Creating+a+Signfication+System

Omon's Part: __Creating a Signification System__ · Advertisers use signification systems to create a personality for a product o Achieved through giving the product a brand name and, whenever possible, creating a visual symbol for it known as a logo. § The Acura was designed to be imitative of the phonology of Japanese and Italian words § Metaphorically, it was also designed to evoke the perceived qualities of both the Japanese and Italian cultures § The name on its own creates its own signification product

__BRAND NAMES:__ · To be effective, brand-naming must keep up with the times o Car brands began naming models in ways that appealed to a generation of internet users who had become accustomed to a different style of communication. § Names using letters and numbers became popular, such as Hyundai’s XG300 model which fit perfectly with the times and the communication techniques. § The automakers also adjusted to the language of the internet called “Internetese” which is a highly telegraphic form of communication that is centered on monogrammatic and alpha-numeric signifiers. § But this form of communication only worked for the younger generation, but for the older generation, such abbreviations were hard to remember since the older generation has not yet tapped into “Internetese.” · Brand Names do more than just identify a product. o They are constructed to create a connotative signification system for the product. § At practical informational level, naming a product has a denotative function: · Allows consumers to identify what product they desire to purchase (or not) § On a connotative level, the product name generates the images that fo well beyond the simpler identifier function · Consider Armani shoes as a specific case-in-point. Denotatively, the name allows us to identify the shoes, should we desire to buy them rather than, say, Russell & Bromley shoes · However, it also does more. The use of the manufacturer's name, rather than some invented name or expression, assigns an aura of craftsmanship and superior quality to the product. The shoes are thus perceived to be the 'work' of an artist (the manufacturer). They constitute, in effect, a 'work of shoe art', so to speak, not just an assembly-line product for everyone to wear. · Branding was originally the searing of flesh into a hot iron to produce a scar or mark with an easily recognizable pattern for identification or other purposes. o Livestock were branded by the Egyptians as early as 2000 BC. o The late medieval period, trades people and guild members posted characteristic marks outside their shops, leading to the notion of trademark. o Best Known modern trademarks are the striped pole of the barbershop and the three-ball sign of the pawnbroker shop. · Names were first used towards the end of the 19th century when American firms began to market packaged goods under such names. o Previously, everyday household products were sold in neighbourhoods stores from large bulk containers o Around 1880, soap manufacturers started naming their products so they could be identified. § E.g. Ivory, Pears’, Sapolio, Colgate § First modern-day brand names were thus invented o Naomi Klein: § Branding became the general practice among manufacturers of products because the market was starting to be flooded by uniform mass-produced and, thus, indistinguishable products: · 'Competitive branding became a necessity of the machine age.’ o By early 1950’s, branding was not just a simple strategy for product differentiation § It was also a semiotic fuel that propelled corporate identity and product recognisability § the advent of no-name products, designed to cut down the cost of buying them to the consumer, has had little effect on the signifying power that branding has on the consciousness of people o Iconic brand names are particularly effective, because they are memorable § A name such as Ritz Crackers, for example, assigns sonority to the product that is simulative of sounds that crackers make as they are being eaten. § Another example is the name Drakkar noir, chosen by Guy Laroche for one of its cologne products. The dark bottle conveys an imagery of 'fear', the 'forbidden', and the 'unknown'. Forbidden things take place under the cloak of the night; hence the name //noir// (French for 'black'). __LOGOS:__ · Pictorial counterparts of brand names. o Designed to generate the same kinds of connotative signification systems for a product through the visual modality o Example: APPLE § Iconic sign suffused with latent religious connotations suggesting, above all else, the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible · Revolves around eating an apple that contains forbidden knowledge · Hebrew account of the story tells of a forbidden fruit, not specifically an apple · Representation of this fruit as an apple came about in medieval depictions of the Eden scene, when painters became interested in the Genesis story artistically o The Biblical symbolism of the apple as 'forbidden knowledge' continues to resonate in our culture, since at least medieval times; and that is the reason why the Apple computer company has not only named itself 'Apple', but has also chosen the icon of this fruit as its logo · The logo shows an apple that has had a bite taken from it, thus reinforcing the link between the company icon and the Genesis story by associating the use of Apple computers and products with Eve, the mother of humanity o Logos can sometimes harbour more than one signification system § E.g  · Playboy logo of a bunny wearing a bowtie o Ambiguous design opens up atleast two ‘connotative chains of meaning’: 1. rabbit = 'female' = 'highly fertile' = 'sexually active' = 'promiscuous' = etc 2. bow tie //=// 'elegance' = 'night club scene' = 'finesse' = etc. o Appeal and staying power of the logo is due to its inbuilt ambiguity · Ambiguity also plays a part in Advertising Intertextuality · It is also the reason why advertising is so semiotically powerful o Logos also, are now displayed on products for all to see § Until 1970’s, logos were concealed discretely inside a collar on a pocket § Since then, they have now been shown prominently on clothes, and thus evoke images of nobility and heraldry § They also constitute symbols of cool.