and invested into the
advertised product(Lannon and Cooper, 1983),
Exercise
using recycled envelopes may symbolize……………………….?
going to classical concerts may symbolize……………………..?
supporting transgender rights may signify…………………….?
buying unbranded detergent may mean………………………….?
The key takeaway from the lesson
• Potential for brands to offer an identity or self-image
• Brands have the potential to say something that we want to be
associated with
• There is always a social dimension to a brand
• Adolescents who are actively building their identity in relation to their
peer group and are very sensitive to peer group approval or
disapproval.
• We are what we consume
• Symbolic consumption helps us to categorize ourselves in society,
to ease our self-transitions, and to achieve our sense of continuity and
eventually preparation for death. e.g wills and gifts directions