Semiotics in advertising

As I’m waiting for the metro…

Friendly man: Can I borrow your pen?

Me: Sure

Friendly man: I am soooo proud of you, you’re such a good student, keep up the good work and you will succeed

Me (guilty as I haven’t been a student in over 6 years): Thanks (giggle)

This is a conversation I have with strangers quite often and I don’t believe it’s because I look young (which I hear is true), but because I use a backpack instead of a purse, and just happened to have been reading a book at the time.

Book + backpack = student

Why is this interesting to me? When I worked in primary market research I was briefly introduced to the concept of semiotics. It is an idea that is greater and more complicated than my current understanding, but what I took away from the idea is that Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Signs acquire meaning and value with becomes culturally accepted; it becomes ingrained in our culture without notice. This becomes relevant in the world of advertising as we use signs and symbols to represent different messages and ideas that must align with our expectations. And sometimes, we deviate from what is expected.

For example, red, yellow, and orange are all commonly used colors in fast food advertising. Greens and browns often signify natural and organic. Black and white could mean that a brand has a long history or is trying to get across a serious message. Two hands shaking means a deal has been agreed upon (often used in banking), a thumbs up means something is good or somebody is happy. I can go on and on and I think you get the picture.

In advertising, not only must we be aware of the meaning assigned to signs and symbols, but that adaptation over time. For example, something as simple as a pattern can mean one thing to one group of people in a particular period of time, and then evolve. As shown below, if I asked my grandma about this pattern she might say it’s Navaho or associate it to American Indians but ask a teenager and most likely she’s seen this pattern incorporated into fashion design at Forever21. If you asked me, I’d call the pattern “Hipster”. Put a girl in an ad wearing this pattern 10 years ago and it’s Navaho, but today, its trendy.

As culture and trends rapidly evolve, keeping abreast of these changes is a crucial ingredient to effective advertising.