*Note: this webinar series is ongoing from 23rd April 2020. If you'd like to join these ongoing sessions, please check out the timetable below in this description area* __________________ Webinar description If you work in marketing or market research, or if any aspect of your job involves understanding consumers, there’s never been a better time to get into semiotics. Brands around the world are rapidly taking it up. It strengthens brand communications, guides design and ensures that everything is pitch-perfect for global and local markets. It bridges the gap between culture and psychology, giving a clear view of how the deepest emotions and needs of the individual are connected to national tastes, politics and changing social trends. It’s also unique in being the only market research method which is expressly designed to unlock the meaning of visual images. Until now, the only barrier for would-be users and practitioners was that semiotics was considered hard to access and rather academic. All that has changed with the publication of ‘Using Semiotics in Marketing: How to achieve consumer insight for brand growth and profits’. Described by reviewers as “immensely readable”, “crystal clear” and “generous” in sharing the author’s 20 years of commercial experience, ‘Using Semiotics’ is the first book to offer a complete step-by-step course for marketers that takes away the barriers to entry and empowers everyone to conduct their own research and find original insights for brands. No previous experience or training is required and readers who follow all the steps have a completed, publishable project by the end of the book. This is the first webinar in a series in which Dr Rachel Lawes, the author of ‘Using Semiotics in Marketing’ and Ray Poynter, a luminary of British market research, read the book together, over a handful of episodes. Everyone is invited to join us and is guaranteed to look at the world differently by the end. Semiotics will permanently change the way you think about marketing, brands and consumers and eventually it will change the way you think about your own culture and your own life. _____________________ Timetable of the next events: - 23 April, Presentation by Dr Rachel Lawes on semiotics, what it is it, why you might be interested in it, and what will the book help you achieve? COMPLETED EVENT - 21 May, Review of chapters 1-3, questions and comments from readers COMPLETED EVENT - 11 June, Review of chapters 4-6, questions and comments from readers - 2 July, Review of chapters 7-9, questions and comments from readers - 23 July, Review of chapters 10-12, questions and comments from readers Note, you will need to acquire a copy of the book if you want to read along with the group, available in e-form, paperback and hardback from Kogan Page, Amazon and other retailers. Click here to register for the follow-up read-a-long sessions: https://bit.ly/2VQV1EU

1. USING SEMIOTICS IN MARKETING
READ-ALONG PART 1: CHAPTERS 1-3
DR RACHEL LAWES
21 MAY 2020

2. Sponsors
Gold
Silver
The Festival of NewMR, March 2020

3. • game by Nintendo, 3/2020
• record-busting sales
• the game of the pandemic
• packed full of semiotics
BUSINESS NEWS

4. • What is semiotics? Key facts and
terms
• How brand owners & marketers
use semiotics
• Quick-cook recipe: how to do
research using semiotics

6. marketing challenge hotlist
Creating and launching new
brands. Repositioning brands.
Communicating the results of
mergers. Rejuvenating older brands.
Making marketing
communications clearer and
more motivating.
Making brands, products and
services seem premium.
Communicating ‘value’ and
‘economy’.
Identifying emerging trends
in product categories and in
consumer behaviour.
Finding new ways to engage
shoppers in store and at
fixture, merchandising and
designing retail stores and
platforms.
Giving local brands a more
global reach and helping
global brands to address local
audiences.
Aligning products and brands
with the consumer needs of
specific segments,
demographics and cohorts
such as Millennials and
Generation Z.
Marketing to social groups
such as men, women and
children as well as special
interest groups emerging
from identity politics.
Generating creative ideas to
stimulate innovation and
advertising.
Identifying and crafting
convincing and relevant
brand stories.

7. red apples

8. bottom-up
analysis
bottom-up
analysis top-down
analysis
• pandemic
• lockdown
• death, horror
• consumer needs
Brands sit in the middle.
Culture influences their meaning
from two directions:
from below & from above.
Bottom-up semiotics is great for
decoding brand communications.
Top-down semiotics is great for
innovation & global marketing
strategy.

9. bottom-up
questions:
signs &
symbols
bottom-up
analysis top-down
questions:
trends &
society
• pandemic
• lockdown
• death, horror
• consumer needs YOUR BRIEF OR
PROPOSAL
GOES HERE
“We want to communicate a particular
idea or value with our brand
communications.
How are our competitors handling it,
are there any variations and where is
our opportunity to say something
new?”
“Our brand is well established but
customers are growing older. What can
we do to make it seem more youthful
and relevant?”
“How can we best communicate with
consumers in emerging markets?”

10. HAVE YOU
CHOSEN A
PROJECT?
PHOTO BY CODEY DAVIS ON UNSPLASH

11. EASY RECIPE
PHOTO BY CALUM LEWIS ON UNSPLASH

12. 1. Clarify marketing problem.
2. Write research questions (top/bottom).
3. Brainstorm with client or colleague.
4. Choose and sample data.
5. Identify semiotic signs.
6. Identify codes.
7. Detect social structures.
8. Connect insights to client’s business
problem.
9. Write up. Use evidence & simple
language.
10. Debrief client & stakeholders.

13. • How to analyse signs & symbols
• How to decode culture & social trends
• Tools for creativity & innovation
ANALYSIS
Webinar 11
June.
Read chapters
4, 5 & 6

14. • Field trips!
• Ethnography & discourse analysis
• Turning insight into strategy
STRATEGY
Webinar 2 July.
Read chapters
7, 8 & 9

15. • Writing-up & sharing your findings
• Hot topics: AI, semiotics around the world
• Self-development & your future career
WRITE!
Webinar 23
July.
Read chapters
10, 11 & 12

16. let’s discuss!
Dr Rachel Lawes Ray Poynter

17. Sponsors
Gold
Silver
The Festival of NewMR, March 2020