Master Marketing Etudes

4204U15 - Semiotic analysis of advertising

Responsable du cours : Dr Deirde GILFEDDER

Langue : Anglais Nb Heures :12 Nb ECTS : 1 Coefficient : 1

Course objective

1.This course aims to train students in the semiotic analysis of advertising. Close readings of both the text and images will help students better understand the cultural and symbolic content of advertising as well as their strategies and claims.

2.While some theory will be discussed - theory of the sign, connotation, brand capital and myth - the course concentrates on the practice of analysing ads – both still and moving. Most of the course involves group participation in the analysis and discussion of material brought into the classroom.

The class is divided into 2 sub-groups and most work will be done in smaller groups.

Content

 1.Introduction to semiotics : What is a sign ? How do images work as a language ? Denotation/connotation. (whole class)
 2. Oppositions, paradigms and syntagms : How do ads relate to associations, cultural references ? How do they set up their own ‘worlds’ ?
— Activity :collages.
— Reading : Tom Streeter « Semiotics and advertising »
 3. Myth : The myths and stories that ads like to refer to.
— Activity : focus groups.
— Reading : Roland Barthes, « Mythologies »
 4. Who do ads address ? Analysis of targets through imagery and language.
— Reading : John Berger, « Ways of Seeing »
 5. Social identity : What is Glamour ? What is Cool ? Who is the Postmodern Consumer ? New forms of branding and cultivating a market.
— Readings :

• Thomas Frank, Business Culture, Counter-culture and the rise of hip Consumerism
• Sturken and Cartwright, Addressing the Postmodern Consumer

 6-8 Student presentations and crits by the class.

Assessment

 Presentation of an analysis of 2 advertisements from the same brand, or competing brands or products. A written report will also be given to the teacher.
 Participation and Reading is also part of the final grade.

Readings (mandatory)

 BARTHES, Roland Mythologies, Hill and Wang, New York, (1957) 1972
 BERGER, John, Ways of Seeing, BBC books, London, 1972 On line version, http://www.scribd.com/doc/243296/Ways-of-Seeing-John-Berger
 FRANK, Thomas, Business Culture, Counter-culture and the rise of hip Consumerism, University of Chicago Press. 1997
 Douglas Holt, « How Brands become Cultural Icons »

Internet support :

 Tom Street, Semiotics and Advertising, University of Vermont http://www.uvm.edu/ tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/
 Daniel Chandler, Semiotics for Beginners
 The On-line Visual Literacy Project. Pomona College

Additional readings (optional)

 DANESI, Marcel, Cool : The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence. University of Toronto Press (1994)
 FLOCH Jean-Marie, L’indemodable total look de Chanel, Editions du Regard, paris 2004
 FLOCH, Jean Marie (1995) Identités visuelles, PUF
 FLOCH Jean Marie (1990) Sémiotique, marketing et communication, PUF
 FRAENKEL, B. ; Legris-Desportes, C. (1999) Entreprise et sémiologie, Dunod
 HEILBRUNN B., (2007), La Marque, Collection Que sais-je ?, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 125 p.
 HEILBRUNN B., (2006), Le Logo, Collection Que sais-je ?, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 2e éd., 127 p., Traduit en brésilien, en roumain et en russe.
 HEILBRUNN B., (1997), "Representation and legitimacy : a semiotic approach to the logo", in NÖTH W. (ed.), Semiotics of the media, Mouton de Gruyter.
 HENAULT Anne, Questions de Semiotique, PUF
 JOLY, Martine (1993) Introduction à l’analyse de l’image, Nathan
 LEWIS George, Jerome LACOEUILHE, Branding Management
 MESSARIS Paul, Visual Persuasion, Westview Press, 1994
 SEMPRINI Andrea (1996) Analyser la communication, l’Harmattan
 STURKEN, Marita Cartwright, Lisa, Practices of Looking.

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(Master Marketing Paris Dauphine- 2009)