What does this ad tell you? (source of image)
What is the relationship between signs and marketing communications? Why do certain symbols and icons work more effectively as advertisements in reaching consumers than others?
A brand of cultural anthropology which looks at the use of signs and symbols as a means of communicating and conveying meaning, semiotics is a vital discipline in the science of marketing communications, advertising and branding.
By now, many of you would have heard of buzz and viral marketing, experiential marketing, and the art of conversational marketing.
Some of you may have also learned about three of the most important marketing ideas in the 2010s (and 2020s): creating a Purple Cow, pushing an idea over the Tipping Point, and the almost religious need to use social media in marketing.
Not everybody can brand it like Bieber (courtesy of Entertainment Earth)
Brand extensions and brand stretching are commonly used by companies wanting to expand into new product categories. According to this source, they are defined as follows:
“Brand extensions refers to the use of a successful brand name to launch new or modified products in a same broad market“ while “brand stretching refers to the use of an established brand name for products in unrelated markets“.
Courtesy of Lenovo
Anybody following the global technology market would know how brutal it is. Battles for distribution channels, platform acceptance, supply chain efficiencies, and brand leadership have led to the spilling of blood on both Wall Street and Main Street. This has led to companies merging, being acquired, ousting their CEOs, or stopping their product lines altogether in desperate bids to survive and thrive.
Against such a backdrop, PC companies can ill afford to focus purely on features and benefits when marketing their electronic wares. They need to connect more deeply and resonate emotionally with their target audiences. Cool designs, functional specifications, and state-of-the-art features can be so easily copied that PC makers need to dig deeper.
One of the most universally recognised symbols (Courtesy of Proclaim the Truth)
My curiosity was piqued when I read this recent post on Branding Strategy Insider about Brands and Religion.
According to the post, “religion is highly branded”, and this can be seen in the differences in how different religions are divided and further subdivided into denominations, sects, and branches.
At the Shanghai World Expo 2010, the country pavilions are especially significant as they are iconic representations of what each country has to offer. After visiting those from Europe and the Americas, as well as those closer to home in China, Australia and Southeast Asia, how does Singapore’s Pavilion compare?
Join me for an in-depth tour of the Singapore Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo.
Designed by architect Tan Kay Ngee, the Singapore Pavilion’s theme is Urban Symphony. Evoking images of a music box, it “forms an orchestra of elements and a symphony for the senses – from the choreography of the plaza’s water fountain, the rhythm of fenestrations on the façade, the interplay of sounds and visuals, to the mélange of flora on the roof garden.”
After visiting the various country pavillions in the European and American zones of the Shanghai World Expo, we focused our attention on the regions closer to home. Due to the shortage of time, we could only enter the Singapore pavillion as the queues to most of the Asian pavillions were rather formidable. However, I did manage to take some quick external shots of the various Asian pavillions which captured my interest.
Here’s a brief photographic journey of some of the pavillions which we saw.
Indonesia’s pavillion looked pretty impressive in terms of size, albeit a little like a typical conference building with the flags and pillars and all.
Targeting to be the most visited World Expo event in history with an ambitious 70 to 100 million visitors, the Shanghai World Expo, is also the most expensive ever held in the history of the world’s fairs. Considered to also be the largest (yes, they do love superlatives there!) at 5.28 square km, the World Expo is themed “Better City – Better Life”, signifying Shanghai’s new status in the 21st century at the “next great world city“. More than 190 countries and more than 50 international organisations have participated in the Shanghai World Expo.
Located at downtown Shanghai covering either side of the Huangpu River, the pavilions of the official corporate partners of World Expo (like Coca-Cola) are on the northern bank of the river, along with the Urban Best Practice Area while the south bank of the river are the national pavilions, Chinese pavilion, and the World Expo Park.
Join me for a pictorial journey of the World Expo, beginning with the European pavillions.
My visit to the Coca-Cola Pavillion at the Shanghai World Expo was certainly one of the highlights of my trip. As a geek who firmly believes in the virtues of experiential marketing, branded entertainment and transmedia storytelling, I was almost brought to tears (fanboy style) by Coke’s immaculate attention to details here.
Every single consumer touchpoint in its pavillion, fashioned after its world-famous “Happiness Factory” transmedia campaign, was a 360 degree brand encounter. The entire holistic and immersive experience was orchestrated to stimulate the senses, from sight, sound, scent, taste to touch. For Coca-Cola fans, it was also highly emotional and community bonding.
Let me bring you through the journey.
American Girl dolls casting their branded charms (Courtesy of Lauren-xo)
“Lights, cameras, action!” Put on your “costumes”, don your best “branded” behaviour, and perform in the stage of life’s biggest commercial brands.
That seems to be the key message of Maurya Wickstrom’s volume Performing Consumers which described the multiple ways in which big brands endear themselves to their customers through performance and theatre. Peppered liberally with theories of performativity and theatricality, the book illustrated how the creation of brandscapes in the retail environment induces deep emotional connections between man and merchandise.