Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BEYONDBRANDS (Beyond Brands, Forms of Life. At the Heart of Marketing, the Experience.)
Reporting period: 2021-08-01 to 2023-07-31
This project has two main strategic focuses. The first - the main one - aims to propose a new semiotic definition of the concept of brand. Why a new definition? And why from a semiotic perspective? Firstly, because many definitions of the concept of brand have been proposed but are either too general or too vague, or too complex or abstract. Secondly, the choice of semiotics is justified by the fact that, since the 2000s, this discipline has renewed its theoretical and conceptual apparatus and is therefore able to truly grasp what a brand is. The second axis of this research aims to use a case study - the nation brand Marca Perú - to test, detail, adjust and deepen this new conceptualisation of the brand.
The tour de force of this MSCA project lies in offering a clear and operative definition of the brand for brand and marketing managers, so that they can better grasp what is at stake with the brands they have to manage, and consequently to help them propose more meaningful products to their publics.
In addition to offering a renewed definition of the brand, this project aims to highlight European semiotics from the Greimasian tradition, in particular by showing how its most up-to-date models and theories can help other social sciences to analyse and understand their results from corpus or the field.
The tour de force of this MSCA project lies in offering a clear and operative definition of the brand for brand and marketing managers, so that they can better grasp what is at stake with the brands they have to manage, and consequently to help them propose more meaningful products to their publics.
In addition to offering a renewed definition of the brand, this project aims to highlight European semiotics from the Greimasian tradition, in particular by showing how its most up-to-date models and theories can help other social sciences to analyse and understand their results from corpus or the field.
During the first two years of the project, the work consisted in recompiling the state-of-the-art on brand definitions, as well as grasping a number of structural marketing mechanisms. A process of synthesis and schematisation resulted in a number of constructs being examined and elaborated, such as the notion of 'service', which I chose to use as a central concept for understanding brands. From this process, I came up with a clear and synthetic definition of the concept of brand, as a 'service with a vision'. Based on this definition, it was then possible to reconsider and clarify the brand variations in use, such as master brand, product brand, subbrand, endorsed brand, and so on.
What remains to be done are two points: firstly, I need to find a place for the concept of 'product' in order to make this concept operational within the framework of this general reconceptualisation. And secondly, I need to apply this theory to the case study of Marca Perú. Marca Perú is a nation brand with 7 sectorial sub-brands, and when it comes to the question of meaning and marketing strategies, it raises a number of semiotic questions. With the conceptual apparatus I am developing in this project, it will be possible to unveil and question numerous aspects linked to this brand architecture, which will be useful for more general reflections and advances linked with brand strategies.
The book I plan to publish at the end of my postdoctorate will aim to provide this theoretical foundation based on contemporary and accessible semiotics. In the meantime, I'm continuing to publish articles that will make up this book, and I'm planning to take part in several conferences early next year.
What remains to be done are two points: firstly, I need to find a place for the concept of 'product' in order to make this concept operational within the framework of this general reconceptualisation. And secondly, I need to apply this theory to the case study of Marca Perú. Marca Perú is a nation brand with 7 sectorial sub-brands, and when it comes to the question of meaning and marketing strategies, it raises a number of semiotic questions. With the conceptual apparatus I am developing in this project, it will be possible to unveil and question numerous aspects linked to this brand architecture, which will be useful for more general reflections and advances linked with brand strategies.
The book I plan to publish at the end of my postdoctorate will aim to provide this theoretical foundation based on contemporary and accessible semiotics. In the meantime, I'm continuing to publish articles that will make up this book, and I'm planning to take part in several conferences early next year.
At the end of the project, I am expected to have a solid and renewed semiotic definition of the concept of brand, as well as a system of interdefined concepts (services, products, sub-brands) that will provide a theoretical basis for applied brand management across all economic sectors.