Beyond brands, Forms of Life

Investigator: Dr. Alain Perusset, Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM)

Project description

This project aims to demonstrate the significance of semiotics (the study of meaning-making) for science and society by developing a definition and conceptualisation of one of the most emblematic phenomena of (post-)modernity: the brand.

Indeed, although brands are of interest to us all, they remain multifaceted phenomena and defining them proves to be quite a difficult task: they are associated with entities that are not only very different to each other (e.g. an organisation, a product, a logo), but also hazy (e.g. a service, values). Thus, drawing on the theoretical apparatus of Paris School Semiotics, the objective of this project is to define what a brand is semio-ontologically and what this reality brings, in turn, to the social experience of the stakeholders who are in contact with it.

The semiotic concept of “forms of life” will bring innovative hypotheses that will enable the creation of an alternative model for brand identity to those developed over the last 30 years in marketing, notably because it will place experience at the heart of all the issues. Finally, to refine the model and reveal its advantages, a case study aimed at modelling the identity of Marca Perú, the Peruvian nation brand, will be conducted.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under a Marie Sklodowska-Curie.