Introduction
1: Semiotics in the World of Goods
2: Marketing Semiotics
3: Mining the Consumer Brandscape
4: Brand Discourse
5: Mining the Multicultural Brandscape
6: The Semiotics of Consumer Space
Laura Oswald, Ph.D. is founder and director of Marketing Semiotics
Inc. Dr Oswald is an expert in the areas of brand strategy,
consumer research, and semiotics - a social science discipline that
examines brands and advertising in the framework of cultural signs
and meanings. She conducts consumer studies in a variety of
formats, including focus groups, in-depth interviews, and on-site
ethnographies in North America, Europe, Singapore, and the People's
Republic of
China. Her research and consulting practice encompass a variety of
application areas, from luxury goods to automotive and healthcare.
In addition to consulting, Laura writes and teaches on current
issues in advertising, consumer research, and strategy at meetings
of the Association for Consumer Research, the American Marketing
Association, the Qualitative Research Consultants Association, and
the American Sociological Association.
The world of marketing and consumerism has undergone a radical
change in the last few decades-the brands that are put out there
are perceived to be much more than products. They have morphed into
signs, veritable symbols of who we are, what we aspire to be, and
how we intend to attain our life goals. This is a radical change,
since these signifying processes were in the domain of social
institutions and ideologies. Advertising and marketing have become
the new beacons in how we search for meaning. Oswald's book is a
brilliant examination of how brands have evolved into meaning
making structures. She deconstructs the process insightfully
offering us a comprehensive purview of what a branded society is
all about. This is required reading for everyone, from students in
marketing and culture studies to the general public. It offers a
cogent perspective on how brands and social processes are now
intrinsically intertwined.
*Marcel Danesi, Professor of Anthropology, University of
Toronto*
In books on the application of semiotics to marketing, there is
probably a 'binary distinction' between those that are written for
academics, emphasizing literature and theory, and those written for
practitioners, stressing examples and cases. Laura Oswald's text
carves out a new portion of this space, drawing rigorously on
well-accepted principles and frameworks, and then showing their
value in understanding and resolving real-world branding and
advertising challenges. Anchoring strongly on her deep knowledge of
the literature on meaning production and symbolic consumption,
Oswald applies this to several real branding case studies from a
variety of industries and cultures. I intend to use many of these
principles and case studies in my branding classes: there is
clearly much that marketing professionals can learn from them.
*Rajeev Batra, S.S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, Ross School of
Business, University of Michigan*
Oswald has crafted a theoretically cogent and empirically rich
account of the making of meaning in the marketplace that is
accessible to academics and practitioners alike. Anyone concerned
with the cultural construction of value will benefit from her many
and varied analyses of the contemporary brandscape. She delivers a
sensitive interpretation of the mythologies that underlie
contemporary commerce. The book will prove as useful in the
boardroom as in the classroom.
*John F. Sherry, Jr., Herrick Professor and Department Chair,
Mendoza College, University of Notre Dame.*
A breath of fresh air to the confining functional benefit brand
view. Its in-depth discussion of how brands provide meaning to
customer lives expands our understanding of brands and their
roles.
*David Aaker, Vice-Chairman, Prophet, and author of Brand
Relevance.*
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