Insight: Semiotics in brands
One of the most interesting aspects of branding is developing the strategy behind the product or brand. Often this means understanding the psychology of the consumer and how they respond to brands whether it’s in the public domain or not. Ruth Somerfield is a freelance Senior Director at Greg Rowland Semiotics who specialises in corporate semiotics. Ruth brings her expertise to many brands and helps clients unlock opportunities on a global level. Kirsten Johnston of JohnstonWorks met with Ruth and asked her a few questions to help people understand more about her fascinating work.
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Q: What are semiotics is relation to our world of brands?
A: Semiotics is a way of looking and understanding. It seeks to uncover the hidden clockwork that underpins consumer understanding of culture, ideas, sectors and brands. It’s probably best imagined as a set of lenses through which we can view culture and help make sense of it. By exploring the codes of culture (the hidden clockwork) we can establish the hidden forces that construct meaning in society, as well as identify areas for brand development that may not have been identified through other means. So semiotics looks for patterns in culture. It explains the symbolism that constructs our lives. Making the ‘intangible’ ‘tangible’ allows us to help brands and organisations communicate better – whether that’s to new, or existing audiences – wherever in the world.
Q: What’s your role in relation to brand semiotics?
A: I work as a freelance Senior Director at Greg Rowland Semiotics. The consultancy has been established for over fifteen years, and is a leader in commercial semiotics. We work globally – across numerous sectors and for many established, and up and coming, brands.
Q: At what stage are you usually brought in on projects and who is this typically with (agency or client)?
A: We work with clients at any, or all, stages of the project process: providing a cultural understanding that helps inform a creative or communication brief, analysing and assessing the viability of a marketing or design programme (in line with the needs of a defined culture or issue) – and offering potential new platforms, visual directions and cultural spaces in which a brand or product can move.
We work predominantly with clients direct, although we often work alongside design consultancy and qualitative market research agencies.
Q: What are the typical outcomes a client can expect from your work?
A: Unlike other semiotic agencies, we don’t simply provide analysis: but rather the inspiration to help move brands forward. Everything we deliver has to be focused, targeted and most importantly, create practical results. Semiotics, if done well, can help reveal previously undiscovered codes and unlock potential visual opportunities. It can also help the client look at, for example, a design from the perspective of a particular culture: taking on board cultural myths, judgements, standards and meanings.
Q: How long do you usually work on a project from brief to completion?
A: As with any project it depends on the nature of the brief, and the deliverables required.
Q: How does your work differ from the brand agency research and workshops?
A: Semiotics allows the client to understand and look at brands in a new way. We don’t talk to consumers. We are desk based cultural analysts – and our role is to use our cultural knowledge and understanding to explore, for example the impressions surrounding a design, or issue; revealing how an audience reads the symbols, signs and visual language presented.
Q: Can you give an example of how this has worked for a real product?
A: A particularly interesting project we undertook last year was for a very famous international diamond brand. Semiotics was used to explore the meanings and understanding surrounding the giving and receiving of diamonds in Japan, Hong Kong and the US. Ultimately our goal was to provide inspirational platforms for a new product range; positioning the diamond as ‘hero’, and creating a more emotional and metaphorical role for diamonds. It was fascinating revealing what exactly diamonds meant to each culture, and creating inspiring ideas around our findings – from the outward ‘show’ of consumerism in China to the more subtle, reserved manifestation in Japan. It’s pretty rewarding to see how our analysis and thought gets translated, ultimately, into a tangible product: the range is now available in each of the countries.
Q: Do you travel with your work? If so, where has your work taken you?
A: Global projects account for a major part of our business, so yes, travel forms part of the role. Places are as diverse as the projects: over the past year I’ve been to Hong Kong to work with a major Asian youth brand, and to Switzerland to help a global biscuit manufacturer.
Q: How do you stay in touch with cultural trends and new product developments?
A: Because the nature of our work and the sectors in which we operate are so diverse and varied, we are always immersed in what is going on across a pretty broad cultural spectrum. We have a global network of over 50 analysts across the globe so we have a constant ‘feed’ of information.
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Contact Ruth at ruth@semiotics.co.uk or visit the website.
Posted by: Kirsten Johnston
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