The concept of semiotics - Essay Example

?Semiotics Table of Contents Introduction 3 Semiotics 4 Role of Semiotics in Branding 5 Semiotics Enhancing Brand Equity 7 Pierce and Saussure Model of Defining Semiotics and its Use in Marketing 8 Conclusion 11 12 References 13 Introduction The global market has become fiercely competitive over the years with the increased density in the number of players operating in the market. Companies in the contemporary business environment are radically concerned about their performance as there lays various factors that may dramatically influence their overall competitive position at the market place. While prudently addressing to these aspects would help them to stay in the competition and ensure long tern sustainability for their operation in the global business market. In this regarded, maintaining a strong good will of the company is considered as a paramount aspect in order to successfully sustain its business in the present intricate and dynamic business environment. Consequently, companies can be seen to be developing effective strategies that could make a distinct reputation for them among the competitors in the market. It is evident that various departments of business work in a collaborative manner to assure accomplishment of the organisation goals in an effective manner. Among the various departmental activities of business operations, the domain of marketing is quite crucial as it is closely related in dealing with customers. With proper marketing, companies intend to develop a recognisable and well-known brand image for themselves that would favourably impact the overall operations of the business. There are various ways of development of brand for a particular product or the overall organisation. However, the concept of semiotics has attracted the attention of many business organisations. Semiotics is basically known as the approach of studying signs and processes that is associated with symbols and other communication approach in order to represent the culture and behaviour of people (Oswald, 2012). Contextually, this essay will entail a critical discussion on the implementation of semiotics in branding and other marketing activities. The discussion will further emphasize upon the aspect of enhancing brand equity and brand positioning with the implementation of semiotics. Semiotics Semiotics, also regarded as semiotic study is the study of signs and processes related to signs, indications, symbolism, communication and other aspects of understanding human language and their behaviour. The study closely resembles with the aspects of linguistics that largely deals with the study and understanding of language in a more precise manner. The study is often categories in three diverse branches which comprise semantics, pragmatics and syntactic among others. The branch of semantics deals with depicting the relationship between signs and the things they might refer to. Subsequently, pragmatics includes the relationship amid the signs and sign-using agents. Correspondingly, the branch of syntactic deals with the study of the relationship amid signs in formal structure. It is believed that the study of semiotics is quite vital in the aspects of understanding human culture and behaviour on the basis of their communication (Eco, 1979). Semiotics has become an important part of contemporary business. It is implemented in various domains of business today with the intention to enhance the operations of the business. Semiotics in business examines the nature, characteristics as well as information with the aim to organise various crucial activities. It has been observed that semiotics in organisations treats the business unit as an information system where information of various types are created, processed and stored so that it could be used in future context. Among the various use of semiotics in business, its role in branding and advertising department is quite vital. Unlike conventional forms of research which deals with the buying habits of the customers, semiotics in the domain of business advertising seek for an extensive research to ensure an effective and inspirational outcomes which can further be used for the betterment of the business altogether (Chernatony & et. al., 2011). These aspects will be discussed in detail hereunder. Role of Semiotics in Branding From the above discussion, it is apparent that semiotics is quite crucial in the field of research. Among the various domains in business today, the role of semiotics in branding and advertising is quite vital and should be discussed elaborately. Branding is one the most important activity of the business organisations to create their distinctive reputation in the market. The success of the business in today’s competitive business environment largely depends on the brand equity and positioning. In every business unit irrespective of the size of its operation, branding plays an important and inevitable role. As per earlier discussion, it can be stated that branding is one of those strategy of business units today that deals with the aspect of gaining competitive advantage over the rivals in the market as well as an effective marketing tool for attracting customers towards the products and services of the organisations. Noticeably, managers and marketing heads in the organisations are widely engaged in developing various types of tools and strategies that would enable them to improve their brand image in the market. Traditionally, business units preferred conservative research in order to understand the nature of the customers and their behaviour to develop their product which is directly related to brand image. With the implementation of semiotics in business, companies are now able to have an extensive research and analysis of the market to gain healthy outcomes that could impact the operation of the business in a favourable manner. The outcomes that are gained from research conducted with semiotics are further implemented for the purpose of developing the brand strategy of the company and planning for approaches of dealing with the customer accordingly. It is known that semiotics is the science that deals with the study of culture and communication approaches of people. Contextually, in the field of marketing semiotics enhance the scope of innovation through its research capabilities. Observably, it is believed that any communication, innovation or product idea is entirely rooted or embedded in the experience of people in the society. Hence, with the application of semiotics product designs and ideas about the products are entirely derived from different cultures of people which further enable companies to develop sense in the product and ensure building strong relationship with the customers accordingly. Another vital role of semiotics in the domain of branding is the fact that it is highly effective as compared to that of traditional format of market research. Notably, in traditional research of market, the customers were asked about their opinion and preferences. On the other hand, semiotics directly deals with extracting the information from the culture of the people which ensure much more reliability and accuracy of the obtained information. This information is further used in designing product on the basis of the culture of the people which eventually enhance the brand image of the product and the company altogether in the market. It has been argued that in today’s business environment, brand should intend to develop their own culture in products rather than to responds to the culture of people. Companies can enhance their brand image only through maximum innovation and creativity in its product line which cannot be done through following the conventional ways of designing products. In this aspect, semiotics and its research capabilities will allow companies to become leaders in designing products rather than being a follower so that they can make a strong and distinct reputation for themselves as a business unit (Newbusiness, 2012). Semiotics Enhancing Brand Equity It is clear that semiotics plays an important part in the domain of branding and other marketing activities. Contextually, it is also deemed that semiotics has certain significant capabilities enhancing brand equity of business units. Brand equity is the concept of marketing where it is believed that having a well-known brand name is important and it will perform better in the market as compared to the products that are less well known. Additionally, Semiotics has crucial role in brand equity management as well. Semiotics binds together needs, wants and behaviours of the customers which are further used in advertising and designing of the products. Semiotics in the field of marketing decodes the culture of the customers by depicting their insights which are implemented in designing products and services (Marketing Semiotics, 2011). Semiotics is used in the business to convey message to the customers with the help of signs and symbols of various kinds. The signs in most of the occasion resemble with the product that are being offered to the customers. In the recent years, where the competition can be identified to be extremely fierce across all the business segments, developing a particular brand name or logo has become an ultimate need for the companies in order to differentiate their products from their rivals as well as to draw the attention of the customers towards their products. . For example, Coca-Cola is one of the biggest brands of the world in the soft drink industry. The company has captured the hearts of people all over the world through its symbolic representations by means of video, audio and verbal signs. Hence, it is clear that semiotics dimensions are important in creating awareness among the customers about the brand and its product which results in loyalty among them. Correspondingly, McDonalds is one of the renowned brands of the world. The company is known for its good food and services that it continuously delivers to the customers. The logo of the company is known universally and it provides a feeling among the customers that they are not far away from burger and fries. This aspect of semiotics shows how brands are developed and known all over the world with the help of signs and symbols (Oswald, 2007). Hence, it is apparent that semiotics enhance brand image of companies and facilitates in generating strong brand equity. Pierce and Saussure Model of Defining Semiotics and its Use in Marketing In order to ascertain a comprehensive understanding about the concept of semiotics, certain theories and models will be crucial to discuss. In this regard, Peirce and Saussure Model of semiotics will enable to get a concrete view about how signs and symbols can be effective with regard to proper communication and conveying information. Pierce theory of semiotics is a concept of signification, reference as well as meaning. Although it is believed that the theory of sign language has long history entail with it, the theory of Pierce depicts distinctiveness with maximum innovation along with breadth and density. Observably, Pierce provided utmost significance on the aspect of logic during his work on semiotics. During the course of his life, Pierce continuously developed his thought about the aspect of signs and semiotics. This has enabled him to developed new and more complex theory of signs. Basically, Pierce believes that signs involve three elements or parts that are closely interrelated to each other comprising “a sign, an object, and an interpretant”. A sign might be a written word or a statement. On the other hand, an object might be a thing that best resembles the statement or the written word while the interpretant depicts the relation between the sign and the object that provide the actual understanding (The Metaphysics Research Lab, 2013). The Triadic Model of Pierce Source: Irvine (n.d.) The above figure shows the Triadic Model of Pierce. The model made it apparent that meaning through semiotic are generated with the help of chain of signs. Again, Saussure model of semiotics is considered to be a vital framework that facilitate in ascertaining comprehensive understanding regarding the concept of semiotics. The efforts of Saussure are consider as quite important in the study of semiotics owing to the fact that it enables to create awareness about semiotics among the people. Fundamentally, Saussure provided a two part or dyadic model where he explained that sign is composed of two aspects. First is the ‘signifier’ which is related with the form which the sign takes while the other is the ‘signified’ which relates to the representation of the sign and object it resembles. Saussure further stated that the relationship amid the signifier and the signified is termed as ‘signification’ and it presents the entire information to be conveyed. Saussure also affirmed that any particular sign must have the inclusion of both a signifier and a signified to convey any particular information. Additionally, both the elements of the sign i.e. signifier and signified must not be meaningless and should possess a proper meaning. Precisely, it can be affirmed that sign can only be recognised in the presence of both the elements i.e. ‘signifier’ and ‘signified’ in a complete manner and the absence of one of the two will negatively influence the entire process presenting information through signs or symbols (Chandler, 2013). Both the model discussed above represented different view point about the concept of semiotics. However, both the theories depicts about how information can be conveyed with the help of proper sign and symbols. This aspect of both the models might be appropriate for the companies in ensuring maximum business success in the domain of marketing. The two paradigms of semiotics depicted by Pierce and Saussure can be a vital component in the field of marketing research where other concepts fails to provide accurate results of the market and the behaviour of the customers. Semiotics, which is defined by Pierce and Saussure, is vital in the domain of marketing owing to its implementation for the purpose of analysing the behaviours and the nature of the customers (Harmon, 2013). While designing products, it is important to know the preference and taste of the customers. This is because of the fact that products designed in accordance to the needs and wants of the customers are able to create meaning to the hearts of the customers. The concept of product designing largely involves the aspect of symbolism and consequently semiotics become important in product prototyping which is intended to develop willingness among the targeted customers towards making purchase for the particular brand or the product. Furthermore, semiotics also creates languages and categorization for product that help customers to identify the signs in product. Correspondingly, semiotics also plays a prominent role in product packaging which also a key aspect of marketing. Semiotics in context depicts the relation between consumer behaviour and packaging to enhance meaning of the final product. Furthermore, it also helps companies in planning the signs of the packaging that develop communication and interaction with the customers (Harmon, 2013). This aspect of semiotics in this particular area of marketing is effective in connecting with the customers and encouraging them to buy the products. Semiotics also serves as a vital tool in the promotion of the particular product. The models of semiotics explained by Pierce and Saussure enable advertising to be used as a direct tool to convey information to the customers. In this regard, semiotics works towards enhancing the formation and organisation of advertisement mechanism on the basis of signs and symbols. Semiotics in this particular activity of marketing also works towards revealing the meanings of the signs utilised in marketing. Semiotics is also extensively used in enhancing the pricing activities of marketing. In this regard, Pierce depicted that pricing semiotics can be used towards pricing of brands and products on the basis of their quality and appeal. Thus, it can be stated that semiotics has a key role to play in various activities of marketing. It changes the approach of modern day marketing through developing maximum meaning in it that could easily enable the product or the brand to connect with the customers through creating maximum meaning in their heart (Harmon, 2013). Conclusion From the overall analysis of the paper, it can be comprehended that semiotics has a key role to play in the domain of contemporary marketing. It is believed to increase the efficiency of the marketing operations through enhanced research of the market that yields explicit information about of customers and the values of their culture altogether. These information acts as vital inputs in the aspect of product designing, packing and advertising among others. Semiotics also helps companies in enhancing their brand image at the market place. Notable companies like McDonalds and Coca-Cola can be found to be using symbols and visual advertising which has not only make people aware about their brand in a universal manner but it has significantly contributed towards enhancing the brand equity of these companies as well. In-fact, the logo of these companies is famous and renowned all over the year and almost in diverse regions of the world. Certain models have also been depicted in the paper in order to deliver a comprehensive understanding about the semiotics. These models provided insights regarding how semiotics convey or represent information with the help of signs and symbols and how it creates meaning in the hearts of the people. Based on the knowledge and insights acquired in the prior sections of essay, it can be firmly stated that the role of semiotics in the contemporary marketing is indeed pivotal especially in building strong brand equity amid the customers at the market place. References Chernatony, L. D. D. & et. al., 2011. Creating Powerful Brands. Routledge. Chandler, D., 2013. Semiotics for Beginners. Home. [Online] Available at: http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/Documents/S4B/sem02.html [Accessed November 29, 2013]. Eco, U., 1979. A Theory of Semiotics. Indiana University Press. Harmon, T., 2013. The Meaning behind Marketing: Semiotic Oriented Research in Marketing and Consumer Research. Academia, 144-150. Irvine, M., No Date. Structural Linguistics, Semiotics, and Communication Theory: Basic Outlines and Assumptions. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Semiotics_and_Communication.html [Accessed November 29, 2013]. Marketing Semiotics, 2011. What is Semiotics? Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.marketingsemiotics.com/semiotics/what-is-semiotics/ [Accessed November 29, 2013]. Newbusiness, 2012. The Importance of Semiotics in Branding. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.newbusiness.co.uk/articles/marketing-advice/the-importance-semiotics-branding [Accessed November 29, 2013]. Oswald, L., 2012. Marketing Semiotics: Signs, Strategies, and Brand Value. Oxford University Press. Oswald, L. R., 2007. Semiotics and Strategic Brand Management. University of Illinois, pp. 1-5. The Metaphysics Research Lab, 2013. Peirce's Theory of Signs. Home. [Online] Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce-semiotics/#InfSem [Accessed November 29, 2013]. Read More