The Symbolic Meaning

of Brands

1
 The postmodern consumer and
symbolic meaning
Consumers do not make consumption choices solely from
products utilities, that is what they actually do, but also from
their symbolic meanings, that is, what they communicate
Symbolic meaning
Self
Social
The meanings of consumer goods are grounded in their social
context and the demand for goods derives more from their
role in cultural practices than from the satisfaction of simple
human needs.

2
 The postmodern consumer
and identity
Through the socialization process we learn not only to agree on the shared
meanings of some symbols but also to develop individual symbolic
interpretations of our own
Narrative identity theory
in order to make time human and socially shared, we require a
narrative identity for our self
Internalexternal dialectic of identification
Self identity must be validated through social interaction

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 Identity and self- symbolic
consumption
Symbolic consumption helps us to categorize ourselves in
society
Possessions can also be part of a process of symbolic self-
completion
There can be different and inconsistent cultural meanings to a
brand depending on the extent to which we share the
collective imagination

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 Lived versus mediated experience
Lived experience
Practical activities and face- to- face encounters in our everyday lives
What we see as reality

Mediated experience
The consumption of media products allowing us to experience events
which are spatially and temporally distant from the practical context of
daily life.
Recontextualized experience
Advertising, movies etc...

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Symbolic meaning, advertising, and
brands
Advertising is a potent
source of valued symbolic
meanings
Advertising is both a means
to transfer or create
meanings into culture and a
cultural product itself.
See SuperGa Ad

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 Identity and social- symbolic
consumption
The symbolism of consumption is almost always socially
constructed.
Even the meaning of advertising can become socially shared
after discussion with others, See Fig 3.1
Pot Noodle campaign
The process of the consumption of the mediated experience of
brand advertising, the lived experience of the purchase and
usage of brands and the two realms of self- symbolism and
social- symbolism is illustrated in Fig. 3.2

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Pot Noodle campaign

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Figure 3.1

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Figure 3.2

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 Some implications for
brand strategy
Brands, trust, and fragmentation
Brands offer consistency in an ever- changing world and this
reassurance is a vital element in their added value
Brands and deep meaning
Brands can evoke profound feelings of nostalgia
We have periods in our life of heightened sensitivity
Adolescence, see Levis Ad
Brand rituals
Brandfests
Subcultures

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Levis Ad

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