Semiotics: Getting to the truly emergent
Uncover the codes of the future through a combination of human expertise, AI tools, extreme consumer perspectives and semiotic fieldwork
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. It’s a methodology that seeks to understand what they represent in culture.
In market research, Semiotics is increasing in popularity – with brands wanting to understand the meanings behind their signs and symbols, or discover how visual cues in their category are changing (or perhaps should change!) with the culture around us.
However, a big barrier to Semiotics analysis can be the fact it seems complex – full of academic terminology. There’s also concern that Semioticians aren’t experts in every category. How can they advise on my category when I know it best? How can they track change when they aren’t necessarily part of it in the first place?
Therefore this begs the question – how can Semiotics ‘get to’ changing cultural symbolism? How can we identify the true signals of change?
Join Kim Howard from Verve as she talks about methods to ‘get to’ truly new insights. And how, through a combination of human expertise, AI tools, extreme consumer perspectives and on-the-ground semiotic fieldwork in fringe spaces it's possible to uncover the codes of the future.
Kim Howard is Verve's in-house commercial semiotician She's spent the last 6 years helping brands apply cultural insight, trends and semiotics to brand challenges. From understanding how ‘women’ are portrayed in the world of sport, through to de-coding what ‘flawless’ means in the UK – she thrives in understanding how big concepts and ideas are being expressed in culture. Notable clients include P&G, Unilever, ITV and Estée Lauder.
