Authors: Eirini Papadaki

Title: Branding commodity, tourist & cultural products: some thoughts on applying semiotic analysis for the marketing strategy in each product category

Abstract

“Brands are carriers of meanings (Holt, 2004), making extensive use of symbols” (Papadaki, 2019). Brand meaning is a result of collective interpretations of these symbols by multiple stakeholders (Hatch and Rubin, 2005). “Brands are social, as they represent ideas that people have in common…while being personally relevant” (Bernstein, 2011: 194). Big western brands, like Nike or Coca-cola) “serve as meta-symbols of global culture” (Miller, 1998), highly associated with such desired situations as a happy family dinner or a good athletic performance respectively. In the same way, sociality, culture, tourist destinations can be branded, by creating associations and facilitating aspirational, symbolic consumption. Globally recognized landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre are included, as Barthes states, in “the international language of travel”, while specific cultural resources or organizations are marked with specific codes, inspired by localities, history or recognized difference and tradition and are proposed as having global symbolic value. A cultural or tourist brand can therefore be bonded to specific geographic spaces, but at the same time position itself as globally recognized. Global marketing strategies can create international value for the national by stressing its nationality. Of course, it is widely accepted that consumers add symbolic meaning to branded products, as they welcome them in their individual, social and cultural experiences. For cultural and tourist products, that are experience oriented, consumers seem to function as prosumers, being at the same time producers and consumers of the symbolic associations embracing the products.

If we accept that brands can be seen as sign systems, that some successfully branded products (be it commodity, cultural or tourist related) can be recognized as signifiers of certain priorities, processes and identities (Manning, 2010), then conducting semiotic research and analysis during evaluating, or even designing brands can be extremely useful.

Semiotics is a science that studies signs. Semiotic logos, packaging and advertising have been widely analyzed in recent semiotic research, but there are only a few attempts to examine, understand or apply semiotic principles during the actual planning, designing or promoting brands.

This paper proposes the adoption of semiotic analysis to the branding process in an attempt to understand the function of the specific sign system and successfully manage its designing and evaluation processes, from audience research to audience targeting. Specific case studies of commodity, tourist and cultural product branding will be presented, in an attempt to underline, in a parallel goal, the differences and similarities of the symbolic process involved in the three areas: business, tourism and culture.