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.
No comments:
Post a Comment