NOTE this webinar series is ongoing from 23rd April 2020. This presentation reflects the 11th June 2020 webinar. 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 - COMPLETED EVENT: 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 - COMPLETED EVENT: 2 July, Review of chapters 7-9, questions and comments from readers - COMING UP: 23 July, Review of chapters 10-12, questions and comments from readers 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 final session: https://bit.ly/2ZtGEYL

1. USING SEMIOTICS IN MARKETING
READ-ALONG PART 3: CHAPTERS 7-9
DR RACHEL LAWES
02 JULY 2020

2. Sponsors
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3. • How to do semiotic field trips
• Combining semiotics with
ethnography and DA
• Data – Insight - Strategy
recommendations

4. 42%
Homewares.
DIY stores re-
opened early. 24%
Other non-food,
eg clothing.
Food.

5. 1. if you’re feeling brave, go
shopping; look & take notes
2. staying indoors? pick a product
and collect Amazon reviews
3. strategy: tell your client how to
respond to our changing world
photo by Mike Petrucci on Unsplash

6. STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR
CLIENT’S BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash

7. Pro tip: Often, there is a difference
between reality (a convenience store)
and representations of reality (an
historical toffee shop). Semiotics is
primarily concerned with
representations.
Ask yourself: is the physical world
around me trying to achieve some
persuasive effect?
Semiotic Field Trips
Photo reproduced with kind permission of Dales Toffee Shop, England.

8. Pro tip: the following question can be
applied to all cultural products, from
buildings to packaging to newspaper
headlines.
How could this have been done
differently?
If the item could have been made,
expressed or built in any other way,
then the fact that it was done in this
way means something.
Semiotic Field Trips
Photo reproduced with kind permission of PricewaterhouseCoopers, United States.

9. Semiotics with Ethnography & Discourse Analysis
Photo by Will Myers on Unsplash.

10. Disclaimer: not an exhaustive list.
Ethnography Semiotics Discourse Analysis
Main focus Observe reality Observe
representations of
reality
Observe how speakers
manage reality
Capturing data Usually video Could be still photos Usually transcripts or
text
Special powers Capture action
sequences, behavioural
routines
Capture features of the
environment which are
otherwise overlooked
Recognise when people
are being defensive

11. Pro tip: An insight is not merely an
observation.
It is distinguished by its ability to
cause change.
It upsets conventions or makes you
look at things in a new way.
Data – Insight – Strategy

12. Pro tip: Use your knowledge of
change to make recommendations for
marketing.
Be brave. It’s your job to have radical
ideas.
Data – Insight – Strategy

13. Photo by Alice Dietrich on Unsplash
SO … HOW’S
YOUR PROJECT?

14. • 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

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