Providing deep and memorable experience to the consumers-in various manners and through all channels possible-is undoubtedly amongst the key factors for success in contemporary markets. Moreover, companies need to consider the trends of gamification, personalization, eco-living as well as the extremely short life-cycle of their products. In this context, design is getting more and more important in branding and consumer' perceptions about the quality and benefits of the product available. It serves as a tool of communication not only for what the product is, but how it works and how exactly it will become part of the everyday life of the consumers as well. As such, design, in branding perspectives, has an active role and engages consumers in new kind of relationships that go beyond pure aesthetics. This article is an effort for a socio-semiotic analysis of the set of practices that IKEA implements regarding the use of design as a main basis on which it tries to create, deliver and maintain value of its huge global audience. What makes the company unique is its multimodal approach in terms of design-based brand management, point-of-sale design, furniture design, entire home interior solutions, catalogue design, and last but not least, lifestyle design. We can easily point out that it has built its own brand meaning by forming a recognizable and self-centered semiosphere, that highly influences the whole category it operates in, and sets the rules in people's self-expression, on the one hand, and their attitude towards the notion of 'home', on the other-home as constantly moving 'immobility' similar to fashion trends and practices. IKEA is a very good example of design semiotics, applied in marketing activities and real life as successfully mixing its own production with customers' desire for designing their own unique world of objects.
Consumer behavior is a complex and dynamic phenomenon as it embraces cultural and social aspects, previous experience and mass media influence. This paper proposes that in order to study how brands frame consumers’ perception and preferences an interdisciplinary perspective is fruitful. It uses a socio-semiotic perspective to define and analyze some contemporary marketing practices in brand building and consumer relationship management that demonstrate the relativity of the notion of “product” and underline the active communicative interaction between a brand and its consumers regarding the experience provided. Some of the most prominent analytical models of the product value building are presented, along with a discussion of the cultural typology of experience production. Finally, it is argued that multimodality has a special place as an actual and useful tool for improving the communication management via sensorial and cognitive stimulation.
This article demonstrates a socio-semiotic problem -whether one brand could replace, substitute or supplement identity. It describes the postmodern situation in which the traditional meta-narratives need to be reinforced or even replaced by more adequate and resonating stories and it points out the place of "legendary" brands in it. The latter are based on cultural preconditions and their power should be reinforced by advertising. The cultural background of Harley-Davidson and its communication gives us a chance to take a deeper look at its storytelling process which attracts so many consumers. A couple of analyses and illustrations clarify its "DNA structure."
The paper argues for the need, at least theoretical, of "brandology" as detached knowledge in the marketing field. The idea is based on the observations and research in brand management practice in recent years which have demonstrated the increasing social life of brands, especially those with high level of brand equity. What is knowledge as a whole, scientific method and discipline is discussed, in the first place, and what are the advantages of brand knowledge, in the second. Together with distinguishing marketing and branding, semiotics is introduced as powerful enough tool in branding and brand equity's examination and explanation. The "angel share" is an analogy suggested for better understanding the brand as social phenomenon. Finally, some suggestions are made for further development on how this "discipline" ought to be taught before the students, in order to create better understanding about the brand "nature", and which looks at culture, marketing communications as well as social and consuming practices from different perspective. It needs intensive projectbased and on-field research educational approach, counting on social and cultural studies more than on the conventional business, profit-based thinking.
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