Semiotic approaches: How advertisers construct meaning

The media uses advertisements in every aspect of everyday life to influence our society, in order to inject an idea or a thought into people’s heads. The purpose of advertising is to persuade people to adopt certain ideas, or to convince potential customers to purchase goods and services (Hardy, et al. 2018, pp. 3). Advertisers have adopted the use of semiotics as one of the main approaches to convey marketing information. 

(Usdin. 2013)

Semiotics is defined as a theory of signs and how they work to produce meanings, or the study of how things come to have significance (Branston. 2010, pp. 12). Using semiotics as a method for analysing media texts can help viewers better understand the meanings of different media products. Here is a print advert by Pedigree. By using signs, codes and contexts, viewers can easily break down and make sense of adverts they are presented with. According to Ferdinand de Saussure, a sign consists of a physical signifier and an immaterial signified (Branston. 2010, pp. 12). The protagonist of this advert is an old man, this signifier connotes that this advert is aimed at older audiences around retirement age; he is the only person shown, suggesting that he lives alone; he is well groomed and well dressed, suggesting that he is middle class, with the financial freedom to have and adopt pets. In terms of casting, this advert has a lack of celebrity, making it feel more familiar so ordinary people relate. The fact that he is wearing casual, informal clothing and we cannot see his face means that he could be any ordinary old man. Instead of casting a celebrity or a ‘star’, this casting makes the advert appeal to a wider range of audiences. According to the uses and gratification theory (Katz and Blumler, 1974), personal identity allows the viewer to reaffirm their identity within society. Finding a character that represents themselves can offer the viewer someone they aspire to, therefore evoking positive feelings towards the advert. Potential customers may remember this specific advert because of this, making them more likely to purchase from the brand.

According to Saussure, images or words have no meaning or value in themselves. Viewers make their own meanings and assign them to images and words. Signs for which the relation is arbitrary, he called symbols (Branston. 2010, pp. 13-14). In the Pedigree advert, the colour palette is blue, beige and grey. These are dominantly considered as dull and muted colours. However, in this case they can be interpreted in two ways. On the left side, the man without a dog feels sad, bleak and lonely; while on the right side, the man accompanied by a dog feels happy, mellow and relaxing, what most people hope and envision their retired life to be. Structuralism is a name for a set of ideas and positions which flowed into parts of semiotics (Branston. 2010, pp. 19). In society, especially recent western cultures, it is frowned upon to buy pets. Adopting is known as the more ethical and compassionate option. Whereas buying from a breeder is the social norm in some other countries. Therefore, this advert may not be as effective if it was published in other parts of the world.

(Dove. 2013)

Here is a Dove print advert, also from 2013. There are some similarities between the two adverts. Both have a clear-cut layout, dividing the poster into two left and right sections. This is simple but impactful, the divide down the middle separates two different main images, creating juxtaposition. Both adverts have a direct mode of address, the slogans include direct personal pronouns “you” and “your”. This makes viewers feel as if the adverts are personally addressing them, which will draw them in, enticing them to purchase. Both of the slogans are short and straight to the point, only using one sentence to anchor the meanings. Since signs are not fixed, they are always polysemic - capable of having several if not many meanings and associations. In order to inform and persuade viewers, meanings have to be communicated as clearly as possible. Therefore, control is attempted over the ambiguity of visual images, especially for news and advertising purposes (Branston. 2010, pp. 24).

Both Dove and Pedigree were founded in 1957, these 64 year-old companies have undoubtedly formed a strong brand and house style. Many corporations use symbols and icons to establish their identity because it is easy to remember (Berger. 2017). In the Pedigree advert, both the slogan and the logo are placed on the right, where the dog is positioned. This helps anchor that version of the image, suggesting that it is the better side, creating a juxtaposition, a before vs. after binary opposition, subtly telling the audience that they should aspire to be the person on the right because it will make their “life happier”. The composition of the logo on the top right corner ties it all together, suggesting that not only will adopting a dog make you happy, so will Pedigree’s products. Similarly, in the Dove advert, the logo is shown prominently on the second bottle. In doing so, Dove successfully reinforces that their brand has superior products, in comparison to the first bottle - covered in barbed wires and scratches. 

The main difference between these adverts is strategy. Pedigree’s is a soft sell, using their adoption campaign to attract people who share the same value as the company. Viewers who are passionate about pet adoption, or pay attention to whether or not a company has good ethics would buy into this advert. Therefore, when potential customers are shopping, they will most likely decide to buy pet food from Pedigree rather than its competitors. Dove’s is a hard sell. It has a more assertive tone, putting pressure on target customers (Spacey. 2016). The rhetorical question leads to a firmer call to action, almost forcing the viewer to rethink about the products they use.

Using appropriate codes and signs to put together an advert is crucial in order for it to be successful. Advertisers largely benefit from applying suitable conventions to their adverts. Even the simplest, most straightforward analysis of a media text can expand and change depending on how else its viewers engage with it. Equivalently, the most elaborate, complex analysis needs to be aware of its risk of being reduced to being bland and one-dimensional. Advertisers have to be aware that viewers’ possible responses complicate matters, further emphasising the importance of target audiences.

Reference list: 

Berger, A. A. (2017) Media analysis techniques, 6th edition, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, <https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9xotDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false>

Branston, G. and Stafford, R. (2010) The Media Student’s Book, 5th edition, London and New York: Routledge

Hardy, Jonathan, et al. (2018) The Advertising Handbook, Taylor & Francis Group, ProQuest Ebook Central, <http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=5313034>

Newman, A (2013) In Criticizing Rival Products, a Dove Campaign Is Called Unfair, The New York Times, New York, <https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/business/media/in-criticizing-rival-products-a-dove-campaign-is-called-unfair.html>

Spacey, J. (2016) Soft Sell vs Hard Sell, Simplicable <https://simplicable.com/new/soft-sell-vs-hard-sell> 

Usdin, E (2013) Pedigree Outdoor Advert: Dog, 2, AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Brazil, <https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/outdoor/pedigree_dog_2>